Presidential talk

Title

Presidential talk

Language

English

Year

1947

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

PRESIDENTIAL TABLE TALK ~~~ --fro; By MARCELINO BAUTISTA 1. We are definitely on the move to 'm?ke the organization of public school teachers assume importance in making its wishes recognized. The recent -"STRIKE'' of Nueya Ecija High School teachers, as well as the recent "investigation" oi the teacher in Pavia, Iloilo who allegedly did not allow her class to meet th e President have caused electric chills -in, the thou ~ht processes of people e1·erywhere. These two events have been viewed with considerable ALARM by the authorities, and justifiably so, for these have been "challenges" against constituted authority. Hundreds of teachers have been gripped by the grim possibility that the teachers concerned might' be disciplined ("dismissed" was the word used in the press releases coming from the President, in the case of Cab~natuan), and then the holocaust might have descended upon otherwise passive, placid, and uncomplaining school people everywhere. 2. But we are not going to strike in order to get what we want, and we are nor· going to be deliberately disrespectful. We shall get what we want through the usual legal processes. It is just a matter of bringing tu th e attention of authorities concerned what the schools want and what the teachers need. This is the reason for the existence of our Association. We shall make the President listen; we shall make Congress listen; we &fi.t:H-1 ~ Congtc~5 ~; we shall ma~e all other authorities concerned listen to a presentation of facts regarding the anaemi c school system that we have and the plight of the teachers. 3. There are fou r good reasons why teachers sho.uld not st rike. First, when . ~ we entered the government service and expressed our acceptance of govern· ment terms, we took an oath of o£fice which states among other things that "I will well and faith.fully discharge to the best of my ability the duties of my present position and of all others I may hereaft:!r hold under the Republic of the Philippines; that I will support and de· fend the Constitution of the Philippines; and that I will obey the laws, legal or· ders, and decrees promulgated by the duly constituted authorities of the Republic of the Philippines" ... All that this oath means is that we shall recourse only to legal and orderly processes in order to get what we want. We shail be orderly and we shall be obedient. Second, as government employees we are bound by civil service rules which require, among other things, that a procedure be followed in petitioning authorities concerned for r edress of griev• ances. The petition should be coursed properly and we should be bound by whatever decisions are promulgated by the authorities concerned. Third, if we are members of the Philippine Public School Teachers Association, we are bound by its rules and regulations not to use the strike as a means of getting what we want. ·In its cor,vention last January the Association anopted a resolution to the effect that" IV<i shall not resort tg strikes because we are not of the nature of the labor unions. The resolution, however,• does not indicate that we shall not be militant. Fourth, the teaching profession is generally regarded as a missionary work ~nd as some kind of apostleship. Those of us who have entered teaching as a career did so with eyes wide open. be·FOR MODERN. OPTICAL NEEDS-SEE KEEPSA~E OPTICAL-SO Eseolta 5 • 6 PIOLIPPINE EDUCATOR ing fully aware beforehand that we _ cannot expect to be well off . financially while in the teaching " s'ervice of . the government. We cannot argue, for this very reason, that the teaching profession is underpaid and that therefore teachers should strike. Fifth, we must consider not only the teachers' welfare but also that of the students, when w~ are thinking of going on ~ strike. This matter is not a onesided affair. It does not concern the teachers' welfare only; there is the pupils and the students' welfare to consider. When teachers go on a strike, they are stopping the functioning of the classes. It must be borne in mind that education cannot be delayed. Every minute and every hour of the day, education must go on. It goes on even without teachers, because the (individual child or adult learns something whenever he goes through an experience. But it is directed learning that we want for our children. And so schooling cannot be delayed. There is one decent thing that teachers can do if they feel that they are not getting enough material rewards from teaching, and that is for them to leave the service. But when they do decide to leave the service, they should do so in the most honorable manner. They should indicate their desire to resign months ahead of the day of quitting so that the authorities concerned can look for teachers who will replace them. It is not honorable for any teacher to say, "Tomorrow, if you do not grant what I want, I leave." Give the authorities concerned a chance to make the necessary adjustments so that the education of the children will not be jeopardized. 4. I have heard this statement from teachers: What do I get by joining the PPSTA? The question should be asked in the reverse: What do I not get if I do not join the PPST A? The teacher will miss a great deal of the feeling of satisfaction derived from ~ork · well done and from having · contribpted something toward the attainment of':certain goals. A united body of teachere will have better chances of achieving something which they could not do if they W!!re not united. It seems that what should be foromost in the mind of each teacher is not what he ·expects to get from the Association; rather it should be what he should contribute to the Association so that it can get what it aims to achie\·e. If any teach'er feels that he does not need the Association to improve his lot, let me assure that teacher that the Association needs him. 5. If we understand the educational authorities right, the new policy seems to be to have the teachers help themselves, meaning that, with the limited funds of the government, there will be less and less substantial help to teachers from the government. This is the reason for the Secretary of Instruction being so much interested in the organization of the Teachers' National Cooperatives. While it may seem necessary that the government should expect the teachers to look into ways and means of helping_ themselves, that is, of improving their material well-being through their own efforts, it also seems necessary that the people themselves. be given tho chance to say whether or not any material help can be expected from them to improve the teachers' welfare. This is why we are most anxious that ii Congress is _ afraid to pass ·the proposed bill revising the Educational Act of 1940, Congress should refer it to the-people for their decision. ·We are of the opinion that the people are more than willing to give substantial aid to their schools in the form of a school tax. They are a~ually doing this now .,_ren-t" thro:Jg~ thet+lflfJIRe Teachers' Associations.

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