Presidential table talk

Media

Part of The Philippine Educator

Title: Presidential table talk
Language: English
Year: 1947
Rights
Fulltext: ~ - . . . ; __ >;!1. This ' is . Christmas· time, tl~e sea- :,present ~choolS A- ~d .. amelio~<ite - son of ,good will to men. Christmas ,~ ~eachers~. welfare. Wlien this -.- ·~~ ....... . - atild UNESCO call to : mirld !?ea£e a~d : beg a~ : to ~cryst~e, the: d; cision l. so our peace issue, the . UNESCO :not sucli a hard one to make. · DWilber. . ~ ... ~- ~ .. "'3. " w i ·fin~lly;secured th~· services ef 2. It was not so easy for us to make a managing editor. Her job is to help a decisi'on on the proposition of ac- · edit the Philippine Educator, see to it ceptin~ or -not the offer of the Board that the ma!azine is correctly pri!:~ted, - of the PPST A to make us the Execu- and look after the business end of the tiv.e Secretary~ Treasurer . .. This new : • paper so that it will continue tq tlll-ive.: :job prov1des a hlt:her ,sruary:Jt•is true.' proo~eadin~ of .t~e ~at&rial But,~ has i'not been~ sirlficl'e"n( ..,.. · tfie • ~di9uS t - r ... Y 6 ~ ducement· _there are aeveral - 1n co_nnee~ t .. ' .. . .,. 7:-:,Th" e new job ) s •·-a'• geveryunent .:.position . .• ins.tirance, ,and ~ we are' going :.1,] $ <V ~ ,... ; re: ~ '• ·up ,the - prospect'- of be):lef:itillti{~~~;~i~ 5~ 1~'i.~'!.,.JShE!Wiil~E!S~'Jlii~h -po~ble new"•-"" -•-·•-•• ~lleJ~p#y]i~e~i~h~i fiiement. · Then there "is the ~: ~.. .., . "'{~ . -,.~ .,..,.. tilinty abqut the-.aource of inr~nle' :foi·.:·· the. PPSTA. when' the ·-tea~her~ begin!...\ .th~ \~.~tE~Ii~tls1 o:,,.;.,·+.,,,.:a . -~~u-· inteiest · iil the ~rg~atiq~ ~1> kilo,ws , ··D\:ISule~;s and -refusing to pay their annual fees.·• having grown in . If lwe fallytO-.. ach,ieve anything· dtiring. :.,f~~' p~~t~g .b~e:;s.~ . . . , t~e''next sever~''months, will ,ihey'S:t"printmg esb,l>lip_~ept) . ... §he • .still hav~ enough faith in the PPSTA.i. -Rosalinda Sarmenta, '~ormer. home, ::and u,elr Executive Secretary-Treas-:, \ norics superVisor .... Jor Nri~v~. :· Ecija'J ' urer? And. so the question, "How Ionft.-t an~ n~w our M~aging ,Eaitor.,··-;· ,_ ~11 thisjob last?·"· had been assailing~·~. 4: We ;er~· fuvii~ i~ ~;~k.:"at' thE!~"f-~· .~ befor~ we -dec1d~d - ~o accep~ tp~ ,; To~ Hall P~ipP.ines on. the··~~J>ject, ~~~ of the IJoard. , ;_,, , . ~. -<\ ~' ~·!s· i( ~Iu:.oug!}·: ~.bo~. Unjon~~~ that , But_ we knew there. ~was a great , Goyernment , Employees'· Hope . tc{ Inichallepge _in this work ... · We knew this_.- prove ·~eir ~Wel!fare?". A repreSenta.. - .... ~ . . .., . . . _..... , . ~ ,. was a piece of job which~~ed ~aD _ tiv.e of'the PGEA'an'£1 a newspaperm~ '!. the patience, the persistence, t~e .. tact; .,~e.r~"' ~he otli~r .?sp~akers. Str~-geq _ ~- ~d the aggressiveness_ of any other --~.enough-the three of us. answerJct t~!· . job we had before demanded. We question . with N.O. : < • ... t· - ;,.. :· · knew there was the big task of help-_ ; . 1 - · < • • ~i , ~g the ~ducation officials improve the (Continued -on page 13) ·: . 2 THE PH.lLIPl'INE EDUCATOU 13 PRESIDENTIAL · ... (Cont~nued from page 2) In the interpellation by members of the Toastmasters' Club, this question was directed to us: "You say that the PPSTA will work for what the teachers want in a peaceful way through petitions. Suppose you do not get what you want through this procedure, what >v.ill be your next move?" We answered: ''We believe that in a democratic set-up, people will listen to reason. It would seem th:It intelligent people should be able to get together :md discuss their problems in an objective dispass:onate way. If, for instance, we should find that there is money somewhere which the government could use to improve the schools and the teachers' welfare, would it not be possible for us to hold a conference with the authorities concerned and tell them that since the money is not being used, could it be spent ·for the improvement of the school$ and the teachers' welfare? Is the situation so bad and so hopeless that the authorities concerned will not listen to reason when they can see very well that a solution to our problem is in their hands? It is for us to help po,int the way; we cannot jwt <tSk and ask." And another question wa::; posed. "What guarantee i::; there that the teachers we now have, those who have iitayed and have refused to seek greener pastures, as you say, can teach our children well, and what guarantee do we have that our children are learning from them? And we replied, "There is no guarantee either way. This much I know, however, that hundreds of the teachers who have stayed did so purely out or love for the work they are doing for our children, and th!y are lloing their JOb efficiently. There is no guarantee for effective teaching and learning until the public comes to know their schools and demand that better trained teachers be made available. It is for the people to appraise the work ot the schools and they must pay the teachers more. It will be the constant endeavor of the PPSTA to open the eyes of the public to the kind of ~chool system that we now have." 5. The next annual meeting of the PPSTA will be in June, 1948, in Manila. A.-ticle VI of the Constitution says that the Representative Assembly of the Association shall be composed of delegates represent;ng duly affiliated Division Teachers Association or Division Chapter in the Representative Assembly. There are still very few Division Associations actually and officially affiliated with the PPSTA. It is desired that the n :vision Associations be organized right away, so that they can send delegates to the PPSTA convention. 6. Which reminds us about the principle enunciated in the Preamble of the UNESCO constitution that ''wars are started in the minds of men." Personally we believe that wars start with stomach trouble, probably more so from empty stomachs. Vlhen the economy of" the country is such that the ~ople do not have the means of keeping body &nd soul together, they lose their concience, they rebel a~ainst the existing order of things, a."ld they go to war. What it high pressure politics but maneuvering for the most advantageous · posibms in the struggle for economic stability and power? Economic spheres of influence are the objective of all these machinations of the stronger nation to ingratiate themrelves in the heart of weaker nations which have raw materials needed by world trade and industry. In this (Conti nued on page 23) FOR MODERN OPTICAL NEEDS- SEE n:E?SJ!.f.:E Oi"i"!Cill..----50 Escoltcr THE PDILJPPJN!i: EDIJCATOB. 23 Mr. Flores told . them that they could not stay long for the ''merienda" for it was almost lunch time and the (.entral teachers had prepared for hat. It was only when the visitors had left that the three teachers again found time to express the thoughts foremost in their three minds. PRESIDENTIAL ... (Continued from page 13) struggle, the nations losing out and feeling eventually the pinch of huitgry stomachs are the ones which start trouble. If it were possible to establish an Economic Commission for the World in which there are no filibusters but only statesmen who are truly and sincerely interested in obliterating the economic demand and supply so that all mankind will be equally benefited, maybe liomething will have been started to remove once and for all the sow·ce of all wars-the empty stomach. Ah, but we are asking ofor the millenium; and we are only teachers, not world economist; not even ECAFE kibitzers! 7. What strikes us as ironical in this business of the UNESCO is the fact that the countries which should be the aubject CJif UNESCO's solicitude are not tn the UNESCO. Which probably means that while the UNESCO na~ions are working so hard for peace, those outside the organization cannot be reached· by their efforts. In other words, we are trying hard to promote peace ~ong people who are already peaceloving, and our efforts do not reach those who are bent on creating trouble for the world. Are we really getting anywhere? "Do you think he had noticed that the children touched his car?" Mr. de Guzman asked. "Those idiots," Miss Reyes exclaimed. "I shall teach them tomorrow. Look!" and she pointed to two pieces of rags left in the middle front of the room. "Do you think those were there when the DS entered?" 8. And talking of peace reminds us of the General who js in the UN as representative of the Philippines. He has made a name for the Philippines and !or himself (himself, mainly), in his efforts to help the world seek and fashion the instruments of peace. Would it not be a good idea to ask him to come back here and try his skill at the job which certain generals of the anny and the Great Guerilla Supremo himself have bungled so well! We might yet be convinced that the tongue is mightier than the bazooka. 9. In the meantime, we teacher~o; must do our job. We mbst keep on preaching that tlie surest road to peace is aJ?..· .intelligent understanding of the lives and labors of other peoples and of eultivating a genuine love for them no matter what their creed, color or concience. International brotherhood is a lofty and far-way ideal, but there is nothing else more worthy of our efforts as mentors of the citizena of tomorrow. If we cannot say P'TNIS to atombomb manufacture, the bomb will finish us! Before that happens, and while we have this chance to say so, let us wish one and all a Merry CbriJitmas and a Happy New Year! FOR MODERN OPTICJI..L NEEDs-SEE KEEPSAKE OPTICAL---SO Eocolta I I