Education in general aims at producing intelligent, responsible, and well-informed citizens. Primary school pupils, for example, are taught skills they will use throughout life, such as reading, writing, and arithmetic.
However, a survey conducted by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) early this year showed that the survival rate of Filipino public primary school pupils is deteriorating every year. This report is corroborated by the Department of Education (DepEd) records manifesting a 68.4 percent survival rate.
The report revealed that Filipino students ranked near bottom among 25 countries on the elementary level. It suggested that the deterioration in the quality of Philippine education must be corrected soon. Otherwise, it could take a generation before the country can recover from the consequences of a poorly educated citizenry.
To help avert this major intellectual crisis, the Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE) Party list was formed in 2000. Its aim is to push for the welfare of students, teachers, parents and majority of the populace.
The concept was formed in 1997 during the Asian economic meltdown, when Dr. Eulogio “Amang” R. Magsaysay saw the appalling downturn of the quality of education in the country. He set into motion and formed an organization, together with Dr. Jose Baesa and Architect Ging Zonio-Jimenez, which they called the Alliance of Volunteer Educators (AVE) that would help alleviate the welfare of members of the educational sector.
“I witnessed first hand how pitiful students in state colleges here who can’t even afford to buy a P120 textbook and just make do with cheap, loose-leafed photocopied versions,” laments Amang, as friends and constituents call the US-educated, 42-year-old party list representative of AVE at the 13th Congress. “Whereas, students in the US are a pampered lot. University libraries there are open till 3 o’clock in the morning just to accommodate students doing research work.”
Magsaysay has a political pedigree from both his paternal and maternal sides. He is the second child of the late Sen. Genaro Magsaysay of Castillejos, Zambales and Adelaida “Baby” Canoy Rodriguez of Rodriguez, Rizal, a daughter of the late Senate President Eulogio “Amang" Rodriguez. He finished his political science degree, minor in English at the University of Southern California (USC), where he graduated magna cum laude. He also finished his masteral degree in economics and doctorate in philosophy in political economy at USC.
After finishing his PhD in 1992, he worked as an economic analyst and corporate secretary and as senior mortgage loan officer of two separate banks in Los Angeles, California.
“I witnessed our country taking off during the Ramos administration in the mid-1990s, then nose-dived during the Asian economic meltdown in mid-1997,” explains the young political economist who has filed 14 House Bills in Congress, including a bill to upgrade the salary grade of public school teachers from 10 to 19 and a bill for individuals with disabilities (SPED).
“In 2001, I bumped into a congressman-friend who told me that my Alliance of Volunteer Educators has no representation in Congress, unlike other sectors of our society,” says Magsaysay, who is married to Cachola Montenegro del Castillo of Taal, Batangas and blessed with four children. “I brought the matter up with the AVE board of directors, but they were adamant because AVE is an NGO and not meant to become a political party.
“However, with 30,000 registered members nationwide in 2001 and still growing, we took a calculated task in the 2004 elections and the rest is history,” avers Magsaysay, whose nickname was taken from his famous grandfather. “Being US-educated, I’m very idealistic. But this led me to my first baptism of fire when I spearheaded investigations of two giant private institutions that encountered problems that fizzled out in the end.”
But his initial frustrations didn’t deter Magsaysay to pursue AVE’s belief that “ang malusog na katawan ay may malusog na kaisipan” (a sound body will have a sound mind).
This principle, which was lifted from the words of the famous Roman poet Juvenal, mens sana in corpore sano (a sound mind in a sound body), is anchored as well on Article II, Section 15 of the Constitution, which provides that it is the duty of the State to protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them. The aforestated tenets are the bases of AVE’s commitment to provide free medical assistance to its constituents all over the country.
“Any attempt for (economic) development will be futile without an educated work force—we’ll just end up at the bottom,” says the bespectacled congressman. “We are the cellar dwellers when it comes to achievement tests in the region vis-à-vis other Southeast Asian countries.
“Back in the 1960s and the 1970s, the Philippines was the center of education of Asia. Now, we lag behind. What we need is educational renaissance to redeem that title,” states Magsaysay, who, even before he became a party-list representative in 2004, already demonstrated his legislative acumen when he drafted the Magna Carta for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) for his uncle, [cousin] Sen. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. It became a law under R.A. 8289.
Aside from filing bills to upgrade the minimum salary grade level of public school teachers and providing them more benefits, AVE established, together with the Congressional Spouses Foundation, Inc., the “Haven for Children” along Zapote Road in Alabang, Muntinlupa City to provide temporary shelter and rehabilitation for homeless boys aged 6-13 in the Haven’s 9 two-story building complex.
“The objective of this endeavor is to prepare these youth toward formal education so that once they go to school, they will have the motivation to study,” explains the diminutive congressman whose organization supports 15,000 scholars nationwide. “In Manila, near the corner of San Marcelino and Ayala Blvd. in Ermita, we sponsor the “Gimme Shelter,” a center whose aim is to rehabilitate, assist in job placement, and relocation of the homeless, thus making them more productive citizens.”
The Gimme Shelter halfway house could accommodate five families at a time and stay for a maximum of five weeks, after which, they have to leave to give way to other homeless needing temporary shelter. Since its opening more than a year ago, it had sheltered 250 families, which were trained by the DSWD in livelihood projects.
Aside from the homeless and street children in need of temporary asylum, Magsaysay is also concerned with the well being of public school teachers.
“Any attempt for development will be futile without an educated work force,” avers the articulate solon that has more constituents than the majority of members of the Lower House who only represent their respective political district. “With a measly P9,939 salary per month, a public school teacher could barely make both ends meet for his or her family because according to the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), a monthly salary of P17,000 a month is needed to sustain a family of five.
“This is the reason why some teachers can’t even send their children to school. Worse, because of poor ventilation in poorly built classrooms that is crowded with up to 120 pupils, 2,376 public school teachers were reported to be afflicted with TB!” says Magsaysay, whose House Bill No. 1189 that aims to upgrade teachers’ salary is still being deliberated with the House’s Committee on Appropriations.
The proposed measure seeks to increase by P6,000 public school teachers’ monthly salaries, so that more qualified and competent educators will be attracted to teach in public schools, which are suffering from a shortage of 16,390 teachers.
With everything going in the right direction, Magsaysay is realizing his long-time dream—to push for a high quality Philippine education for the Filipino youth, which he believes will eventually cascade down to help ease the burden of his countrymen, for he believes that education is a potent tool in nation building.
“By joining the Alliance of Volunteer Educators, we gain broader chances of attaining our dreams and aspirations. As the old adage goes, `The whole is greater than the sum of its parts’,” concludes Magsaysay. “We can accomplish more if we join hands together. There is nothing more fulfilling than having contributed to affording our future generations a brighter horizon.”
