Day: August 15, 2022

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CHED hosts ASEAN’s 55th founding anniversary kickoff

by Gian Kyra A. Morones / ILLO

August 8, 2022 – CHED hosts their first hybrid virtual kick-off ceremony for ASEAN’s 55th founding anniversary. This year, ASEAN carries Cambodia’s chairmanship 2022 theme, ASEAN A.C.T. Addressing Challenges Together.

The Assistant Secretary of ASEAN Affairs, Daniel Ramos Espiritu, opened the ceremony with his welcome remarks. In his speech, Daniel Espiritu highlighted how school closures due to the pandemic interrupted the development of education. With the sudden shift in traditional learning to online education, there had been a growing digital divide among students. By October of 2020, ASEAN leaders and experts created measures to promote digital literacy and development of transferable skills among youths and children. This is to ensure that education in the region is “equitable, inclusive and future ready”. Along with distance learning strategies, maximize e-learning platforms, open educational resources, and virtual peer exchanges in order to further improve the quality of education. He noticed that, “ASEAN remains united and strong even in the face of hardships”.

“ASEAN remains united and strong even in the face of hardships.”

The event’s guest speaker, Senator Loren Legarda, mentioned her first bill in the 19th Congress, the ‘One Tablet, One Student Program’ seek to provide public schools, universities and colleges a tablet for each student for the purpose of helping them cope with the changes in their education. In coordination with CHED, Senator Legarda helped in assisting students’ education through developing laws that provide financial assistance to their education like UniFast, Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education Act and the Enhanced Basic Education Program. She stressed that, “Filipinos, especially from lower income families, should know that they have such opportunities”. She also stated a problem concerning the young population as they face a disproportionate level of unemployment and under employment in which she hopes to address if given the chance. “It is imperative that we build a more resilient educational ecosystem”. She proposed to ramp up the skills development in education, sustainable development, gender equality and inclusivity.

SEAMEO Director, Dr. Ethel Agnes Pascua Valenzuela stated that “we must strengthen the implementation of open, flexible and distance learning” and provide more importance to distance learning. The new normal education paved the way to a reimagined new normal and hybrid higher education. This new development in learning and education must be valued and acknowledged in order to adjust and move forward with ease towards new learning modalities.

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WVSU, Florida State University conduct ABC+ project

by Gian Kyra A. Morones and Shanea Mae A. Nalaunan / ILLO

 

West Visayas State University – College of Education (WVSU-COE) held the Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension Workshop in preparation for pre-service teachers on August 8, 2022.

The event was facilitated by Florida State University (FSU), as one of the technical assistants that provide one public university in each chosen region. West Visayas State University collaborated with international experts Dr. Ana Marty and Kate Schell, literacy specialists from FSU, on pre-service teacher education to develop syllabus and instructional modules for instructors and students, and train instructors who will deliver literacy courses. Its objective is  to create courses that focus on literacy development and beginning reading to be a part of the College of Education curricula for the Bachelor of Early Childhood Education (BECE) and Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEE).

WVSU will receive technical assistance from ABC+ for these courses to be taught. This project is holding another event this August 11 and 12, 2022 aimed to  develop and improve the early literacy training for pre-service teachers.

The Research Triangle Institute (RTI) International, in collaboration with West Visayas State University College of Education, held the activity as part of their agreement with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to implement ABC+: Advancing Basic Education in the Philippines—a 5-year project that aims to improve literacy skills, math, and social and emotional learning skills for Kindergarten through Grade 3 in Regions V (Bicol) and VI (West Visayas).

Dr. Joselito P. Villaruz, WVSU President, handing the certificates to Dr. Ana Marty (left) and Kate Schell (right)

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The WVSU – College of Law’s Project E-Hustisya

West Visayas State University – College of Law (WVSU-COL) implemented a project that focuses on legally assisting the marginalized sectors of Iloilo City.

The WVSU – College of Law’s Center for Law Advocacy is a legal clinic that provides legal assistance for marginalized sectors. However, what sets E-Hustisya apart is that it specifically focuses on abused women and children.

In Rule 138 – Law Student Practice Rule by the Supreme Court, students can act as lawyers and handle cases as long as a supervising lawyer is present. Thus, Project E-Hustisya is a student-driven legal clinic with Atty. Ian Thomas M. Besana acting as their supervising lawyer. The cases of victims will be facilitated by the College of Law student lawyers through interviewing clients, preparations of documents to be filed in court, assisting a negotiation, and other legal assistance necessary.

According to Atty. Ian Thomas M. Besana, also the college’s Associate Dean, the project had already begun conducting training for two barangays that are nearest the vicinity of the University campus—Brgy. Magsaysay and Brgy. Montinola. They are trained to carefully handle sensitive and pervasive cases regarding women and children victims. He said, “Sa barangay level pa lang kung ma resolve na siya hindi na mag file case… kay ang courts ta puno na sang cases”. However, it is essential to note that the College of Law’s Center for Law Advocacy also caters to other cases such as disputes, crimes, etc. Atty. Ian Thomas M. Besana mentioned that the College of Law aims to apply for Level 2 Training for the purpose of allowing law student practitioners to appear in courts.

The project is led by the College of Law, in partnership with the Gender and Development Office (GAD) and the Women and Children Protection Unit (WCPU). In addition, the United Nations and European Union granted two (2) million pesos to fund the project thus, an amount of one thousand five hundred (1,500) pesos will be given to consulting victims to be utilized as financial assistance if they decide to file a case.

Currently, the Center for Law Advocacy is open for people around Iloilo City, and even for the people around the University campus, though it is a mission to expand the project. Project E-Hustisya can be accessed through email, social media channels, and available hotlines to be provided along with booklets to be distributed by the Center for Law Advocacy called Pakigbato 101.

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Inaugural Release of the Journal for Law Advocacy

The WVSU Journal for Law Advocacy (JLA) is an academic journal  committed to the development of legal scholarship for and from the Visayas Region and Southern Philippines.  The student-run editorial board adheres to a double-blind peer review process as its editorial policy to determine the quality of submission both from law students and legal practitioners.

JLA’s inaugural issue carries the theme “Electoral Laws and the 2022 Philippine Election” and contains seven carefully selected chapters that provide important legal analyses of electoral issues that limit, if not hostage, the conduct of free and fair elections in the Philippines.  In preparation of the journal’s official launch by September 23rd 2022, online versions of the seven stand alone chapters will be shared to the reading public. For this week, JLA will be featuring two chapters written by the Student Editors of JLA and by Dean Jose Mari BFU Tirol. 

 

(Click the image to access the full article)

The first chapter entitled “Back to the Future’s Part: An overview of the recently-concluded 2022 National Elections” provides the reader with both the historical and political context that has shaped election results. Co-authored by the seven student editors of the Journal (Clyde Gacayan, Edson Yap, Kirby Aguaras, Rene Aviles, Vanessa Silla, Theda Gumban & Mike Guillem) this chapter is a recollection of the most important events of the election which were revisited to provide context to the most pressing legal questions that surrounded the polls. This includes the pre-campaign period, where the rules on substitution of candidates have seemingly worked in favor of the Marcos-Duterte tandem. Further, the campaign period, which is regulated by Republic Act (R.A.) No. 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, was marked by legal challenges as to campaign spending and the use of different media platforms, such as social media and ‘Operation Baklas” of the COMELEC, against which the Supreme Court issued a temporary restraining order as early as March 8, 2022. The May 9 polls, despite having a high voter turnout of 82.6%, were characterized by international observers as not meeting global standards for a free and fair election, as reports of election-related human rights violations surfaced. As early as the evening of election day, the landslide win of the Marcos-Duterte tandem became apparent yet unconvincing to many. What happened thereafter was unprecedented in Philippine electoral history. There were no pre-proclamation controversies nor election contests filed specifically against Marcos Jr., and his inauguration as the 17th President of the Republic of the Philippines went smoothly, overshadowing his family’s legal theatrics to escape liability from the 21-year dictatorial rule of his father, Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.. 

The student editors, as well as contributing authors of this inaugural issue, hope that readers arrive at a more complete picture of the interplay of law, jurisprudence, and electoral reform in the Philippines. The different chapters of this volume earnestly put together provide at the very least, a diagnosis of each of the key areas of reform in the Philippine electoral system. A total of five more papers will be released online in the next 5 weeks tackling on issues about anti-political dynasty legislation, the party-list system, election-related offenses and rules on substitution. Thereafter, a print copy of the Journal will be made available for distribution.

For inquiries, please email the Journal’s Executive Editor –  Clyde Gacayan at [email protected] .