EDUCATION FOR ALL

Born to a family where both parents were teachers, all of us 11 children were made to understand that education is an indispensable tool in the quest for success.

But among all of us, it was I who did not finish a college degree as a young man. That is in spite of the fact that, modesty aside, I graduated valedictorian both in the elementary grades and in high school.

Poverty and financial hardships as a work scholar forced me to find a job at 17. I was hired as a news writer by The Mindanao Times in Davao City where the editor was a young lawyer, Jesus Dureza, who later would become Press Secretary.

As I worked from one media outlet to another, the last as senior copy editor of Tempo newspaper, nobody even asked me if I graduated from college.

I became a Mayor and a Governor without finishing a college degree and nobody seemed to care.

Deep inside me though, I felt that something was not complete.

Sometime in 2004, then President Virgilio Oliva of the University of Southern Mindanao and some USM professors convinced me to enroll again under the Expanded Tertiary Equivalency and Accreditation Program (ETEAP), a brainchild of former President Fidel V. Ramos designed to convert work experience to college units.

In 2006, I finally finished my college degree, Bachelor of Science in Development Communication, and immediately proceeded to take up a Masteral Degree in Rural Economic Development.

I earned several units in a doctorate degree but failed to finish it following the 2010 election debacle. Last year, I enrolled in the college of law of Cor Jesu College in Digos, Davao del Sur but I decided to take a rest for the second semester, again because of another election forthcoming.

I fully understand and appreciate the importance of education.

This is the reason why when I was Governor, I expanded the scholarship program from just over 100 slots every year to about 1,000.

Today, I am convinced that education should not just be a privilege but a Right of our children. This is enshrined in the Universal Rights of Children adopted by almost all countries in the world.

In North Cotabato, I intend to ensure that every child who would like to go to school and finish a college degree should be provided that opportunity by the provincial government.

My dream is for North Cotabato to be one of the few local government areas in the country, maybe the only, to offer free college scholarship to all children of poor families.

Education for all our children is government’s obligation.

(photo caption: Filipino students pledge allegiance to the republic. photo lifted from google.com)