Education Chief Highlights Need to Contemporize Culture, Arts with Sci-Tech

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Department of Education (DepEd) Secretary Leonor Magtolis Briones recently emphasized the importance of contemporizing culture and the arts with science and technology to further advance the educational system in the country.

The Education chief noted this during the ribbon-cutting ceremony of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and Philippine World Heritage Sites Mobile Exhibition last February 26 at the Bulwagan ng Karunungan, DepEd Central Office in Pasig City.

“If we only concentrate in catching up with science and technology, but forget about our history, culture and the arts, then where will we get our soul? Our soul as Filipinos come from those and these make us distinct and different from other ASEAN member-countries, even as we have strong similarities,” Briones said.

She further mentioned that the arts and design, and sports tracks under the K to 12 curriculum are equally important as the mainstream academic and technical-vocational-livelihood tracks.

“We have to make them aware that it pays to be a writer, a dancer, a designer; it pays to be in ‘art.’ And it also even pays to be a boxer,” she added.

Mobile exhibitions
Briones conveyed her gratitude to the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCAA), which provided the Department with four mobile exhibits to be used in promoting awareness on ASEAN and the Philippine World Heritage Sites.

“We look forward to showing and sharing these exhibits to different regions, especially to places where these exhibits will be most informative and will bring greater awareness. But we should not limit ourselves only to the urban centers but in many other schools, which we are not even aware of and in areas where there are continuous challenges to our identity,” Briones stated.

“We see these exhibits as one of the windows of the world for ASEAN through fascinating in diverse cultures to our friends in Asia, who share many similarities to our own culture and at the same time offer many, cultural places that are uniquely their own,” DepEd-International Cooperation Office (ICO) Director Margarita Consolacion Ballesteros said.

The mobile exhibition panels include: Southeast Asian Art and Culture (ideas, forms, and societies); Foodlore and Flavors (inside Southeast Asian Kitchen); Celebrating the Source (water festivities of Southeast Asia); and Living Landscapes and Cultural Landmarks (World Heritage Sites in the Philippines).

The exhibit is open for viewing to all DepEd employees, students, and the general public at the Bulwagan ng Karunugan, DepEd-CO until March 9, Friday, and will be toured to the 17 DepEd Regional Offices, and selected Division Offices and schools within the year. During the exhibit tour, 53,265 ASEAN Primers, given by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), will be distributed to students. Moreover, 150,000 printed copies of the ASEAN Charter, given by the DFA as well and translated in Filipino, Cebuano, and Ilokano, will be distributed.

“The Philippines can be proud of the diversity and wealth of our culture molded through the centuries by the many influences that have touched our lives, which gave us a nation with unique culture identity,” Ballesteros concluded.

CALABARZON Dominates 2018 National Schools Press Conference, Festival of Talents

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SharCALABARZON brought home back-to-back victories after being declared the overall champion of this year’s National Schools Press Conference (NSPC) and National Festival of Talents (NFOT) held in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental.

National Schools Press Conference 

CALABARZON (Region IV-A) has been bagging the NSPC championship for six years in a row. In 2018, it dominated the individual, group, and school paper contests held from February 19 to 23 at different venues, including Silliman University, St. Louis School-Don Bosco, Catherina Cittadini School, Asian College, and Dumaguete City High School.

Region III (Central Luzon) was the first runner-up, followed by the National Capital Region (NCR), Region V (Bicol Region), and Region IV-B (MIMAROPA).

The Department of Education’s (DepEd) Bureau of Curriculum Development (BCD), in coordination with Bureau of Learning Delivery (BLD), spearheaded the NSPC, with the theme, “Embracing ASEAN Integration: Campus Journalists’ Role in Advancing Inclusive Education.”

Individual contests included news, features, editorial, sports, Science and Technology, and column/opinion writing; photojournalism; copyreading and headline writing; and editorial cartooning, while the group contests were composed of radio script writing and broadcasting, TV script writing and broadcasting; collaborative desktop publishing; and online publishing.

The school paper contest awarded the best news, features, editorial, Science and Technology, and sports sections, as well as the best layout and page design, and the overall best school papers.

The outstanding campus journalists and school paper advisers per region were also given recognition in a separate awarding ceremony held on February 22.

National Festival of Talents 

CALABARZON also won the overall championship in the 2018 NFOT also held in Dumaguete City from February 20 to 22.

NCR won first runner-up, followed by Ilocos Region. Central Luzon and Central Visayas won third and fourth runners-up, respectively.

With the theme, “Pagkilala sa Kulturang Filipino Tungo sa Kapayapaan, Pagkakaisa, at Pagbabago,” NFOT showcased the richness of Filipino culture, as well as the diversity of skills and talents of secondary school learners, as well as learners from the Alternative Learning System (ALS), through their products, services, and performances.

The exhibition areas were categorized into five, namely: Technolympics; Sining Tanghalan; Pambansang Tagisan ng Talento sa Filipino; Special Program in Foreign Language (SPFL); and the National Population Development (PopDev) for Social Studies.

Events and contests on Technolympics included automotive servicing, electronics product assembly and servicing, and electrical installation and maintenance (Industrial Arts); cookery, dress making, and beauty care (Home Economics); food preservation and packaging, food processing, and landscape installation and maintenance (Agri-Fishery Arts); and webpage designing, technical drafting, and computer systems servicing (ICT). Each region also showcased the products and services of their schools and learning centers through their booths during the festival’s bazaar exhibit.

The Sining Tanghalan, meanwhile, showcased the learners’ skills and talents in dance, music, visual and media arts, creative writing, and theater arts, while the Tagisan ng Talentofeatured talents on impromptu speaking and interpretative reading. 

The contests for PopDev included debate, quiz, essay writing, poster making, and jingle writing and singing. Finally, the SPFL showcased characters on parade, singing idols, and quiz whizzes.

The banners of the two national events were officially turned over to Ilocos Region – the host of the 2019 NFOT and NSPC – during the awarding and closing ceremonies held at Lamberto Macias Cultural and Sports Complex on February 22 and 23, respectively.

The NSPC and NFOT are annual events of the Department, the former being dubbed as the “Olympics of campus journalism,” and the latter known as the official venue for the learners’ skills exhibition.

The complete list of winners shall be released through an official DepEd Memorandum.

Ringstar’s Michael Dasmarinas Shows PH Media What He's Made Of

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Ringstar’s Michael “Gloves on Fire” Dasmarinas, impressed the packed crowd at Kerry Sports at Shangri-La at the Fort, with his speed and strong punches, at an open media workout held recently.

He is set to take on French boxer Karim Guerfi on April 20, 2018, and both are eyeing the IBO world title in the main card of Ringstar’s ‘Roar of Singapore IV - Night of Champions’, to be held at the 10,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium.

Dasmarinas who is currently ranked 12th by WBC says, “Suportahan niyo po ako at pagdasal sa laban na ito sa April 20 sa Singapore, at sana po manalo tayo.  Hindi lang po ito para sa pamilya ko, para sa bansa din natin ito.”  (Please support and pray for my fight on April 20 in Singapore, I hope we win.  This is not only for my family, it is also for the country.

Ringstar Boxing, Asia’s fastest growing sports media property has now reached an overwhelming broadcast footprint of over a potential billion viewers across the globe, and is currently gearing up for its April 20 show, ‘The Roar of Singapore IV – ‘Night of Champions’, to be held at the 10,000-seater Singapore Indoor Stadium. 

Tickets are now available at www.sportshub.com.sg/RoarofSG4.  

Ticket prices for VVIP tables at SGD 5,000, with early bird rates at SGD 4,000, up to March 20, 2018.  This includes a 4-course dinner with free-flowing wine and beer, VVIP gift bag which includes Ringstar shirts, corporate branding on the table, half-page ad in the fight program, exclusive VIP entrance and red-carpet access and photo opportunities with top celebrities and world-renowned athletes.

Category 1 Seats are at SGD 48, with early bird rates at SGD 38.  While Stadium Seats are at SGD 38, with early bird rates at SGD 28.  

Promo code ‘RINGSTAR’ will entitle ticket buyers 50% off the rates, over and above the early bird rate, (for tickets only).  

Sponsors and Partners of ‘Night of Champions’ include Roomaif International and Alexandre Christie.

For more information on promo codes and ‘RoarofSG4’, please visitwww.sportshub.com.sg/roarofsg4 


Photo Caption: Ringstar’s Michael Dasmarinas who topbills ‘Roar of Singapore IV - Night of Champions’ at the Singapore Indoor Stadium on April 20, shows off his wares at a packed open workout at Kerry Sports at Shangri-La, BGC.