TESDA IS THE ANSWER

Jobless, Hopeless, a Nobody Turned World Class
A true-to-life story of Nasroden M. Alawi
Marawi City, June 18, 2009

I was then a scholar in a State University taking post-graduate studies to pursue a dream for a career profession in teaching when in the final phase of enrolling a thesis requirement everything has stopped as taking the subject will cost me multiple times higher than what I could afford. That was in 2002 and the cost gets higher by the year against the earning that is getting lower instead. The stumbling block has reduced me into a hopeless loser, a jobless nobody, an added burden to a destitute family. The huge investment in time and money for a dreamed career went down the drain for a fraction of shortfall I couldn’t accept happening. Seven years has dragged my life meaningless and I’m coming out of age until TESDA happens.

The Scholarship grant for a half-year course of Massage Therapy I benefited from the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority has changed the whole world in me from being a frustrated professional into a happy career-provider of a world-class standard. It was a brilliant way of fast-tracking a dream profession exclusive from TESDA and never-known to so many people like me who happens to be constricted to the old confines of formal education.

I have then heard of TESDA hence the word is a common talk but I never realized the magic that brings hope and success to so many people in this poor country. I started witnessing that fact late last year when I entered the so-called “world of Tech-Voc” in the Cali Paramedical College, a training provider referred to by the TESDA provincial office who granted my scholarship application. I’m taking the course as my second option and a sort of buying time while in the waiting for opportunity. But the thought has changed the very first day of orientation which is an induction program taking place prior the training.

The whole-day process involving some 60 Scholars was a unique experience and a real barrier-breaking in the learning environment especially in the channels of communication. Anybody participating would not think of the school as mere requirement and a domain ruled by boring teachers feeding knowledge and deciding fate. The Cali School is an equitable teaching-learning community in a competitive harmony of teachers and learners with diverse potentialities sharing knowledge and skills among each other. I was overwhelmed by the spontaneous dynamics seem so free and not structured. There and then I feel in me a career coming to life.

4 MONTHS IN THE MAKING

The course I’m having is funded for six (6) months through the Pangulong Gloria Scholarship Program in the TESDA. It cos….

IN A RACE FOR PGS!

NOT SO SIMPLE are the requisites for the schools to be awarded with the Pangulong GLORIA Scholarships (PGS) as this province is marked for massive corruption, but the Provincial Director of Tesda, PD Tarhata Mapandi has her own way of ensuring implementation.

IT WAS THE SECOND MONTH of the Summer training in the Cali Paramedical College (Cali) and the President, Dr. Camal Cali is getting the highest level of blood pressure for the year.

The cause of his grief is the delay of the students allowance from Tesda. Day after day, Dr. Cali is confronted by the scholars’ problem like the transportation expense in getting to school. The Scholars have signed a contract stating their scholarship is forfeited for absences.

But most distressful of all are the accusing fingers of the Scholars’ Parents casually spreading gossip that the Scholarship funds have been corrupted by the school.

What really happening was the funds is in the Tesda but it cannot be disbursed without completing mountainous papers to fill-up and signed and every document is authenticated. The Pangulong GLORIA Scholarships (PGS) required new process that is known to be foolproof and the Provincial Director is taking it seriously. Since the start of the first batch in late March Cali papers have been returned by Tesda for not having satisfied the reporting standard, not only twice but for the seventh-time.

A fly-by-night venture wishing luck in the PGS funds would not survive the Tesda scrutiny and this part of the ARMM known to be witty for corruption is having a graft-busting Tesda Executive that rules.

GLORY BE THY GLORIA!

STUDENTS each receiving P7,000.00 cash allowance from the ‘Pangulong GLORIA Scholarships’ are glorifying the President.

MARAWI CITY, Lanao del Sur – Scholarship funds from Tesda is making a euphoria in this part of the Muslim region as hundreds of students are receiving cash allowances by the thousands of pesos each. President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who’s the scholarship program is being named, is venerated by the Maranao for allowing millions of money flowing down the beneficiaries untouched by corruption.

The Cali Paramedical College (Cali) in Marawi, a school providing short courses for Tesda is giving the first half of the P7,000.00 cash allowance for each of the 300 Scholars taking a 6-month medical training. The amount has equivalent billing for the school fees making a total grant of more than 11 thousand pesos for the scholar or about 4 million pesos government grants for the summer in the Cali.

This June opening of classes, the school is expected to double the number of scholars receiving grants from the PGS, a newly enhanced financing scheme in the Tesda scholarship program. Cali is taking pilot implementation of PGS in the province.

All other schools providing training for Tesda are also receiving the grant. This is an added provision to the free training, a scheme intended to ensure a student continue schooling until they acquire competent skills for a job on the waiting as Tesda executives are harping solution to the country’s job-labor mismatch.

CALI PARAMEDICAL COLLEGE: Objective in the Next Academic Year

Transforming the academe into a teaching-learning laboratory that enhances technical and vocational education and training for sustainable development in Muslim communities.

MSU-ENGINEERING TOPS BOARD EXAMS

MSU has 31 topnotchers in board exams!

MARAWI CITY - The Mindanao State University System (MSU) produced 31 top 10 passers, including two topnotchers, in 12 national board examinations conducted by the Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) for 2008, a university official said yesterday.

MSU President Dr. Macapado Muslim said seven graduates from the MSU Marawi main campus and two from Tawi-Tawi landed among the top ten passers in the October 2008 licensure exam for Fishery Techonology.
An MSU Tawi-Tawi graduate, Yashier Jumar placed first, Cherry Nian was 9th, while the Marawi main campus graduates ranked third, fourth, fifth, ninth, and tenth.

Muslim added that the MSU main campus was rated the second top performing school in the Electrical Engineering, Nursing, Social Work and Fishery Techonology board exams.

The MSU Iligan Institute of Technology and the MSU General Santos City were this year's top performing school in Electronics and Communication Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.

Graduates from MSU General Santos City swept the top 3 ranking while another ranked No. 8 in the Mechanical Engineering board examination.

Ronald Hidalgo ranked No. 1, Benjer Acosta, No. 2, Chanley Callano, No. 3 and Ralph Ian Lagunay, No. 8.
MSU Maguindanao graduate Allen Julius Declaro also landed third among top 10 passers in the board exam for Agricultural Engineering.

"Records would show that MSU strives to reap academic excellence in various national board exams besting older and known universities in the country. This is a feat I attribute largely to the quality of our faculty members and students," Muslim said.

Muslim, the 12th president of MSU, said the university also produced one of this year's Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines, Zakariya Tocalo Muripaga of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics.

A graduate of the MSU Siawadato Agricultural High School in Lanao del Sur, Muripaga, a 2008 Magna cum Laude, received his distinguished award from President Arroyo in Malacanang.

Apart from topping the exams in Electronics and Communication, Mechanical, Electrical, Agricultural engineering, Nursing and Fishery, Muslim said, MSU also topped in Social Work, Metallugical, Certified Public Accountancy and Master Electrician board exams.

MSU was created on Sept. 1, 1961 by Republic Act No. 1387, as amended by RA 1893, to hasten the integration of the cultural minority groups into the mainstream of the nation and socio-cultural and political life through public education.

Muslim, who has a Ph.D. and Master's in Arts in Political Science from the University of Hawaii as East-West Center Scholar, said the MSU's achievements were in line with system's vision to lead the university to higher levels of excellence and relevance under a 12-point Reform Agenda.

MSU has 31 topnotchers in board exams.
Published in Manila Bulletin
November 20 2008

GEM MINING SCHOLARSHIP: Applicants for 2nd Screening Process

ATTENTION APPLICANTS FROM LANAO DEL SUR
Below is the Summary Report of the FINAL LIST FOR 2ND SCREENING PROCESS on the GEM Mining Scholarship Application. For more information, you may contact any of the following:

Official Contact Persons:

President - Dr. CAMAL A. CALI, (0905) 922-6758
Program-in-Charge - Prof. SALMAN AGUILAR, (0926) 390-9025
Coordinator for the Beneficiaries - Mr. ANSHAMER D. BARA-ACAL, (0926) 928-0706
Encoder – Ms. NAJMAH M. MACAPUNDAG, (0909) 720-1720

Cali Foundation-Philippines
OUTREACH & INFORMATION SERVICES
Moncado Kadingilan, Marawi City

APPLICANTS FOR GEM MINING SCHOLARSHIP
January 20, 2009

SUMMARY (78 Total Applicants)

Applicants with CGPA = 50
Applicants with GPA = 63
Without GRADES = 15

CGPA Bracket (50):
1.701 – 1.981 = 4
2.0 – 2.976 = 24
3.016 – 3.747 = 22

GPA Bracket (63):
1.750 – 1.984 = 7
2.016 – 2.875 = 43
3.669 – 4.375 = 13

Without Grades Supplied (15):
Licensed Engineer = 1
Engineering Graduate = 2
5th Year Level = 3
4th Year Level = 5
3rd Year Level = 4

Date : February 20, 2009
Submitted by : (Sgd.) Prof. SALMAN D. AGUILAR
Prepared by : (Sgd.) Ms. NAJMAH M. MACAPUNDAG
Checked by : (Sgd.) Mr. ANSHAMER D. BARA-ACAL
Noted by : (Sgd.) DR. CAMAL A. CALI

Why Christian Filipinos Should Support Bangsamoro Right to Self-Determination?

STOP MILITARY OPERATIONS: PURSUE PEACETALK!

Why Christian Filipinos Should Support Bangsamoro Right to Self - Determination?

An Open Letter
Iligan City, February 18, 2009
(First published on October 2, 2008)

In Behalf of the Christian and Lumad settlers in the Bangsamoro homeland, we humbly share with you our opinion in lieu of the GRP-MILF conflict and the escalation of violence in Mindanao.

We believe that the Bangsamoro’s Right to Self-Determination (RSD) is a rightful claim that should be afforded favorably by the government in consonant to the universal declaration of human rights. The claim of RSD is a healthy exercise of the indigenous and marginalized sectors in the Philippine society especially the ones undergoing extreme poverty and deprivation. The Moro people’s demand of their ancestral domain is the most urgent one -- firstly because it has caused wars for centuries now, and secondly, the claimant has their own social system distinct from the Philippine mainstream society.

Such people require self-governance and inter-state relationship with the national government in order for them to live productively and in harmony with the entire country. The question of Constitutional limitations in realizing MILF demand has far superseded by the imminence of civil war and the irreversible escalation of violence which endangers national security.

Philippine history affirms Bangsamoro nationhood to be existent all over Philippine archipelago long before the Spanish conquest. The Bangsamoro was then a peaceful society of dynamic people that have rich culture and enjoys economic prosperity. They have reached advance social system and they had acquired significant trade relations with neighboring countries.

But in due time, this Moro society inferior in their casual community-based defense system was then subdued by the invading superior force of armies with galleons of advance weaponry and war tactics the world ever had. The Moro cities and communities all over the archipelago were then engulfed one after another by military and religious domination. Most of their people were assimilated to Christianity but there were also many who have endured resistance. For more than four hundred years of subjugation, there still remain today a determined Bangsamoro in the hills and among us. Yet their territories had been constricted to the ARMM, their Muslim law has been compromised, their freedom has been usurped, their development has been altered and their society has been corrupted, but the Bangsamoro still thrives in Islam and determined with the struggle for self determination.

An allegory tells us about the Moro liken an oil inside the pail full of water in which the Philippine government have tried to dissolve through the centuries but failed.

One should realize the fact that the principles of Bangsamoro existence lie on the ever-present elements of nationhood their society has attained since time immemorial. Furthermore, its religion of Islam has been serving them completely – encompasses everything of a Moro from the womb to the grave and until the life hereafter in so detailed wisdom and practical values. Islam is feeding the Moros a timeless strength and resolve to remain Muslims from generations to generations. The very least of their comfort is their tribal pride and the rooted identity they can bank on.

In a vernacular, Islam is indeed like an oil in the pail of water. The water may have overwhelming quantity will eventually evaporate under the heat of the sun. Unlike the oil that remains stable in substance and quantity, the water under the heat will easily break down to separate elements and dries up leaving ashes of impurities.
The Moro has their own way of life very different and usually opposite from the majority Christians in the country. They are entirely ruled by Islam contrary to the law of the land separating church and state. And besides, we should accept what history has proven of the Moro -- unless they are annihilated altogether, their right of self-determination remains a quest that compel rebellion. With the current circus of economic and political crisis in the country that is further complicated by the US geopolitical interest in the region, these and all other issues in the Bangsamoro will spell deaths, endless conflicts, terrorism and worst, an Afghanistan-like “anti-terror” devastation.

Not even an “expanded ARMM” or an improved Muslim Code suffice Bangsamoro need of national freedom and self-determination. However, a Bangsamoro Juridical Entity in the MOA-AD could have lead to peaceful reconstruction of the Moro society to co-exist with the rest. By then, Islamization will gradually transform the Moro people towards attaining their aspired development. These are in effect will overwhelm the social blights corrupting their society while their Shariah is in the process expand its rule to institute their self-regulations, advances the peoples rights and welfare and enforce social security for the Muslim, Christian and Lumad settlers alike. Moro will then be good a Moro with their own justice system. With the provision on “Dhimmies,” (a law in the Shariah that protects the non-Muslims in a Muslim territory) non-Muslim communities inside Muslim territories can enjoy freedom of their chosen faith, ways and practices that are free from harm, intervention or any form of injustices under a Muslim rule.

THEREFORE, we affirmed support for the Bangsamoro Right to Self-Determination to be realized the soonest possible time. Let not ignorance rule our society. Let us help one another to rectify the wicked course of the Philippine history. By God’s will, we shall overcome these wars and reconstruct Mindanao in a sustainable peace and development.

(Sgd) Nelson L. Mandiang
(Sgd) Christopher M. Lluch

Justice for Bangsamoro Movement contact person: Jun (0919) 359-9058