Luistro commends ‘Dangal ng Bayan’ teachers
(PRESS RELEASE)
As the father of all basic education teachers in the country, Education Secretary Armin Luistro is very proud of the recognition given to two public school teachers who are among this year’s Dangal ng Bayan awardees.
Public school teachers Lorna Pulalon and Edgar Madlaing, joined by eight other government officials and employees, received the 2011 Dangal ng Bayan Awards (Outstanding Public Officials and Employees) given by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) during the awarding ceremony in Malacañang Palace on Wednesday.
“On behalf of the entire DepEd family, I salute Teacher Lorna and Teacher Edgar for giving inspiration to their fellow teachers and for upholding the nobility of purpose and profession that all teachers should stand for,” said Luistro.
Pulalon, 27, was a grade 2 school teacher in Talisayan Elementary School, Zamboanga City who was stabbed and killed by a former convict as she used her own body to cover and protect her young pupils from the assailant. She had just been transferred to Talisayan Elementary School when the incident happened but the courageous act she displayed has proven that teachers’ love and care for their little soldiers will come naturally regardless of how long they have been with their students.
A posthumous award was conferred by the Office of the President to Pulalon which her parents received.
Meanwhile, Madlaing, who has been teaching for more than ten years now, is a leader in his own ways. Aside from his teaching functions at Benguet National High School in the Cordillera Administrative Region, he is also the Citizenship Advancement Training (CAT) Commandant of his school and uses this position to effectively mobilize his co-teachers and students to lead the community in rescue operations during calamities.
“The exceptional contributions of both Pulalon and Madlaing remind us that teaching is a very challenging job that not everyone can do, because not everyone can multitask like teachers do; not everyone can love and care for the children and the community like Teacher Lorna and Teacher Edgar have shown,” added Luistro.
Dangal ng Bayan is the highest award bestowed to a government official or employee who has shown extraordinary excellence, professionalism, and integrity in public service.
Luistro calls on all teachers to continue to find joy in touching the hearts and minds of the youth as we all work together in saving the Filipino children from illiteracy.
“I wish we could clone teachers like Pulalon and Madlaing and replicate their inspiring qualities so that Filipinos will regard all our teachers as “dangal ng bayan,” Luistro noted.