Bontoc, Mountain Province – Bontoc Mayor Franklin Odsey expressed his gratitude to the teachers as he highlighted their commitment, dedication, and hard work in the delivery of quality education to learners amid the pandemic during the Bontoc District Teachers’ Day celebration cum Mid-Year Awards and Bondista Day on October 1, 2021, at the Bontoc Central School (BCS) grounds.
The same as last year, the celebration for this year has been scaled-down with a simple program and limited participants in compliance with the minimum health protocols.
In his message, Mayor Odsey remarked that teachers are heroes, not only during this pandemic but for their everyday contribution to the lives of the learners. He acknowledged that teachers have the greatest burden in educating, inspiring, and molding the youth into productive citizens.
The mayor shared his learning for having been an elementary teacher, a government employee, and a politician for years. He emphasized that good governance is founded on the core values of integrity, ethics, transparency, and accountability.
Good governance is a manifestation of good public service and exemplary leadership. This is reflected in the various awards and recognitions accorded to the Municipality of Bontoc.
Under the administration of Mayor Odsey, Bontoc is an awardee of the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) for three years in a row, a Hall of Famer Most Outstanding Accounting Office in the Philippines, and the Bontoc Municipal Government is the only Local Government Unit (LGU) in the entire Cordillera region qualified for the Performance-Based Bonus (PBB) granted by the national government for Fiscal Year 2020 and was given this year 2021.
The SGLG is one of the highest awards given by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) to local government units (LGUs) which recorded exemplary performance covering education, health, disaster preparedness, peace and order, social protection, financial transparency, revenue generation, among others.
Mayor Odsey credited the awards to the collaborative effort of all stakeholders in Bontoc, in which the education sector is included.
“I am very happy about this and I would like to thank you for the support from the education sector. This award could not have materialized if not for the cooperation among our people and the various stakeholders in the community. It is something the whole Bontoc can be proud of”, Odsey remarked.
Public Schools District Supervisor (PSDS) – Bontoc District Amelia Wacangan expressed her profound gratitude to the Bontoc LGU under the leadership of Mayor Odsey for their unending assistance to the education sector.
Rodolfo Paspas, the School Head of Bontoc Ili Primary School and Ut-utan Elementary School joined Wacangan in extending his gratitude to the Bontoc LGU.
He thanked the Bontoc LGU for passing Ordinance No. 315, s. 2019 known as the Municipal Teachers’ Day Ordinance of Bontoc, Mountain Province, and allotting P60, 000 annually for this celebration. In Mountain Province, only the Municipality of Bontoc has passed an ordinance allocating from its budget a separate amount for the public teachers to use in the celebration of the National Teachers’ Month. The said ordinance was sponsored by Sangguniang Bayan member Alsannyster Patingan.
Also, the Bontoc LGU allots the entire budget earmarked in the Special Education Fund to its intended purpose, and even downloading the fund to the respective schools for the latter to independently allot the budget according to the school’s needs.
On the same day, Bontoc recognized and awarded the schools, teaching, and non-teaching personnel of the Department of Education (DepEd) – Bontoc District for their exemplary performance.
The cash prizes that were given to the awardees came from the P60,000 budget allocated by the municipal government for the yearly celebration of the Bontoc Teachers’ Day.
Relative to this, the awardees are grateful for recognitions and shared their inspirational messages. Outstanding Non-Teaching Personnel Level I– Abegail Sawi, Outstanding Non-Teaching Personnel Level II– Romelin Denis Fagkangan, Outstanding Secondary Public School Teacher– Marietta Kabluyen, Most Compliant Teacher (Private School)– Fredieson Ana-ao, Spark Awardee–Princess Darryl Marquez– emphasized love of work, work with dedication, enthusiasm and joy, stepping out of comfort zones, compliance and realization of one’s potential.
Presidential Proclamation No. 242 declares September 5 to October 5 of every year as National Teachers Month and Republic Act 10743 declares the 5th day of October of every year as the National Teachers Day and the designation of the World Teachers Day every 5th of October by the United Nations Education and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The theme for this year’s celebration is “Gurong Filipino: Katuwang sa Hamon, Kasama sa Pagbangon”. ** Alpine L. Killa, Bontoc LGU
