10 teachers honored on National Teachers’ month

MANILA, Philippines –  Ten outstanding teachers are being honored on National Teachers’ Month.

What drives these unsung heroes?
Jee Geronimo reports.

Fely Batiloy calls herself a singer for all seasons.
A music teacher, she says it’s her life mission to help gifted special children.

FELY BATILOY
TEACHER, SPED-ISEC
One of the questions of our judges during the National Finals interview, how can you make music as a medium of instruction? And I told them: Music has what we call the intrinsic, extrinsic and therapeutic values. It could touch the heart and soul of a person. You can sing when you’re happy, when you’re sad, when you’re lonely. For me music is the most powerful medium of instruction.

Fely is one of ten teachers being honored by Metrobank alongside soldiers and police officers.
Education Secretary Armin Luistro says today’s soul-searching nation needs ordinary people to show the way to integrity.
Like Fely, Marcelo Otinguey and Emilyn Espiritu bring their passion to their classrooms and communities.
Marcelo helps put up libraries in indigenous peoples’ communities.

MARCELO OTINGUEY
TEACHER 3, AMPUSONGAN NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
I think it is still my passion to serve, I think that is innate in me, even when I was young, I feel it. Magaan ang iyong loob kahit wala kang pera, wala kang resources, yung ginagawa mo parang magaan sa kalooban. (Even without money and resources, what you do feels good inside.)

Emilyn uses science to raise environmental awareness among her students.

DR EMILYN ESPIRITU
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY
Nakakalungkot isipin na nagiging popular ang programa sa Environmental Science dahil may mga kalamidad na nangyayari sa ating kapaligiran. Actually I hope to see the day when there will be no need for a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science because then that means we have solved the environmental problems that we face, so magiging irrelevant na itong course na ito. (When I think about it, it’s sad that the Environmental Science program is becoming popular because of calamities around us. Actually, I hope to see the day when there will be no need for a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science because then that means we have solved the environmental problems that we face, so this course would then be irrelevant.)

For Marcelo, teaching is a service, not a just a career.
The common denominator for ten passion-driven teachers.
Jee Geronimo, Rappler, Manila. – Rappler.com