Category: Philippines Daily Inquirer

A year of elevation. A year of going beyond the limits. Because honestly, my 2025 was a year of breakthroughs.

I got into my dream university to pursue my master’s degree. I realized that my career is both rewarding and empowering, and it lets me inspire younger generations. Most importantly, I was able to pursue passions like graphic design and feature writing.

I came into the first month of 2026 with radical optimism, ready to take on the challenge of what lies ahead. Then, all of a sudden-reality slapped me. I had the will to defy gravity, but the force was too strong for me to pick myself up and face the aftermath of the mistakes I’ve made.

I was slowly unravelling a thread of mistakes that resurfaced and exposed my incompetence, inconsistencies, and negligence. I became a cautionary tale. I became the subject of people’s conversations. I became either a narrative that deserves pity or intense criticism. Sometimes, I couldn’t bear to look at people in the eye and flash them a smile because I was too busy overthinking what they thought of me.

It came to a point that after committing one mistake, followed by a couple more, I slowly realized that instead of becoming a strategic asset, I had turned into a replaceable disposable. It dawned on me that maybe I did not deserve to laugh or smile after what I’ve done. I wanted to morph into the darkness, remain unnoticed, and just keep on working silently.

I wanted to admit that I was okay, even though it was hard to keep being strong when I felt weak.

There were sleepless nights, a lot of contemplating, and recognizing the anxieties I’ve been so afraid to talk about. Some moments made me question if the mistakes I’ve made automatically made me a bad person. That’s the sad part: when you make a mistake, no matter how hard you try to clear your name, no amount of good you’ve done could replace the impact of the mistakes you’ve committed.

But after some time, you realize that all the pain and vulnerability that you’ve felt was necessary. That the consequences of the mistakes you have made needed to be felt to truly grow and transform in the pursuit of becoming the best version of yourself. At some point, it’s not adding salt to the wound, but as the pain pierces through our hearts, we also realize that we are still alive, we’re still standing, we still have a chance to make things right and not just merely allow people to equate our mistakes to the entirety of our being.

For the longest time, I always cared about what other people had to say about me, but this time, I am emancipating myself from people’s perceptions of me. I’ve made peace with the fact that no matter what I do, whether it’s a mistake or a good deed, everyone will still have an opinion about me-but I do have a choice. I can keep on trying to change or convince them of what they think of me, or I could just simply let them be and let go, knowing that people are going to talk about you since it is the price when you make a mistake.

There were three things that I’ve learnt throughout this entire experience.

First, I never thought how strong I was, because while the thought of giving up was barely an option that presented itself as a choice, I kept showing up, living life, and accepting that it is innately within the nature of human beings to make mistakes. Of course, a part of me wanted to go back in time, and if I could, I would’ve done things differently-but we must not keep on regretting because this could limit us from becoming truly happy. It may take years, but you must eventually learn to forgive yourself.

Second, while you may feel that the entire world has turned its back on you-it actually did not. During the toughest times, the compassion, love, and support from genuine people eventually find their way to you, and you will feel comforted, making the pain a little more bearable.

Finally, I have come to realize that the world did not stop when I made a mistake. Life did not stop when I experienced the lowest of lows. When I committed mistakes, it was not the epilogue of the story, but a prologue of what’s yet to come and what’s still out there for me to experience. Let the mistakes we have made become a reminder that life is not all about consistency and winning, but sometimes even in failure we can see that we dared to try, and we can see growth. Mistakes don’t define us, but the courage to continue does.

Life goes on even after you make mistakes, and so must you.

The 2026 Mutya ng Pilipinas pageant season has just started, but one candidate has already picked up an early win, Rica Mae Villasanta who was proclaimed as ‘Mutya ng Bayan.’

The delegate from Camarines Norte garnered 70,230 votes from the official online voting portal, more than 10,000 votes ahead of first runner-up Lyra Punsalan from Davao del Norte, who got 59,630.

Close behind with 52,750 votes and closing the podium at third place was Patricia Dueñas from Cebu City, who was proclaimed second runner-up for the Mutya ng Bayan voting.

Villasanta received her Mutya ng Bayan title at the press presentation of the official candidates for the 58th anniversary edition of the second longest-running national pageant in the Philippines.

The event was held at the ballroom of Bellevue Manila in Muntinlupa City on Sunday evening, Oct. 4. Forty candidates from across the Philippines and from different overseas Filipino communities were presented to members of the media and other guests.

They also received their official sashes bearing their respective hometowns during the event, where they strutted down the runway wearing swimsuits in orange, yellow, and lilac.

But there are two more ways where fans can actively throw their support behind their bets. Voting for Mutya La Elegante Filipinas and Heart of Mutya are currently ongoing, with the winners’ proclamation scheduled on Oct. 11 during the Charity Gala event.

Also to be named during the Charity Gala will be the ‘Darling of the Press,’ the Mutya who garnered the most votes from the members of the media who attended the Press Presentation, as well as her runners-up who received the second highest and third highest number of votes.

The 2026 Mutya ng Pilipinas Grand Coronation Night will be held at the PlayTime FilOil Center in San Juan City on Oct. 14. Several national titles will be awarded at the end of the competition.

The late Salvador ‘Sonny’ Escudero III, who served as secretary of agriculture and a member of the House of Representatives, once said that career advancement was often slow for the better teachers and they were often overlooked when it was time for recognitions and awards.

The problem is not always political patronage or palakasan, a common practice in the Philippines.

Escudero, who was a professor and dean of the University of the Philippines (Los Baños, Laguna) College of Veterinary Medicine and a strong advocate for education, explained that such exemplary teachers were often so dedicated to their work that they could hardly find time or were reluctant to leave the classroom to pursue graduate and postgraduate studies or attend seminars and conferences that were often the bases for promotion.

Fortunately, there are groups that have started to do something for them.

One is the Gokongwei Brothers Foundation (GBF), whose chair, Lance Gokongwei, highlights the crucial role teachers can play in ‘shaping the future of learners.’

‘GBF hopes to help address science specialization gaps through targeted upskilling, so that more teachers are equipped with stronger content knowledge, practical teaching strategies and renewed confidence in the classroom,’ GBF general manager Lisa Gokongwei-Cheng added.

GBF, said executive director Grace Colet, was premised on the belief that education had the power to change not just individual lives but the nation’s own destiny.

For GBF, investing in teachers was a key strategy for improving student learning outcomes. Its educator programs thus focus on strengthening content mastery and pedagogy through various complimentary interventions.

One example, the GBF Class Builder, is a proprietary education technology solution that provides teachers with free, high-quality instructional resources.

A total of 41,000 teachers across 6,000 schools have been onboarded to GBF Class Builder in eight regions.

Through a Reading Remediation component, as well as Mathematics resources, educators have access to ready-to-use lesson plans, slides, and worksheets designed to support more effective classroom instruction.

PH-wide community

The GBF STEM Collab is a nationwide learning community where educators can access free expert-led learning sessions and resources, and peer discourse on relevant topics and strategies they can apply in the classroom. (STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and mathematics, a major focus of GBF’s education initiative.)

The Collab now has 380,000 participants in its webinars, making it ‘the biggest online community of STEM teachers nationwide,’ according to GBF.

In 2025, its ARAL Remediation Series reached more than 209,000 live participants, the biggest virtual audience for teacher training to date.

GBF’s TeachSTEM Scholarship program develops and supports Filipino STEM educators through scholarships and targeted professional development.

The TeachSTEM Certificate Program is designed to fill teacher-subject specialization gaps by giving public school teachers opportunities to deepen their subject knowledge and strengthen their instructional skills through certificate courses delivered by university partners.

Partner schools

The foundation has partnered so far with Centro Escolar University and schools division offices of the cities of Navotas, Marikina and Mandaluyong in the National Capital Region to support 48 Math teachers for the Certificate Course in Math Teaching.

GBF has also partnered with the University of Santo Tomas,

together with the Schools Division Offices of the cities of Quezon, Caloocan, Muntinlupa and Pasig, to support 100 public school teachers through a Certificate in Science Teaching.

The foundation continues to work with the Department of Education-National Educators Academy of the Philippines (DepEd NEAP) to provide professional development opportunities for teachers, including learning sessions that can be credited as Continuing Professional Development (CPD) units.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has expressed hope that Filipinos will realize that the government is ‘sincere’ in its efforts to make the country better.

In the season finale of the ‘Unshaken With Gary V’ podcast, which aired Monday, Marcos had a two-hour candid conversation with Filipino music icon Gary Valenciano about his childhood, the period when the Marcos family was exiled to Hawaii, and his eventual election as president.

Toward the end of the podcast, Valenciano asked Marcos what words of encouragement he would like to give the public.

‘Well, I just hope that people realize that, and people know, and that people feel that what we are doing is right, that what we’re doing is for the better, and to understand that at least I, the people around me, we are sincere in trying to make this country better,’ he responded.

‘We are not working to make ourselves, to make pasikat, to show off. We’re working… What we do is because we think it’s the best thing for Filipinos and for the Philippines,’ the president added.

Marcos said he wants Filipinos to believe that, as head of the nation, he is doing what he perceives ‘in his heart of hearts’ is best for the country.

Meanwhile, the president said he feels ‘blessed’ to have been given the ‘greatest privilege’ of being able to help those in need.

‘I get to help millions of people. And come on, how lucky can you get, right? To be able to help many people. That for me is still, talagang I cannot believe that I have that capability. I’m able to do that,’ he said.

‘And I still, there are many times I still say, I can’t believe that I got this lucky. I can’t believe that people trust me this much. I cannot believe that I can do the things that I can do as President to make life better for other people,’ Marcos said.

Objectivity

Valenciano also asked Marcos about his personal life, including what he hopes his children will inherit from him.

‘What I hope they inherit from me is the ability to be objective. I’ve always followed the advice – don’t make any decisions if you’re too sad, too happy, too anything. It’s just whatever, never trust your first instincts,’ he responded.

‘Maybe the one thing that they shouldn’t get from me is being too much like that, being too cold and calculating. That’s maybe, that’s why Liza and I balance each other quite well because I tend towards that, and she tends towards being more listening to her emotions more. I distrust emotions sometimes and maybe that’s not such a great thing, but I’ve grown up that way,’ Marcos responded.

What he needed to unlearn

Meanwhile, the president also shared that one thing he needed to unlearn was the notion that he is not the center of everything.

‘The world does not revolve around you. That was that for me. Because when you’re a kid, especially a president’s child, the world revolves around you. Everybody around you is trying to please you. Everybody around you is worried, is making sipsip or being nice or whatever, you know,’ he said.

‘Maybe they’re just sincere and they just like you. But you learn, for me, that’s what maturity is, is to understand that the world does not revolve around you. You know, if you do well in the world, you know, there’s an element of luck in there, you’re blessed,’ he added.

Before becoming a teacher, Rodel Peñaranda knew what it meant to go to school with barely enough money for the week-and sometimes with nothing but coffee in his stomach.

Now 48 and 15 years into his teaching career, Peñaranda uses his own experience to encourage students at Calingcaguing National High School in Barugo, Leyte, to persevere, telling them that poverty may shape where they begin but does not have to define where they end.

The fourth of nine siblings, Peñaranda grew up in a family that struggled to make ends meet. His father was a farm laborer and his mother a homemaker.

After finishing high school in 1995, he went to Manila to work, taking jobs as a construction worker and bottle washer at a burger establishment.

In 1996, he was elected Sangguniang Kabataan (SK or youth council) chair, which later gave him access to a tuition scholarship at the Palompon Institute of Technology. He enrolled in marine transportation but managed to complete only one semester because his family could no longer support his schooling.

His SK honorarium often went to his mother for food. He recalls having only P150 to P200 a week for his own expenses, sometimes relying on boarding-house companions for meals and attending Reserve Officers’ Training Corps or ROTC with only coffee in his stomach.

In 2000, he got another chance to study, enrolling in a Bachelor of Science in Education major in Aquaculture at Eastern Visayas State University’s Carigara campus. He continued under a scholarship and later won a barangay council seat, which helped him finish his degree in 2004.

Graduation did not immediately lead to a teaching job.

Odd jobs

Peñaranda worked as a construction worker and later as a security guard in Tacloban City. During night shifts, he studied for the Licensure Examination for Teachers using a borrowed reviewer.

When the 2007 results were released, he initially thought he had failed after not seeing his name on the list at an internet café.

He went home and worked in a rice field, only to receive messages from friends congratulating him. He rushed back to the internet café and checked again.

His name was there. He had passed.

While waiting for a teaching opportunity, Peñaranda worked for two years at the Oroquieta Community Cooperative and Credit Institution, eventually becoming a loan head.

In 2011, a teaching position opened at Calingcaguing National High School, the same school where he had studied. Former teachers recommended him.

He accepted the job and began teaching TLE (technology and livelihood education) computer basics after undergoing training at AMA College.

Today, he teaches Grades 9 and 10 and serves as the school and district ICT (Information and Communications Technology) coordinator for Barugo 2, assisting teachers and school heads with technology-related concerns.

Teaching was not his original career plan, but Peñaranda said he believes it was God’s calling.

‘In God’s guidance, I have no regrets,’ he told the Inquirer. ‘I am happy not only to teach my learners, but also to assist teachers and school heads through ICT.’

Weapon against poverty

His own struggles have also shaped the way he treats his students. When he sees a child who needs food, he gives what he can. When he sees students walking to and from school, he gives them a ride whenever possible.

More than anything, he wants his students to finish school.

He often tells them that education is one of the best weapons against poverty-a lesson he learned through experience.

‘It’s not your fault that you were born poor or that you are struggling,’ he tells his students. ‘But it would be your fault if you remained struggling until you grow old and die.’

For Peñaranda, the message is not about blaming those who are poor, but encouraging young people to work toward changing their circumstances.

He credits his mother, siblings, wife, and children for supporting him through the difficult years. His father, however, did not live long enough to see what his children eventually achieved.

Peñaranda said his family is not rich, but they are no longer living through the hardship they once knew.

The boy who once struggled to find enough money to stay in school is now a teacher telling struggling children that education can open a different future for them.

A woman died from a fall from a building along Kisad Road behind Burnham Park on Sunday, prompting an investigation by the Baguio City Police Office (BCPO).

An initial report said the incident occurred shortly after 8 a.m. Police Station 5 later conducted a follow-up investigation and was able to identify the deceased woman, but details have not been made public.

BCPO has yet to establish the circumstances surrounding the fall, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Investigators reviewed the building’s security camera footage and obtained statements from witnesses and a family member, while forensic examiners processed the area.

The family of the victim declined an autopsy and signed the necessary waiver, police said.

The celebration of National Teachers’ Month, which started on Sept. 5, culminated on Monday, National Teachers’ Day, in festivities at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, led by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Education Secretary Sonny Angara.

The National Teachers’ Day event, which was also attended by several national and local government officials, gathered some 10,000 educators from Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, according to a statement issued by the Department of Education (DepEd).

The festivities, which also highlighted the 10th anniversary of the implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) Program, capped a month-long series of activities nationwide, which were supported by private partner organizations and government agencies

Key celebrations were held in Cagayan de Oro City for Mindanao educators and in Tacloban City for those in the Visayas, under the theme ‘Teacher, Ikaw Naman!’ – focusing on supporting teachers’ welfare, celebrating their achievements, and honoring their dedication.

In his address, Marcos expressed his deep gratitude to Filipino teachers for their vital role in shaping the nation’s youth and encouraged them to keep seeing opportunities for professional growth and skill development.

Fast-tracking of bonus

He also announced that he has ordered the fast-tracking of the release of the fiscal year 2024 performance-based bonus (PBB) for qualified DepEd personnel, affirming the government’s continued recognition of their valuable contributions to basic education.

‘And we will not stop there. We will continue to find ways to improve the support, benefits, and opportunities for our teachers,’ Marcos said in Filipino.

‘You are our children’s companions as they are growing up. You’re the ones teaching their lessons. But you’re also the ones teaching them discipline, caring, and confidence in their own abilities. With your guidance, we are preparing a generation ready to dream, ready to serve, and ready to lead our country,’ he added.

For his part, Angara emphasized that teacher welfare remained central to the Marcos administration’s agenda, attributing the country’s gains in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2025 to the dedication and hard work of Filipino teachers.

‘We thank President Bongbong Marcos for all his initiatives and support for the benefit of our teachers. So in today’s celebration, we say, ‘Teacher, it’s your turn!’ The success of our students, which includes our historic performance in PISA 2025, would not have been possible without the sacrifice, dedication, and competence of our teachers,’ he said.

A highlight of Wednesday’s program was the Recognition of Exemplary Teachers in Indigenous Peoples Education, honoring 16 educators who have served from eight years to as long as 30 years in remote IP communities. Beyond classroom instruction, the awardees have partnered with community elders and culture bearers to produce indigenized learning resources tailored to ancestral domains.

IP Education Month

The tribute formally launched the Department of Education’s (DepEd) 2026 IP Education Month, marking a decade of milestones in expanding basic education in IP communities.

In a show of support for teacher welfare, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo ‘Wick’ Veloso turned over a P1 million ceremonial check to DepEd. Educators were entertained by performances from top celebrities, including Piolo Pascual, Aegis, Ariel Rivera, Pops Fernandez, Jona, Michael Pangilinan, Donny Pangilinan, Raymond Lauchengco, and Alex Calleja.

Corporate partners – including China Bank Savings, Metrobank, Banco De Oro, EastWest Bank, Nestlé, Jollibee, Gokongwei Brothers Foundation, McDonald’s, and PLDT-Smart Foundation – sponsored major raffle prizes, including brand-new vehicles.

The event provided a platform for DepEd to highlight major welfare and administrative reforms aimed at easing teacher workloads and enhancing benefits. To reduce administrative strain, DepEd slashed mandatory school forms from the previous 174 to just five regular forms.

Benefits were also expanded, including doubling the annual non-taxable teaching allowance to P10,000, establishing an annual medical subsidy of up to P7,000, and introducing five days of paid annual wellness leave. The P1,000 World Teachers’ Day Incentive Benefit will be released to public school teachers starting Oct. 5.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has opened up about the ‘biggest earthquake’ in his life: his family’s exile to Hawaii in 1986.

In a candid interview during the season finale of the ‘Unshaken With Gary V’ podcast, uploaded on Monday, Marcos recounted one of the most significant events in Philippine history.

During the podcast, Filipino music icon Gary Valenciano asked Marcos to walk him through a moment or season in his life when everything was shaken.

Marcos, without hesitation, said it was when his family fled the Philippines for Hawaii on February 25, 1986, after the People Power Revolution forced his father, former dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr., from power.

‘Everything completely changed. One day, you’re the son of the president, and you’re sitting in a palace and the next two days later, you’re in Hawaii. You don’t know what on earth has just happened. You’re not allowed to go back home, you cannot even get a job, you cannot even talk to people that you feel you have a need to talk to, because they isolated us,’ he said.

‘And so it is, put it this way: the reason it’s the biggest, shall we say, part, the biggest shaken moment of my life is that none of what we did after ’86, when we got to Hawaii, our lives did not resemble our previous life in any way whatsoever,’ he added.

Then 28-year-old Marcos said that in Hawaii, he felt as if he had to relearn how to live.

‘I must have been about 28 years old in ’86, and suddenly that whole life has just disappeared. And now this is your life. And I said, no, I’m not sure I like this one as much as I like the old one. Well, sorry, but that’s it. And that’s why, for me, it was the biggest earthquake in my life,’ he said.

‘You have to go through that whole process, which is something that you do as a child, teenager, as you’re growing up. Now you have to do it all over again as an adult,’ he added.

Asked what anchored him after everything he went through, the president said it was his faith, which he said reminded him of what was right and wrong.

‘That’s a big guide. The other thing is, I suppose, remembering what it is that you, in fact, want to achieve. Because you go through that, your whole life is totally changed and upended, and you don’t know what success is anymore, and it becomes smaller and smaller. You just live through the day,’ he said.

‘I had to do normal things. I had to clean the house. I had to wash the dishes. I had to go to the post office. I had to go grocery shopping. I had to put gas in the car. So, those little things bring you back to normalcy,’ he added.

According to Marcos, these experiences made him tougher because he had already gone through a difficult period in his life.

They also made him more sympathetic, as he came to understand that everyone reaches a point in their lives when they are shaken by circumstances, he said.

Marcos said the experience proved that he is not a coward but is ready to face whatever challenges may come his way in the future.

The Marcos family remained in exile in Hawaii before Marcos Sr. died on Sept. 28, 1989.

An old brass church bell was stolen from the grounds of St. Peter the Apostle Parish in Loboc, Bohol province, prompting an investigation by police and Church officials.

In a Facebook post, Fr. Agerio Paña, parish priest of St. Peter the Apostle Parish and shrine rector of the Diocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of Extremadura, said they discovered the theft on Monday morning.

The damaged antique bell had been placed beside the parish convent in Loboc.

Based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage, two people were seen allegedly taking the bell shortly after noon on Sunday, Oct. 4. The suspects were also seen leaving the convent premises through its gate.

The Loboc police and church officials are continuing their investigation to identify those responsible and trace the whereabouts of the stolen bell.

The parish appealed to antique buyers, collectors, and junk shop operators not to purchase or accept the bell if it is offered to them.

The public was also urged to immediately report any attempt to sell the bell to Loboc police and Church officials.

Church officials expressed concern that the thieves might break up or crush the brass bell to make it more difficult to identify.

The parish also called on the public to remain vigilant and help protect old church artifacts that form part of Loboc’s history and cultural heritage.

In a place defined by high walls and restricted freedom, three teachers have found a way to do what they know best: teach.

The three educators, all persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) at the Agusan del Sur Provincial Jail in Barangay Patin-ay, have transformed their confinement into a classroom.

Through the facility’s Alternative Learning System (ALS) and rehabilitation initiatives, they help fellow detainees acquire practical skills, earn basic education credentials, and prepare for life after release.

One teaches mathematics, another leads computer literacy courses, while the third facilitates rehabilitation and life-skills workshops.

Their current setting is starkly different from the traditional campuses where they once taught, but they say physical confinement has done nothing to blunt their calling.

Adeva May Jaramillo, department information officer of the Provincial Correctional and Security Management Office, featured them on the Provincial Government of Agusan del Sur website.uring mission

For one of the three teachers, the jail’s makeshift classrooms provide an outlet to put years of formal training and classroom experience back to work.

A licensed educator, he views teaching inside the facility as both a service and a mutual learning process.

‘As a detainee myself, sharing my skills, talents, and blessings from the Almighty is both a privilege and a pleasure,’ he told the Inquirer.

The teacher added: ‘Our day-to-day experiences are the biggest lessons for tomorrow. To me, teaching is about transferring knowledge and empowering others. Confinement hasn’t changed that passion.’

For him, incarceration does not mean giving up his professional identity. ‘It is both my passion and compassion that drive me to keep teaching those who live behind bars,’ he added.

One student at a time

Another teacher holds a degree in information technology, a professional teaching license, and a master’s degree in educational management. He uses his background to teach fellow detainees basic computer literacy and digital fundamentals.

He believes practical technical skills give detainees tangible tools to rebuild their lives once they reenter society.

‘My situation may have changed, but my purpose has not. Being a detainee does not erase the teacher in me,’ he said. ‘I may be behind bars, but I can still teach, inspire, and make a positive difference.’

For him, success is measured one person at a time. ‘If I can use my knowledge to help even one fellow PDL find hope and believe in a better future, then I know I am still fulfilling my duty as an educator.’

Gift and responsibility

The third teacher approaches teaching as a moral responsibility and a way to give back to peers who had little access to formal schooling before their imprisonment.

‘I was fortunate enough to finish my degree and gain teaching experience. The best thing I can do now is share that knowledge and be part of someone else’s growth,’ he explained.

While he acknowledges the heavy emotional and physical weight of life inside the provincial jail, he insists that purpose outweighs the hardship.

‘What really drives me to teach here is genuine concern for others-I see it as my responsibility,’ he said. ‘This ability to teach is a gift, and a gift only has value when you pass it on.’

Rebuilding within

The work of these three teachers underscores how peer-led education can bolster rehabilitation inside correctional facilities.

Through ALS, detainees who missed out on basic education can work toward high school equivalency credentials. Having qualified educators among the inmate population allows the program to maintain steady instruction despite the inherent resource constraints of provincial detention centers.