Prepared: MAY JOY C.

CALCABEN
Course: MEE
Submitted to: Dr. Joji T. Recamara

PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
Reaction Paper

Article Title: Is PH ready for class opening? Briones says, ‘Heroes never asked if they were
ready for battle’
Source: Catherine Gonzales (2020) of INQUIRER.net

Over a year ago, a global pandemic was declared and it drastically changed the lives of
every Filipino. On the spur of the moment, doors of each and every establishment and institution
were shut. Face-to-face meet ups became illicit. Our usual function and movement were all
altered. All pointing us to move in to a new environment we barely could even touch but could
clearly see – the virtual community. With a blink of an eye, what seems to be impossible became
instantly possible. Socializing, working, and even learning online in the comfort of our homes
became a thing! Because of the protocols to ensure the containment of the virus, many people are
discouraged to go out from the premise of their homes. All these gave birth to an issue: how are
we going to survive from the inside when we are so used of living life from the outside? ARE
WE READY?
The same issue is being faced by the Department of Education in its battle with academic
victory amidst the pandemic. A lot of people had comments and criticisms in secretary Briones’
strong will to pursue education. Most of the criticisms boil down to one issue, due to the effect of
the pandemic, Filipino households are not yet ready to pursue education to which secretary
Briones bravely countered with the thought that ‘Heroes never asked if they were ready for
battle’ through her statement “Lapu-Lapu did not hesitate when he and his men fought and killed
the foreign enemy with bamboo spears and bolos against cannons, guns and cutlasses. Andres
Bonifacio did not wonder if he and his Katipuneros were ready when they tore their cedulas and
triggered the Cry of Balintawak, Diego Silang did not ask his wife Gabriela, ‘are we ready?’
General Luna did not hesitate and ask if he was ready when he led the resistance against foreign
invaders. Neither did Pantaleon Villegas, known as Leon Kilat hesitate when he led the
revolutionary movement in Negros Oriental and in Cebu. Dagohoy of Bohol did not cringe with
fright. The great Sultan Kudarat of Mindanao did not whisper in fear and trembling: ‘Are we
ready? When will we be ready?”.
As an educator, I feel inspired by how secretary Briones gave great importance to
education. It makes me happy knowing that the department I am in, stands firm in its advocacy.
After all, as educators, we all have one common goal: to deliver quality education to the youth;
to be their stepping stone for a brighter future. As our national hero once said, “Ang kabataan
ang pag-asa ng bayan.” That is why I greatly empathize with secretary Briones when she said
“When will be ready?”. True indeed, each and everyday we are facing new crisis, new problems
and challenges, even with or without the occurrence of this pandemic. If we keep on waiting,
readiness won’t come. We need to make a move. If I would illustrate, the pandemic had lamed
us. It caused us to walk this journey of life limping. But that doesn’t mean we stop moving. I
think secretary Briones’ point is, we should not wait and just sit there until the enemy finally tear
us down. Rather, even though limping, while we still can, let’s keep on moving. Soon enough
we’ll all get to where we are headed.
However, we cannot deny the fact that for those who have been greatly affected with this
pandemic, the bravery of secretary Briones appears to be apathetic. As an educator being forced
to implement the wrong notion of “No one gets left behind”, I had seen with my bare eyes how
students especially in our area here in Zamboanga del Norte have struggled with this new
teaching modalities. Being loaded with a lot of modules and with a very least supervision and
support from the parents, it became a burden to the learners. Even those students who have been
doing well and good in the classrooms have been struggling in coping up with the new teaching
modality. How much more for those students who weren’t that good? Nonetheless, this has
become a burden to us educators as we need to risk ourselves on doing home visits for those
students who have not been responsive – only to get a share of the burden they all are struggling
in their homes. On top of it all, what bothers me the most is the fact that we educators know that
our students are not learning as majority of the modules returned to us reflects the answer of their
parents/guardians. Clearly for compliance only. But could we ever blame them? We are fighting
a battle we all have never been. It’s like swimming our way out of a tunnel we never know when
we’ll reach the end.
In conclusion, this battle of the Department of Education revealed one thing. Even though
the motive is right does not always mean that the action done is right. Secretary Briones’ motive
in pushing academic victory through this pandemic was good and noble. However, implementing
it without equipping the implementers with the right weapons made it all defeat its purpose –
quality education. The education delivered this time and in this manner became more of a burden
than learning.