Editorial Writing

What’s New
1. Write down here your feelings and opinions about the online and modular distance
learning modalities.
Online and modular distance learning is the most suitable method of teaching
and learning in this time of pandemic. However, Philippines as a developing country has
no guarantee that families can afford to set up a reliable internet connection in their
respective households either to purchase gadgets apt for online class. I am not against
with the online and the modular method although it’s totally different from the
traditional way which is the face-to-face discussion. I am only concern if this new
method would be effective knowing that not everyone has the access. It’s sad to know
that some were deprived from the opportunity.
In terms of the modular method, it is both a struggle for the teachers and the
students. Teachers will really sacrifice to send the modules from door to door. It is also a
struggle for the pupils to study on their own although with the help of their parents,
considering those parents who find it hard to teach their children when they themselves
weren’t able to finish even primary level. Despite of this challenging phase, the success
of the individuals merely depends on how responsible they are in their own learning and
how they exert effort and sacrifice to engross an effective learning.

2. Do you think it is a good topic for an editorial write-up? Why? Why not?
Yes, online and modular distance learning is a good topic for an editorial write-up during
this time because this is somehow new to most of us Filipinos and considering the socio-
economic status and its effectiveness.

Let’s Sum It Up!

1. Using your own words, define editorial?

Editorial is an article in a publication that expresses facts and at the same time
states the opinion of the editorial staffs as a whole regarding with the topic. Most
commonly, editorial persuades the readers’ thoughts and action.

2. How important is editorial to the writer? Newspaper/campus paper? Reader?

Editorial is important to the writer because expressing opinions can boost one’s self-
esteem. It is also significant to the newspaper/campus paper because through
editorial the main news will not just be delivered with mere facts but the news will
also be interpreted and that will serve as the voice of the publication. Editorial is
important to the readers because this will influence their views, decisions, and
actions in life.
What’s More

Journal Writing
Talk about your new learnings or discoveries about the lesson. What are your significant
realizations after the lesson? (Please use a separate sheet)
Human being is a rational being thus it is our nature to reason out to whatever
circumstances we may take. In this lesson, I have learned the significance of editorial and its
type. Editorial has a great contribution to our lives. We may not be a journalist writer but we
can use our voice to exercise our rights as we live in a democratic country. Unconsciously, our
judgments and actions are actually influenced by the editorials that we see in our televisions,
we hear from the radio, and what we read in the newspapers/campus papers. I also realized
that it takes a huge responsibility to write an editorial considering the wide audience. It is
challenging to persuade an individual mind knowing that we have different views in life since
we are raised from different environment; we have various culture and experiences. In a
deeper sense, editorial can actually promote unity because we can unite if we have one
perspective that we believe in that could result to a successful solution to a particular problem.

What I Can Do
1. Clip at least two (2) editorials from any publication or daily and identify its type. Be able to
support your answer.

 The editorial below is an example of Informative Editorial in which the

article provides certain facts about the real scenario during this COVID-
19 pandemic and gives explanation and review to the Bayanihan Act as
an aid to school workers.

Aid for displaced school workers

Published September 16, 2020, 3:49 PM

By Manila Bulletin

The nation’s teachers have been among the many sectors of the population that
have suffered most from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

When the lockdowns began in March, with the strictest Enhanced Community
Quarantine (ECW) in Metro Manila and the rest of Luzon, schools were closed down
along with offices and businesses of all kinds. This posed a big problem to students,
especially those who were due to graduate in April. It also upended the lives of the
teachers who suddenly found themselves with no work and no income as schools
were closed down all over the country.
With the P165.5-billion Bayanihan to Recover as One Act, which President Duterte
has just signed into law, the nation’s teachers along with non-teaching personnel in
private and public elementary, secondary, and tertiary educational institutions are
to receive a one-time aid out of a P300-million fund in the Bayanihan law.

The law also provides assistance for several other sectors – cash and food assistance
to low-income households, hazard pay and risk allowances for healthcare workers,
assistance to displaced public utility drivers, cash and loan subsidies for farmers
and fisher folk, cash and medical assistance for overseas Filipinos, and funds for
shipping home the remains of COVID victims.

Now that the government has begun to ease the restrictions, Metro Manila is now
under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and should soon be under the more
lenient Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) by October. There is
hope that by December, we will be “near-normal.”

It has been a difficult and exhausting year for all, but we have managed to survive
with much fewer infections and deaths than some countries like the United
States, Brazil, Russia, Italy, Spain, Britain, and India. The economic losses have been
tremendous and it will take time for us to recover from them. But we have survived,
with the most vulnerable among us, including the poorest families, receiving
monetary aid.

Government aid hasn’t been available to all who need it, but we are glad that our
teachers have been among those who have received special attention in the
Bayanihan Act and other assistance and stimulus programs of the government.

The pandemic has upset all previous planning of the government for various areas of
the national life. There were plans for government salary increases right at the start
of the new administration, with the nation’s uniformed services getting theirs at the
start of 2019. The President had then assured the nation’s teachers: “Kayo na ang
susunod.”

Many of the government’s plans, including salary adjustments, will have to be put on
hold. But the special aid to the neediest displaced sectors, including the nation’s
teachers, in the Bayanihan Law is most welcome and appreciated.
  The editorial below is an example of Interpretative Editorial in which
the editor explains the issue both sides whether to pursue online class
that requires building cell towers and laptops for teacher and tablets
for students or to delay the opening of classes until January hoping
that the pandemic might subside by that time to continue the face-to-
face classes. This editorial doesn’t argue nor criticize the subject but
leaves the judgment to the reader.

Can Internet meet nation’s schools’ needs?

Published September 14, 2020, 10:27 AM

By Manila Bulletin

National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr. called last Thursday for the
construction of some 50,000 cell towers nationwide to ensure a strong Internet
connection in any part of the country with the shift to online classes this coming
school year as part of the government efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

He recommended that cell towers be constructed in all schools, all municipalities,

and all barangays in order to have wide interconnection between the Department of
Education (DepEd) and all towns and barangays. There are now only 19,000 cell
towers in the country, he said, and many local government units are making it
difficult for telecom companies to construct due to numerous requirements.

Esperon’s proposal exposes the fact that the country does not now have the Internet
coverage needed if the nation’s schools are to open this school year using a
combination of online sessions with face-to-face classes.

The school year in the Philippines traditionally opens in June, but because of the
pandemic, it was moved to August 24, then again to October 5, after Congress
approved a law authorizing the President to move the opening date of the school
year during a state of emergency.

Secretary of Education Leonor Briones has opposed postponement of the opening of

classes, saying it may affect the students’ interest in learning. But because of the
pandemic, she has yielded to the recent postponement to October 5. The DepEd
drew up a blended learning system with Internet-based sessions, television and
radio programs, and printed modules.

But now Experon’s call for the construction of 50,000 cell towers to provide the
country with a strong Internet connection exposes a big weakness in the DepEd plan
 – there is no Internet service in many parts of the country. There are now only
19,000 cell towers, Esperon said, when the country needs at least 50,000.

And even if such a widespread Internet service were to miraculously materialize

between now and the opening of classes, millions of homes in the country do not
have the laptops and tablets needed to connect to the Internet. Manila has
appropriated ₱1 billion for 11,000 laptops for its teachers and 136,950 tablets for its
students. How many local governments can do this for their teachers and students?

The problem of cell towers which Esperon spoke about is an old one for the nation’s
telecom services who were unable to expand their services because local
governments, as well as many gated subdivisions, were reluctant to grant
permission for the construction of cell towers for fear of radiation. This explains why
the Philippines today has only some 19,000 towers compared to Vietnam’s 70,000.

If, by some miracle, Esperon’s wish comes true and local governments agree to the
building of more cell towers, it will take considerable funding and considerable time
to build 50,000 of them. They will not be there when the school year opens on
October 5 – only 21 days from today.

Under the circumstances, we will try to hold classes but they may not reach most of
the nation’s school children. Or we can further postpone the opening of classes –
perhaps to January next year – when, it is hoped, the pandemic will have sufficiently
died down to allow the holding of face-to-face classes.

2. Write an editorial on any national or world problem. Use any of the types you have learned.

Faith Over Fear

And I looked, and behold, a pale horse! And its rider's name was Death, and Hades followed
him. And they were given authority over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword and with
famine and with pestilence and by wild beasts of the earth (Revelation 6:8). Is COVID-19 the
‘pestilence’ prophesied in the Bible?

As of September 17, 2020, there have been 29,679,284 confirmed cases of COVID-19,
including 936, 521 deaths, reported to World Health Organization (WHO). Coronavirus
Disease- 2019 or COVID-19 is a respiratory disease that was first detected in Wuhan, China
and has now been spread in more than 70 locations around the globe, with the most
affected state the America having 15,095,402 confirmed cases followed by South-East Asia
with 5,768,599 confirmed cases.

Everything happens for a purpose. What if God has multiple reasons for allowing this
pandemic to happen?
COVID-19 allows us to feel all our emotions and it teaches us how to overcome the most
prevalent emotion we have now, fear. The front liners, the confirmed patients, and all of us,
we have to be strong in this time of crisis. Instead of discriminating the patients, it
challenges us to be kind and empathetic to one another.

COVID-19 leads us to unity. We are able to remove the barriers by helping each other
through distributing food and other basic needs to the front liners and to unfortunate
families. It shows us how to be a responsible citizen by following the new normal societal
rules.

COVID-19 permits us to take some rest from the busy schedule that we typically have.
Before, parents are tired and busy working while children are exhausted from studying at
school. Now, we have the perfect moment to spend quality time with our families. It
reminds us of family love and appreciates the best support system that we can ever have.

COVID-19 reduces the human mobility by letting us to stay at home for as much as possible.
This is an opportunity to decrease the pollution level and the reason why Ozone hole is
healing itself as well as maintaining cleanliness in our environment.

COVID-19 reminds us to clean our body by sanitizing and disinfecting but it goes beyond
personal hygiene. It teaches us to clean ourselves spiritually. This pandemic offers ample
time to unite with ourselves, meditate, reflect, and pray.

COVID-19, whether it may or may not be one of the signs that the end of world is near, the
core is we are mounting our faith and trust to Him. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the
words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it,
for the time is near (Revelation 1:3). It is not too late. Let us repent while we still have time.