A teacher’s business

On weekends, I often visit members of my family in a not-too-distant corner of suburbia in Novaliches, Quezon City. When I’m up to it, I get up early, before the usual clanking and jang-ling of Sunday morning traffic out-side the subdivision, and get rewarded with a whiff of cool, fresh air, and the scent of floral blooms from dew-laden plants, grass and trees.

Just outside the subdivision gates, a pocket of activity already hints at the frenetic commerce that is about to be unleashed, upon the dutiful procession of subdivision dwellers who will be pouring out of the gates to attend Mass at the nearby church.

Within this group of enterprising street vendors is my weekend suki newspaper boy, already stacking up his assortment of broadsheets and tabloids, deftly interlocking different issues so that all headlines are prominently visible – the more to attract churchgoers into an early purchase.

I throw him a bill for my copy of Sunday’s Philippine STAR and turn to head back to the house. "Sir, yung sukli n’yo," he reminds me. "Okay na yan," I tell him. This is a regular ritual between us. I, intentionally leaving him the change, and he, calling after me, as if to satisfy his moral sense that he did not earn an extra two pesos because of my carelessness.

Simple, down-to-earth honesty. Likely a rarer commodity to find nowadays than an unblemished diamond or an untarnished government official. Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales hit it on the head when he identified "wrong values" as the root of our national ills. Our sense of what is right or wrong is now as malleable as modeling clay; easily formed to fit to our convenience. What should be regarded as a social evil (like gambling) can now be justified as a legal source of badly needed funds, purportedly to be used to help fund projects for the poor.

A society is founded on its moral principles, from whence spring good governance, sound economic fundamentals and a compassionate community. A nation mired in endless trouble suffers both poverty of the body as well as of the soul. We see very little value in human life nowadays, much less its dignity. The welfare of our neighbors is fair game, depending on how it affects our own personal comfort and happiness.

From the country’s recent past, the term "moral reformation" was turned into a political slogan, an attempt to inject principles into politics. But its very premise was the very cause of its demise: Can there really be morals and principles in politics? Can oil and water mix? Politics, like a powerful vortex, sucks its players into a whirling dervish of partisan interests and self-perpetuation, no matter the cost. They would be the last people on earth to talk about moral reform.

Who can start rebuilding our damaged moral foundation then? Who can bring simple, down-to-earth honesty back to the hearts and lips of our young, who, as Jose Rizal wrote, are the future of our nation? Who can teach our children that gambling, prostitution, stealing and lying are bad and no amount of clever justifications can change it?

Could these be the intellectuals who now occupy important positions in government and big corporations? Could these be the high-flying society personalities who figure prominently in newspapers and on television? There are many self-anointed saviors who are presenting themselves as the answer to our plea for deliverance. But we do not need people who are big at selling themselves but are moral midgets.

After the initial wave, a new batch of Filipino teachers has been welcomed onto American shores. Hard put to provide for the increasing numbers of American kids enrolling in their grade schools and high schools, the Las Vegas school district, along with many others across the country, have been filling in teaching positions with teachers sourced overseas. While the success of this program remains to be seen (many Filipino teachers could not tolerate the abuses while assigned to inner-city schools, for instance), evidently Americans are able to better appreciate the talent and dedication of our teachers than we can.

There are around half a million teachers in the public school system in our country, and a few thousand more in the private schools. They continue to do their work, notwithstanding the many difficulties that they have to endure just to be able to do their jobs. After the family, the teacher is the most influential person in a child’s life. Yet, for the most part, we take them for granted and, yes, even look down at the teaching profession.

A teacher’s work is unlike any other. The indefatigable Jesuit Fr. James Reuter said as much during an interview for the up and coming A Tribute to Teachers, organized by the Bato Balani Foundation. "Corporate executives," he says, "are trained in the best schools so that they could run multi-million dollar businesses. And they end up making soap."

"Teachers, on the other hand, end up molding souls. If you were to put together all the buildings, all the banks in Metro Manila, their total value would not even come close to the value of the soul of a single child born under a bridge. And teachers should be grateful they are given the privilege to shape the soul of a single child," said this bright-eyed 89-year-old priest, fellow Philippine STAR columnist and teacher.

The teaching community is the one logical place where moral reformation could begin. Not that they haven’t been doing it yet. Charged with the education and character formation of our 30 million children, they carry the heavy burden of bringing back to our society the capacity to be able to tell right from wrong and not having to make it suit our own purpose. It may be too late for some of us grownups, but our children certainly have the right to be nurtured to be God-fearing and outstanding citizens of our country.

Clearly, education and, particularly, the proper training of our teachers is of utmost priority. Basic education in the elementary and high school levels needs greater emphasis in the character formation role of the teacher. Filipino teachers have been unsung martyrs in our efforts at nation-building. We need to show them our appreciation and give them our undivided support and cooperation.

It is noteworthy that Metrobank Foundation’s Outstanding Teacher Awards and the Bato Balani Foundation’s A Tribute to Teachers are programs that provide teachers the opportunity to be recognized for their work. Our teachers have been at the receiving end of a stream of bad press lately and programs, such as these two, can go a long way towards reviving their flagging morale.

If we, private citizens, as well as our government officials are sincere about wanting to improve the lives of all Filipinos, we may find it worth our while to invest more in education and less on political frivolities like charter change. Good governance and economic prosperity could only come about as a result of a morally upright citizenry, and not the other way around. My suki newsboy is honest not because I allowed him to keep the change; his honesty is what earned him my continued patronage and my trust. Penny for your thoughts, dear readers.