Kudos to The FREEMAN on its 91st anniversary

This Sunday, July 18, The FREEMAN will celebrate its 91st year of existence in serving the Cebuano people. Perhaps people only think that 91 is just a number. But it is more than a number. If you go to the Museo sa Sugbo, which used to be the old Provincial Jail, you will see ancient copies of The FREEMAN in its original form. For instance, most of the materials I read about the exploits of the legendary Pantaleon Villegas, a.k.a. Leon Kilat was written by reporters of The FREEMAN. So we congratulate the Gullas Family, specifically Sir Dodong, for keeping The Freeman not only as their family heritage but a Cebuano heritage as well. Now that The FREEMAN is with the Star Group of Publications under Sir Miguel Belmonte, it is assured to easily reach its centennial year, just nine short years from now.

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Just when we thought that the Truth Commission which Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III announced that would be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. would soon become a reality, here comes former Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada and his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada making wild accusations. They said that Davide is corrupt and unfit to head the Truth Commission and they vowed to block Davide’s appointment in the Commission on Appointments (CA).

This can only mean that for as long as Davide is the choice of Pres. Noynoy, the Estrada block would stop him from chairing the Truth Commission. It is the credibility of the Estradas that should be in question, not the integrity of Davide. One is a retired Chief Justice, the other a deposed and convicted former Philippine President. The choice is clear!

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Last Wednesday, the front-page article in The Philippine Star blared, “1M Pinoys give up job hunt.” Apparently Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz found a new but unnamed group of Filipino workers whom she classified as “Discouraged Workers.” These are workers who are jobless, because somehow they just can’t find the jobs that match their skills. Take the case of nursing for instance. How many nursing graduates have found jobs as nurses here or abroad?

I know many of them have landed jobs not as nurses, but in call centers because they just can’t find any nursing jobs here. My daughter Katrina is a good example. She graduated two years ago, but unfortunately no nursing jobs are available in the US because of retrogression. I heard also that most of her classmates have found employment elsewhere, but not as nurses. So you can say that nursing graduates would fall into this new category of discouraged workers.

This is the problem with our educational system today. Computer schools are suddenly allowed to shift to nursing because of the high demand for nurses. But now that the demand has fallen, these graduates have nowhere else to go. Sure, there are a many agencies who make promises to hire these nurses, but in the end, there is nothing for them outside the country. They also can’t find nursing jobs in our hospitals because most of our hospitals have nursing schools, hence they can use these nursing students in their hospitals for on-the-job-training.

How lucky are we in Cebu that we have become a leading IT hub. Let’s just pray to God that there won’t be any new technologies that would surpass the present technology or worse, make it obsolete because this would have a disastrous effect in the economy not only here in Cebu, but the rest of the Philippines.

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We have already written about the up and coming event that could change the face of Cebu. On August 12-15, Cebu would play host to the largest International Conference on Teaching English. Over 140 International Universities from 33 countries have already expressed its desire to join this one-of-a-kind convention. A year ago, I attended a smaller convention with English language luminaries and at that time, they were already excited that Cebu would once more play host to a bigger convention. It is happening this coming August.

Just a couple of days ago, international news from China reported that they are getting serious in teaching Chinese students English language skills. All this was triggered when my good friend, Mr. Paul Robertson saw an opportunity in the exodus of Korean students to the Philippines, especially here in Cebu in order to learn the English language, while at the same time, enjoying the sights of Cebu. Mr. Robertson then thought of creating the Cebu Hub for English Learning Excellence (CHELE), which is supported by the Cebu LEADS Foundation, Inc. To know more about CHELE, go to its website www.chele.com or contact Ms. Anna Conejero at [email protected].