Celebrating unsung heroes

MANILA, Philippines - Teaching is probably the noblest job. And for that, our school mentors deserve some recognition.

Teachers who taught best to public school pupils the values of hard work and discipline were honored recently at the third anniversary of the values advocacy campaign of Fortune Life Insurance Company in partnership with the Department of Education.


Standing tall that evening at the DepEd’s Bulwagan ng Karunungan were five public school teachers who received the Ambassador Antonio L. Cabangon Chua “Gintong Parangal sa mga Natatanging Guro” Awards.
They were Dr. Crispina Zafra, chief of policy, planning and research division, DepEd Region 3; Dr. Cynthia Misalucha, education program supervisor of DepEd Pasay City;  Lilith Dayus, master teacher I at Aguinaldo Elementary School; Dr. Zenaida Asidao, Elementary Supervisor of DepEd NCR; and Dr. Josefina Mariano, principal of Jose Rizal Elementary School.

Opening the celebration was Fortune Life’s general manager Evelyn Carada, who was splendid in her black dress and gold hijab. “The value of hard work and discipline has yet to touch more schools and students, and expand into more regions. We feel elated that our values advocacy campaign in different schools is slowly but surely growing, which gives us more opportunity to change lives,” Carada said.

Fortune Life Insurance president D. Arnold A. Cabangon, dapper in his taupe piña barong, talked about the milestones of the project. He stressed that educators deserve “a pat on the back for immersing themselves into a selfless job of helping mold our future leaders.”

In her keynote speech, DepEd Undersecretary for special projects Dina Joana Ocampo-Cristobal expressed her gratitude to the management of the insurance company for spearheading such a noble project.

Fortune Life’s chairman emeritus and founder, Ambassador Antonio Cabangon Chua, congratulated everyone for the swift implementation and realization of the project’s goals. Being a son of a public school teacher, the ambassador gave emphasis on the importance of a teacher’s role in honing society. It was his life story that inspired the workbook used to promote the values of hard work and discipline among pupils in public elementary schools nationwide.


Guests enjoyed the sumptuous food by Via Mare as they listened to flute virtuoso Prof. Manny dela Rosa.