Vice President and Department of Education (DepED) Secretary Sara Duterte visited the province of Abra to celebrate World Teachers’ Day (WTD) and National Teachers’ Day (NTD) on Wednesday, Oct. 5.
In her message to around 4,000 teachers who gathered at the Abra Sports Complex in Bangued, Duterte said that the DepED Central Office had chosen the province to host this year’s #WTD and #NTD celebrations to cheer up the teachers after the magnitude 7 earthquake jolted Northern Luzon last July.
“Pinili namin ang Abra para sa celebration ng #WorldTeachersDay (We chose Abra for the celebration of #WorldTeachersDay),” Duterte said.
Initially, DepED planned to celebrate the #WTD2022 and #NTD2022 in Davao. “, punta tayo dun sa mga teachers na nangangailangan ng stress debriefing (But I said, let’s go to teachers who need stress debriefing),” she added.
The celebration, Duterte said, would help teachers who “need relaxation” after going through a 7-magnitude earthquake.
While Davao did not experience a magnitude 7 quake, Duterte shared that the province also recorded earthquakes and people feared the aftershocks.
“Kaya alam po namin ang pinagdadaanan ninyo kaya sana yung celebration natin nakadala ng stress debriefing sa dami-dami ng pinagdadaanan ninyo (We know what you're going through, so I hope our celebration brings a stress debriefing amid the many things you're going through),” Duterte said.
Just like everyone else, Duterte recognized that teachers deal with a lot of problems --- in schools, in their personal lives, at home, and even in their relationships with others.
“Sana ngayong araw na ito, ma-feel ninyo na kayo nakapakahalaga sa ating bansa dahil nasa kamay ninyo ang kinabukasan ng ating bansa (I hope that today, you will feel that you are important to our country because the future of our country is in your hands),” Duterte told the teachers.
“Gusto namin na malaman ninyo na mahal namin ang mga guro, di lang ang DepED kundi lahat ng guro, private sector, retired na kahit yung mga susunod pa na magiging guro (We want you to know that we love our teachers, not just in DepED but all teachers --- in the private sector, retired --- even those who will be teachers in the future),” she added.
Before the program proper for the celebration of #WTD2022 and #NTD2022, Duterte also visited Bangued North Elementary School in Abra.
Aside from inspecting the school, Duterte also met with school officials and teachers to check on them and their needs months after the powerful earthquake that jolted the province.
Duterte also led the distribution of “PagbaBAGo” kits which contain school and dental health supplies as well as food packs to students and their parents or guardians.
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