Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte underscored the importance of a climate-smart citizenry and improving the country’s literacy rate during her visit to Eastern Samar on Wednesday, Nov. 9.

On separate Facebook posts, the official shared about her trip to the province to attend its 57th Founding Anniversary and the Brigada Pagbasa Summit at St. Mary’s College in Borongan City, Eastern Samar.

“Ang selebrasyong ito ay patunay ng inyong katatagan mula sa mga hamon ng kalamidad at seguridad — at ito ang nais kong paghandaan natin (This celebration is proof of your strength from the challenges of calamities and security — and it is our hope to be prepared),” she wrote.

Duterte shared that she called on the parents not to let their children join the separatist group, New People’s Army (NPA), because it will destroy their futures.

But the Vice President also highlighted the importance of helping one another to fight climate change.

“And as the country continues to face extreme weather conditions brought on by climate change, the challenge is for us to strengthen our collective commitment to creating a climate-smart citizenry that understands the climate situation and what must be done to build resilient homes and communities,” she said.

Meanwhile, during her visit to St. Mary’s College, the Vice President and concurrent Education chief reiterated the importance of reading literacy among schoolchildren in building a good foundation of “lifelong learning”.

“This school year, the Brigada Pagbasa national movement for reading became even more relevant as we transitioned to face-to-face learning and strived to recover the learning loss due to school closures during the pandemic,” Duterte told her audience at the summit.

The Brigada Pagbasa is a program of the Department of Education (DepEd) that aims to raise the level of literacy in Filipino youth and address the learning gaps brought forth by the pandemic.

Duterte explained that even before the Covid-19 pandemic, former Education secretary Leonor Briones already initiated the Bawat Bata Bumabasa (3B) program.

During the event, she also expressed appreciation to the initiatives of the schools division to upgrade the reading literacy. Among these were Project Aklat, Aba, Kada Pagbasa, and Catch UP Program for Reading, wRiting, aRithmetic (Cup for 3Rs).

“I was truly appreciative sa nakita ko sa ginawa ninyo para sa inyong kabataan dito sa probinsya ng (of what you’ve done for the youth here in the province of) Easter Samar dahil nandyan kayo para tulungan sila na matutong magbasa (since you’ve been around to help them read) because that is the foundation of what I said earlier— lifelong learning and that education will lift them out of poverty,” Duterte said.

The Vice President also thanked the teachers for implementing programs aimed at resolving difficulties in reading, which she described as factors that may “lose confidence in their learning ability.”

“It’s important that as teachers, as professionals, as public service providers, you protect your integrity and maintain your professionalism, as students look up to you as role models,” she said.

“Your words and actions show your students how to behave in public and social settings, act and treat others when they interact, and navigate life’s challenges with dignity and strength of character,” she added.