Alumni of the Month

Lagdungan: An Extraordinary Calling of a Lifetime
By Phyllis Claire Zarriz
Silak Media, Inc.

Lagdungan — her pat-ama, the name she was bestowed and ought to carry within her tribe, a representation that embodies her indigenous skills and talents that no one can overshadow.

Unraveling the hidden tale

Lord Jane “Lagdungan” Caballero-Dordas grew up in the Panay Bukidnon indigenous community of Masoroy Village in the boundary of Tapaz and Calinog. Being a granddaughter of a Binukot (a well-kept maiden) and a daughter of a barangay chieftain and epic chanter, she was secluded from the rest of the community and is tasked to devote her time in learning the tribe’s traditional chants and embroidery and later on become a culture-bearer and wisdom keeper of the Panay Bukidnon.

“Sa kada paghapon kang pakpak ka araguring sa nagabuskad nga bulak kalipay i katumbas.”  This is a phrase created by Lordjane which means “at every approach of the butterfly’s wings in the blossoming flower, happiness returns in full”. This is also her life verse.

The twists and turns in Lordjane’s life and her work as a teacher and culture-bearer of the Panay Bukidnon IPs has resulted in her winning the 15^th Gawad Geny Lopez Jr., Bayaning Pilipino Awards–winner of Bayaning Pilipino-Regional (Teachers Category) last June 1, 2019 at ABS-CBN Mandaue City, Cebu.

Two year earlier, she was one of the four outstanding educators of the Philippines with her advocacy “Keeping the Culture Alive” – meriting her the distinction of being one of the 2017 Many Faces of the Teacher– National Honoree by the Bato Balani Foundation Inc. and Diwa Learning Center.

Starting Young

From the age of eight years old, Lordjane endured the hardships of trekking mountains while walking a mile just to go to Wright Elementary School in Tapaz, Capiz. But she has a dream, so she persistently conquered the challenges offered to her for she believes that she will come out victorious.

“I told myself that I need to go to school. I am struggling but I never gave up. I need to wake up as early as four o’clock in the morning since I need to walk more than an hour to reach school. With the hard task of walking 3 kilometers to school everyday and trekking three mountainsn the morning and afternoon to go to school is difficult,” recalls Dordas, an IP teacher in Mahunodhunod Elementary School in Cuartero, Capiz, and a coordinator of Schools of Living Traditions (SLT) in her community.

She finished high school at Calinog Agricultural and Industrial College (CAIC) at the age of 14.

During her college years at the WVSU College of Education where she took Bachelor of Elementary Education with specialization in English, she bravely fought the cruelty brought by poverty as she became a working student and accepting various work.

“I find means to support my schooling. My parents supported me but it is not enough for my allowance, projects and daily jeepney fare. I am paid for doing laundry and pressing clothes during Saturdays. Oftentimes, I also work in the rice fields of our neighbors. I looked for more jobs and I was very thankful that I was hired to be a  private tutor in English, Filipino, and Araling Panlipunan. I was accepted in a tutorial job with a rate of P40 per hour, so every week I received P200 for my fare and allowance,” shares Dordas who belongs to batch 2003.

Keeping the culture alive

 When she received numerous opportunities such as teaching in Manila, Lordjane chose to go back to her hometown and teach in the IP community in Panay Bukidnon.

“I decided to teach children in the IP community because I have a heart for them. I wanted to share my knowledge, learning and the continuing values that I’ve learned from my parents and grandparents. I want them to learn and value the real meaning of education because for me, education is life. I want them to learn, explore, experience and gain something from me, a bucket of wisdom at the end of the day,” says Dordas.

She also includes the teaching of the different chants, songs and folklore of their tribe in her lessons.

“As an IP teacher, it is satisfying for me to teach and pass on my learning especially sharing the Panay Bukidnon culture and oral tradition to my pupils. Oral tradition includes sugidanon (epics), hinun-anon (traditional stories), talda (chanted narratives), dilot (love song), ulawhay (repartee), ambahan (extemporaneous song), duruyanon (lullaby), composo and others,” she adds.

Aside from being a full-time teacher, Dordas also published books, stories and contextualized lesson plans in the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) program which was later used as reference teaching material in the K-12 curriculum.

“When I was a child I used to listen to the stories of my Tatay, a bundle of stories called Hinun-anon. Upon hearing them I gradually wrote it down and used it in my master’s thesis that made me Best in Research and Best Researcher in 2016. I have also written more than 20 contextualized Lesson Plans in the Indigenous Peoples Education (IPEd) program which I submitted to the Division for a reference teaching material in the K-12 curriculum. It is also my pleasure to become one of the contributors of DANYAG, a special issue by the Philippine Journal of Social Sciences. It is all about the Introducing of Panay Bukidnon Hinun-anon (Tradition Stories) for the Mother Tongue Based Multilingual Education (MTB MLE),” shares Dordas who finished Master of Arts in Education Major in Educational Planning and Management fromWest Visayas State University Calinog Campus.

The Road to Recognition for IP Work

“I think I won the Many Faces of the Teacher Award because I am a person of good integrity, God-fearing, helpful, versatile, friendly, a woman of dignity and a teacher with unique advocacy,” says Dordas who is planning to put up a cultural museum for Panay Bukidnons showcasing their heritage and her handmade Filipiniana gown which she used during her awarding.

According to the Facebook page of The Many Faces of the Teacher, the award aims to recognize teachers who play a significant role in the life of a student, nurturing and molding the character of future leaders and heroes; hence, becoming a force that shape this nation.

Lagdungan— being the culture bearer of her tribe highlights the gift of her customs and traditions where she proved that the wisdom and talents given to her by her forefathers are embedded in her wherever she goes. Her indigenous talents cannot be overshadowed; hence, it will continue to shine like the sun giving light to her tribe.  

I Can See Your Voice
By Ma Trisha Nicole Valdez and Phyllis Claire Zarriz
Silak Media, Inc.

Standing in front of a seemingly regular class, she swiftly, yet skillfully switches from one gesture to another with a flick of her fingers—her eyes, casting a determined gaze as if they were speaking to the hearts of her pupils.                    

Dorothy Simpao-Tarol, 50, also known as “Dotty” to her family and friends, is faced with this typical scenario on an almost daily basis in her 25-year teaching career, having spent most of it in nurturing children with special needs.

           “My learners with disabilities have special needs that require me to properly deal with a modified curriculum” explains Simpao-Tarol, who, aside from being a Special Education (SPED) teacher, also serves as a Guidance Counselor, Chairman of Testing Committee, and Vice Chairman of Child Protection Policy Committee, in SPED-Integrated School for Exceptional Children in Mabini Street, Iloilo City. 

          But have you ever wondered, what does it take to let someone see life from a different perspective through a different language—for these children to understand the unspoken?

Simpao-Tarol is not your regular teacher. At the age of 35 in 2004, she was diagnosed with Bilaterally Profound Hearing Loss and despite all this; she was 2019 Metro Bank Foundation Outstanding Filipino, Outstanding Teacher category and was awarded last September 4, 2019 at the Auditorium of the Metrobank Plaza, Makati City.

A year before that, she was 2018 Pambansang Ulirang Guro, an award given by the Manila Teachers’ Savings and Loan Association Inc. for going the extra mile to teach and educate the youth and going beyond her duty to model good character and behavior given by the

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

As a 7-year-old girl, Dotty, the youngest of five children, had her eyes opened to the reality that life isn’t always full of roses and rainbows.  While kids her age had at least four sets of complete uniform, she had to wash her only set so that she could have something to wear the next day. While they had something to spare for a sumptuous snack, Simpao-Tarol’s allowance was only enough for her fare. 

Despite her family’s pockets being half-empty, the young Simpao-Tarol never failed to see the bright side of life. She’d proudly narrate the good old days of her childhood that was mostly spent playing taguan and patintero under the scorching sun. 

“I used to wear just one uniform from high school to college —wash and wear the next day. I had no allowance for snacks, only for my fare going to school. But much of my childhood in Santa Barbara was full of playtime with my siblings and neighbors,” says Simpao-Tarol who took up Bachelor of Elementary Education (BEED) at West Visayas State University (WVSU) from 1985 to 1989.

HATCHING FROM HER SHELL

During her four-year stint in WVSU, Dorothy was far from the reflection of her present self—confident and unafraid to speak her mind. 

Unknown to many, she was once confined inside her shell—introverted and reserved, seldom participating in class discussions, unable to express her opinions and ideas, worried that what she had in her mind might be far from being correct.

All of these changed after a fateful encounter with three different mentors: her class teacher, Mrs. Juliet Lozada in Santa Barbara Elementary School (SBES), her Reading class with Prof. Verna Jade Janay from WVSU, and with Dr. Nuria Castells in her Mental Hygiene class in the University of the Philippines-Visayas (UPV) where she completed her Master’s Degree in Guidance and Counselling in 2002. 

“I still don’t know how they did it. It could be their kindness or their manner of asking a question. They’d look at me as though to say, ‘Go on, speak up. If you’re wrong, that’s okay,’” reminisces this recipient of the Nimia S. Lopez Award for Most Outstanding Student Teacher in WVSU Batch 1989.

           In life, you can either spend your whole life living inside your shell or you can hatch and grow. Simpao-Tarol chose to be the latter. 

“It’s not that I started to believe I always had the right answers; instead, I came to see that not knowing the right answers wasn’t such a problem,” continues Simpao-Tarol, who took up her second Master’s in Special Education in WVSU from 2006-2008.

THE BEGINNING OF A NEW JOURNEY

           Being more confident, having a stable job and a happy family, everything in Dorothy’s life seemed to be falling into its proper place; unaware and unsuspecting that it’ll soon start falling apart. 

           After 35 years of existence, who would’ve thought that the chirping of the birds and the sound of children’s laughter that she always loved to hear would slowly, surely and painfully start to fade? 

“At the age of 35, I didn’t understand that my sense of hearing, which had otherwise been good to me, was not doing what I expected it would do. I hadn’t processed that this was going to be the beginning of a very new and challenging chapter in my life.” 

Confusion, anxiety, and feelings of complete helplessness—after being diagnosed with Bilaterally Profound Hearing Loss in 2004 at the age of 35, Simpao-Tarol had a hard time accepting her current fate, and a much harder time facing the future.

“I simply didn’t accept that my hearing loss was going to be permanent. That first month was one of the most challenging months of my life. It was an emotional roller-coaster ride. There were a lot of questions that I didn’t have the answer for: What about my family? How is this going to affect my job?” she shares. 

         Indeed, what does it take to find the strength to hear the unspoken and see what is unheard?

           For Simpao-Tarol, who was awarded as one of The Outstanding Women of Iloilo City (TOWIL) in 2011 for her exemplary performance and achievements in the field of Persons with Special Needs, it took a lot of doubting to finally accept her fate and have the courage to face this new journey—a journey in a road that is less travelled.        

Having a hard time communicating with other people at first, Simpao-Tarol took up the challenge of mastering a new language, a language that enables her to see the voices and the sounds they cannot hear—the sign language. This was a different language she wanted to teach to people like her, whose sense of hearing has already faltered and failed them. This was the language that could give them the courage to embark on a new journey in life. 

“Losing and surmounting my sense of hearing was an experience that changed me as a lifelong teacher,” she shares.

“Every student is different: no two students react in the same way. Some are deprived, some well-nourished, some impaired, and some are gifted. It is my task as a teacher to find not only what facilitates each student to learn but also what drives them to misbehave. I came to understand that students are people who have feelings and who don’t want to feel cornered,” says Simpao-Tarol, Key Bearer of “Ang Pagbasa may Pag-asa” program and an Upholder of Employment for Persons with Special Needs.

Indeed, they’re the ones who can hear, but sometimes, it is we who refuse to listen. 

“When an autistic child who is resistant to personal touch comes up and gently hugs me, the impact to me is real,” narrates Simpao-Tarol, who reveals that these little milestones are what keeps her going and motivated, to continue enriching the lives of her students with special needs. 

As she swiftly, yet skilfully switches from one gesture to another with a flick of her fingers, she yearns to give hope to her learners, as she envisions a future where they can finally say, “I can see your voice.”

Amidst the Rogue Waves: The Sandro Silverio Story
By Ma. Trisha Nicole B. Valdez
Silak Media, Inc.

            Along with the sight of a damp and almost worn-out traditional cast net and buckets, barefooted men slowly clambered to their decade-old pump boats as they headed towards the open sea and prepared to face its tempestuous currents.Sandro Silverio, fondly called ‘Dodoy’ by his family and friends sees this almost daily for he has lived his childhood by the sea.

            “I am an island boy. I originally came from Sicogon Island in Carles, in Northern Iloilo,” says this young man who graduated summa cum laude last April 5, 2019 with a degree of Bachelor of Secondary Education (BSEd) Major in Mathematics from the West Visayas State University-College of Education (WVSU-COE) with a grade point average of 1.24.

            To a young Sandro, it seemed that the deep blue seas of the North and the fates of the people of Sicogon will always be entwined—the sea that feeds their families by giving them a bountiful catch is the same sea that tempts them from trying out other opportunities to make their lives better.

“Ang mga tawo didto, fishing gid ang main livelihood. Kalabanan sa ila, wala gid katapos eskwela kay mangisda nalang gid sila,” Sandro recalls.

Despite being a fisherman’s son, Dodoy, the youngest of six children, already showed signs of being a dreamer who aims to reach his goals. While children of his age have already learned how to fish, he was at school, acing their Math exam. While his age mates hold their cast nets and buckets as they set off to the sea, there he was, proudly holding his pen and paper as he headed to Buaya Elementary School.

“When my father started teaching my older siblings how to fish, I refused to learn the art because I want to put an end to this ripple effect,” says Sandro who was also awarded as WVSU’s Most Outstanding Graduate of 2019.

“When I saw how difficult our life was, I told myself that I want to have a better life. I don’t want a life of poverty. Gusto ko gid nga biskan paano, maka tibaw-as man kami.”

Refusing to spend the rest of his life bound by the shackles of the sea and continuously crushed by the waves of poverty, Sandro graduated as his batch’s Valedictorian in elementary school. The young island boy has finally found the tool that could help him carve the future he’s always been dreaming of—education. 

AN UNTIMELY LOSS

            Having graduated at the top of his class in elementary, a scholarship was fast approaching as he began his 4-year high school journey. For the young Dodoy, it seemed that everything he had always hoped for was slowly being formed.

That is, until life decided to be unkind to him.

            Life’s refusal for a peaceful, undisturbed sail came to him like rogue waves—sudden, extremely rare, and monstrous.

               “I was only a first year high school student when my mother lost her life after a long battle with tuberculosis. After suffering from a stroke, my father joined her shortly in heaven.”

Amidst the loss of both parents, Sandro refused to succumb to drowning in the dark depths of the merciless ocean.

SAILING THROUGH THE ROGUE WAVES

            Though he survived the first two years in high school at Iloilo King of Glory Christian Academy, Inc. in Estancia, Iloilo with the help of a lady pastor who was working there at that time, and by cleaning classrooms for P50 a week — it wasn’t until he transferred from Estancia to his brother’s house in Iloilo City where he was hit by another humongous wave, yet again. This time, in the hands of someone who was supposed to be a part of his family.

            “I remember her endless blabbering and seeing my clothes and books, scattered and thrown outside the house,” he recalls, adding that he had nowhere else to go and thus, endured the ill treatment.

            This was made worse because the teacher who helped him through high school could no longer support him in college, given the meager salary of a teacher.

But then, an angel came in the person of Ryan Valenzuela, pastor of The Way Fellowship of Believers International, Inc., who also became a father figure, and a constant guide who brought Sandro closer to God even as he faced college life,

A BETTER TOMORROW

Sandro’s journey at WVSU began in 2015. Having graduated as a valedictorian in high school, Sandro availed himself of the valedictorian scholarship upon entering WVSU. He was also a full merit scholar of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) and of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), among others.

“The moment I entered WVSU, I have already thought of the things I wanted to learn, things I wanted to achieve, and fields I wanted to explore.”

Thesame Joy Belarmino, one of Sandro’s classmates in college, revealed his determined side.

“Si Sandro, isa ni siya sa ga remind sa amon to keep going no matter how hard things could get. His story and faith really inspired us—biskan sabad lang siya kun kis-a,” says Belarmino.

During his four-year stint at the university, he was one of the Southeast Asian (SEA) Teacher student exchange in Yogyakarta, Indonesia and has also represented the University in regional and national public speaking competitions. Sandro was also one of The Outstanding Students of Iloilo Awardees (TOSIA) and an AYALA Young Leader.

“Apart from having a strong spiritual life, resilient spirit and eloquence, I think that it’s his willingness and openness to learn new things that led him to his success. He has a teachable heart and a teachable mind. He was firm but never arrogant,” says Dr. Amabel Siason, one of Sandro’s closest mentors and COE’s current Associate Dean.

Aside from being a constant achiever and an active member of their church, Sandro also started his own organization, The Way Grace Community, which aims to not only to help the youth with their studies, but to also develop their values, especially their faith.

“The journey is not always smooth and easy. You can be susceptible to a lot of frustrations that could lead to burn out. And the antidote to all of these is always asking the guidance of Almighty God and the Holy Spirit,” says Sandro.

Dodoy, now called “Sir Sandro” by his students at the  Philippine Science High School-Western Visayas Campus in Jaro, Iloilo City where he recently got employed, happily carries his pen and thick Calculus books as he prepares to begin his class — reminiscing on the days when he used to sit by the shore and watch fishermen go about their work. His is now a different world.