Poverty and scarcity are no barriers to quality education

By Christopher C. Bernido, M. Victoria Carpio-Bernido Philippine Daily Inquirer (The following is excerpted from a paper delivered at the Ramon Magsaysay Award lecture series.) POVERTY and scarcity are proverbial constraints invoked to account for mediocrity in the education and training of the youth. On the other hand, as physicists, we know that in the study of natural phenomena, the presence of strong constraints and boundaries in a physical system often leads to more exciting effects and, at times, even unexpected new phenomena. Thus, when we decided to run the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF), we viewed the small highschool as a microcosm of a longstanding nationwide educational crisis. From our first day in 1999, we went for 100-percent immersion in the routines and challenges of daily school life, but with a 100-percent open mind for low-cost but effective solutions. We could not discount the possibility that, far from being barriers to quality education, poverty and scarcity might just lead us to zero in on the core of the learning process. The teacher problem Let’s look at the [teacher] problem and take physics as an example. In the Philippines, according to studies of the Department of Science and Technology, the percentage of qualified high school physics teachers dropped from 27 percent in the 1990s to a mere eight percent by 2003. In the website of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (Seameo), accessed in 2010, the number is a more dismal four percent. Sociocultural aspects of foreign language teaching in the SEAMEO countries: Philippines : a survey report This has been attributed to massive migration of science and mathematics teachers to advanced countries, which can offer five to six times the basic salaries of public school teachers in the Philippines, with benefits for accompanying families. Add to this the big difference between the quality of life and delivery of basic services in the advanced countries and in poor developing countries. Thus, in spite of the big-budget massive training programs of science teachers, the numbers have deteriorated to alarming levels! The usual remedy clearly has not worked. Any additional training of teachers makes them more marketable globally, and it has become increasingly naive to expect high levels of altruism and patriotism. The more painful realization is that Filipinos are paying off loans incurred to train teachers for other countries. Our solution: Rethink the role of the teacher in the learning process, and institute a program that would not be strongly dependent on teacher qualification, ability and personality, but at the same time should foster the professional development of the teacher. This we implemented through the parallel classes scheme and activity-based features of the CVIF Dynamic Learning Program (DLP). From the CVIF DLP experience, we also derived the strategy for the Learning Physics as One Nation (LPON) project launched in 2008 by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education with funding from the Department of Education (DepEd). The LPON project answers the question: Can high school students learn essential physics topics effectively even if their classroom teacher has little or no physics training? An assessment of the project after the pilot year of implementation indicates a positive response to this question. LPON materials have been made available to over 200 private schools in all regions of the Philippines. These include a specially designed Physics Essentials Portfolio of 239 learning activities to be independently accomplished by students during one school year, and associated 18 DVD volumes of video lectures by national educators. The materials are designed such that a command team can monitor student progress, and address questions from the field through e-mail, mobile phone text messages, Skype and fast courier services. The LPON prototype bypasses the need for qualified teachers and yet effectively prepares the students for college-level physics. With assessments of student performance showing a positive trend, plans are to produce Learning as One Nation materials for all other science and math subjects following the LPON model. The textbook problem The DepEd has been working hard to reach the 1:1 textbook to student ratio. However, the quality of the textbooks is highly questionable. Indeed, which would be better, no textbook or a bad textbook? Our solution: For public schools, pick a select team of experts that could conceptualize and design concise Learning Activities to be accomplished by students in class. As in the CVIF DLP, only one copy per class is needed since the students will copy by hand the material from the board or from the screen. For schools with enough textbooks, teacher-made learning activities can be based on the textbooks and other reference materials, depending on the topic. The science lab problem This problem leads us to questions at a more fundamental level. Being theoretical physicists, we believe that, at the high school level, there is no need for expensive lab equipment to be able to learn scientific processes and methods of analysis. For example, the simple pendulum can be used to demonstrate the scientific method of experimentation, analysis and inference-making. Moreover, the pendulum is a good model to highlight basic principles such as conservation of mechanical energy and simple harmonic motion. Our solution: Strategically select cheap and simple experimental set-ups that demonstrate fundamental principles of science. Interestingly, the National Research Council of the United States released the comprehensive “America’s Lab Report” in 2006 which questioned, among others, the benefits derived from the usual science lab education that has been implemented since the turn of the 20th century. Tests of effectiveness Have our solutions worked? For our school, we have seen marked increase in proficiency levels of our students, especially in science, math and reading comprehension. This is seen from their performance in college admissions tests and the National Career Assessment Examination (NCAE). The number of students who annually pass the University of the Philippines College Admission Test has increased to about 10 percent of the graduating class on average. This is high compared to schools similarly situated, and relatively comparable even to schools in the cities. In the 2009 NCAE, 27 of the 115 CVIF senior students obtained an overall General Scholastic Aptitude (GSA) score in the range of 90-99 percentile rank. This means that 23 percent of the CVIF DLP students belong to the top 10 percent in the country. Of these, two students got a percentile rank of 99 and three 98. This is a far cry from the single student who scored in the 90-up percentile range in the national exam in 2001. For the different categories in the NCAE, there were 26 CVIF DLP students (out of 115) who got a percentile rank of 90-99 in science, 21 students in math, and 26 in reading comprehension. These numbers are remarkable considering the economically disadvantaged background of most of the CVIF students. Moreover, the students are given lectures/discussions only 1/4 or even 1/5 of the allotted classroom time, and were not given homework in their four years of high school. Based on available data, we note that in the NCAE 2007, the CVIF mean percentage score (mps) for general scholastic aptitude was 8.7 points above the GSA mps of schools in the area for the same year. In the NCAE 2009, the GSA mps of CVIF was 23 points above the national mean, which has remained relatively stationary (with fluctuations? 5) for years. Continuing to raise the bar, we have started to benchmark with international SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) score ranges. We have stepped into the lower bounds of SAT scores in math for admission in good American universities such as the University of California system. However, improvement is still needed in other areas. A wealth of insights After over 10 years of immersion in basic education, while continuing our work in physics research and mentoring, we can definitely say that the lack of human and material resources that we suffered from proved to be the key to discovering fundamental principles in the learning processes that young people undergo. Indeed, poverty and scarcity have bestowed a wealth of insights that we continue to benefit from, even as we study with excitement the many new results coming in from research in the neurosciences. With deeper understanding of how the brain really works, we are expecting a profound transformation of educational systems and institutions within the early part of the present century.

Heels, Flip flops

By Michael Tan Philippine Daily Inquirer WOULD you believe there’s actually an Encyclopedia of Feet and Footwear? The editor explains why the topic was considered important enough to merit an entire encyclopedia (even if only one volume): “How we view and treat the kinds of footwear that we wear, and how we view our footwear, tell us a great deal about society and culture.” There is an entry devoted to Imelda Marcos, but the other entries of the encyclopedia convinced me that maybe it’s time we move away from this fixation on Imelda’s shoes and face up to the fact that all throughout the world, people have varying degrees of fixations on footwear, a generic term which includes everything from slippers to sandals to shoes. (I won’t be dealing with feet here, which the encyclopedia shows to be an amazing object of culture as well, with many possible topics from foot-binding to sexual fetishes.) At first glance, footwear is there to protect our feet from dirt and mud, and from the heat. Yet when we buy footwear, even slippers, we go beyond the functional and want our footwear to be nice-looking, eye-catching, or both. Our aesthetics around shoes can become quite complicated as we consider the many social meanings for footwear generated in each culture. The most obvious is how footwear represents wealth. In many places in the world, some people are so poor they can’t even afford slippers. Even in the Philippines, the very poor might have slippers and shoes, but they use them very sparingly. The meanings can shift. The lowly tsinelas and bakya in the Philippines took elevated status when embellished with beads or sequins, so they could be worn by the rich. Who would have predicted that rubber slippers, once considered pedestrian and proletarian, would now command prices of a few hundred or even over a thousand pesos because of brand names or styles? Nope, they’re no longer considered tsinelas (slippers) but flip-flops, Havaianas or one of the many upscale brands of casual footwear. While footwear are status symbols, they also represent our contact with the ground, which is considered “profane” or “dirty” in some cultures. Many places of worships—temples and mosques in particular—require worshippers and visitors to remove their footwear before entering sacred ground. Many cultures, including our own, also require that visitors remove their footwear before entering a home as a sign of respect to the host. As culture goes though, there are many variations on the rules. If the visitor is considered very important or of high status, the owner of the home is required to “exempt” the visitor, “No, no, please keep your shoes on.” The cultural meanings attached to footwear may sometimes be lost across time. Take the men’s shoes with very long pointed toes which are currently in vogue. I never found them particularly appealing and wondered why they’ve become so popular... until I read in the foot-and-footwear encyclopedia about the poulaine, a male shoe that was quite popular in medieval Europe, but which was condemned by the Catholic church as obscene. Yes, the elongated toes were supposed to have been phallic. The poulaine’s toes could extend up to 24 inches, stuffed with wool and horse hair to keep it, well, erect. Men supposedly stood by street corners and would wave their poulaine-clad feet at women (and maybe fellow men?) passing by. Footwear reflects and replicates gender. Notice how men get to be the aggressor with their poulaine. Women, on the other hand, learned to wear all kinds of footwear not just for their own satisfaction but for men’s as well. Sandals and other open-toed shoes provided women occasions to display their feet to men, sometimes seductively as when the feet were brightly pedicured or dressed up with elaborate henna tattoos. Heels, terribly difficult to walk in, were meant to highlight women’s hips and legs especially when they were walking, because as women tried to keep their balance, they would end up swaying, precariously and erotically. The TV series “Sex and the City” had a strong “shoe theme” running through its episodes, its main characters (particularly Carrie Bradshaw) talking all the time about, and shopping for, shoes. The interpretation that appears in the foot encyclopedia was that it represented the shallowness, materialism and immaturity of the women characters (and of women in general?). Alternatively, the power to buy expensive shoes also comes through, so maybe accumulation of shoes runs parallel to the accumulation of power. The encyclopedia quotes Imelda Marcos as saying that many of her shoes were actually gifts, and it occurred to me that was probably true too—the more powerful a person becomes, the more gifts they receive. And in the case of Imelda, the gifts would probably be shoes, which then represented not just her power, but the attempts by many sycophants to bask in, or solicit, her power. Quick now and check the footwear in your home... and do an analysis of who wields power, and over whom. •

Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer September 4, 2010.

Where Cheapskate Put Their Money

By JANE NEPOMUCENO

September 6, 2010

When you’re out doing your monthly grocery shopping, do you always think about what you may gain or lose when buying a certain product? Do you often veer away from grocery alleys with novelty items that you believe you don’t need at home?

At home, do you find it a waste to throw away toothpaste bottles without squeezing out all of its contents? And do you not throw away Q-tips without using both ends?

If you answered yes to all the questions above, you’re probably a self-confessed cheapskate or have been called one a few times.

You are a cheapskate if you rarely spend even if you have the resources to do so. You have the money but you simply refuse to spend them.

These people usually spend most of their money on promo items and products with free items and most times, would only spend money on things that they believe will save them some more.

It’s no wonder that marketers have buyers on items like toothpaste squeezies and soap savers.

As reported by the Associated Press, the most effective way to get penny pinchers to spend is to pitch products that promise to save them money.

So it wouldn’t come as a surprise that demand for kitchen and bath gadgets that squeeze out that last blob of toothpaste and help get the suds out of tiny slivers of soap is rising.

Consumers buy these items believing that they can save more money by reducing waste on the products that they use on a regular basis.

Big companies like Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and The Container Store and a longtime "As Seen on TV" pitchman are stocking up on items claiming to help people save a buck.

These items include caps that keep the fizz in opened soda cans; digital day counters that count the days and hours food has been in the refrigerator and new, stylish versions of pants extenders that let people wear their clothes even when they gain or lose weight.

However, there is an open question whether the truly frugal are too cheap to buy the gadgets that can cost up to $20. Who needs a soap saver when an old washcloth or a pair of pantyhose will do?

According to Lynnae McCoy, who runs the blog beingfrugal.net, "Surely, people who lived through the Great Depression found ways to use up all their soap without needing a soap saver."

"Are these products convenient? Some of them, yes. But are they necessary? No. And in some cases, they're probably a complete waste of money." (With a report from AP)

Heels, Flip Flops and Poulaines

By Michael Tan Philippine Daily Inquirer WOULD you believe there’s actually an Encyclopedia of Feet and Footwear? The editor explains why the topic was considered important enough to merit an entire encyclopedia (even if only one volume): “How we view and treat the kinds of footwear that we wear, and how we view our footwear, tell us a great deal about society and culture.” There is an entry devoted to Imelda Marcos, but the other entries of the encyclopedia convinced me that maybe it’s time we move away from this fixation on Imelda’s shoes and face up to the fact that all throughout the world, people have varying degrees of fixations on footwear, a generic term which includes everything from slippers to sandals to shoes. (I won’t be dealing with feet here, which the encyclopedia shows to be an amazing object of culture as well, with many possible topics from foot-binding to sexual fetishes.) At first glance, footwear is there to protect our feet from dirt and mud, and from the heat. Yet when we buy footwear, even slippers, we go beyond the functional and want our footwear to be nice-looking, eye-catching, or both. Our aesthetics around shoes can become quite complicated as we consider the many social meanings for footwear generated in each culture. The most obvious is how footwear represents wealth. In many places in the world, some people are so poor they can’t even afford slippers. Even in the Philippines, the very poor might have slippers and shoes, but they use them very sparingly. The meanings can shift. The lowly tsinelas and bakya in the Philippines took elevated status when embellished with beads or sequins, so they could be worn by the rich. Who would have predicted that rubber slippers, once considered pedestrian and proletarian, would now command prices of a few hundred or even over a thousand pesos because of brand names or styles? Nope, they’re no longer considered tsinelas (slippers) but flip-flops, Havaianas or one of the many upscale brands of casual footwear. While footwear are status symbols, they also represent our contact with the ground, which is considered “profane” or “dirty” in some cultures. Many places of worships—temples and mosques in particular—require worshippers and visitors to remove their footwear before entering sacred ground. Many cultures, including our own, also require that visitors remove their footwear before entering a home as a sign of respect to the host. As culture goes though, there are many variations on the rules. If the visitor is considered very important or of high status, the owner of the home is required to “exempt” the visitor, “No, no, please keep your shoes on.” The cultural meanings attached to footwear may sometimes be lost across time. Take the men’s shoes with very long pointed toes which are currently in vogue. I never found them particularly appealing and wondered why they’ve become so popular... until I read in the foot-and-footwear encyclopedia about the poulaine, a male shoe that was quite popular in medieval Europe, but which was condemned by the Catholic church as obscene. Yes, the elongated toes were supposed to have been phallic. The poulaine’s toes could extend up to 24 inches, stuffed with wool and horse hair to keep it, well, erect. Men supposedly stood by street corners and would wave their poulaine-clad feet at women (and maybe fellow men?) passing by. Footwear reflects and replicates gender. Notice how men get to be the aggressor with their poulaine. Women, on the other hand, learned to wear all kinds of footwear not just for their own satisfaction but for men’s as well. Sandals and other open-toed shoes provided women occasions to display their feet to men, sometimes seductively as when the feet were brightly pedicured or dressed up with elaborate henna tattoos. Heels, terribly difficult to walk in, were meant to highlight women’s hips and legs especially when they were walking, because as women tried to keep their balance, they would end up swaying, precariously and erotically. The TV series “Sex and the City” had a strong “shoe theme” running through its episodes, its main characters (particularly Carrie Bradshaw) talking all the time about, and shopping for, shoes. The interpretation that appears in the foot encyclopedia was that it represented the shallowness, materialism and immaturity of the women characters (and of women in general?). Alternatively, the power to buy expensive shoes also comes through, so maybe accumulation of shoes runs parallel to the accumulation of power. The encyclopedia quotes Imelda Marcos as saying that many of her shoes were actually gifts, and it occurred to me that was probably true too—the more powerful a person becomes, the more gifts they receive. And in the case of Imelda, the gifts would probably be shoes, which then represented not just her power, but the attempts by many sycophants to bask in, or solicit, her power. Quick now and check the footwear in your home... and do an analysis of who wields power, and over whom. •

Published in Philippine Daily Inquirer September 4, 2010.

Disinfecting toothbrushes

September 3, 2010, 4:01pm

It is ideal to change your toothbrush every three months. Many also recommend changing it after getting sick. But for some reason or circumstance when fate just won't allow you to get a new one, you can always disinfect your current toothbrush.

Here's how. From Dentalresource.org:

1. Disinfect contaminated toothbrushes overnight in a solution of household bleach (sodium hypochlorite). Then rinse in clean water, and allow to air dry. Keep the bleach in a plastic container - not a metal container.

2. Keep all bleach products well out of reach of children! In case of accidental ingestion of bleach, do not induce vomiting, but give plenty of water.

3. You can also disinfect toothbrushes by cleaning them in a dishwasher every night - along with eating utensils. Allow them to air dry afterwards.

An eHow member, Rebecca Livermore, also suggests some other things to try:

Method #1 for Cleaning Your Toothbrush: Wash It

1. To deep clean your toothbrush, occasionally run it though the dishwasher. Be sure to place it on the top rack, so the toothbrush doesn't melt or bend due to the heat.

2. A less drastic method is to simply wash your toothbrush before and after every use by holding it under hot running water, and rubbing your thumb over it forcefully for five or ten seconds. Of course, be sure to wash your hands before using this method!

Method #2 for Cleaning Your Toothbrush: Swish It

Effective toothbrush cleaning often involves swishing your toothbrush in various liquids. Some of the most common solutions for cleaning your toothbrush by swishing include the following:

1. Listerine, or another mouthwash that contains alcohol. Although some people opt to keep their toothbrush in Listerine except when they're actually using it, swishing your toothbrush in mouthwash for thirty seconds, prior to use, is sufficient.

2. Hydrogen Peroxide. Place 1 teaspoon of hydrogen peroxide in 1 cup of water, and swish your toothbrush in it prior to use. If you don't like the taste of hydrogen peroxide, you may rinse your toothbrush with clean water prior to use, but if you opt not to rinse the peroxide mixture off before brushing your teeth, in addition to disinfecting your toothbrush, the hydrogen peroxide will help whiten your teeth.

3. Bleach. Place the toothbrush in a cup with one part water and one part bleach - just enough to cover the bristles of the toothbrush. Swish it around for thirty seconds, then rinse. Be careful not to splash any bleach on your clothing or in your eyes, and be sure to rinse out the cup thoroughly immediately after use so that no one accidentally drinks the bleach mixture. Also, be sure to rinse off the bleach mixture prior to using the toothbrush.

Method #3 for Cleaning Your Toothbrush: Soak It

Some people choose to soak their toothbrush anytime they are not using it. Unfortunately, many of those same people use the same soaking solution several days in a row, which can actually hurt, rather than help the problem. A solution is to soak your toothbrush in undiluted vinegar overnight, once every two weeks. The vinegar kills the majority of mold, germs and bacteria.

For a quick soak method, put your toothbrush in a clean mug and cover the bristles of the toothbrush with boiling water. Keep the toothbrush in the boiling water for three minutes and then use as usual.

Sources:

Dentalresource.org

eHow.com

Gloria Diaz turns the table on the Cebuanos

By NEIL RAMOS

September 3, 2010, 1:43pm

“I won’t go to Cebu until the Cebuanos, who misinterpreted what I said, apologize to me.”

This was the declaration of former Miss Universe Gloria Diaz after The Vice Mayors League of The Philippines- Cebu Chapter issued a resolution declaring her “persona non grata.”

“Persona non grata refers to criminals, right? Have I done something wrong? I think I was just misinterpreted by Cebuanos,” Diaz insisted.

The beauty queen maintained that she never made a statement putting down Cebuanos as people who cannot speak English.

“I didn’t say anything bad against Cebuanos. All I said was for the contestants to answer the question in the most comfortable language they could speak. Kung Ilocano, they speak in Ilocano. Kung Pampango, they speak in Pampango. Kung Bicolano, they speak in Bicolano. Kung Cebuano, they speak in Cebuano,” she added.

It was Cebu congresswoman Rachel "Cutie" del Mar who first raised a fuss over the statement that Diaz allegedly made recently in relation to Miss Universe Fourth Runner Up Venus Raj’s supposed blunder in the question and answer portion of the recently concluded contest.

ABS-CBN quoted Diaz as saying, "Kasi, when you think about a Cebuana [they] can hardly speak English and, of course, Tagalog, maybe she should answer in Bisaya."

Del Mar said it was improper for Diaz to belittle the Cebuanos---but Diaz denied doing so.

“I didn’t say Cebuano is lowly or bobo. Why would I say that? I mean, I might be mataray but I wouldn’t say such a thing. I love the Philippines. I love my people. My boyfriend is a Visayan so why would I say that?”

Meanwhile, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III, himself a native of Cebu, has joined in on the ruckus, surprisingly as a defender of Diaz.

In a separate interview with ABS-CBN, Osmeña said Diaz was just misinterpreted. He also confirmed that Diaz's long-time boyfriend hails from Cebu.

"She was misinterpreted and misunderstood. What she meant is - do not answer in English if you are not too fluent. Use the language you are most comfortable with. After all, the sponsor provides interpreters. I agree with her," the senator said.

"We Filipinos understood what Venus was saying. But we should also appreciate that Americans and other peoples use different idioms and would not understand ours. Miss Diaz did not intend to insult the Cebuano people. Her longtime boyfriend for the last 12 years is from Cebu. "

In another interview, Diaz tried to put a stop to the brouhaha, saying, “Let me clarify it once and for all. People should have the right to say or to answer [questions] in whatever language they want to say it in. If they're Cebuanos, they can say it in Cebuano. I did not say that they [Cebuanos] did not speak English.”

“If you're Ilocano, say it in Ilocano. But if you're Ilocano who speaks good English, say it in English. If you're Cebuano who can speak Spanish, if you're comfortable with Spanish, say it in Spanish. That's what I said and that's what I meant,” she added.

Diaz said she is surprised about how people reacted to her statement.

"I was like, shocked. Everybody was so angry. I thought they're going [to] stone me to death. I want to just make people realize it is just, you know, say it with whatever you're comfortable with," she said.

Seemingly exasperated, Diaz pointed to other topics that she thinks people should focus on.

“There are still more important things to tackle in this nation, like the dengue issue, the Hong Kong sentiment about the hostage taking crisis, the economy. My God! I am very irrelevant.”

Published in Manila Bulletin September 3, 2010.

Senate OKd resolution suspending bonuses, allowances of GOCC execs

By Maila Ager INQUIRER.net MANILA, Philippines— (UPDATE) Senators unanimously adopted on Wednesday a resolution urging President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to immediately suspend all the “unusually large and apparently excessive allowances, bonuses, incentives and other perks of the governing boards” of government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as well as of government financialinstitutions (GFIs) It was Senator Franklin Drilon, chairman of the Senate finance committee, who presented Senate Resolution 17 on the floor. None of 17 senators present in the plenary objected to its adoption. “Resolved by the Senate, to urge, as it hereby urges, the President to immediately suspend all the allowances, bonuses, incentives, and other perks being received by the members of the board of GOCCs and GFIs, except reasonable per diems, pending the enactment of the needed legislation for their regulation,” said the resolution. The President, it noted, has the power under the Administrative Code to suspend the excessive bonuses of the board of directors/trustees of GOCCs and GFIs, “If the respective boards of these GOCCs and GFIs would be allowed to continue to grant such bonuses to themselves, the damage to these corporations and institutions would be irreparable and would further erode government revenues,' said the resolution. It also expressed the need to turn over to the concerned GOCC and GFI the fees, bonuses, stockoptions, allowances and other benefits that the board members have been getting while they sit as representatives of government firms in various private corporations. At a press briefing before taking the floor, Drilon clarified that the proposed suspension of bonuses and allowances would not cover executives and employeesof government corporations. “In so far as the executives and the rank and file employees are concerned, we can't touch them at this point unless it's part of a comprehensive reform,” he pointed out. In a letter to Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile dated August 24, Budget Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad conveyed the President's proposal to adopt a “menu” for their 2nd tranche of this year's congressional allocations. “We are aware that there is an existing provision in the 2010 GAA (General Appropriations Act) on the menu that should be adopted for the whole year of 2010,” Abad said in the letter. But the proposed menu items, he said, “all fall within the menu as provided in the 2010 GAA. “The only difference is that the items in the President's proposed menu are more focused and aligned with his priorities. Therefore we would appreciate if this menu can be adopted,” Abad added. For congressional district or party-list representative, the President suggested that the congressional allocation for education, health and social protection should not exceed P15 million and P20 million for projects listed under public infrastructure. And for senators, the President wants a limit of P50 million for education, health and social protection and another P50 million for infrastructure. The project listed under education are scholarships, which includes Government Assistance to Students and Teachers in Private Education (GATSPE) Educational Service Contracting; health covers assistance to indigent patients either confined or out-patients, purchase of medical equipment, andinsurance premium; and under social protection are “community-driven projects” under the Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan (Unity Against Poverty) Comprehensive and Integrated Delivery of Social Services program of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The projects listed under public infrastructure are roads and bridges, flood control, hospitals and health facilities, public markets, educational facilities, school buildings, desks and chairs, water supply system, farm-to-market roads, and irrigation projects identified in the master plan of the Department of Agriculture. “Identification of projects and/or designation of beneficiaries shall conform to the priority list, standard pr design prepared by each implementing agency,” said the documents attached to Abad's letter. “Furthermore, preference shall be given to projects located in 4th to 6th class municipalities and limited to indigents identified under the National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction of the DSWD,” it added.