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The Philippines Still Hasn’t Fully Reopened Its Schools Because of COVID-19. What Is This Doing to Children?

I f 17-year-old Ruzel Delaroso needs to ask her teacher a question, she can’t simply raise her hand, much less fire off an email from the kitchen table. She has to leave the modest shack that her family calls home in Januiay, a farming town in the central Philippines, and head to an area of dense shrubbery, a 10-minute walk away. There, if she’s lucky, she can pick up a phone signal and finally ask about the math problem in the self-learning materials her mother picked up from school.

“We’re so used to our teachers always being around,” Delaroso tells TIME via the same temperamental phone connection. “But now it’s harder to communicate with them.”

Her school, Calmay National High School, is among the tens of thousands of Philippine public schools shuttered since March 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Delaroso is one of 1.6 billion children affected by worldwide school closures, according to a UNESCO estimate.

But while other countries have taken the opportunity to resume in-person classes, the Philippines has lagged behind. After 20 months of pandemic prevention measures, amounting to one of the world’s longest lockdowns , only 5,000 students, in just over 100 public schools, have been allowed to go back to class in a two-month trial program—a tiny fraction of the 27 million public school students who enrolled this year. The Philippines must be one of a very few countries, if not the only country, to remain so reliant on distance learning. It has become a vast experiment in life without in-person schooling.

Read More: What It’s Like Being a Teacher During the COVID-19 Pandemic

“[Education secretary Leonor Briones] always reminds us that in the past when there were military sieges, or volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, typhoons, floods, learning continued,” says education undersecretary Diosdado San Antonio.

But has it this time? Educators fear that prolonged closure is having negative effects on students’ ability to learn, impacting their futures just a time when the country needs a young, well-educated workforce to resume the impressive economic growth it was enjoying before the pandemic hit.

Globally, COVID-19 will be impacting the mental health of children and young adolescents for years to come, UNICEF warns. School shutdowns have already been blamed for a rise in dropout rates and decreased literacy, and the World Bank estimates that the number of children aged 10 and below, from low- and middle-income countries, who cannot read simple text has risen from 53% prior to the pandemic to 70% today.

If the pilot resumption of classes passes without incident, there are hopes for a wider reopening of Philippine schools. But without it, there are fears of a lost generation .

How COVID-19 impacted Philippine education

From March 2020 to September 2021, UNICEF tallied 131 million pre-tertiary students from 11 countries who had been trying to learn at home for at least three quarters of the time that they would normally have been in school. Of that number, 66 million came from just two countries where face-to-face classes were almost completely nixed: Bangladesh and the Philippines. (Bangladesh reopened its schools in September.)

Amid the initial COVID-19 surge of March 2020—just weeks shy of the end of the academic year—the Philippines stopped in-person classes for its entire cohort of public education students, which then numbered some 24.9 million according to UNESCO. The start of the new school year in September also got pushed back, as President Rodrigo Duterte imposed a “no vaccine, no classes” policy.

When schooling finally resumed in October 2020, the education department’s solution was a blend of remote-learning options: online platforms, educational TV and radio, and printed modules. But social inequalities and the lack of resources at home to support these approaches have dealt a huge blow to many students and teachers.

A departmental report released in March 2021 found that 99% of public school students got passing marks for the first academic quarter of last year. But other surveys claim that students are being disadvantaged. Over 86% of the 1,299 students polled by the Movement for Safe, Equitable, Quality and Relevant Education said they learned less through the education department’s take-home modules—so did 66% of those using online learning and 74% using a blend of online learning and hard-copy material.

Read More: Angelina Jolie on Why We Can Let COVID-19 Derail Education

Even though she’s an academic topnotcher—getting a weighted grade average of 91 out of 100 last year—Delaroso also feels that remote learning is inferior.

At Delaroso’s high school, teacher Johnnalie Consumo, 25, has detected a lack of eagerness to study, with some parents even filling in worksheets on their child’s behalf—going by the evidence of the handwriting.

“They have a hard time forcing the kid to answer modules because the kid isn’t intimidated by their parents,” she tells TIME. “The way a teacher encourages is very different from how a parent would.”

Consumo sometimes visits the homes of under-performing students and finds that they are out doing farm work—harvesting sugar cane, say, or making charcoal—to augment a family income that has been slashed by a suffering economy and a rising unemployment rate . Exercise books have been turned in blank, she says. Or students appear to pass their modules, only for her to find that they copied the answers. The frustration is enormous.

“It’s hard on our part,” Consumo tells TIME, “because we really try our best.”

Poverty and education in the Philippines

Internet access is a huge challenge. In urban areas, instructors can give lessons over video conferencing platforms, or Facebook Live, but 52.6% of the Philippines’ 110 million people live in rural areas with unreliable connectivity. It doesn’t come cheap either: research from cybersecurity firm SurfShark found that the internet in the Philippines is among the least stable and slowest, yet the most expensive, of 79 countries surveyed.

Internet access assumes, of course, that the user has a device, but in the Philippines that’s not a given. Private polling firm Social Weather Stations found that just over 40% of students did not have any device to help them in distance learning. Of the rest, some 27% were using a device they already owned, and 10% were able to borrow one, but 12% had to buy one, with families spending an average of $172 per learner. To put it into perspective, that’s more than half the average monthly salary in the Philippines.

“Some of them don’t have cell phones,” says Marilyn Tomelden, a teacher in Quezon province, three hours away from the Philippine capital Manila, who first noticed the digital divide when many of her sixth graders were unable to comply with what she thought of as a fun homework assignment: submitting videos of themselves performing dance moves she had demonstrated in an earlier video.

“Because we’re in public school, we cannot demand that they buy phones,” Tomelden says. “They don’t have money to buy their own food, and they’re going to buy their own cell phone for learning? Which is more important to live—to eat or to study?”

Instructors need to be equipped with the right resources too. A study from the National Research Council of the Philippines found that many teachers have had to shell out their own money to support their students in remote learning.

Read More: The Long History of Vaccinating Kids in School

Government agencies do what they can to help. Earlier this year, the customs bureau donated phones and other gadgets it had confiscated to the education department for distribution to needy students. But it’s a drop in the ocean.

“It’s something that is beyond [our] capacity to address—the inequality in terms of availability of resources of learners, depending on the socioeconomic status of families,” says education undersecretary San Antonio.

Some students are so exhausted by the struggle to study remotely that they are calling for long breaks between modules. Many parents and pressure groups are going even further, demanding total academic suspension until a clearer post-pandemic education system is ironed out.

Congresswoman France Castro is a member of ACT Teachers Partylist, a political party representing the education sector. She says a complete freeze would cause more problems than it solves.

“Education is a right,” she tells TIME. “Whatever form it will be, whether blended learning or modular, it’s better to continue it than to stop.”

But in the meantime, with their workloads multiplied, it is students and teachers paying the price. Consumo, the teacher from Januiay, regularly stays up late completing the reams of new paperwork generated by the distance learning system.

“You won’t be able to sleep anymore, just thinking about the deadlines and the work that still needs to be done,” she says. “I cry over that.”

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Why Filipino students performed poorly in global learning assessments

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This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

PHILIPPINE EDUCATION. File photo of students at Corazon Aquino Elementary School in Quezon City during the opening of classes in August 2023

Jire Carreon/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Before the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) 2022  rankings were released in December 2023, the Department of Education (DepEd) had already said it was not expecting “good results.”

It seemed to be the agency’s way of controlling the narrative and minimizing public backlash, if not lowering public expectations. After all, the DepEd had already faced a string of controversies in only two years of Vice President Sara Duterte’s leadership. Critics hit Duterte for what they called “misplaced priorities” in the department – from red-tagging to alleged misuse of hefty confidential funds.

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“To be honest, we’re not expecting good results. So right now, we’re really focused in learning recovery. And that is why we requested that if there were realignments to be made, it should be realigned to the NLRP (National Learning Recovery Program),” DepEd Undersecretary Michael Poa said in November 2023 .

Poa was right. The Philippines, once again, ended up among the countries that produced the lowest proficiency for 15-year-old students in reading, mathematics, and science, as indicated by the PISA rankings. The country ranked 77th out of 81 countries globally.

The country scored Level 1a to 1b on mathematics, reading, and science. This means that students had below minimum proficiency in all three subject areas.

At level 1a for reading, students can understand only the literal meaning of sentences or short passages. At level 1b for mathematics, they can perform only simple calculations. Lastly, at level 1a for science, they can recognize only simple scientific phenomena.

The latest PISA result begs the question: why do Filipino students continue to lag behind other countries in global education assessments?

Just ‘memorization’

At a Senate hearing on the 2022 PISA results on Wednesday, February 7, Senator Nancy Binay asked the DepEd if the questions in PISA were taught in schools in the country. “Paano maisasagot ng mga student ang questions kung hindi siya naituturo as part of the curriculum ?” (How can the students answer the questions when these are not being taught as part of the curriculum?)

In response, educational psychologist and University of the Philippines professor Lizamarie Olegario said that the learning curriculum in the country is too much focused on mere “memorization” or the low ordering thinking skill, while PISA questions require analytical thinking.

“Hindi talaga siya natuturo sa classrooms natin. ‘Yung mga questions sa PISA ay practical real-life situations. Kasi dapat ‘yung tinuturo natin ay solving real-life problems, authentic learning dapat tayo,” she explained.

(They are really not being taught in our classrooms. The questions in PISA were practical real-life situations. Because what we should be teaching them are about solving real-life problems. We should teach them about authentic learning.)

Olegario said that teachers should veer away from telling students to just memorize math formulas and read fictional books. “In reading, students are so much exposed to fiction. In math, more on memorizing formulas. But in PISA, they need to analyze problems. In science, basically the experiments only ask them to follow steps. But in PISA, they have to imagine. They have to do experiments in their minds.”

Olegario also attributed the dismal performance of students to the failed implementation of the K to 12 program. “The K to 12 is not being implemented to the fullest. The task performance is still on the lower order of thinking skills [which] should be the application side or problem solving.”

Even before K to 12 was launched in 2012, many were already clamoring against the additional two years of basic education. Despite a classroom shortage, lack of textbooks, tables and chairs, the ambitious program was implemented. Policymakers and proponents of K to 12 marketed it to the public as a curriculum preparing “graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.”

But former DepEd director for curriculum and development Joyce Andaya refuted Olegario’s claim. She said that “nowhere in the review did it come out that we focused on the lower level thinking skills.”

“In fact, in the review, there were very important findings. Number 1, there were overlapping. Number 2, there were misplaced competencies that should have been in grade 4 but perhaps in grade 7, and cognitive demands. There’s also high cognitive demands, meaning the curriculum has leaned towards high level than low thinking skills,” she said.

But what Andaya failed to point out was whether the teachers were teaching the way lessons should be taught. The DepEd is the biggest employer of teachers having some 900,000 teaching personnel across the country.

“From our initial discussions, we just found out that our learners and teachers are not familiar with the type of tests that are given by PISA,” Andaya said. She said that there’s need to strengthen “formative tests” in classrooms to match the PISA questions.

In an interview with Rappler on Wednesday, Philippine Business for Education’s Justine Raagas said that there were two major factors why Filipino students lagged behind other countries in PISA. These are lack of resources and the quality of teachers the country has.

Lack of resources

Raagas said that the Philippines is allotting only 3% to 4% of its gross domestic product for its education budget while the global standard is 6%. “We perform poor, and we spend less,” she said.

For one, Raagas pointed out the perennial problem of classroom and textbook shortage. “We’re hounded by problems. We lack classrooms. Learners now still share textbooks.”

In 2023, the DepEd was able to build only 3,600 new classrooms. DepEd Assistant Secretary Francis Bringas said that Philippine public schools lacked some 159,000 classrooms before school opened in August 2023. At this rate, the government would be able to address the classroom shortage in 40 years, and by that time, more problems in the education sector would have come up.

Ironically, on the lack of textbooks, the DepEd left some P3 billion worth of learning materials sitting in warehouses from 2021 to 2023. A Rappler investigation revealed that the learning materials were held hostage by logistics firm Transpac due to non-payment of fees, among other things. The materials were later released after Rappler published its report in December 2023.

Teacher quality

“Teachers are the biggest inputs to classroom learning. It’s important to have high quality teachers who are knowledgeable,” Raagas said, stressing the crucial role of teachers for some 28 million basic education students.

According to a World Bank study in 2016 , the knowledge of teachers and the method they use to teach a subject were “important determinants of student learning outcomes in the Philippines.” The study showed that “knowledge of subject matter among elementary and high school teachers is low in most subjects.”

For instance, the World Bank study revealed that a mathematics teacher in high school was only able to answer 31% of the questions “completely correctly,” far from even half of the questions.

“Since the tests are closely aligned with the curriculum, the results suggest that teachers face significant challenges in teaching a considerable portion of the current K to 12 curriculum,” the study said.

How can students learn to analyze math equations if their teachers themselves are having a hard time answering them?

But Raagas said teachers shouldn’t be overburdened by the problems because they are overworked with administrative tasks rather than just teaching. “They need to be supported,” she said.

To address this, the DepEd recently released an order removing administrative tasks from teachers so they could focus on teaching. Raagas, however, said that if the DepEd would hire only 5,000 administrative staff every year, it would take years for the agency to solve the problem.

“We have to remember that we have over 47,000 schools…. Do the math, if only 5,000 year-on-year, it would take years to be completed. In the next years, we would still have overworked teachers,” Raagas said. (READ: Overworked teachers among causes of high learning poverty level in PH – experts )

For years, teachers have complained that paperwork piling up hinders them from preparing lessons.

What does the DepEd need now? Raagas said the agency needs a strong leader.

“We need a strong leadership that [will say,] ‘hey all these things need to be done.’ And the fact is that many of the reforms have to be done simultaneously,” she said.

Many critics disagreed with Duterte’s appointment as education chief. She is not an educator, and some people questioned her qualifications. But the Vice President said her experience as a mother and her background in local governance are enough. Will she take the rest of her term to learn the job? – Rappler.com

As Marcos-Duterte clans clash, should Sara resign from the Cabinet?

Please abide by Rappler's commenting guidelines .

I appreciate the candidness of Philippine Business for Education’s Justine Raagas, who stated that the agency (DepEd) needs a strong leader. However, using the adjective “strong” may be less appropriate compared to plainly stating that she lacks the experience and educational qualification to lead DepEd. It is said that VP Sara Duterte defended herself by declaring that “her experience as a mother and her background in local governance are enough.” Unfortunately, such experience and background are insufficient or appropriate for such a position. Why should an official maintain her position when not qualified or experienced? The highest responsibility belongs to President Marcos Jr. He should urgently act on this and not prolong the suffering of affected students, teachers, and parents.

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The Cost of Miseducation: Lack of investment in PH education sector

The Second Congressional Commission on Education (EDCOM II) acknowledged the long-standing "learning crisis" in the Philippines—a problem that is not only felt first-hand by Filipino students and teachers, but is also dismally evident as shown by national and international assessment results.

With a new academic year about to begin, and a change of leadership unfolding at the Department of Education (DepEd), what needs to be done to address the crisis?

The title of this GMA News Online series is a nod to EDCOM II's year one report, which equates the country's "failed system" of education to one word: Miseducation.

The series takes a close look at prudent spending and management of government resources and education funds, as well as the consequences students and teachers suffer when these responsibilities are not performed well.

This is The Cost of Miseducation.

FIRST OF THREE PARTS

One of the key issues raised in the EDCOM II report released in January 2024 was that the Philippine government, as compared to neighboring countries, has a "historical and persistent underinvestment" in education, resulting in the decline of its quality.

This problem of underinvestment was already raised by the EDCOM I in its 1991 report.

At that time, the commission noted that government expenditure on education was only at 2.7% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)—far from the 4.0% minimum recommended benchmark.

More than 30 years later, underinvestment still haunts the country's education sector.

International organizations' suggested public spending on education is at 4% to 6% of the GDP, Senator Sherwin Gatchalian, co-chair of EDCOM II and chairman of the Senate committee on basic education, told GMA News Online in an interview.

Currently, Gatchalian said, the Philippines is still at the lower end of the recommendation, allocating nearly 4% of the GDP to basic education; technical and vocational (TechVoc) education; and higher education, including state universities and colleges (SUCs).

READ: SECOND OF THREE PARTS The Cost of Miseducation: Handling PH education's purse

READ: LAST OF THREE PARTS The Cost of Miseducation: Task at hand for PH education

Despite the "substantial growth" in the investments in education since EDCOM I, however, the commission stressed that the Philippines' current amount of investment is still behind compared to other neighbors in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) like Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia—countries that all fared well in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).

The investment gap exists, even though the 1987 Constitution provides that the State shall assign the highest budgetary priority to education.

This year, under the P5.768 trillion 2024 national budget, the education sector remained to be the top priority , according to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The DepEd alone received the lion's share allocation of P717.6 billion under the 2024 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

"DepEd always receives the biggest and the highest allocation, as well as the highest growth in terms of allocation. So not only is it growing big, but it's growing fast. And that's the commitment of the government to education," Gatchalian said.

'Misprioritization'

Despite this, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) argued that since the public spending on education was still below 6% of the GDP, there remains to be a "misprioritization" of the national budget, which then affects both public school students and teachers.

"Hindi sumasapat ang budget sa education in a sense na wala pa doon sa 6% of the GDP. So basically kapag may misprioritization o ang tinatawag natin na terminal na usapin ng investment na mababa, may epekto ito sa usapin ng sahod," ACT chairperson Vladimer Quetua said.

(The budget for education is not enough in a sense that it is not even 6% of the GDP. So basically, when there is misprioritization or low investment, this has an impact on the issue of wages.)

Quetua said that teachers usually suffer from being underpaid, overworked, and under-supported regardless of playing a vital role in society and in shaping children's future.

He appealed for the current education budget to be doubled, so that there would be enough funding to provide teachers with sufficient benefits and salaries, as well as to build more classrooms and school facilities, and to pay for additional education support personnel.

When this happens, Queta said, the quality of education in the country will improve.

However, Gatchalian said that it would not be enough to merely increase the education budget.

It is also important to know where to spend the budget, Gatchalian said, and where the spending would be able to yield the most efficient learning outcomes.

"It's not about just the amount of spending. It's also where you spend it, and it should be wise spending," the senator said.

Value for money

Citing data from the 2022 PISA, the EDCOM II report highlighted how Vietnam was able to outperform Malaysia in terms of math, reading, and science despite the latter's higher cumulative spending of $50,700 per student.

Vietnam's cumulative spending per student was at $13,800, which was only slightly higher than the Philippines' $11,000.

Despite the two countries spending approximately almost the same per student, Vietnam was able to score more than 100 points higher than the Philippines in all the three core subjects in PISA.

With this, the EDCOM II indicated that education systems of other countries might have been “more efficient and strategic” in allocating their resources than the Philippines.

“In the case of the Philippines, the stagnant trend in the National Achievement Test scores as well as the dismal performance in the international large-scale assessments despite robust growth in education spending suggest there is room for improvement in how we have managed and allocated our resources thus far,” the report read.

The 2022 PISA results showed that Filipino learners continued to perform badly in math, science, and reading . The Philippines particularly placed third from the bottom in science, and sixth from the bottom in reading and mathematics, among the 81 countries and economies that participated in the study.

DepEd senior education program specialist and PISA focal person Alex Sucalit Jr. had said that the latest PISA results might have shown that the Philippines is about five to six years behind in learning competencies as compared to other countries.

Even outgoing Education Secretary Vice President Sara Duterte had lamented the Philippines’ poor performance on the latest PISA, saying that the results bared an “ uncomfortable truth ” in the country’s education.

“It has shown that a significant majority of our boys and girls fall below the proficiency level required for full participation in society and contributing to nation-building,” Duterte said in December 2023 when the results came out.

There were a lot of factors to consider as to why Filipino students fell short in international assessments as compared to their foreign neighbors. One major reason for it was the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mathias Cormann, secretary general of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) which conducts the PISA studies, had also emphasized that there was a “positive relationship” between investment in education and student performance should there be a cumulative spending of up to $75,000 per student aged 6 to 15.

Then again, the Philippines’ $11,000 cumulative spending per student is still far from this threshold.

Need for more

The government’s low investment in education was also reflected in the governance of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD), which is vital for ages 0 to 4.

According to EDCOM II, the lack of financial support for the ECCD programs “hinders equitable access and compromises the quality of services” for young children. The reported insufficiency of resources also affects the compensation for child development workers or teachers, which then impacts the overall quality of ECCD programs.

The DepEd secretary sits as the ex-officio chairperson of the ECCD Council.

EDCOM II also pointed out financial constraints when it comes to implementing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) under the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA).

The commission said that funding should be increased to overcome financial barriers that also hamper access to quality vocational training in the country.

Even in school maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE), the commission said the current budget levels are also insufficient to fully cover the operating costs of public elementary and high schools.

Based on consultations with school heads and teachers, the commission revealed that 30% to 70% of the school MOOE budget was being spent on utility bills alone, which leaves limited funds for other projects and initiatives that could address local needs and support better learning.

'Never enough'

Given the “underinvestment” in education, how much is needed to alleviate the learning crisis in the country?

DepEd spokesperson Undersecretary Michael Poa said that the DepEd alone is seeking P792 billion under the 2025 National Expenditure Program (NEP).

Poa, however, admitted that this is still inadequate to address the problems in the education sector. Nevertheless, he vowed that the DepEd would work with whatever budget will be given, and maximize it to improve the quality of basic education in the country.

“I think, it's not just with DepEd but common with other national government agencies. It's never enough,” Poa said.

“Siyempre, ‘yung initial proposal natin is mas mataas pa. Marami tayong gustong gawin na projects and programs for education. But, again, we do understand and acknowledge the fiscal restrictions,” he added.

(Of course, our initial proposal was even higher. We want to do a lot of projects and programs for education.)

In 2023, DepEd sought a P758-billion budget under the 2024 NEP. However, even Duterte herself said that the amount was insufficient to cater to all the projects that would improve the country’s basic education.

She said the DepEd initially requested an approximate P900-billion budget for fiscal year 2024, but was only approved around P700 billion under the NEP.

Earlier this month, the Presidential Communications Office (PCO) announced that the President already approved the proposed P6.352-trillion NEP for 2025 .

The education sector, composed of DepEd, TESDA, SUCs, and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), will still be among those that will get the biggest share of the government appropriations next fiscal year. — VDV, GMA Integrated News

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Education crisis: Out with mediocrity, in with excellence

In the Inquirer news article, “PH education woes not teachers’ fault, says VP Duterte” (News, 1/31/23), we can read about what it calls the Philippine educational system’s “most pressing issue.”

It cited the Department of Education’s latest inventory that only 104,536 out of 327,851 school buildings nationwide were in “good condition.” Later in the article, Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte said the department also wanted to “improve English proficiency while recognizing linguistic diversity.”

It is true that the education of our citizens will be enhanced if our students come to school in buildings and classrooms that function well and are conducive to learning. The good working conditions of our learning facilities are also very educational. It teaches our students to do things well. And so I come to the conclusion that there is something cultural about us that can explain why so few of our school buildings are in good condition. People will always blame the lack of money. But I tend to think it is due to the lack of a culture of excellence, of doing things well.

When a new facility is set up, little things get out of order with time: a light bulb gets busted, a door knob gets loose, a glass pane gets cracked, a school chair loses a screw, the faucet leaks, the roof leaks. When these things happen, we tend to ignore them, and so the things that don’t work accumulate until the whole facility is in bad condition.

A bulb might cost about a hundred pesos and perhaps there is a budget for that. A screw might cost a few pesos and there might be a budget for that. The rubber gasket for the faucet might cost some pesos and that is affordable. If repairs are done soon, the good condition of the building is maintained without having to spend millions. We need to acquire a new culture, that of keeping our facilities well and in good condition. It is part of doing things well. A culture of excellence.

The same culture is needed to improve our language skills. It is sad to see that our ordinary people are not proficient either in English or in their native language. When I listen to people speaking their language (I have heard Spaniards, Italians, French, German, and Portuguese), they speak at ease, clearly, and fluently. But when I listen to our people speak, I notice many ambiguities, “’Yung ano, ’yung kwan, parang ganito, medyo ganun…” which shows they cannot find the right exact word to express their thoughts. I need not mention the state of our knowledge of English. Again, we can note a cultural defect here; we are used to speaking in a mediocre way.

Perhaps the first concern of our educators should be to lift the culture of our people so that they might want to do anything well—that we acquire a culture of excellence.

Fr. Cecilio L. Magsino, [email protected]

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Philippine kids back in school after 2 years lost to virus

A boy talks to his mother from a smartphone during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A teacher conducts temperature checks on students during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A girl receives her first COVID-19 Pfizer vaccination during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A girl cries during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A girl holds on to his father during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Students attend a flag raising ceremony during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Students and parents gather during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A boy receives a COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Students fall in line during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Police distribute alcohol and face masks to students during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

A student checks her temperature during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

Students raise their hands as they attend a ceremony during the opening of classes at the San Juan Elementary School in metro Manila, Philippines on Monday, Aug. 22, 2022. Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to grade and high schools across the Philippines Monday in their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened one of the world’s most alarming illiteracy rates among children. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

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MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Millions of students wearing face masks streamed back to primary and secondary schools across the Philippines on Monday for their first in-person classes after two years of coronavirus lockdowns that are feared to have worsened alarming illiteracy rates among children.

Officials grappled with daunting problems, including classroom shortages, lingering COVID-19 fears , an approaching storm and quake-damaged school buildings in the country’s north, to welcome back nearly 28 million students who enrolled for the school year.

In a grade school in San Juan city in the capital region, teachers checked the temperatures of students and sprayed alcohol on their hands before letting them into classrooms.

Renaline Pemapelis, 27, excitedly gave last-minute instructions to her son, who was going to school for the first time. “I have mixed feelings, worried and excited,” she told The Associated Press.

Only about 24,000 of the nation’s public schools, or about 46%, were able to begin in-person classes five times a week starting Monday, while the rest will resort to a mix of in-person and online classes until Nov. 2, when all public and private schools are required to bring all students back to classrooms, education officials said.

But about 1,000 schools will be unable to shift entirely to face-to-face classes during the transition period for various reasons, including damage to school building wrought by a powerful earthquake last month in the north, officials said.

The Department of Education said some schools will have to split classes into up to three shifts a day due to classroom shortages, a longstanding problem, and to avoid overcrowding that could turn schools into new centers of coronavirus outbreaks.

“We always say that our goal is a maximum of two shifts only but there will be areas that would have to resort to three shifts because they’re really overcrowded,” Education Department spokesperson Michael Poa said on Friday. Despite many concerns, education officials gave assurances that it’s “all-systems go” for Monday’s resumption of classes, he said.

Sen. Joel Villanueva, however, said such assurances have to be matched by real improvements on the ground.

“The era of missing classrooms, sharing tables and chairs and holding classes under the shade of trees must no longer happen,” said Villanueva, who filed two bills calling for additional grocery, transportation and medical allowances for public school teachers.

Among the worst-hit by the pandemic in Southeast Asia, the Philippines under then-President Rodrigo Duterte enforced one of the world’s longest coronavirus lockdowns and school closures . Duterte, whose six-year term ended June 30, rejected calls for a resumption of in-person classes due to fears it might ignite new outbreaks.

The prolonged school closures sparked fears that literacy rates among Filipino children — already at alarming levels before the pandemic — could worsen.

A World Bank study last year showed that about nine out of 10 children in the Philippines were suffering from “ learning poverty ,” or the inability of children by age 10 to read and understand a simple story.

“Prolonged school closures, poor health risk mitigation, and household-income shocks had the biggest impact on learning poverty, resulting in many children in the Philippines failing to read and understand a simple text by age 10,” UNICEF Philippines said in a statement.

“Vulnerable children such as children with disabilities, children living in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas, and children living in disaster and conflict zones fare far worse,” the U.N. agency for children said.

Poa said 325 temporary learning spaces were being constructed in northern Abra province and outlying regions to replace school buildings battered by a July 27 quake.

Education officials also scrambled to help more than 28,000 students look for new schools after at least 425 private schools closed permanently following the pandemic’s arrival in 2020, mainly due to financial losses. About 10,000 of the students have been enrolled in public schools, Poa said.

Poverty has also been a key hindrance to education. Crowds mobbed the Department of Social Welfare and Development offices on Saturday to claim cash aid for indigent students, resulting in the injury of at least 26 people who were pinned in entrance gates.

Associated Press journalists Joeal Calupitan and Aaron Favila contributed to this report.

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• The Status of Education in the Philippines: Progress, Challenges, and the Path Forward

Education in the Philippines has been a cornerstone of national development, with the government and various stakeholders recognizing its vital role in shaping the country’s future. Despite significant strides made over the years, the Philippine education system continues to grapple with numerous challenges that hinder its ability to provide quality education for all. This article will explore the current status of education in the Philippines, highlighting its progress, challenges, and the necessary steps to improve it.

Progress in the Philippine Education System

One of the most notable advancements in the Philippine education system is the implementation of the K-12 curriculum in 2013. This reform extended basic education from 10 to 12 years, aligning the country with international standards. The additional two years of senior high school aim to better prepare students for higher education, employment, or entrepreneurship, addressing the previous system's shortcomings in these areas.

The literacy rate in the Philippines is relatively high compared to other developing nations. This achievement is largely due to the widespread access to primary education, which has seen significant improvement over the years. Government initiatives such as the Enhanced Basic Education Information System (EBEIS) have also contributed to better data management and monitoring of educational outcomes, helping policymakers make more informed decisions.

Challenges Facing the Philippine Education System

Despite these improvements, the Philippine education system faces several pressing challenges. One of the most significant issues is the quality of education. Large class sizes, insufficient instructional materials, and outdated teaching methods are prevalent in many schools, particularly in public institutions. Teacher training is inconsistent, with a notable disparity in the quality of education provided in urban versus rural areas. The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the digital divide in the Philippines. Many students, especially those from low-income families and remote areas, lacked access to reliable internet and devices necessary for online learning. This digital gap has exacerbated existing educational inequalities, leaving many students behind in their studies.

Another critical issue is the high dropout rate at the secondary and tertiary levels. While enrollment rates at the primary level are high, they decline significantly as students progress through the education system. Contributing factors include poverty, the need for children to work, and geographic isolation. This dropout trend limits the country’s human capital development and hampers economic growth. Learning poverty, defined as the inability of children to read and understand simple text by age 10, is another major concern. This issue stems from the poor quality of instruction and the lack of access to early childhood education. Furthermore, many schools in the Philippines lack basic infrastructure, such as classrooms, toilets, and clean water, which negatively impacts the learning environment, particularly in rural and conflict-affected areas.

Addressing the Challenges: The Path Forward

To address these challenges, several steps must be taken. First, there is a need for sustained investment in education, particularly in improving infrastructure, providing adequate learning materials, and enhancing teacher training programs. Ensuring that teachers are well-compensated, supported, and continuously trained is crucial for improving the overall quality of education. The government must also address the digital divide by investing in technology and infrastructure that enable remote learning. Expanding access to affordable internet and providing devices to students, especially those in underserved areas, will help bridge the gap and ensure that all students can participate in the digital learning environment.

Moreover, efforts to reduce dropout rates should focus on addressing the underlying causes, such as poverty and geographic isolation. This could include providing financial assistance to low-income families, implementing more flexible learning arrangements, and improving transportation and access to schools in remote areas. Addressing learning poverty requires a focus on early childhood education and ensuring that all children have access to quality education from an early age. This involves improving the quality of instruction in the early years, developing comprehensive early childhood education programs, and ensuring that children are well-prepared to succeed in primary school.

The education system in the Philippines stands at a crossroads, with significant progress made but also considerable challenges to overcome. The implementation of the K-12 curriculum and improvements in literacy rates are commendable, but issues such as quality of education, digital divide, and dropout rates continue to hinder the country’s educational outcomes. By addressing these challenges through sustained investment, policy reforms, and community engagement, the Philippines can pave the way for a more equitable and effective education system that empowers all students to succeed and contribute to the nation’s development.

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PH education in crisis

Pbed pushes for proactive measures to resolve factors behind the state of education the country is in, at a glance.

The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) said the country's education system is in a "crisis."

In its 2023 State of Philippine Education Report, PBEd said the declining mental health among students and teachers; lack of support for teachers; culture of “mass promotion” of learners, and the lack of proper assessments are among the most pressing issues that must be addressed.

With the country's state of education in crisis, PBEd said that "we need to act faster than ever" because "every second counts."

(Photos courtesy of PBEd)

Following a series of consultations, an advocacy group on Monday, May 29, unveiled the current state of Philippine education and called on stakeholders to address the most pressing issues which contribute to the “crisis” that the country is currently in.

The Philippine Business for Education (PBEd) presented its 2023 State of Philippine Education report --- a result of the series of consultations with students, parents, teachers, school heads, industry experts, and government officials at the Shangri-La The Fort in Taguig City.

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/27/advocacy-group-to-unveil-the-state-of-ph-education-on-may-29

During the presentation, PBEd identified the most pressing issues that hound the country’s education system: declining mental health among students and teachers; the lack of support for teachers; the culture of “mass promotion” of learners, and the “absence of accurate, timely and consistent assessments.”

In his opening remarks, PBEd Chairman Ramon del Rosario Jr.’s recognized the significant strides in reforms focusing on learning outcomes and employability through collaborative initiatives.

However, he pointed out the urgent need to discuss the state of the country's education system. “We cannot ignore the persistent challenges, particularly the learning crisis,” del Rosario said, noting that “these challenges urge us to redouble our efforts and push for a better education system.”

Noting that education is the “bedrock of progress, catalyst for individual growth, and cornerstone for national development,” del Rosario stressed that it is “imperative that we address the challenges hindering our education system from reaching its full potential.”

The presentation of the country’s current state of education was the highlight of this year’s Annual Membership Meeting.

As PBEd and its partners aim to formulate actionable strategies to address the issues that surfaced from these discussions, del Rosario also urged everyone to “continue with proactive measures in resolving factors that contribute greatly to the state of education that we are in.”

Identifying issues

In her presentation of the State of Philippine Education Report, PBEd Executive Director Justine Raagas said that PBEd held several consultations to “really hear the voices of students, parents, teachers, school heads, government officials, and industry partners and hear their shared experiences on the ground.”

Raagas noted that even before the Covid-19 pandemic struck, the Philippines was “suffering from a learning crisis where 9 out of 10 students aged 10 were unable to read simple texts.”

“When the pandemic hit, our education system was really caught off guard,” Raagas said, noting that “many learners were left behind.”

Addressing the crisis

During an interview on the sidelines, Raagas reiterated that the country’s “current state of education is really in crisis.”

Given this, she underscored the need to address the crisis through collaborative efforts between the public and private sectors and other key players.

“What we really need to address is that our learners are really learning, to teach them basic literacy, numeracy, focus on the basics and really make sure that they are able to read, they are able to write so that when they go to upper levels, they are able to comprehend and this would lead to better learning outcomes and employability outcomes in the future,” Raagas told reporters.

At this point, Raagas said focusing on the basics should be among the top priorities for intervention.

“Kailangan natin pagtuunan ng pansin yan (We have to focus on that) and we put efforts and resources there,” she said.

Moreover, Raagas pointed out that “we also need to assess because we don’t know where we are at and we don’t know where we can start in terms of remediation efforts.”

Furthermore, Raagas highlighted the need to ensure that teachers are equipped and empowered.

“There’s been a lot of clamor for support in terms of making sure that teachers are able to do their jobs which is to manage the classroom and deliver teaching and they can’t do that if they focus on other things like doing administrative tasks,” she added.

RELATED STORY:

https://mb.com.ph/2023/5/29/pb-ed-urges-local-gov-t-to-engage-parents-more-in-children-s-education

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Sun Times Philippines

MATATAG Curriculum: Refining the Education System

MATATAG is an update to the Philippine education system that aims to improve things.

In the past years, the Philippine education has tried to cope with the ever-changing educational landscape in the global scale.

If we look at the data, in 2018, the country was positioned last in the rankings given by the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in terms of reading comprehension, math, and science. In 2022, the World Bank revealed that around 91 percent of Filipino 10-year-olds struggled with basic reading comprehension.

Similar assessments like the Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics 2019 also ranked the Philippines near the bottom compared to neighboring countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

This data suggests that the educational system especially the curriculum has to be reviewed, reassessed, and recalibrated.

Using this drive, what does MATATAG curriculum aim to do to elevate the Philippine education system thereby improving the results of student assessment and improving the rank of the country in the ASEAN?

MATATAG is an update to the Philippine education system that aims to improve things. It begins with kindergarten through 10th grade, really focusing on reading, math, and life skills.

It is focused on the reading comprehension among learners, knowledge on math concepts and solving mathematical problems, and preparation to their career path specializing on their skill sets and other potentials for work opportunities.

Subject counts per class will decrease to reduce academic pressure. This allows the learners to focus on the core of their learning, which are reading and math as aligned to the international assessment.

DepEd says trimming subjects and competencies, especially in elementary grades, will also lighten teachers’ workloads. The effectiveness of teachers also rely on the burden they have in the teaching learning process.

Quality is emphasized over quantity.

These essential competencies and standards, if realistically taught to students, should bear the necessary amount of hours. This means students should have the mastery of each competency and standard.

If they are able to master one competency or standard at a time, they would be able to connect their learning in a more coherent manner.

In the same way, school leaders must change their perspective and thoroughly embrace the four pillars of MATATAG: Make Relevant, Accelerate Services, Take Care of Learners, and Give Support to Teachers.

These four principles should be conveyed to every staff member by the leaders.

As a school leader, the impact that you create in the school is very much felt with the energy that you put on to advance the programs and projects of DepEd and in the implementation of MATATAG curriculum.

You set the tone within the boundaries of your responsibility and if the faculty and staff see you as an advocate for the proper implementation and conscientious monitoring of the curriculum, then it will also translate to their efforts to make the most of their time implementing and using the curriculum as their tool and drive to make students learn in the most fitting way possible.

Since MATATAG curriculum is an ongoing process, as this year is the launching year of implementation, there could be potential areas along the implementation that may pave a way for continuous development.

Our education leaders may see some areas of concern or may target the goals and objectives of the new curriculum, the answer heavily depends on the feedback of teachers as the frontrunners of the implementation and the results it will generate after a new international assessment is conducted.

As for now, we remain optimistic to this new adoption of curriculum and school leaders and teachers see the motivation of trying the effectiveness and reliability of this MATAG curriculum.

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China’s Risky Power Play in the South China Sea

By Agnes Chang ,  Camille Elemia and Muyi Xiao

China’s coast guard ships have swarmed and collided with Philippine boats. They have doused Philippine vessels with powerful water cannons. Chinese crew members have slashed inflatable crafts, blared sirens and flashed high-powered lasers at Filipino troops.

As China pushes to dominate the South China Sea , it is increasingly willing to use force to drive out the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States. In recent months, China’s tactics have damaged Philippine boats and injured personnel, and raised fears of a superpower showdown in the strategic waterway.

A New Flashpoint

For months, the latest target of China’s power play was a Philippine coast guard ship, the Teresa Magbanua. The video above was taken by the crew of that ship, as a Chinese coast guard vessel collided into it late last month.

The episode was one of four confrontations between the two countries’ vessels, in just two weeks. The encounters were not only becoming more frequent, but they were also taking place in a new location — Sabina Shoal, a resource-rich atoll close to the Philippine mainland.

The two countries had in earlier months been facing off near another atoll in the disputed Spratly Islands, the Second Thomas Shoal, where Chinese ships regularly harass Philippine boats trying to resupply sailors stationed on a beached warship . Now, their feud has expanded.

These are the places where China has confronted the Philippines since 2023.

Confrontations involving collisions and the use of water cannons and other tools

Other confrontations

Nine incidents near Scarborough

Shoal, another disputed reef

north of the Spratly Islands

Philippines Exclusive

Economic Zone

Second Thomas Shoal

Where China has harassed

Philippine resupply missions

Sabina Shoal

New flashpoint where

recent incidents took place

Occupied by China

and Vietnam

Mischief Reef

Where China built

a military base

PHILIPPINES

SPRATLY ISLANDS

north of the Spratlys

Nine incidents near

Scarborough Shoal,

another disputed reef

Philippine resupply mission

Note: Incident locations are approximated from locations broadcasted by the Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels. Other tools include lasers, knives, axes, and rocks.

The Philippines wants to control Sabina Shoal, an unoccupied atoll inside its exclusive economic zone. Sabina Shoal, which lies just 86 miles west of the Philippine province of Palawan and over 600 miles from China, is near an area rich in oil deposits, and on routes Manila considers crucial for trade and security.

“A hostile China would be able to strangle our maritime trade with the rest of Asia and most of the world from Sabina Shoal,” said Jay Batongbacal, a maritime security expert at the University of the Philippines. Sabina Shoal would make “a good staging ground for vessels that will interfere with Philippine maritime activities,” he said.

Manila anchored the Teresa Magbanua, one of its largest coast guard ships, at the Sabina Shoal in April to try to stop China from what the Philippines sees as efforts to try to build an island there.

The Philippine Coast Guard has pointed to piles of crushed and dead corals apparently dumped on the shoal as signs of Chinese land reclamation under way. China has denied the accusation. But the building and fortifying of artificial islands is a key part of how China has asserted its claims over contested waters hundreds of miles from its coast.

China, which claims almost all of the South China Sea, says its tactics are needed to defend its sovereignty. Beijing has rejected a ruling by an international tribunal in 2016 that China’s sweeping claim to the waters had no legal basis.

China accused the Philippines of trying to permanently occupy Sabina Shoal by parking the coast guard vessel on it, just as it had grounded the warship at Second Thomas Shoal. Beijing even sent tugboats to Sabina Shoal, which some read as a threat to tow the Philippine ship away.

China has not resorted to guns. Rather, it is using what military theorists call gray zone tactics, aggressive moves that fall short of inciting all-out war. That includes imposing blockades, blasting water cannons and sailing dangerously close.

But the moves can still cause damage: The recent collision between Chinese and Philippine boats, for instance, left a three-foot hole on the Teresa Magbanua, as well as another Philippine vessel.

Damage on the Teresa Magbanua

Philippine Coast Guard via Associated Press

“If the Philippines insists on occupying more shoals, China will have no choice but to use all available measures,” said Hu Bo, director of the South China Sea Strategic Situation Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based research group. “There is no limit.”

On Sunday, after months of pressure from China, the Philippines said that the Teresa Magbanua had returned to port in Palawan. The Philippine statement sought to cast the move as following the accomplishment of the boat’s mission.

But it nodded to the challenges of remaining in the face of a Chinese blockade that prevented the ship from being resupplied, saying the crew had been “surviving on diminished daily provisions” and that some needed medical care.

The Philippines said the vessel had suffered structural damage from being rammed by the Chinese coast guard, but indicated that the boat would return after undergoing repairs.

Tensions on the Rise

President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. of the Philippines has taken on a more muscular approach against China than his predecessor did. He has beefed up the country’s alliance with the United States and invited journalists to join resupply missions at sea to highlight China’s actions.

China has called the United States “the biggest troublemaker stirring up unrest in the South China Sea.” Mr. Hu, the expert in Beijing, said that China has been compelled to use heavier-handed tactics because diplomacy with the Marcos administration has failed.

With both sides digging in, they are tangling with each other more often and more aggressively.

Confrontations between China and the Philippines

Recent escalation

near Sabina Shoal

Before last fall, collisions were

uncommon and China used

water cannons less frequently.

December 9–10, 2023

China used water cannons

against Philippine ships in

two days of confrontations.

A brief moment of peace in July after Beijing and Manlia made an agreement.

uncommon and China used water

cannons less frequently.

Recent escalation near Sabina Shoal

Before last fall, collisions

were uncommon and

less frequently.

In one confrontation in June, China’s coast guard used axes, tear gas and knives to harass Philippine troops on a resupply mission to the Second Thomas Shoal. Chinese sailors punctured Philippine military boats and seized their equipment, including guns.

Eight Filipino soldiers were hurt, including one who lost a finger . The Philippine military called it the “most aggressive” Chinese action in recent history.

Source: Armed Forces of the Philippines via Facebook

That episode on June 17 made clear that tensions needed to be dialed down. The two sides briefly came to a “provisional agreement” on the Second Thomas Shoal, and the Philippines was able to conduct a resupply mission at the end of July. But officials from both countries have disputed the details of the agreement, raising questions about how long it will last.

“China’s overarching strategy is to dominate the South China Sea. We should not expect the de-escalation to last,” said Rommel Ong, a professor at the Ateneo School of Government in Manila and a retired rear admiral in the Philippine Navy. “Unless they attain that objective, their coercive actions will wax and wane depending on the situation.”

Since October, the Chinese coast guard has used water cannons against Philippine ships more regularly than it likely ever has in the long-running dispute. Collisions have also become more common.

In recent confrontations, China has routinely used water cannons.

Sources: Armed Forces of the Philippines; Philippine Coast Guard; China Coast Guard; Reuters; Storyful

Whenever the Philippines has attempted to sail to disputed atolls, ships from the Chinese coast guard, maritime militia, and navy have rapidly confronted them.

Some of the Chinese ships shadow the Philippine boats. Others cut across their paths. The ships swarm around the Philippine vessels to form a tight blockade.

This is how Chinese ships set up a blockade.

Philippine coast guard

Chinese ships

Noon, June 17

A group of Chinese

ships moved to block

the Philippine vessel.

A Chinese ship began

tailing a Philippine

ship around 8 a.m.

More Chinese

ships waited here.

moved to block

the Philippine

The Chinese ships followed the Philippine ship.

They were here for 8 hours.

The Chinese ship followed

the Philppine ship. They

were here for 8 hours.

Midnight, June 18

The Philippine ship finally

headed home around 11 p.m.

and the Chinese vessels left.

Note: Tracks show positions over the prior six hours. Location data not available for all vessels on scene. Times shown in Manila local time.

China, which boasts the world’s largest navy in terms of the number of vessels, has been deploying more boats to these disputed waters over the past year than it did previously. The Philippines sends on average a few ships on its resupply missions, which has mostly remained unchanged.

Mr. Hu, the Chinese expert, said that China’s show of strength in numbers is meant to deter the Philippines without resorting to lethal force. “If China sends only a small number of boats to stop the Philippines, they might have to use guns,” he said.

China has sent more ships to harass Philippine resupply missions.

April 30, 2021

Feb.19, 2022

Feb. 6, 2023

Phillipine boats

Chinese boats

48 Chinese ships

were on scene

Feb. 2, 2024

Number of Phillipine boats

Source: Center for Strategic and International Studies (C.S.I.S.)

Note: Data shows vessels counted during resupply attempts to Second Thomas Shoal.

From Aug. 27 to Sept. 2, a weeklong period, the Philippine military tracked 203 Chinese ships in contested areas in the South China Sea — the highest number recorded this year.

Tensions have risen at a time when the militaries of China and the United States have had limited contact. On Tuesday, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command held a rare video conference with Gen. Wu Yanan, the commander of the People’s Liberation Army’s Southern Theater Command, which oversees the South China Sea. The United States said such calls help “reduce the risk of misperception or miscalculation.”

During the call, Adm. Samuel Paparo urged China to “reconsider its use of dangerous, coercive, and potentially escalatory tactics” in the South China Sea. China, in its own statement about the call, said only that the two sides had an in-depth exchange of views.

On Thursday, though, Lieutenant General He Lei, a former vice president of the People’s Liberation Army’s Academy of Military Sciences, struck a more hawkish note.

“If the United States insists on being a plotter that pushes others to stand on the front line to confront China, or if it has no other choice but to challenge us by itself,” he told reporters at a security forum in Beijing, “the Chinese people and the People’s Liberation Army will never waver.”

Chinese flagged boats anchored at Sabina shoal.

Jes Aznar for The New York Times

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Conflict between China, Philippines could involve U.S. and lead to a clash of superpowers

By Cecilia Vega

September 15, 2024 / 7:33 PM EDT / CBS News

If there's going to be a military conflict between the United States and China, the thinking in Washington goes, it will most likely happen if China tries to invade Taiwan. But lately tensions have escalated precariously in another part of the South China Sea -the waters off the western coast of the Philippines where an international tribunal ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights. But China claims almost all of the South China Sea, one of the world's most vital waterways through which more than $3 trillion in goods flow each year. To assert its claims, China has been using tactics just short of war -- leading to violent confrontations. The United States has a mutual defense treaty with the Philippines, which could mean American intervention. It's been called "the most dangerous conflict no one is talking about." And last month we saw for ourselves just how dangerous it can be…

When we boarded the Philippine Coast Guard ship Cape Engaño last month, it was supposed to be for a routine mission resupplying ships and stations in the South China Sea. 

But in the middle of our first night … 

Sirens raged… crew members rushed between decks.

Cecilia Vega: It's 4 in the morning. We've all been sound asleep. This alarm just went off on the ship. We were told to wake up and put our life jackets on because we've just been rammed by a Chinese boat.

There was confusion… fear. Our team was told to stay inside the cabin for safety.

It was unclear if we would take on water…. or if the Chinese would try to force their way on board… 

Philippine crew members prepared for that possibility and stood by the hatch holding clubs in case they had to fend off the Chinese.

This cellphone video taken by the Filipinos shows the moment just after impact-- the Chinese coast guard ship- 269 feet long and nearly twice the size of the Cape Engaño-- jammed into the Philippine's starboard quarter- the rear right side of the ship. 

When the Chinese pulled away…the Filipinos found a three-and-a-half-foot hole…an officer told us we were lucky the damage was above the water line… 

Cecilia Vega: There are… you can't see here in the dark-- about four or five different Chinese boats surrounding us, at the moment. And the crew tells me they can see on the radar that more are coming right now

This happened about 60 nautical miles off the coast of the Philippines --- and about 660 nautical miles from China… on the way to a place called Sabina Shoal…

Manila and Beijing have stationed Coast Guard vessels around the shoal in recent months, with the Philippines fearing China will take control…

In 2016, an international tribunal at the Hague ruled the Philippines has exclusive economic rights in a 200-mile zone that includes Sabina Shoal and the area where the Cape Engaño was rammed.

China does not recognize the ruling and says the South China Sea has been its territory since ancient times.

• 60 Minutes witnesses international incident in the South China Sea

Cecilia Vega: We're just getting our first light. And now, we have a much better sense of just how surrounded we are by Chinese vessels. You can see these two right here actually say, "China Coast Guard," We're at a complete standoff. We've been here for, going on, two hours now, not moving. It's unclear whether we can even turn around and go back, if we wanted to. We're just completely surrounded by Chinese ships. 

Fourteen in all… including a militia of large fishing vessels used to help occupy territory and block ships like the one we were on…

The Filipinos tried to negotiate a way out, but ultimately were forced to abandon the first stop of their mission.

Cecilia Vega: He said we're not going to Sabina 

In their damaged boat… they had to take a long detour to their next supply drop, as Chinese ships followed closely. 

By this time, the Chinese had already publicized their version of the incident -- accusing the Filipinos of instigating the conflict and highlighting our team's faces-- accusing us of being part of a propaganda campaign

Chinese video: The Philippines has turned the South China Sea into its theater …deliberately ramming a Chinese Coast Guard ship, with Western journalists right there to capture the drama…

Cecilia Vega: they're saying that this is your fault, this collision.

Captain Labay: If you do the ramming, the other ship would ha-- would have the damage, not your ship.

Captain Daniel Labay, the top-ranking officer on the Cape Engaño, took us below deck to survey the damage..

He told us it would not stop them from continuing on.

Captain Labay: This is our place. This is our exclusive economic zone. It's-- this is the Philippines. 

Over the past two years, the Chinese have turned the South China Sea into a demolition derby-- repeatedly ramming Philippine ships and blasting them with water cannons…

But what we saw on the Cape Engaño represented a significant escalation-- bringing the battle lines closer than ever to the Philippine shore.

Within hours of the collision the Biden administration condemned China for what it called "dangerous and destabilizing conduct."

Cecilia Vega: This has become an international incident what happened on your ship this morning.

Captain Labay: I've been assigned here for two years, and this is just what we deal with every day.

Cecilia Vega: Is it getting worse now?

Captain Labay: Yes, it's-- it's getting worse. 

Cecilia Vega: What's behind this uptick in tension? What changed?

Gilbert Teodoro: I think, well, what changed is the determination of the Philippines to say, "No." 

Cecilia Vega: You're standing up to China?

Gilbert Teodoro: Oh yes. Yes, and they don't like it.

Gilberto Teodoro is the Philippine secretary of national defense.

Gilbert Teodoro: The proverbial schoolyard bully is the best example of what China is, you know. It-- it just muscles you over.

For example, he says: the aptly named Mischief Reef in the Philippines' economic zone once looked like this…. it now looks like this. In the 1990s, the Chinese took it over and started turning the reef into a military base.

As the Cape Engaño passed near Mischief Reef…a Chinese Navy destroyer appeared… 

E.J. Cruise: China Navy warship, 105….this is MRV 4411…

The Filipinos repeatedly asked for safe passage…

E.J. Cruise: Please keep clear of our passage and maintain safe distance. Over. 

Each time there was no response… in a game of cat and mouse … the destroyer edged forward.

The Filipinos -- forced to come to a stop and adjust course to avoid another collision.

Ray Powell: China has decided that at this point in their history, they are large enough so that they can buck the law.

In Manila, we met retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Ray Powell who runs the nonprofit Sealight …

… which tracks China's actions in the South China Sea.

Cecilia Vega: How do they get away with this? 

Ray Powell: There's a law and there's a judge, but there's no-- there's no enforcer. There's no prosecutor. There's nobody to put 'em in jail

Cecilia Vega: There's no sheriff out, unless, I suppose, the U.S. decides to intervene, which then, when then becomes the world policeman?

Ray Powell: You know, that's the problem

The U.S. is bound by treaty to defend the Philippines if it comes under armed attack…

Cecilia Vega: I wanna understand a scenario in which that red line could be crossed.

Ray Powell: You were just involved in a situation where you were hit by a larger ship. Imagine if that ship had sunk your ship and several people had died. What would the Philippines then feel compelled to do? They probably wouldn't go instantly to war. But they might instantly get onto a war footing. They might go to the United States and say, "This looks a lot like an armed attack to us. We were hit by a ship and people died."  

Cecilia Vega: And in a scenario like that, would the United States be obligated to intervene? 

Ray Powell: Look, every treaty-- in-- in the end depends on the political will of the parties. What I will say is if the United States fails or appears to fail to meet its treaty obligations, the entire U.S. treaty and alli-- alliance and treaty structure is built on credibility.

Cecilia Vega: Your word means nothing? 

Ray Powell: If it means nothing to the Philippines, what does it mean to Japan? What does it mean to Australia? What does it mean to NATO? 

The U.S. has not had a permanent military presence in the Philippines since 1992. Though it does conduct regular joint exercises, and this year committed $500 million in military aid to Manila and another 128 million to upgrade bases.

We met General Romeo Brawner, the military chief of staff, at one of those bases, after he landed in his fighter jet following an aerial reconnaissance flight over the South China Sea.

Cecilia Vega: How much time do you spend focused on China?

General Romeo Brawner: Almost the whole day

Last year General Brawner visited the Philippines' equivalent of the Alamo, a grounded World War II battleship called the Sierra Madre, manned by soldiers and used to hold down Manila's claim to a disputed area in the South China Sea.

It was the scene of the most violent incident to date.

In June, when the Philippine Navy tried to resupply those troops, the Chinese blocked the delivery… it was near hand to hand combat.

General Romeo Brawner: What was surprising was that they had bladed weapons with them. They had spears with them.

Cecilia Vega: You had never seen that before.

General Romeo Brawner: We have not seen that before. And they began-- attacking our boats. They started puncturing our boats with their spears

A Filipino Navy SEAL lost his right thumb after the Chinese rammed his boat.

General Romeo Brawner: They stole our equipment. They destroyed our equipment. They hurt our personnel. And these are the doings of pirates. I warned our personnel – if this happens again, you have the right to defend yourselves.

Cecilia Vega: If the Chinese were to fire upon your men and your men fire back, sir, that sounds like the makings of the-- the beginning of a war.

General Romeo Brawner: Yes. Yes, indeed, indeed

Defense Secretary Teodoro told us there are ongoing conversations between Washington and Manila about which scenarios would trigger U.S. involvement

Cecilia Vega: Do you worry that perhaps some unpredictable incident at sea could cause tensions to escalate? And then, you know, suddenly the Philippines, not Taiwan, becomes the flash-point in the South China Sea-- 

Gilbert Teodoro: Oh, yes. Oh, yes, definitely.

Cecilia Vega: If China were to take the Sierra Madre, would that merit America's intervention?

Gilbert Teodoro: If China were to take the Sierra Madre, that is a clear act of war on a Philippine vessel.

Cecilia Vega: And you would expect American intervention--

Gilbert Teodoro: And we will react. And naturally, we would expect it.

Cecilia Vega: You're talking about a rusty, old warship. How realistic is it to expect the United States to intervene over the fate of a warship like that?

Gilbert Teodoro: There are people in there, that is an outpost of Philippine sovereignty. So we're not talking about a rusty, old vessel solely. We're talking about a piece of Philippine territory in there.

President Biden has invited Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to the White House twice in the past 16 months… and assured him of America's support…

President Biden: "I wanna be very clear. The United States defense commitment to the Philippines is ironclad ."

Earlier this year Washington sent the Philippines a powerful weapon during joint exercises – a mid-range missile system capable of reaching mainland China.

Cecilia Vega: That clearly angered China in a big way

Gilbert Teodoro: Well, that's none of their business. This is for Philippine defense. 

Cecilia Vega: It's none of China's business that you have a missile that could reach their shores?

Gilbert Teodoro: What happens within our territory, it is for our defense. We follow international law. What's the fuss? 

Cecilia Vega: Do you plan to keep mid-range missiles capable of reaching mainland China at some of your bases?

Gilbert Teodoro: I can neither confirm nor deny if there is such a plan.

Cecilia Vega: You say, "What's the fuss?" China says that you've brought the risk of war into the region by doing this.

Gilbert Teodoro: That's what they always say. Everything the world does that they don't like is the fault of the world.

Cecilia Vega: But how do you think this ends though? You don't expect China to pack up and leave, do you?

Gilbert Teodoro: I really don't know the end state. All I know is that we cannot let them get away with what they're doing.

Produced by Andy Court and Jacqueline Williams. Associate producer, Annabelle Hanflig. Broadcast associates, Katie Jahns. Edited by Sean Kelly.

• South China Sea
• Philippines

Cecilia Vega is an Emmy Award-winning journalist and "60 Minutes" correspondent who joined the CBS newsmagazine in 2023.

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Philippine coal mine roars into production amid waves of complaints

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• San Miguel Corporation, one of the Philippines’ largest conglomerates, has started mining coal from a concession in the mountain village of Ned in the country’s south.
• The local Catholic diocese, along with environmental and tribal groups, oppose the mine, citing potential risks to the environment and to the region’s water and food supply.
• Since mining began, complaints have centered on noise and traffic accidents caused by trucks hauling coal along the mountain roads, and on conditions at the relocation site where some families have already moved after selling their land and homes to the company.
• Opponents of the mine also accuse the miner of violating a provincial ban on open-pit mining, though the company claims it’s employing strip mining to extract the coal.

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines — On a sunny Wednesday in August, police officer Loreto Malon and a subordinate were riding their motorcycles in the mountain mining village of Ned on their way to the lowlands when a speeding haul truck loaded with coal nearly hit and killed them.

“We could have been crushed if we did not swerve to the shoulder of the road to avoid the hauler truck,” Malon said, mouthing expletives.

For more than a year, 10- and 12-wheel heavy haul trucks with payloads up to 35 metric tons have become a regular fixture in the once sleepy village of Ned.

In the first quarter of 2022, the San Miguel Corporation, one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines, began preparatory work for a coal mine in the village. This was despite opposition from the local Catholic Church as well as environmental and tribal groups, who cited concerns about risks to the environment and to lowland farms that rely on the upland watersheds for irrigation.

Since work began, complaints against the venture have started to ring out loud in the village, particularly about the noise from the heavy trucks going at all hours.

With a population of 18,500 and a land area of 41,247 hectares (101,924 acres), coal-rich Ned is the largest of the 19 villages of Lake Sebu township in South Cotabato province on the island of Mindanao, about 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) south of Manila.

Since visible mining production started in January 2023, at least 100 of these large haul trucks traverse the village road daily up to the nearby coastal township of Maitum, a distance of about 50 km (30 mi). There, the coal is loaded in barges and reportedly shipped to San Miguel’s affiliated coal-fired power plants, one of which is in Mindanao’s Davao region.

San Miguel operates the mine through one of its many subsidiaries, San Miguel Global Power Holdings Corp. (San Miguel Global), which also operates some of the biggest coal, gas and hydropower plants in the country.

The conglomerate bought the coal mines in Ned and surrounding areas in early 2010, taking over contracts previously awarded to three other companies: Bonanza Energy Resources Inc., which had rights over 8,000 hectares (nearly 20,000 acres); Daguma Agro Minerals with 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres), and Sultan Energy Philippines Corp. with 7,000 hectares (17,000 acres).

Although the concessions straddle the townships of Lake Sebu, Maitum and Bagumbayan, coal extraction activities to date have occurred only in Lake Sebu’s Ned village, where the scar left by the mining operation can be seen from a distance.

Alan Alam, the Ned village chief, said the mining operation has so far torn up an estimated 100 hectares (250 acres) of once rolling fields of trees, corn and vegetables.

“They are already into production but not yet in full-blast operation,” Alam told Mongabay.

San Miguel Global has sought the village government’s consent for round-the-clock mining operations — a proposal Alam said they’re still studying due the high volume of public complaints.

Since November 2023, local police have received reports of at least 49 traffic accidents linked to road damage caused by the heavy-loaded trucks, said Malon, the police sergeant. Alam said San Miguel Global has repaired damaged sections of the road by pouring gravel, but added they keep being torn up again by the truck traffic because there’s no other way for the coal to get to port.

“The solution to this problem is for the company to build its own road network,” Malon said.

The village government is considering imposing a truck ban from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. in response to complaints about noise, Alam added.

Other complaints center on the relocation site provided to the 233 families already displaced by the project, which is farther from the road than their previous homes, and lacks facilities such as schools, a health center, water and electricity.

In December 2021, during the deliberation over the project’s endorsement by the South Cotabato provincial government, San Miguel’s chairman and chief executive officer, Ramon S. Ang, said the tribal and non-tribal villagers displaced by the coal mining operation would be provided with land and a house in a relocation site.

Villagers said the company paid compensation starting at 80,000 pesos per hectare of farmland ($1,430 per hectare, or $580 per acre), while it valued smaller lots with houses at 50,000 pesos ($890) plus the value of the house. For example, one owner said their family was paid 300,000 pesos (about $5,400) for their land and house.

But a resident who asked to be identified only as Toto, citing safety reasons, said relocated residents are expected to pay for building the new homes, using the compensation received from their old property.

Villagers said the mining operation has also created hundreds of jobs, providing business opportunities to residents who rented out rooms or set up sari-sari (mom-and-pop stores) or eateries, among other small businesses.

Prior to the production phase, the mining company spent at least 80 million pesos ($1.4 million) as part of its social development and management program. The funds were used for projects such as scholarships, road repairs, day-care centers and a gym, village chief Alam said.

Now that San Miguel Global has progressed into the production stage, he said, “there’s no update how much annual development fund the village would receive from the company.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic Diocese of Marbel, which covers the village of Ned, has accused the mining firm of harassment and intimidation, citing the arrest and detention in April of four members of a family who refused to sell their farmland to the company. Cases of trespassing were filed against the family for allegedly entering company premises. One member of the family was also charged with making “grave threats” because he had a knife in his possession. These cases were later dismissed by prosecutors.

The village government and the company have held several talks to discuss the complaints or issues brought against the mining venture, which the latter promised to address.

San Miguel didn’t respond to questions from Mongabay to its published media contacts.

During its presentation to the South Cotabato provincial government in 2021, San Miguel said it planned to extract an estimated 180 million metric tons of coal from its concession in Ned and the surrounding areas. According to the Philippine Department of Energy, the area could potentially hold 230.4 million metric tons.

Company representatives also told provincial officials that the company would rely on strip mining to extract the deposits, as the province has since 2010 banned open-pit mining.

“Coal cannot be mined using open-pit mining method because such mineral is soft,” Ang said at the time. “You can’t operate from the top because it will collapse. You can only operate from the side, you strip it … Our coal mining operation will not be an open-pit operation.”

Many industrial-scale coal-mining operations around the world employ open-pit (or open-cast) mining, including the world’s biggest, the KPC-Bumi Resources site in Indonesian Borneo.

Ang also said the company plans to mine on 100 hectares of its concession in the first five years of extraction.

Bishop Cerilo Casicas of the Diocese of Marbel, which continues to vehemently oppose the coal mine project, disputed Ang’s claim.

“How can that be strip mining when the company dug a pit?” he said. “Anywhere you look at it, that’s open-pit mining which is a violation of the provincial ordinance.”

Village chief Alam agreed that the mining being carried out by the company is open-pit mining.

However, the provincial government has so far not intervened in the project, which straddles the Kabulnan River Watershed and Forest Reserve and the Allah Valley Watershed Forest Reservation. Observers have warned that any damage to these watersheds, which supply water to downstream rivers that feed lowland farms, could endanger water and food security for millions of people in Mindanao.

In the nearby coastal town of Maitum, where the coal is transferred from trucks to ships, a group called the Maitum Advocates for Sustainable Environment (MASE) has also called for an end to the mining project.

Maitum sits downhill from the mine site, and the group says disasters like flooding could strike the town as a result of the mining activities in the mountains of Ned. They’ve also expressed concern about the risks to watersheds and forestland, as well as the noise and dust from the trucks passing through the town.

The mining activity has also come close to, but not encroached on, the titled ancestral domain of the Indigenous T’boli-Manobo S’daf Claimants Organization (TAMASCO), which spans 1,682 hectares (4,156 acres). Members of the community say they remain vigilant; TAMASCO has opposed the coal-mining project since exploration began in the early 2000s.

“The way things are turning now, the mining activities are going towards our ancestral domain,” TAMASCO president Datu Dande Danyan told Mongabay in August. “I will not allow them to encroach on our ancestral lands even if it will cost me my life.”

In December 2017, Dande Danyan’s cousin, Datu Victor Danyan, then the TAMASCO chair and at the forefront of the struggle to defend their ancestral lands, and six other tribal members were killed during a military operation. The community denounced it as a massacre, but the military insisted they were communist supporters and were killed in a legitimate encounter. Human rights groups have long criticized the Philippine security forces for the practice of “ red-tagging ”: alleging, often groundlessly, that a person is a communist or a communist sympathizer, in order to justify killing them.

As a group, Dande Danyan said his people wanted their lands in their own hands. If they sold out to the mining company, he said, the money would vanish quickly. He pointed out that many of the families who sold their farms years ago now live in poverty, working as laborers or farmhands.

“Whereas if you own the land and you are industrious and content in simple living, you can earn enough from farming,” he said, added that corn and vegetables such as carrot, squash, cabbage and tomato, among others, thrive in the area.

When the South Cotabato legislature gave its support to San Miguel’s coal-mining project three years ago, they specifically excluded the TAMASCO area and all other formally recognized watersheds from their endorsement, “unless all necessary documents are complied with.”

Dande Danyan noted that all activities by outsiders within their titled ancestral domain must have the consent of the tribal association. He said the mining company has been wooing him to get his support, but that he responded by telling them to do everything by the book. In particular, this includes undertaking a process to obtain the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) from the Indigenous people for any activity that would affect their rights to land and territory.

“Our ancestral domain is a collective property,” Dande Danyan said. “We will decide as a group where the voice of the majority shall prevail.”

Southern Philippine coal project moves ahead despite community opposition

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