Two Sagunto teachers, Carmela Baiguen Dagacan and Rhodora Espina, passed the rigorous Educators Skills Assessment and Evaluation Program administered on April 20, 2008. Congratulations, Carmela and Rhodora!

The evaluation which was recently implemented among Sison’s teachers, was again spearheaded by the team of Congressman Mark O. Cojuangco and Mayor Kimi Cojuangco. Concerned over the “alarming degradation and deterioration of Philippine education despite the reforms set by the Department of Education (DepEd) for both the elementary and secondary schools”, they sought to improve the quality of teachers in Sison with this assessment which was administered by University of the Philippines professors, lead by Dr. Leticia Penano. The main objective of the test is “to determine the teaching skills of local teachers, identify their level of competency and performance, as well as to find out their weaknesses and strengths.”

Carmela who has a permanent status on the local school board and would not have been affected by the results anyway as with other teachers on permanent status. However, she proved her position to be well earned and deserved by placing 14th among the examinees, a feat that could not be said of other ‘permanent’ teachers.

Rhodora Espina, who was only on the local school board for a year, was immediately promoted to permanent status due to her excellent placement (16th) on the assessment test. It is said that she even surpassed other, more experienced teachers who would have been promoted to permanency first had it not been for this assessment. 47 local teachers were dismissed as a result of poor test results.

To view the list of examinees and read more about the successful evaluation of teachers in Sison, visit the official website and read kagawad Loejan Anudon’s article:
EDUCATORS SKILLS ASSESSMENT & EVALUATION PROGRAM IN SISON A VERY REMARKABLE FEAT

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The Sagunto Tribal Council was tasked to distribute aid to Sagunto citizens who suffered damages from Typhoon Cosme that went through Sagunto last May. U.S. and Canadian Saguntonians pooled their money together and sent aid typhoon victims Sagunto, thanks in great part to the efforts of Ophelia “Babot” Pasibe Glasser. The tribal council disbursed P1000 each to 25 families and P265 each to 65 families; to help them recover and rebuild from the typhoon damage. It should be noted (according to the letter) that the funds were distributed based on need and not membership in the council.

MMDA TRUCKS IN SISON NOT VOTER’S FERRY sets the rumors and speculations straight regarding the presence of the trucks in Sison.

VINTAGE BOMBS EXCAVATED IN SISON PLAZA more speculations regarding the source and purpose of the bombs are circulating, some quite humorous.