Asserting that education should be placed at “the forefront of our national priorities,” the Philippine Educators Alliance for Community Empowerment (PEACE) Party-list today filed its Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance for the 2022 national elections.
“The ongoing pandemic has caused a huge setback in our educational system, exacerbating a crisis that has gone on for decades. Unless we place education at the forefront of our national priorities, we risk the future of our children and our nation,” PEACE Party-list president Marie Paz T. Abante said.
“Besides public health, education should dominate the conversation as we elect new leaders next year.”
“This is why we believe that besides public health, education should dominate the conversation as we elect new leaders next year,” Abante, the party-list’s first nominee, also said.
Abante said that PEACE Party-list’s CONA filing was set on the celebration of World Teachers’ Day as a “symbolic gesture to reiterate our commitment to education and teachers’ welfare.”
The long-time educator said that PEACE Party-list, which is made up of teachers and other education stakeholders, has advocacies that are a product of constant communication and close collaboration with people on the ground who have deep familiarity with various issues surrounding education.
“Lalaban po kami para sa kapakanan ng kabataan, ng mga guro, at paaralan.”
“Lalaban po kami para sa kapakanan ng kabataan, ng mga guro, at paaralan. We will be immersed in crafting meaningful legislation that would address systemic gaps and wrongs, and enable education to transform as the times demand,” Abante vowed.
“And with Congress’ oversight function, we will uphold our avowed principle of serving as watchdogs to ensure that every centavo allocated towards education will be spent efficiently, effectively, and equitably,” she added.
PEACE Party-list is a collective of Filipino educators and teaching professionals and workers established in 2009.
The Party-list’s Second Nominee is Bishop Rodolfo Juan, who serves as the chairman for its Committee on Community Programs. A long-time minister and missionary, he is currently the Resident Bishop of the Davao Episcopal Area of The United Methodist Church in the Philippines. Juan was also a former instructor and chaplain of the Philippine Military Academy, where he is credited for building the PMA Chapel in 1998, and chaplain of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Bishop Juan has a long history of community service and development, and is heavily involved in molding a new generation of servant-leaders.
PEACE PL’s Third Nominee is Jose Francisco C. Sauco, a pastor and the administrator of Golden Treasure Baptist Academy. He advocates for technical-vocational education.
Dr. Arnold A. Arellano is the Fourth Nominee. He has extensive experience as a private school educator, and currently serves as president of both the Association of Private Schools and the Christian Schools Association in Cavite City. Dr. Arellano is also the chairman of the Philippine National Police Advisory Council for the province of Cavite, as well as a board member of the Cavite Province Union of Schools Organization, Inc.
Its Fifth Nominee is Reiner R. Puno, who serves as Corporate Treasurer and Board Member of the Philippine Christian University. He is a product of the public school system, having studied from grade school to graduate school at the University of the Philippines. Puno was also a former researcher at the said university, and has other advocacies such as the International Labour Organization Women’s Project and the Batangas Development Planning Project.
