006 AS A FILIPINO
If there’s one education initiative that I can say I am most proud of being involved in, it’s the As A Filipino project of UnionBank of the Philippines.
By Philippine standards, it is certainly among the most audacious CSR in education projects ever conceived.
Anchored on a big book entitled As A Filipino, magnificently written and illustrated by Araceli Dans-Lee, the project provides Grade 2 pupils with workbooks aimed at improving reading skills and promoting Filipino values.
All Grade 2 pupils in Metro Manila and Region 2, as well as a few areas in Muslim Mindanao, were provided with workbooks, while their teachers given the big reading book to share with them in class.
One of the most memorable experiences I had as a consultant for the project was when this little boy asked me, at the project launch held in their school, if it’s true that the workbook given to him was in fact his to keep (It was then that I realized that it may be possible that some of the beneficiary public school kids would have no books of their own).
UnionBank spared no expense to implement the project. Aside from the books given to each child, all teachers were provided training, directly, instead of through the less effective cascading method. Pre-tests and post-tests were conducted on all students, instead of a sampling (and we saw particularly impressive results).
But more than the cost, what’s truly fascinating about this particular project is the vision behind it, as conceived by Maria Gonzales-Goolsby, UnionBank’s CSR boss at that time (and with the full support of UnionBank Chair Tito Ortiz).
Who would have thought that there are 16 values enshrined in the Philippine Constitution? Well, the Philippine Constitution Association did. But who would have thought that these 16 values can be presented—and taught—to little Filipino children through an engaging poem in storybook form? Well, Maria Goolsby did.
As a former values education teacher, I immediately saw the merits of this wonderful book, not just for little kids, but to the general populace as well. Alas, it is now out of print. I treasure my only copy as a memento of a job well done, a specimen of what outstanding education initiatives should be like, and a reminder of what it means to be an outstanding Filipino.