Teachers from the City Schools Division of Puerto Princesa dominated the 4th National Competition on Storybook Writing organized by the Department of Education (DepEd), outperforming more than 400 other teachers from across the country.
Razen Mae D. Bulabos, an art teacher at Palawan National School, won first place and was awarded Best Illustration for her narrative “May Mahabang Pila sa Kagubatan.”
Enrile O. Abrigo Jr. ranked second and third with his winning pieces “May Mahabang Pila sa Kagubatan” and “Kumusta, Ola?” Karl Gabriel G. Buenafe ranked fourth for his work as both writer and illustrator of the story “Ang Mandaragat at ang Munting Mandaragit.”
City DepEd Curriculum Implementation Division chief Dr. Cyrcil C. Serador said that the teachers didn’t merely create storybooks for the sake of competition.
He said that their main goal was to give reading resources for students to acquire a reading habit at an early age.
“And eventually, mahikayat natin ang mga estudyante na mahalin ang pagbabasa, make it a habit, na mapasok ito sa kanilang sistema,” Serador said.
In addition to training the teachers, DepEd Puerto Princesa helped them make sure the storybooks they made were of good quality. They made sure that the contextualized storybooks’ social content had balance and sensitivity.
“Halimbawa ang magbabasa ay Muslim, wala tayong matatapakang Muslim dahil wala namang nabanggit doon na labag sa kanilang kultura o labag sa kung anong practices nila,” also stated.
DepEd Puerto Princesa plans to have the winning story books translated into local dialects like Cuyonon and Tagbanua to be distributed in different schools in the city.
*** Zoe Ocier and Allen Gonzales, senior high school students at Puerto Princesa City National Science High School, are interns at Palawan News under the Humanities and Social Sciences Work Immersion Program.
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