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Community

89IB and community partners deliver hope to students in Bukidnon

by Rhoda Grace Saron
written by Rhoda Grace Saron

THE 89TH Infantry Battalion’s Charlie Company teamed up with the Lapis and Papel Project to bring essential school supplies and nutritional support to students at Bagong Lipunan Elementary School in Barangay Linabo on April 30, 2026.

The outreach program, spearheaded by First Lieutenant Joseph M. Santos, the commanding officer of Charlie Company, aimed to bridge the gap in educational resources while addressing student welfare.

 A total of 95 students benefited from the initiative, which featured both the distribution of learning materials and a dedicated feeding program.

Jane Michelle S. Santos, representing the Lapis at Papel Project , worked closely with military personnel on the ground to ensure the seamless execution of the mission. The collaboration between the unit and the civilian organization highlighted the efficacy of multi-sectoral partnerships in tackling local community needs.

Beyond the delivery of supplies, the troops engaged directly with the students and faculty, fostering a supportive atmosphere aimed at boosting morale and promoting the value of education.

“This activity reflects our core values of service, compassion, and solidarity,” the unit stated in a release, emphasizing that their involvement is part of a broader commitment to nation-building, community resilience, and the overall welfare of the youth in Bukidnon.

This joint initiative serves as a reminder that the military’s role extends far beyond traditional security operations, actively participating in efforts that strengthen the foundation of the communities they serve

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Opinion

Building better education through legislation

by Contributor
written by Contributor

NATION-BUILDING does not always begin with grand speeches or sweeping promises. Often, it starts quietly—inside classrooms, health centers, farms, and small communities—where laws either make life easier or leave people struggling on their own.

In the Philippines, legislation shapes how children learn, how families weather crises, and how communities recover from hardship. While laws may feel distant to ordinary citizens, their effects are deeply personal. When written with care and understanding, legislation becomes a tool for unity and progress. When disconnected from real needs, it risks widening gaps that already exist.

Education is one area where this reality is clearly felt.

Many Filipino students enter school with hope and determination. Parents make sacrifices, believing education will open doors their generation never had. Yet for some learners, especially in higher education, the system becomes overwhelming—not because they lack ability, but because support does not always match the demands placed on them.

Students are expected to absorb complex lessons, meet strict requirements, and perform under pressure. When learning becomes confusing or stressful, the burden is often placed on the student alone. Rarely do we ask whether education policies are doing enough to support learning itself, not just enrollment or graduation numbers.

This is where thoughtful legislation matters.

Laws that strengthen education should go beyond buildings, devices, or curriculum checklists. They should protect the learner’s ability to understand, cope, and grow. Clear standards, sustained teacher development, and student-centered policies help ensure that education challenges students without overwhelming them. These are not special privileges—they are the basic foundations of effective learning.

We have seen how well-designed laws can improve lives. Universal health coverage has eased the fear of medical costs for many families. Infrastructure measures have shortened travel time and opened opportunities in once-isolated areas. These successes show that when laws respond to real problems, people feel the difference.

The same principle applies to education. Classrooms today face familiar but urgent realities: gaps in reading and mathematics, the need to accelerate learning recovery, heavy teacher workloads, pressure from high-stakes assessments, and unequal access to learning tools. Thoughtful laws can help by funding targeted literacy and numeracy programs, supporting teachers through ongoing training, strengthening school health and counseling services, investing in safe and resilient facilities, and ensuring technology serves learning rather than replaces it.

Education policy also affects families and communities. Parents often judge success through grades alone, unaware of the stress behind them. Teachers, constrained by rigid systems, may struggle to balance lesson demands with student needs. Legislation that allows flexibility and provides proper support benefits everyone involved.

Strengthening education through legislation is not about lowering standards. It is about making standards fair and reachable. A strong nation is not built by exhausting its learners, but by guiding them steadily toward understanding and confidence.

Nation-building requires shared responsibility. Lawmakers must listen to students, teachers, and families—not just reports and statistics. Citizens, in turn, must stay engaged, recognizing that laws passed today shape opportunities tomorrow.

When legislation reflects real experiences, it unites rather than divides. Governance is not about power; it is about service.

If we choose laws that place students and teachers at the center, schools remain places of growth, learning becomes a source of hope, and classrooms become the quiet engines of nation-building—strengthening not only education, but the foundation of the country itself.

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Business

The silent builders: why leadership recruitment is the quiet and stable force to nation-building

by Contributor
written by Contributor

AS ONE of the preferred executive search firms in the Philippines, Global Executive Solutions Group (GESG) has quietly shaped the leadership landscape that comprises conglomerates and multinationals to emerging SMEs.

In fact, a nation’s economy depends on its industries, such as financials, industrials, and services. Thus, strong conglomerates and organizations with effective leadership at the helm are crucial for a country’s continued economic growth. As a trusted contributor to this landscape, GESG is sharing its insights on leadership recruitment, transformation, and creating a significant impact by strategically identifying the right fit for the right kind of leader that drives organizations.

Strong and effective leadership can be measured across three levels: organization, industry, and economy. Leaders can make or break organizations, and an effective leader ensures the organization’s self-sufficiency and resilience. As a result, these leaders become visionaries who raise industry standards and foster healthy competition between similar organizations, bringing together best practices that can affect entire sectors. 

Finally, at a macro level, effective leadership drives job creation, global investment, and sector expansion. Even a single leadership decision can spur progress for a nation at large. This ripple effect is aided and facilitated by firms like GESG, whose proactive, targeted recruitment approach helps build high-performing teams that can work towards the promotion of national progress.

“Great corporate leadership does not only guide a company, it also contributes to a nation’s economic development, and cultural and social progress,” shared Ray Canilao, President and CEO of GESG. “A great corporate leader has a vision for the future that drives not just a single organization but also sustainable growth and stability in a country.”

It is this mindset that directs GESG’s considerations in executive search and placement. Through its 20 years of practice, GESG has refined a five-point evaluation framework that balances technical qualifications with cultural alignment. This approach has earned the trust and loyalty of clients for over a decade, and considers:

  1. Organizational culture fit: ensuring leaders can thrive within a company’s unique values and environment;
  2. Career trajectory: aligning opportunities with a candidate’s long-term professional goals;
  3. Leadership style: matching management approaches to organizational needs;
  4. Financial and operational stability: gauging an organization’s ability to sustain business performance and fulfill a candidate’s compensation expectations; and
  5. Work-life integration: recognizing the personal factors that influence long-term leadership success.

“Executive search is an organization’s external support, a partner of CEOs and human resource professionals. It becomes a strategic ally in identifying the right organizational leaders to fulfill the vision of these companies by building itself from the ground up and sustaining its business operations,” Canilao added.

Aside from conglomerate leadership, GESG’s placements have gone on to head major organizations, professionalize startups, and return world-class Filipino leaders to the Philippines, contributing to industry transformation and national growth. By providing proactive, intuitive recruitment, the firm continues to be a trusted partner in helping companies fulfill their vision.

As GESG enters its third decade, a new generation of leadership will require leaders who are innovative, resilient, adaptable, and empathetic—ones who can keep up with the demands of digital transformation, sustainability, and the evolving needs and attitudes of workforces. GESG remains committed to its main strength: nurturing the human relationships that define its service.

“Substantially, the competitive advantage of nations, companies, whether big or small, conglomerate or multinational, is in the quality of its leaders,” Canilao concluded. “Leaders should always be strong but with compassion, empathy, and integrity. Integrity is a core value and foundation of our work.”

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