“Maybe, Sara’s periodic dinner shindigs at exquisite restaurants are intended to validate the connection between malnutrition and a good education”
In two consecutive days last August, I encountered the party of Vice President Sara Duterte dining out.
On the first night, Sara’s soiree was at an upscale specialty Chinese sea heaven restaurant in suburban San Juan.
At the restaurant’s driveway were paraded the greatest collection of premium and luxury titanic vehicles I have seen in my lifetime—Benzes, BMWs, Lexuxes, and the top of the line American carriages so large they can ferry an entire barangay in a jiffy, complete with hordes of presidential security guards.
On the second night, in Mandaluyong, I was trying to book a fine dining Japanese meal for my family in a five-star hotel whose name evokes paradise.
We could hardly order any. All the dishes had been finished the night before, by Sara’s party which was like an army fresh from an invasion in Mongolia.
I heard that nutrition has something to do with the poor performance of Filipino kids in school. They are malnourished. Malnutrition gives rise to smaller brains. Smaller brains have smaller capacity to absorb knowledge and logic.
So maybe, Sara’s periodic dinner shindigs at exquisite restaurants are intended to validate the connection between malnutrition and a good education.
Sara Duterte is our Secretary of Education. She heads DepEd which in the Cabinet totempole has the second largest 2023 budgetary allocation under President BBM—a gargantuan P710.6 billion, just P7.8 billion short of the P718.4 billion budget of highwaymen at the DPWH.
Sara has problems at DepEd beyond the department’s and her capacity to solve. The Philippines has among the highest rates of learning poverty in Asia, according to the World Bank in a 2022 study.
Nine out of 10 Filipino children age 10 (the fourth graders) still struggle to read simple texts by age 10. Even if they can read the text, they don’t understand it.
In other words, 91 percent of Filipino fourth graders are stupid. Three reasons: 1) the government does not spend enough for education of kids; 2) teachers are incompetent; 3) the educational system is corrupt.
This study was made before the pandemic. After the pandemic, the stupidity ratio of Pinoy kids rose to 97 percent, from 91 percent.
“Primary education expenditure per child of primary education age in the Philippines is $569, which is 83.5 percent below the average for the East Asia and Pacific region, and 29.5 percent below the average for lower-middle income countries,” the World Bank said.
Can Sara solve that in six years or less? Nah.
About 97 percent of Filipino school children lack proficiency in math, science and English. Our young are growing up knowing nothing. This is utter failure on the part of government.
When Sara Duterte Carpio took her oath of office as vice president of the Philippines on June 19, 2022 in her native Davao City, she officially became the second most powerful Filipino.
Duterte, who is better known as Inday Sara, 44, also is now the most powerful woman in the country, being only a heartbeat away from the presidency held by her standard bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., 64.
Sara is the daughter of former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
On May 9, 2022, Sara ensured her and Marcos’s landslide victory by agreeing to be the latter’s running mate and defying the wishes of her father that she succeed him this year to the highest office in the land.
With 32.32 million votes, Sara got more votes than Marcos himself.
Now, can Sara score a victory for our stupid youth? They are waiting.
