Exec molds next generation of values-oriented Filipinos

MANILA, Philippines—Teaching morals and values to children is important at a time when distractions abound in a generation lost in a maze of technological advancements and environmental struggles.

But it is always best to know the ripe age for kids to adopt such teachings—when a child’s mind is impressionable.

These things considered, the “Value of Hard Work and Discipline Advocacy Project” was launched recently, targeting third graders or schoolchildren aged 8 to 10 years. The project entailed the use of a workbook packed with easy-to-understand principles for life improvement.

“Proper timing is important if you want to effectively impress morals and values on young children, and we believe that those in third grade is the right age,” explains D. Arnold Cabangon, president of Fortune Life, the firm initiating the project with the Department of Education and advocacy group Mary Lindbert International for the welfare of impressionable children.

The Value of Hard Work and Discipline workbook will be used to teach Grade 3 pupils initially in select public schools in Metro Manila and Bulacan.

Lessons learned

Evelyn Carada, EVP and GM of Fortune Life, explains that curriculum experts of the DepEd sat with Fortune Life executives to discuss the appropriate topics to be included in the workbook.

“This is important because we are provided with a unique, never-to-be-repeated opportunity to mold our children’s minds,” says Carada.

Apart from the workbook, Education Undersecretary Yolanda Quijano says that the department will also integrate topics such as lessons of good manners, respect for parents and elders, and even financial etiquette in a number of subjects.

“She said initiating this project among Grade 3 pupils has a huge chance of succeeding as schoolchildren in this age range will likely imbibe the lessons learned and grow up to be model citizens,” explains Quijano.

In her keynote speech during the launch, Quijano also expressed her sorrow that such values are now seldom observed by today’s youth.

Odd jobs

The project is close to Cabangon’s heart because the project was inspired by his father, Fortune Life’s chairman emeritus and founder, Antonio L. Cabangon Chua, a self-made multimillionaire and former ambassador to Laos.

Cabangon relates that when his grandfather, a rich Chinese businessman, was killed during the war, his father and grandmother were forced to live with their wealthy relatives who often mistreated them.

“My father could not just accept their plight and do nothing. He promised his mother that someday, they will have a better life. He took an assortment of odd jobs, from shoeshine boy to fish vendor. He often tells us, as well as his other friends how, while shining an American soldier’s shoes, he was suddenly kicked by this man [who] threw a half-eaten apple to his face. Angry and insulted, he vowed that whatever happens, he will do his best to improve his sorry plight and rise from poverty,” says Cabangon.

Enough capital

From then on, Cabangon-Chua and his mother worked hard enough to earn capital for a small sari-sari store.

During the project’s launch, Cabangon-Chua says poverty did not deter him from dreaming big.

“It pushed me. It motivated me. So we scrimped and saved and, with our meager earnings, I was able to go to college and complete my accounting course. Indeed, the values of hard work, perseverance and discipline are ‘the only spring from which to drink true power.’ And apart from prayers and faith in God, one should have that burning desire to succeed in life. Do not wait for things to happen.”

The former ambassador says this project is meant to inspire a new generation of children to succeed like him.

Carada notes that discipline is a value Cabangon-Chua champions as an important aspect in the lessons that the project imparts, as highlighted in the workbook.

Quijano adds that teaching these values of hard work and discipline supports the DepEd’s current moves to strengthen basic education through its K+12 program, or the extension of the basic education curriculum from 10 to 12 years.