Heritage Status For Burnham Park Including 12 Clusters

This is a repost of an open letter for the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) I have read in the Week's Mail section of Baguio Midland Courier dated Sunday, August 3, 2014.

The letter came from concerned citizens and various groups in Baguio City.

• RONALDO A. PARAAN, M.D., Chair, Baguio Heritage Foundation, Inc.
• MARIA ISABEL G. ONGPIN, Chair, Pine Cone Movement
• KARLO MARKO ALTOMONTE, Save 182 Trees Movement Open Space Projects
• MICHAEL BENGWAYAN, Director, Cordillera Ecological Center
• DIVINA A. BAUTISTA, President, National Delphic Council Philippines 
• LING-LING MARANAN CLAVER, Baguio Citizens No Waste Initiative 
• CHRISTOPHER DONAAL, Cordillera Global Network 
• OLIVE GREGORIO, Maryknoll Ecological Sanctuary

NHCP asked to declare B’ham Park as heritage site

This is to formally inform that on June 2, concerned citizens and residents of Baguio City have filed a petition with the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) to declare Burnham Park and its 12 cluster areas (Melvin Jones Grandstand, Burnham Lagoon, Children’s Playground, Skating Rink, Rose Garden, Orchidarium, Igorot Garden, Athletic Bowl, Picnic Grove, Japanese Peace Tower, Pine Trees of the World, and Sunshine Park), as heritage/historical sites pursuant to the provisions of Republic Act 10066 or The National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.
As you very well know, Burnham Park was part of Daniel Burnham’s original plan for Baguio as a hill station. Since its creation, it has become so identified with Baguio City that people always say “do not go to Baguio without visiting Burnham Park” or “you haven’t been to Baguio if you did not go to Burnham Park.”
It is without a doubt an important component of the cultural heritage of the people of Baguio.
With the recent developments, we are very much concerned about the planned underground and above-level parking structures at Melvin Jones.
Melvin Jones is the only open area available for sports and other gatherings and is important to Baguio City and its people to know that its destruction, in whole or in part, will bring about adverse consequences on their culture, health, social wellbeing, and commerce.
In this regard, we respectfully request that the city government refrain from destroying, degrading, defacing and/or introducing changes to Burnham Park and its 12 clusters and specifically Melvin Jones football fields, pending resolution of our petition by the NHCP.

The 12 Clusters of Burnham Park:

1. Melvin Jones Grandstand
2. Burnham Lagoon
3. Children’s Playground
4. Skating Rink
5. Rose Garden
6. Orchidarium
7. Igorot Garden
8. Athletic Bowl
9. Picnic Grove
10. Japanese Peace Tower
11. Pine Trees of the World
12. Sunshine Park

References:

NHCP asked to declare B’ham Park as heritage site
BURNHAM PARK
Baguio for All Seasons: Feel the Best of the Cordilleras!
Wright and Burnham Parks in Baguio, Philippines
The Undeniable Charm of Burnham Park in Baguio City
Burnham Park has 12 cluster areas
Burnham Park The very heart of Baguio City in the Philippines

12 List On K12

1. K–12 (spoken as "k twelve", "k through twelve", or "k to twelve") is a designation for the sum of primary and secondary education and is an expression which is a shortening of kindergarten (K) for 4- to 6-year-olds through twelfth grade (12) for 17- to 19-year-olds.
2. Republic Act No. 10533
• Short Title: Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013
• Long Title: AN ACT ENHANCING THE PHILIPPINE BASIC EDUCATION SYSTEM BY STRENGTHENING ITS CURRICULUM AND INCREASING THE NUMBER OF YEARS FOR BASIC EDUCATION, APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
3. RA 10533 is a consolidation of Senate Bill No. 3286 and House Bill No. 6643 passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on January 30, 2013.
4. Passed into law on 15 MAY 2013 by President Benigno S. Aquino III.
5. The roll-out periods for the different levels are as follows:
• Universal Kindergarten began in School Year 2011-–2012;
• Grade 1 and Grade 7 (1st Year Junior High School) was rolled in School Year 2012–-2013;
• Grade 11 will be introduced in School Year 2016-–2017; and
• Grade 12 will be rolled out in School Year 2017-–2018.
6. The first batch of high school students to go through K to 12 will graduate in March 2018. The country’s first batch of graduates of the Senior High School Program came from the University of Makati (UMak) on 12 April 2014.
7. The main purpose of K-12 is to enhance the basic education curriculum.
8. The idea of adding years is not new because there are records that will show that as early as 1925, there were already efforts to improve the basic education curriculum and recommendations but were never push through.
9. K-12 simply means extending basic education by two years wherein a high school student will graduate at 16 (years old), we will have high schoolers graduating at 18.”
10. The addition of two (2) years will be called Senior High School and is a specialized upper secondary education. The subjects for these years are divided into two:
1. CORE CURRICULUM - Composed of six (6) subjects:
• Humanities
• Languages (English and/or Filipino)
• Math
• Philosophy
• Science
• Social Sciences
2. CAREER PATHWAYS - Choice of five (5) tracks:
• Business and Entrepreneurship
• Humanities and Social Sciences
• Science, Technology, and Engineering
• Sports
• Technical-Vocational
11. The benefits of the K-12 program are:
• improve kindergartners’ readiness for primary grades;
• decongest the country’s 10-year curriculum cycle;
• equip high school students for college/university education
• prepare high school graduates for the world  of work after graduation; and
• give Filipino professionals better recognition internationally because it is also a standard for recognition of students and/or professionals abroad (i.e., the Bologna Process (http://www.ehea.info/) for the European Union and the Washington Accord (http://www.washingtonaccord.org/) for the United States).
12. The Philippines is the last country in Asia and one of only three countries worldwide (the other two being Angola and Djibouti) with a 10-year pre-university cycle.

Implementation of The K to 12 Basic Education Program. Photo from Official Gazette

References:

What is the K to 12 Program?
A Look At The Education System In Two Different Countries
University of Makati produces PHL’s first batch of K-12 graduates
A Primer on the New K-12 Philippine Education Curriculum
Miriam College is K-12 Ready
Why does the Philippines Need the K-12 Education System?
THE K TO 12 BASIC EDUCATION PROGRAM
DepEd seeks specialized high school programs under K-12
PNoy signs Ehnanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (RA 10533)

Graphic Health Warnings on Cigarette Packs

Graphic Health Warning Bill

Legislative status: Passed by Both Houses on 11 June 2014

1. Senator Pia Cayetano's Senate Bill No. 27 
2. THE PICTURE-BASED HEALTH WARNING LAW
3. Filed on July 1, 2013 by Cayetano, Pia S., Drilon, Franklin M., Aquino IV, Paolo Benigno "Bam"
4. Long title: AN ACT TO EFFECTIVELY INSTILL HEALTH CONSCIOUSNESS THROUGH PICTURE-BASED WARNINGS ON TOBACCO PRODUCTS
5. The measure that will complement the Sin Tax Reform Act (Republic Act 10351), which Cayetano and Drilon helped pass in the 15th Congress, requires cigarette companies to put picture-based warnings on cigarette packs.
6. Former health secretary, Esperanza Cabral, issued an administrative order in 2010 to make the graphic warnings possible in the absence of a law but the government got a slew of court cases filed by the tobacco companies.
7. Senator Pia Cayetano said she sponsored two versions of the measure in the 14th and 15th Congress, but these failed to pass because of strong opposition from the tobacco industry and the House of Representatives also killed the bill in 2008.
8. The Philippines is a signatory to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), which requires the implementation of "large, rotating health warnings on all tobacco product packaging and labeling" and the Philippines committed to pass a graphic health warning law by 2008.
9. Australia, another FCTC party, was able to pass the law, and even added another requirement: to make all tobacco products have plain, unattractive dark olive green packaging.
10. The Senate approved on Monday, 9 June 2014, Senate Bill 27 on the third and final reading, which is a landmark legislation, with 18 affirmative votes, no abstentions and no negative votes, while the House of Representatives passed House Bill 4590 with 210 affirmative votes, no abstentions and no negative votes.
11. The reconciled version of the Senate and the House of Representatives requires cigarette manufacturers to have graphic health warning printed on 50 percent of the cigarette package display.
12. The ratified bicameral version entitled "The Graphic Health Warning Law" will become a law once President Benigno Aquino III’s sign it.

References:

Cigarette graphic warning bill bitter-sweet - health advocates
Sen. Pia presses new fight for the Graphic Health Warning Bill
Senate passes graphic health warning bill
Senate ratifies bicam report on graphic health warning bill
Look, mate, scary cigarette packs!
Smoking kills: Senators want to show you how
Congress ratifies graphic health warning bill
Senate ratifies Graphic Health Warning bill
Graphic health warning bill passes final reading in Congress
Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing
THE PICTURE-BASED HEALTH WARNING LAW