VICE PRESIDENT Sara Duterte dedicated her speech at the Philippine Book Festival at SMX Convention Center on Aug. 18 to all Filipino authors and publishers who foster lifelong learning and a culture that embraces diversity,
Duterte said the event exemplifies the National Book Development Board’s unwavering dedication to Filipino students, and at the same time highlights the achievements of everyone in the Philippine publishing industry.
“The importance of your work is something that we cannot overemphasize — and the same can also be said about the significance of the books authored by people who have dedicated their lives to the profession and advocacy of sharing their expert or academic knowledge with others, giving inspiration to others,” Duterte said.
The vice president also said it is in line with the Department of Education’s (DepEd) vision for Filipino students as the agency recently launched the MATATAG Curriculum.
“Over the past few years, we have seen a painful decline in the ability of our young learners to read and write,” Duterte said.
The MATATAG Curriculum is a revised and improved version of the K to 10 program. It hopes to correct the previous program’s flaws that affected our learners’ writing and reading skills—contributing to learning losses.
Duterte mentioned that DepEd’s direction is not only for our learners to possess the power of writing and reading, but for them to value the power as it could help them navigate life successfully.
“By promoting our homegrown authors, illustrators, and publishers, we not only give voices to stories that have been waiting to be told for so long—we also celebrate them,” Duterte added.
The Philippine Book Festival will run from August 18 to 20, at the SMX Convention Center from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., highlighting the four realms that kids and families can look forward to: Kid Literature, Booktopia, Aral Aklat, and Komiks.
