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​NE​WS & EVENTS​

Rotary Club of Makati Visit

Posted October 11, 2017

 

Through the years, the Rotary  Club of Makati has provided assistance in various forms to the school, notably an audiovisual room outfitted with specialized audio equipment for which the Club applied for a $12,000 matching grant during the term of PP Ricardo “Ric” Librea. The Club has also donated two hybrid air-conditioning units that run on solar power and LED lights that have cut the school’s monthly electricity bill by 50%.

 

The Rotary Club of Makati has been helping the Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID) for 21 years with the help of past chairman Cesar Campos. His is a two-sided advocacy—one, for the students whose auditory capabilities are severely

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impaired; and two, for the method used by the school to usher them from the realm of silence to the realm of sound-- the sound of their own voice used in speech. 

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The Rotary Club’s assistance efforts for the school began in 1994 during the term of Rotary Pres. Carlos del Rosario with annual donations to its scholarship fund. Its last donation, of P350,000, was in July 2015 at the beginning of its golden anniversary year. 

 

From time to time, students and faculty are invited to a Rotary Club meeting, during which previously-mute children get to show off their newly-acquired oral language skills. The Rotarians in turn pay occasional visits to the school. The Club also supports the annual culminating activity at year end, where the children perform in a musical program that showcases lessons learned and skills acquired during the year.

Diamond Hotel's
Christmas Tree Lighting

Posted November 9, 2017

 

The Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID) students performed at the Diamond Hotel for their Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration. They performed christmas carols and a dance number together with bantay bata and other great performers.

High School Camping

Posted November 22, 2017

 

PID High School students, together with their respective advisers and some PTA officers, went to La Mesa Eco Park to have their very first camping held last October 29, 2017. Campers were taught by a couple of wilderness experts from how to set up their tents, start a fire, to cook their meals. After camping, they went swimming inside the park.

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29th Foundation Day

Posted November 22, 2017

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The Institution celebrated it's 29th Foundation Day that was held last September 6-8, 2017 at the Malacañang Grandstand.

Annual Fun Run

Posted October 9, 2017

 

Every year, every 2nd week of November, the Philippine Institute for the Deaf leads the celebration of the Deaf Awareness Week [DAW] as stated in the Presidential Proclamation 829. It is an annual celebration where all deaf schools and agencies join together to create awareness on the prevention, rehabilitation and education of deaf children and individuals in our society. Moreover, it aims to educate the public on the needs and concerns of persons with disabilities. Through this event we are raising money for great causes in our indigent deaf children, as well as promoting health, wellness and fitness in our community.

 

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Unionbank Outreach Program

Posted October 20, 2018

 

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FILIPINO-AMERICAN SPIRIT INC.
SCHOLARSHIP

Posted October 22, 2018

 

The Filipino-American Spirit Inc (FAS) awarded one of our students Irhyl Lydovice full scholarship amounting to $2,000. Ihryl is a Grade 1 student and dreams to be a chef someday. 

DEAF AWARENESS WEEK
"ZUMBA DAW"

Posted November 17, 2018

 

One of the activities in the Deaf Awareness Week is promoting good health by exercising. So the Philippine Institute for the Deaf together with MOA Dabarkads, collaborated to come up with a Zumba exercise event held in Mall of Asia. Hundreds joined our event and some guest celebrities graced our event, Allen Cecilio and Marco Mckinley.

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Gift Giving
ROTARY CLUB OF MAKATI
"GIFT GIVING"

Posted December 10, 2018

 

The Rotary Club of Makati went to PID last December 7, 2018 for their Gift Giving Project. PID students performed their U.N. dance presentation in which the guests really enjoyed. The students were happy upon receiving their gifts. Some got a huge teddy bear, while others got a basketball.

"TRANSFORMING LIVES"

Published by IGNACIO R. BUNYE

Posted April 15, 2019 on Manila Bulletin

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Seven years ago, preschooler Cheska Parabolis was a very quiet and shy child. She did not know how to interact with peers and teachers and struggled a little with kindergarten academic requirements. But under the patient tutelage of her teachers,  she began to blossom.

Cheska gradually became sociable and even achieved honors in class. She loved to sing and dance. This year, she landed the lead role as “Rapunzel” in her school’s annual musical program which I was recently privileged to watch at the RCBC Theater.

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Ramizza Reyes also had a bad start. Ramizza suffered  bullying by her former classmates. Some of her former teachers were less-than-patient and even openly expressed their frustration at her communication skills and slow pace.  But later,  in a much different nurturing environment, Ramizza was able to catch up. She eventually finished regular elementary and high school. Recently, she completeda 2-year Associate Degree in Computer Secretarial at St. Jude Institute of Technology and is currently working as a teacher aide to pursue a degree in Special Education.

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Josh Raymundo, the first and only deaf student accepted in the University of Santo Tomas, finished  B.S. Library Science. Immediately after passing the Librarian’s Board Licensure, he was hired as librarian at Letran University in Calamba.

 

Mary Grace Laus finished computer technology in Miriam College. She is currently a member of the marketing staff at Enchanted Kingdom.

 

Cheska Parabolis, Ramizza Reyes, Josh Raymundo, and Mary Grace Laus all started  with severe handicaps.

 

They were born  profoundly deaf. By ordinary norms, they  should have not been able to speak.

 

Luckily,  their parents  learned about  the Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID), housed in a two-story building on Nagtahan Road, Pandacan.

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At PID, they were taught to speak, to lip read, and to succeed in mainstream school – as Ramizza, Josh, and Mary Grace have already proven.

“Yes, these children are deaf, but they don’t have to be mute,”  Julie G. Esguerra, PID’s founder, said.

 

Julie, a licensed special education teacher and speech therapist with an MA in Special Education, inspired by her mother’s lifetime work – the late Dr. Sergia Esguerra,  believed firmly: “Instead of sign language, we’d rather help them find their voice and teach them to speak.”

 

In 1954, Dr. Sergia Esguerra  was sent by the Philippine government to the Central Institute for the Deaf in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, to  study the “oral method” in teaching the deaf. On her return in 1955 , she started the 1st experimental “Oral Program” class at the government School for the Deaf in Pasay.

 

The success of the six-year oral training class inspired the creation of the Expanded Special Education Programs at DepEd which she headed.  On her retirement from DepEd in 1986, she urged Julie, who was then a speech therapist in California USA, to come home and contribute to the country’s special education programs.

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The Julie Esguerra Speech Center was established in 1986 to provide speech rehabilitation programs for all types of speech disorders.  Its success led Julie to found the non-profit Sergia Esguerra Foundation, Inc., in 1988, as a surprise honor gift for her mom’s 50-year dedicated service for special children in the country, and also to celebrate her 70th birth anniversary.

The foundation’s flagship – the Philippine Institute for the Deaf (PID) – thus became  the first oral school for the deaf in the Philippines  accredited by DepEd.   The demise of Dr. Sergia Esguerra  in 1991 led Julie and the board of directors to amend the name of the foundation to Sergia Esguerra Memorial Foundation, Inc.

 

In 1992, former President Fidel V. Ramos provided PID with a two-story school building in the AFP-PSG Compound beside Nagtahan Bridge near Malacañang via a 25-year lease at P1/year.

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The compound is now a fenced secured campus with 16 classrooms, five speech one-on-one cubicles, an occupational room, a library and seminar room, an h.e. room, a science lab, a computer laboratory,  a tech-voc room, a guidance area, a multi-purpose gym with stage, and a small campus for sports activities.

 

PID is now home to a hundred deaf students, and other special learners and “miracle worker” special education teachers. Most of the students, like Cheska, belong to very poor families and depend very much on generous sponsors to be able to stay in school.

After 31 years, Julie remains as strongly committed  in transforming  deaf speech-handicapped children to become  regular  productive citizens.

 

Julie explains:

“Whenever a deaf child comes to us, we’re challenged, because he shouldn’t be mute.  He has a voice, and all we need is…. to look for that voice…..and listen!”

At the Philippine Institute for the Deaf, a deaf child  enrollee  first undergoes hearing and aptitude evaluation.

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Then there is the regular 3-times-a-week one-on-one speech therapy. This is supplemented by the K-12 Curricular Programs and activities designed to encourage the students to express themselves such as basic computer skills, home economics, PE and sports, dance and theater arts, painting, gardening, crafts, cooking and baking .

PID also regularly holds an annual musical play where the students are encouraged to participate, as part of their special curriculum, to showcase their speaking skills progress.

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Watching this year’s play  “Rapunzel,” I was  amazed to see the students dance in sync with  the music and the beat,  a single note of which they could not hear.

 

PID believes in a holistic approach so it  conducts workshops for parents, brothers, sisters, yayas, and neighbor peers so everyone will know how to teach and motivate the deaf child even at home and in their social activities.

 

“With hard work and full cooperation from the communities, these children leave PID ready to enter regular schools, like regular students. …. This is probably what we could call our contribution to the country,” Julie said.

 

Julie, who has been described by associates  as a “miracle worker,”  can look back with pride at how PID  has transformed lives.

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Philip Olivan is now executive manager of the CBD Plaza Hotel in Naga.  Janice Lim owns A&J Café. Kisha Batuigas is Officer II at DFA. Chrissy Camello owns a bakeshop in Australia. Paolo Luciano is a BOH specialist at Apple, Inc.  Mercedez Bone is assistant manager at Walmart. Anna Sarmiento is an IT teacher in Arkansas. Krissie Tan is a supervisor at the IT department in Vancouver International.

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You, too,  can be a partner in helping  transform lives.

Note: You may e-mail us at totingbunye2000@gmail.com. If you “like” this article, please feel free to share it via Facebook and/or Twitter.

ZUMBA For a Cause

Posted August 31, 2019

 

With the cooperation of the MOA Dabarkads, the proceeds of the event will help aid the education of indigent deaf students. 

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Held at Mall of Asia, Sunset Park (SM by the Bay), the event was supported by some men from the Philippine National Police and other Zumba groups.

Zumba for a Caue 2019
Conrad Partnership
Conrad Hotel Partnership

Posted September 14, 2019

 

Last May 14, 2019, The Philippine Institute for the Deaf, signed a partnership with Conrad Hotel. It will benefit PID Alumni and Graduates who dreams to work in a Hotel.

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Also, part of the partnership is to have scheduled seminars to be held at Conrad Hotel, to raise awareness that some hearing impaired individuals can communicate without the use of sign language.

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            RAKSO Travel brought PID Students to Aqua Planet 

                                                  Posted November 19, 2019

 

RAKSO Travel invited PID kids to Aqua Planet for the celebration of their 20th Anniversary and Deafness Awareness Week last October 20, 2019.  PID kids enjoyed the whole day of fun games and water thrilling rides.  It was their first time to ride world class water rides and slides. They also enjoyed dancing in their big wave pool together with RAKSO volunteers while a prty DJ is playing great dancing songs. Truly, one of the best field trips the school had for a long time. Thanks RAKSO Travel!

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The Unionbank Team, headed by Dwight Barilea and Joanne Yao, conducted an outreach program for our PID Deaf Students. They played a couple of fun games with the kids that they truly enjoyed. They even brought jollibee to entertain the kids. The Unionbank team represented by The Manila Region, BF Homes Branch, Salcedo Branch, Internal Audit Division, Binondo Region and Performance and Quality Management members, donated 2 brand new 55 inches LCD TV,, LCD Projector and 6 fire extinguishers. They even gave school bags full of school supplies for the kids.

Upcoming Events

 

MON APR 7 8:00 AM

 

Start of Summer Class

FRI MAY 28 5:00 PM

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End Of Summer Class

MON JUN 7 8:00 AM

 

Start of SY 2021-2022

MON AUG 30 8:00 AM

 

National Heroes Day

TUE NOV 30 8:00 AM

 

Bonifacio Day

FRI FEB 12 8:00 AM

 

Chinese New Year

THU FEB 25 8:00 AM

 

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