Igorot Teacher receives international Princess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA)

An Igorot once again proved Excellency in Education, this is after the Head Teacher of Governor Bado Dangwa Agro-Industrial School (GBDAIS) in Kapangan Benguet received the Princess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA), a biennial award given to outstanding teachers in Southeast Asia who have made a significant impact to students’ lives.

The first Igorot teacher to receive such a prestigious award, Marcelo Otinguey from Kapangan Benguet, is among the 11 awardees of the PMCA who officially received the award on July 29, 2021, at the Thailand Embassy.

His efforts made the International Cooperation Bureau of the Department of Education (DepEd) submit his credentials to the Ministry of Education of Thailand for the 4th PMCA.

In an interview, he said that it was his choice to take education as his vocation. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education (BSEd) at Benguet State University and has a Master’s degree in Education-General at Baguio Central University. “It offers a lot of opportunities to serve, not only to educate the young but encompasses a variety of endeavors to be more useful for the common good,” Otinguey said.

He has been teaching for 25 years and has made ways to fight illiteracy. It has been his dedication to serve and live his life through education.

The PMCA is designed to celebrate excellence in the teaching profession and recognize teachers for their contribution to the future generation.

Living Life to teach

Over his teaching career, he made various projects that made student’s lives better, such as the ‘Book for the Barrios’ that aim to provide books and other learning materials to create reading centers for primary and secondary schools in rural areas; the “Kasanayang Pangkabuhayan” a livelihood training project; the “Wheels project for immobile children"; “Paternal love medical mission”; “Loom bank bracelet for a cause”; “Cultural heritage education”, “Tsinelas, pagkain at karunungan tungkol sa kalikasan para sa Kabataan” and the “Sama-sama, tulung-tulong partnership project”.

Recently, Otinguey also received a “Certification of Recognition as School Brigada Eskwela Coordinator” by the Department of Education (DepEd) Cordillera, and the “Certificate of Appreciation” by Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) on the video produced for the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) Teach On: Keeping the Passion Alive. It is one of the reasons that made him qualify as a recipient of the PMCA award that was announced by the DepEd last June of 2021.

He shared that one must grab every opportunity to serve because we only live once, so might as well live a life of service.

As a message to his fellow educators, he said, “Be productive and fruitful, be whatever you are. Discover what you can do best. Look around, identify the need of your community, create, innovate, work with ingenuity, and establish partnership and linkages to create impact.”

Princess Maha Chakri Award (PMCA)

As per DepEd memorandum number 70, s. 2020, said award commemorates Thailand’s Princes Maja Chakri’s 60th birthday, by looking for exceptional teachers in Southeast Asia whose achievements have resulted in a significant impact on the students' life and a better education system.

The other awardees for this year’s PMCA were Pengiran Haji Mohd Wahab bin Pengiran Haji Abdullah of Brunei, Norn Dary of Cambodia, Khoiriah, M.Pd. of Indonesia, Sengphet Khounpasert of Laos, Kyaw Zin Aung of Myanmar, Norhailmi Abdul Mutalib of Malaysia, Yok Joon Meng of Singapore, HA Anh Phuong of Vietnam, Pratin Leanchumroon of Thailand, and Vicente Marcal da Silva of Timor Leste.

The awarding was administered by the Princess Maja Chakri Foundation in partnership with the Ministry of Education of Thailand.

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