It’s a golden milestone for me this year and I am thankful to the Lord that he has allowed me to celebrate this five-decade chapter of my life.
In 1976, while working then with the Department of Public Information (the predecessor of the Philippine Information Agency), I was tasked to head the Training and Research Division of the agency’s regional office.
Among the long-term activities we started were the trainings for campus editors and information officers. The thrust of the program was to help develop the competence of training clients and eventually form a network of a communication group supporting the agency’s IEC programs.
Being assigned in the regional office in Iloilo City, I made frequent trips to Bacolod City during the training season to coordinate with then sub-office head La-arni Trinidad (now Mrs. Aguilar) for the conduct of our campus journalism program.
Together with a group of college editors, who were excited to form their organization following the start of Martial Law that clamped down and stifled the operations of the mass media student publications, we organized a regional group of college editors. That group, with the guidance of our agency, organized the first Western Visayas COPRE, or the College Press Conference and Awards.
Since its inaugural year, COPRE has been held annually, including during the Covid season, making it the longest-running training program of its kind in the country.
COPRE, as envisioned is a follow up assessment if the effectiveness of training programs held earlier during the academic year.
For years now, COPRE, upon clients’ appeal, expanded its competition to include high school online platforms, and, in 2024, started writing contests for high school editors to complement the annual journalism program of the Department of Education.
In addition, during the yearend evaluation, the agency also recognizes top performing advisers in both tertiary and secondary levels.
The annual journalism training series, conducted both for high school and college writers as well as advisers, must have produced more than 40,000 “alumni” since 1976.
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I learned from PIA Assistant Regional Director Easter Anne Doza of the plan to hold a golden anniversary program later this year. I presume the commemoration will be a grand one that will also celebrate how the training program has contributed to the careers of COPRE alumni, many of whom are successful professionals today in the country and abroad.
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One of the recent surprises I recently had was when I met Negros Occidental Division Supt. Gladys Amylaine Sales – for the first time – prior to the opening of the 2026 Division Schools Press Conference held in Pontevedra.
Upon hearing my name mentioned when we arrived at the host school, Ma’am Sales approached me and said, “I was a participant of your training programs during my high school years.”
I was almost speechless for some seconds upon realizing that a previous trainee is now occupying the top position of the biggest school division in the region.
“It’s a passion Ma’am,” I softly responded, as I thanked God He has given me the mentoring skill and talent to share with those who later used their written communication proficiency as they go up the corporate and organizational ladder.
Ma’am Sales reiterated her acknowledgment of my presence and my journalism mentorship during the opening program at the municipal auditorium.
I also recall that in my travels around the country I had been stopped many times by seeming strangers who told me they had attended my lectures in various regional (including areas in the country outside of Western Visayas) and national schools press conferences.
It’s heartwarming, indeed, when we eventually realize how we had unknowingly touched people lives with the talent and gift God has given us
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Congratulations and best wishes to qualifiers in the DepEd regional schools press conferences which will be held in Talisay City. The host city, previously a part of the Division of Negros Occidental, held its first-ever DSPC last week.
To Ma’am Sales, journalism program supervisors, Ma’am Riza Gea and Sir Bonski Barroquillo, and the Negros Occidental Division advisers’ association, thank you for the continued trust and confidence in me and my team.
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Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others. (Colossians 3:23) | NWI
