A physicist-researcher-educator couple from Jagna, Bohol were conferred the 3rd Gawad Haydee Yorac during the Awarding Rites held last March 4, 2009 at the Meralco Theatre in Pasig City.
The awardees are Dr. Christopher C. Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio Bernido, President and Principal, respectively, of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics in Bohol.
Their partnership to build a nation through science, research and a new method of teaching founded on excellence and values won the judges’ approval over nominations received from different parts of the country.
In early 1990s, the couple who were then University of the Philippines physics professors - director and assistant, respectively, of the UP National Institute of Physics –uprooted themselves from the campus and moved to Jagna, described as a seaside 4th class municipality a little over one hour away from Tagbilaran, Bohol.
There they established the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF), the home of the Dynamic Learning Program. The Institute Foundation comprise of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics, the high school department that strengthens the science focus of its students, and the Education Research Center for continuing development of the learning program.
The research center they founded has been hosting physics workshops every three years, drawing experts from all over the world including two winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics, Gerard t’Hooft and Frank Wilczek. The international workshops have been connecting departments of physics in the Philippines with that of the global community, giving faculty and graduate students the chance to network with fellow scientists abroad.
The innovative, “Learning Physics as a Nation” is beginning to revolutionize high school education in the country, with over 30 high schools in different provinces of Regions 1 to 12, ARMM, CAR, Caraga and NCR already using it. It supported by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) with a special grant from the Department of Education. Under the program, lectures are only 20 minutes, individual or group work is 40 minutes and students, who come from very poor families, have no homework so they can still do chores and have family time. After eight years, their students have began passing the UP College Entrance Exam.
They addressed a grassroots issue, and had the courage to blaze new science trails in their home province of Bohol, in isolated and marginalized communities, demonstrating that there are no constraints or limits to achieving the lofty vision of “building a nation” when courage, commitment and intellectual excellence are applied to the task.
The physics program they pioneered in and advocated has been responsive to the needs/existing environment of very poor students, with the improved learning standards of the students and the adoption of the program by various high schools in the country as well. Amidst all this, the couple was able to pursue their continuing passion for physics. Such achievements were deemed remarkable and inspiring.
The Bernidos rated highly in: personal attributes - personal qualities worthy of emulation (courage, excellence, selflessness, professionalism, fairness, credibility, integrity), traits that characterize the late Haydee Yorac; professional excellence and accomplishments – competence and qualifications and made significant accomplishments in their chosen field, and impact of accomplishments to the community and to the nation – the long-term impact of their program and example, and the promotion of the common good.
The Gawad Haydee Yorac is an award established in 2006 by Meralco in cooperation with the University of the Philippines in honor of the late Haydee Yorac, former Meralco legal counsel and multi-awarded UP alumna, UP Law professor and, among other positions, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), a post she held before her demise. It recognizes Filipino leaders from the private sector, government service and volunteer organizations whose personal qualities, ethics and lives are worth emulating in leadership with integrity and public service with selflessness.
For more details, contact the award secretariat at 632-8481 or 632-8801, or email gawadhaydeeyorac@meralco.com.ph, or visit www.meralco.com.ph/gawadhaydeeyorac.
The awardees are Dr. Christopher C. Bernido and Dr. Ma. Victoria Carpio Bernido, President and Principal, respectively, of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics in Bohol.
Their partnership to build a nation through science, research and a new method of teaching founded on excellence and values won the judges’ approval over nominations received from different parts of the country.
In early 1990s, the couple who were then University of the Philippines physics professors - director and assistant, respectively, of the UP National Institute of Physics –uprooted themselves from the campus and moved to Jagna, described as a seaside 4th class municipality a little over one hour away from Tagbilaran, Bohol.
There they established the Central Visayan Institute Foundation (CVIF), the home of the Dynamic Learning Program. The Institute Foundation comprise of the Research Center for Theoretical Physics, the high school department that strengthens the science focus of its students, and the Education Research Center for continuing development of the learning program.
The research center they founded has been hosting physics workshops every three years, drawing experts from all over the world including two winners of the Nobel Prize for Physics, Gerard t’Hooft and Frank Wilczek. The international workshops have been connecting departments of physics in the Philippines with that of the global community, giving faculty and graduate students the chance to network with fellow scientists abroad.
The innovative, “Learning Physics as a Nation” is beginning to revolutionize high school education in the country, with over 30 high schools in different provinces of Regions 1 to 12, ARMM, CAR, Caraga and NCR already using it. It supported by the Fund for Assistance to Private Education (FAPE) with a special grant from the Department of Education. Under the program, lectures are only 20 minutes, individual or group work is 40 minutes and students, who come from very poor families, have no homework so they can still do chores and have family time. After eight years, their students have began passing the UP College Entrance Exam.
They addressed a grassroots issue, and had the courage to blaze new science trails in their home province of Bohol, in isolated and marginalized communities, demonstrating that there are no constraints or limits to achieving the lofty vision of “building a nation” when courage, commitment and intellectual excellence are applied to the task.
The physics program they pioneered in and advocated has been responsive to the needs/existing environment of very poor students, with the improved learning standards of the students and the adoption of the program by various high schools in the country as well. Amidst all this, the couple was able to pursue their continuing passion for physics. Such achievements were deemed remarkable and inspiring.
The Bernidos rated highly in: personal attributes - personal qualities worthy of emulation (courage, excellence, selflessness, professionalism, fairness, credibility, integrity), traits that characterize the late Haydee Yorac; professional excellence and accomplishments – competence and qualifications and made significant accomplishments in their chosen field, and impact of accomplishments to the community and to the nation – the long-term impact of their program and example, and the promotion of the common good.
The Gawad Haydee Yorac is an award established in 2006 by Meralco in cooperation with the University of the Philippines in honor of the late Haydee Yorac, former Meralco legal counsel and multi-awarded UP alumna, UP Law professor and, among other positions, Chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), a post she held before her demise. It recognizes Filipino leaders from the private sector, government service and volunteer organizations whose personal qualities, ethics and lives are worth emulating in leadership with integrity and public service with selflessness.
For more details, contact the award secretariat at 632-8481 or 632-8801, or email gawadhaydeeyorac@meralco.com.ph, or visit www.meralco.com.ph/gawadhaydeeyorac.
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