Frequently Asked
Questions [FAQs]
Hereunder are the most
frequently asked questions [FAQs]
received and a summary of the answers given by the web
administrator since the inception of SMSS Alumni and Friends Foundation*.
I. Why should we help St. Mary’s School
of Sagada? What's in it for us?
Answer:
There are quite a number of reasons why St. Mary's School of Sagada [SMSS] deserves your support.
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By helping SMSS, you will be helping an
indigenous people realize their hopes and dreams of improving their
socio-economic conditions through quality education grounded on the
tenets of Christianity. In the process,
you will be entitled to a tax-exemption in the amount of your
donation to SMSS. Please check with your tax consultant to make sure.
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To all
self-respecting Igorots, helping SMSS - a school committed to
becoming the number one school in the Cordillera Adminstrative
Region [CAR] - will raise the bar of quality education for Igorots
and related people. It is but natural that other schools in the CAR will strive to equal
or surpass what SMSS has and will accomplish in terms of
facilities and curriculum improvement, to the overall benefit of
hinterland communities in the CAR.
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SMSS
has never refused anybody from enrollment on account of religious belief,
political affiliation, ethnic origin, color of skin, sex
orientation, or social status; and has been a proponent of the
free discussion of ideas. Not a few of its alumni found themselves
in leading roles in opposing camps in the Philippine Cordillera's
unfolding ideological and religious spectrum. But one thing is
sure, SMS will never allow any political ideology or religious
fanaticism to enslave the minds of its students. SMS deserves the
support of the local and national government as well as every
freedom loving people.
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To SMSS
alumni, by helping your alma mater you help sustain, for those
coming after you, the educational opportunity which enabled you and
many of your indigenous brothers and sisters to catch up with
mainstream Philippine society and the rest of the world. As such,
you will be paying a debt which you owe to those who pioneered and
sacrificed for your people particularly the early American
Missionaries to Sagada and the Mountain Provinces. You will also
help insure that all what the late manong Frank Longid has toiled
for will not have been in vain. Please revisit his homily:
"Building Fires and Digging Wells for
those Coming After Me"
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Three individuals chose
to forego more comfortable and/or lucrative opportunities in order to
help SMS survive its financial difficulties and continue
its mission of dispensing quality education to Sagada and other
hinterland communities of Northern Luzon - - long categorized among the poorest of the poor in
Philippine socio-economic classifications. It behooves the sons and
daughters of these communities, particularly those who are
educated or financially endowed to, likewise, demonstrate
support to the education of their people
Dr. Faustino is retired from International School Manila, belongs to
an affluent family, and can be anywhere around the world enjoying
his retirement years. Instead he opted to settle in Sagada to assume
a hands-on and honest-to-goodness leadership role in revitalizing
SMSS. He has and continue to devote most of his waking hours,
talents and treasures to SMSSI [including sister schools in the region], all
for the love of a marginalized people valiantly struggling to catch
up with the rest of the world. It is only human on his part to
expect support or appreciation from the people with
whom he has chosen to serve.
Kent Sinkey, a retired computer consultant from the University of
Cincinnati could also have chosen to enjoy his retirement years
in his native United States or traveling around the world like what
many retirees from his country do. Instead, Kent Sinkey chose
to settle in hinterland Sagada, giving up many comforts of the
modern world, to share [free of charge] his computer knowledge with
a people foreign or alien to him. It behooves Igorots and related
people to follow his footsteps of helping St. Mary's School and
other hinterland schools [both public and private] in or near Sagada.
Engr. Rufino Bomasang who is very busy in his capacity as
Chairman of the Board of a multimillion oil exploration venture and
as a member of the Board of several Schools in Manila still finds
time to be Chairman of the Board of St. Mary's School of Sagada
Inc. [SMSSI]. As such, he is in the thick of efforts to
resuscitate a source of quality education for an indigenous people
to which he traces his roots from. Engr. Bomasang expects no monetary remuneration from his services
to SMSSI. Needless to say, he expects support to SMSS from alumni and
friends as well as the communities who will benefit from SMSSI
particularly Sagada.
II. What exactly is the idea of SMSS as
regards quality education and how does SMSS plan to realize such for its
students?
Answer: By
quality education, we mean an education which adequately prepares the
student to be able to cope with the rigors not only of college and
higher levels of learning; but also the mundane and often more difficult
realities of life. SMSS plans to initially provide these to its students
through a
5-year development plan involving both facilities and curriculum
improvement programs. A detailed description of this plan is available
at:
http://www.smssfoundation.com/5-year_dev__plan.htm.
The weekly reports of the SMSS Principal, Dr. Dennis Faustino, will
also give you an idea on how the school administration is preparing its
students. This can be accessed from the following web page:
http://smssagada.org/0000%20Principals%20Reports.htm
III. Many good plans get bogged down or killed by, among others,
incompetence and ulterior motives. How competent are the school
administrators and how sure are we that the SMSS 5-year development
plan will not be used to fleece donors?
Answer:
Dr. Dennis Faustino, the author and chief administrator of the
5-year development plan [by virtue of his being the school principal],
has an unblemished record as assistant principal at the International
School in Manila. The President and Chairman of the Board of
SMSSI, Engr. Rufino Bomasang, likewise, has an
unblemished record as President of the Philippine National Oil
Exploration Company. Both have verifiable track records as competent
managers/administrators. Both are self-made men who have accumulated
enough wealth for them to retire comfortably if they so desire. The probability that they
will allow donations to SMSS to line their pockets or of their henchmen
is nil and none. On the contrary, they have committed substantial amounts of
their personal fortunes / resources towards the revitalization of SMSS.
Moreover,
donations to SMSS channeled through the SMSS Alumni and Friends
Foundation, will be strictly monitored and audited in compliance with
this public charity foundation’s recognition as a 501 ( c) (3)
tax-exempt organization by the US Internal Revenue Service [IRS].
- - - - -
* SMSS-related questions received by other SMSS alumni and friends and
answers given, or proposed to be given, can be added to these FAQs. You
may also send your corrections, suggestions or criticisms on the FAQs to
Igorot44@aol.com . LBS
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