VISIONARIES mentioned in the Bible had prophesied many years ago the “end time trouble” in the Middle East.

In the desert, the prophets saw some crawling toys like “roaring lions” and flying “flaming arrows”. Both things described in the prophecy becomes vivid in the modern times when we see armored vehicles in the war zone, crawling with a roaring sound and wild like a merciless lion.

Then, there are “flaming arrows” that certainly described the long-range missiles, capable to fly from one continent to the other. Iran recently hurled some sort of guided missiles as retaliatory action to US for killing a top general.

The implicit motive among the conflicting powers is to demonstrate a self-governing supremacy over the other in terms of military, economy, education, among others.

One of the many substantial ideas in my newsfeed recently says: “Collapsing any nation does not require the use of atomic bombs or the use of long range missiles. It only requires lowering the quality of education and allowing cheating in the examinations by the students. The patient dies in the hands of such doctors. And the buildings collapse in the hands of such engineers. And the money is lost in the hands of such accountants. And humanity dies in the hands of such religious scholars. And justice is lost in the hands of such judges...The collapse of education is the collapse of the nation.”

In the 2020 National Budget signed by the president, the Defense and Education departments got larger chunks. Both departments are priorities of this administration to be modernized and up-skilled.

Well, we in Davao City are lucky enough with Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio who recently certified the urgent establishment of the City College of Davao (CCD). When this blueprint comes true by July, CCD will accommodate about 1,000 marginalized and indigenous students who are residing in Davao City. It will be a world-class city college, where the students are free of tuition and allowances.

Vice Mayor Baste Duterte and the 19th Council are in double quick to pass a resolution and ordinance for this projects which the mayor herself is sourcing out the funds.

Back to a larger scene, we expect that as the years go by, the country will invest to more urbane education than acquiring flaming arrows and other sophisticated military armaments.