18/03/2026
“Bring Back the Names of Excellence”
Dear DepEd, hear the thunder in our plea,
Restore the crowns of earned supremacy.
Not every triumph fits in “honors” vaguely free,
Greatness deserves a name, a legacy.
Valedictorian, let that title rise,
A beacon blazing under campus skies.
Salutatorian, where fierce devotion lies,
Proof that sacrifice is never compromise.
Top Ten, let their banners proudly fly,
For sleepless nights and dreams that would not die.
They bled through books while others passed them by,
Chasing futures no failure could deny.
Do not dissolve their fire in equal gray,
Do not wash hard-won victories away.
Generic praise cannot repay
The cost of every disciplined day.
They studied while the world was loud with ease,
They bore the weight of doubt and pleas.
They chose the grind, ignored the breeze,
And built their strength through silent degrees.
Recognition is not pride run wild,
It is justice for the steadfast child.
It tells the weary, “Your pain compiled
Has shaped a leader, fierce and undefiled.”
Tradition is not chains that bind the new;
It is honor proven, clear and true.
A compass saying, “Excellence is due
To those who gave more than a few.”
Bring back the names that sharply stand,
Carved like medals in steady hands.
Let schools proclaim across the land
That merit still commands.
For when we label all the same,
We dim the brightest flame.
Let excellence reclaim its name,
And let the hardest workers claim their fame.
-GalawangFrancisco
