PERSUASIVE ESSAY

What a Silly Move

By Anabelle B. Añonuevo

Would you spend fifteen thousand pesos for a chili pepper?

Bicolandia is said to be the home of the Oragons where most of the people are courageous. This is evident especially to those who love eating chili pepper. We even have a Search for Sili King and Sili Queen during Magayon Festival. Whoever wins the competition is recognized by the Guiness Book of World Record.

Did you know that there was a teacher who used chili as a punishment?  Teacher Celly is a very competent teacher in a far flung barangay of Legazpi City. She possesses and actualizes a full commitment and devotion to her duty. She is a disciplinarian teacher whom most of the pupils know.

Mrs. Celly is the adviser of her grade six class. Some of her pupils especially in the lower section say bad words and fight with or bully their classmates. Well, those problems are not new anymore but if we will compare as to the intense of the pupils’ behaviors twenty years ago, to the pupils’ behavior nowadays, they have worsen. Given this challenge to Mrs. Celly, she let the naughty pupils stand for 10 minutes or so. She also called the parents’ attention but unluckily, not all the parents come for a conference. There was even a boy who said that his mother died already so she cannot come to meet the teacher. Then after a few weeks, his mother came and cried because she learned that her son lied to the class and killed her verbally. The boy and the parent were then advised by the Guidance Counselor and the teacher. 

Teacher Celly, was so distressed of what happened so she sought suggestions from the class. Somebody said that those pupils who will keep on saying bad words should be given a chili so that they will be more cautious.  Celly thought that it was a new strategy and thought that it might work. “Ok class, who can bring a chili then?” the teacher asked. Then, five volunteered to bring chili. The next morning, some of the pupils really brought chili peppers. 

The class thought that it was just a trick so there were some boys and girls who spoke bad words. When Teacher Celly came to her class, some of her pupils enumerated the names of their classmates who said bad words. So the teacher called the violators and instructed them to take one chili pepper, put it in the mouth, never chew and never swallow. She challenged the violators to tell the incident to their parents so that they would know the reason of such punishment.

As days went by, Teacher Celly noticed that the number of pupils who kept saying bad words had lessened. So she decided to throw away some of the chili peppers for the class had learned to behave well already.

One day, as Teacher Celly was having her class in Grade Six, a group of panting pupils ran to her to seek for her help. “Madam, there are two grade one pupils who are fighting and we could not stop them”, said the two pupils. The rest of the boys pointed the two pupils who looked like the youngest boxers. 

Celly called the little boxers and asked them why they were fighting. “Uni panung %&^*# na ini, inayot ako” said one of the pupils. Teacher Celly advised them not to do that anymore. And to make it more memorable, she punished the two boys by letting them take a chili pepper. One of the boys chewed it so she let him spit the chili instead then told them not to fight anymore. She also advised the two boys to drink water when they get home. She even told them to tell their parents about what happened so the parents would know the reason why their sons were punished.

After a week (Friday), Mr. Dimagiba, the father of the boy who chewed the chili pepper went to the principal’s office and told the school head about his concern. He said that his son did not complain about anything but his playmate mentioned that he was a chili pepper by a teacher. The principal told the hysterical parent to give her a chance to investigate and know the other side of the story from Mrs. Celly.  She asked Mr. Dimagiba to come back on Monday to settle the problem. When the principal asked Mrs. Celly about the incident, she confirmed it and readied herself for the meeting with Mr. Dimagiba. 

Monday came but the principal failed to report for she got sick. She phoned the teacher-in-charge to reschedule the meeting on Tuesday. The TIC learned that Mr. Dimagiba has a chili pepper and he was planning to give it to Mrs. Celly just to get even. Afraid that a chaos might happen, the TIC relayed the principal’s instruction, to go back the next morning. The disappointed parent left the school at once.

The next day, the principal called for Mr. Dimagiba but his wife came instead. The principal, Mrs. Dimagiba, Mrs. Celly talked calmly. The mother told the educators that her husband went to his work that is why he did not make it to the meeting. Then she asked Mrs. Celly about what had happened. And so the teacher explained and apologized. The mother was too tranquil and she even thanked the teacher for disciplining her naughty child and she told Mrs. Celly not to do it again. The principal was delighted of what she heard. Suddenly, Mrs. Dimagiba told them “But madam, my husband does not think the way I do. He is a narrow-minded person madam. He told me yesterday that he went to the Regional Trial Court and filed a case against Mrs. Celly. I don’t know if it’s true madam but just be ready.” The principal and Mrs. Celly thought it was just a bluff. Two days later, Mrs. Celly received a letter from the Public Attorneys’ Office inviting her for a conference at the PAO to amicably settle a case. The teacher was shocked and so she went to see the lawyer and she told him about the meeting with Mrs. Dimagiba. 

Mrs. Celly sought an advice from a lawyer and she was told to just pay the parent so that it will not get worse. And so she did. She talked to Mr. Dimagiba in front of the school’s grievance committee. Mr. Dimagiba demanded the sum of Php 50,000.00. Everyone in the room got surprised of the price. Mrs. Celly asked him if his child was hospitalized, he said “No.” She asked him his son is taking medicine in connection with the incident, he said “No”. “So what is that money for?” asked Mrs. Celly. He said that it is for his two lawyers and other stuff. She asked him to specify the names of the lawyers and so he did. 

After the meeting, the worrisome teacher, went to PAO once again to ask the lawyer if the amount he was asking was fair enough. He said “If there are hospital bills and other receipts well, it is fair”. When I mentioned about the two lawyers which Mr. Dimagiba mentioned, the lawyer was astonished. He said that it is not right. He thanked the teacher for telling him the information.

Soon, another meeting was held at the school. Mrs. Celly asked Mr. Dimagiba to lessen the amount that he was asking because aside from the fact that she apologized already, the child was not hospitalized. He agreed and lowered the price to Php 30,000.00. It was still too high for the teacher so she asked him to lower it. He said, “Php 20,000.000, that is the last price. You must pay me in cash here at the principal’s office.”

It was clear for the teacher that Mr. Dimagiba was not after his son’s welfare but he was after the money.  When they finally had their conference at the PAO, the lawyer did not agree with the P20,000 since there were no official receipts pertaining to the expenses of the incident. When the lawyer asked Mr. Dimagiba if he has other lawyers aside from him (PAO), he uttered “Yes”. And the lawyer let him name the two attorneys. Then the PAO lawyer told him that he should not have asked for a public attorney if he could afford private attorneys. The lawyer said that whatever decision they might end up in that office might be altered if his legal advisers file a case against the teacher. In other words, the PAO lawyer refused to handle the case anymore. He volunteered to be a witness as a replacement for lawyer if ever they pursue the case.

Mr. Dimagiba was too angry because he did not get what he wanted. Worried that the problem might worsen, the teacher went to the law office of his claimed lawyer and asked him to lessen the amount so she could afford to pay him. After a long negotiation, Teacher Celly finally gave up. She paid the amount of fifteen thousand pesos just to have peace of mind. 

So if you are a teacher who works so hard just to discipline your pupils, you have to think twice before you act. There are times when we think we are right and we intend to control the wrong deeds of our pupils but then, to some people, those things are wrong. That experience of Teacher Celly made me think that being a teacher is really tough. We all need to have overflowing patience to each of our students. Never touch and never say anything that might hurt their feelings so you won’t get hurt too (whether psychologically, financially, morally or emotionally).

By Anabelle B. Añonuevo