𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄: 𝐀 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐌𝐚’𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮

𝘉𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘑. 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘴, 𝘗𝘩𝘋 𝘚𝘚𝘛 𝘐𝘐𝘐, 𝘈𝘨𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘯 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘏𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘢𝘺 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴 𝘘. 𝘋𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘴 𝘙𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘴 𝘚𝘚𝘛 𝘐𝘐𝘐, 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘚𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘴 & 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘋𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡. 𝐏𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 The ideals she possesses make her a woman of commitment and excellence. She has been serving the Department of Education for more than three decades. Yet she still has the same love for mentoring, learning, and leading. Like the glittering seas of her hometown Surigao City, her exuberant aura radiates her beautiful soul. As we sat for the interview, we suddenly felt shivers down our spines, realizing that we were in the presence of the top and most respected leader of the Schools Division of Butuan City. Yet, her pleasant smile somehow calmed down an otherwise tense atmosphere inside the room, and right away, we felt the warm welcome of our gracious host. It was one worthwhile moment to get to know, up close and personal, the mother of our Schools Division Office (SDO), Dr. Marilou Botero-Dedumo, CESO V. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 Ma’am Malou, as her colleagues fondly call her, originally hails from Barangay Mat-i, Surigao City. Born on May 17, 1962, she is the third among seven siblings. She wanted to become a medical doctor, so she took up BS Biology as a pre-med course. However, God has another plan. Due to financial constraints, she considered taking up 24 units in Education and took the Philippine Board Examinations for Teachers (PBET). “God is really in control. He brought me not to another profession but to this teaching profession,” Ma’am Malou said pensively. From being a teacher for 13 years, handling science and technology subjects at Mat-i National High School, she was promoted to school head/principal at Ipil National High School, where she served for eight years. Another promotion knocked on her door when she became a division supervisor for four years. After passing the Educational Management Test (EMT) in June 2008, within the same year, she assumed the position of Assistant Schools Superintendent of Butuan City until 2013. Indeed, God’s favor continued to pour out on her way as she became the OIC-SDS of the Dinagat Islands Division for two years and Surigao del Sur Division for five years. In 2019, she returned to Butuan City, where she obtained a full-fledged status as its Schools Division Superintendent. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 Ma’am Malou, raised by devout Catholic parents, is a follower of Christ by heart and deed. She is grateful for the God-given strength and good health, enabling her to attend Holy Mass every Sunday. She believes that our real strength lies in our spirituality and faithfulness. Most people see her personality as fierce, strict, and authoritative. However, behind her formidable persona, she never displays unreasonable dominance. Instead, she comes out as a gentle, caring, and loving mother to her subordinates. As an SDS, she still maintains the aura of being a mom and a home buddy. Despite the taxing workloads and the inevitable exhaustion, she manages to take care of the needs of her own family. She travels home every weekend or during holidays to be with her three children, seven grandchildren, and especially her octogenarian mother. All she wanted to do was take care of them. Theirs is one big happy family, living together harmoniously in their blissful abode, never wanting to get separated from them for so long. For her, being with and in the family gives her selfless contentment, an inexplicable joy that does not compare with her successful career. And because of family reasons, she turned down the promotion to Assistant Regional Director in another region. Aside from being a loving mother and a good servant leader, she enjoys gardening and bonsai collecting. She is one exceptional woman who spells passion in all her undertakings. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐨𝐦 Ma’am Malou exudes love. Hence, she called her flagship program Project LO.V.E., which stands for “Leaders of Vision and Excellence” with its mantra, “We LOVE as ONE.” This project promotes the philosophy of Sulong Edukalidad, grounded in the notion of quality education, anchored on the desire for knowledge and the creation of something helpful and meaningful. Moreover, she is a mother in the mold of Mother Theresa of Calcutta because of her unfathomable compassion for poor people. To help those who could not give anything in return gives her a sense of fulfillment and incomparable happiness. True enough, her heart for service transcends beyond the bounds of her profession. She is a blessing. Her life, though, is not quite as idyllic as we believe. Despite her sincerity in performing her functions, she still encounters challenging oppositions, as one cannot please everybody. According to her, no matter how efficiently she applies her leadership, she still has to go through rough paths and uneven curves. She understands very well that her best efforts will not satisfy everybody. But she is more concerned about the quality of learners' education. In her 36 years of service, she desires to mold more innovative, transformative, and committed servant leaders. She also intends to help each school head reach their full potential and capacitate teachers to be digitally literate and able to handle computer-aided instruction. 𝐀𝐧 𝐄𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 Her vision is not limited to one direction but to infinite perfection, fueled by her commitment to achieving excellence, as evidenced by her words and actions. Indeed, her brand of leadership is one of a kind! “In everything we do, there is excellence, and it should always anchor on our vision. It is my constant prayer to the Lord that wherever division I may be assigned, may I be of great help in that office,” she said, ending our interview with the same warm smile as when we began.   🅴🅽🅳 𝘕𝘉. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘯-𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘭, 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘋𝘦𝘱𝘌𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘢’𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘦𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘸𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵 (𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘴) 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘵 𝗽𝗮𝘂_𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗮@𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗱.𝗴𝗼𝘃.𝗽𝗵