TACLOBAN CITY- The Tacloban City Division of the Department of Education (DepEd) will have now its official hymn.
The hymn, whose lyrics were composed by Eileen Cinco and arranged by Mary Joy Bernadas, was first heard last June 21, 2017 during DepEd’s 4th Division Management Committee (ManCom) Meeting held at the Oriental Hotel and Resort in Candahug, Palo, Leyte.
Cinco is an English head teacher at San National High School (SJNHS) while Bernadas teaches MAPEH at Leyte National High School (LNHS).
The hymn was first sung and performed by the Tacloban City Division Chorale composed of DepEd teachers and administrators in the city.
The conductor of the chorale during the launching was Bernadas who selflessly showed her music prowess during the ManCom meeting.
This writer, who is also a member of this chorale group, choreographed the said performance of the group in the ManCom meeting.
The making of the division hymn was commissioned by no less than Tacloban city schools division superintendent Dr. Thelma Cabadsan-Quitalig who showed her full support all the way until the hymn was completed and finally launched.
The launching of the hymn went smoothly as it enjoyed also the full support of Dr. Jessica P. Macawile-Abril, a MAPEH- Education Program Supervisor (EPS) of Tacloban City Division.
The hymn basically points at DepEd-Tacloban as a responsible “molder of the youth” for them to achieve excellence in whatever they do at the present and what they will pursue in the future.
The lyrics of the song also characterizes the bravery and resilience of the people of Tacloban despite all they went through the past years especially during the tragic onslaught of super typhoon ‘Yolanda’ last 2013.
Cinco, in her lyrics, obviously wanted to emphasize hope over grief after the catastrophe and tried to inculcate determination and positivity among the spirits of DepEd people in Tacloban so that they could continue to nurture the city’s youth and ultimately give back all the glory to God.
I
Molder of the youth
Fount of Love and Truth
All rest within the heart
Of DepEd Tacloban City
Excelling in the arts
Shining among the stars
The glorious achievements
Of DepEd Tacloban
II
From storms and surge
We braved the worst
With God beside, guiding
The youth of Tacloban City
From dust and dirt
We’ll rise from it all
Cradled in love by our
Almighty God our Saviour
CHORUS:
We will rise, we will shine
We’ll be strong, we are
DepEd Tacloban City
We’ll make history
Shape our people and
Make our story
We will soar high above
To God we’ll give due glory
Our young and everyone
We’ll be nurtured by DepEd Tacloban
We’ll be nurtured by DepEd Tacloban
