08/09/2025
๐๐ป ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐น๐ ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ, ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ ๐๐ฝ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ปโ๐ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด?
September 8 marks the ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐, established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to recognize literacy as the very foundation of our society. This yearโs commemoration is centralized on the theme, โPromoting Literacy in the Digital Era.โ
The rise of various advancements in technologies used in communication and mass media comes with the burden of being able to discern the truth from the lies and fake news across our digital spaceโa challenge that has become increasingly alarming over the years.
Generative artificial intelligence (AI), deep fakes, curated stories, and fake advertisements are a few examples of the lies we are probably being fed daily.
These technologies can blur the line between fact and fiction, making it dangerous for an average netizen as they might fall to a number of scams and tricks.
Recently, on Sept. 4, Manila firefighters responded to aid a burning truck, only to discover that the image sent to them was AI-generated. This incident underscores the critical need for enhanced digital literacy, as the consequences can extend beyond mere inconvenience to significant resource misallocation.
When communities cannot distinguish between what is real and fabricated, valuable time and resources are wasted, diverting time and attention from genuine emergencies.
This challenge is particularly acute in the Philippines, where disparities in access to quality education and digital resources hinder progress. As the need for digital literacy intensifies, the Philippines still struggles to catch up with modernityโs pacing.
Recent data highlights the extent of this struggle. Based on the recent 2024 Functional Literacy, Education, and Mass Media Survey (FLEMMS) by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), released on July 31, one in five Filipinos struggles with reading comprehension and functional literacy.
This shows how far behind Filipinos are in understanding even simple sentences, may that be from books, articles and along with social media posts.
The bottomline is: ๐ถ๐ป ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ฏ๐น๐ฒ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐น๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ป๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐น๐ฑ, ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐๐๐ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ถ๐๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐๐ด๐ด๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐, especially now that most of the common Filipino is accustomed to spending their time on social media with fraudulent contents at large.
In this year's International Literacy Day, let us continue to recognize the power of education in the digital age and harness its potential to evolve and thrive in an ever-changing world.
๐๐ข๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ญ๐ญ๐ข ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฐ, ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ช๐ค ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต
๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฃ๐บ ๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ, ๐๐ต๐ข๐ง๐ง ๐๐ข๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต
