File - PUP Theory Workshop

Polytechnic University of the Philippines
Office of the Vice President for Research, Extension, Planning & Development
Institute of Cultural Studies
PUP
Theory Building
Workshop
April 20-June 29, 2013
Voluntary Urbanism: The Agency of the City
Michaël Dos Santos Oliveira - Architect
Does an imperative for action exist today in urbanism?
The emerging paradigm called "agency" refers to a simple matter of voluntary
will. Nonetheless, the actors and subjects of such actions are complex, so that
understanding them demands that we consider a variety of concepts.
In Western culture, philosophers considered agency (defined by the field of
action) as by circumscribing human free will. In ancient Greece and the Middle
Ages, thinkers such as Aristotle and Aquinas made important contributions to
philosophy centered on voluntary action. Conceptualizing modernity, writers
like Giddens and Habermas focused on human action as rational order.
Postmodern authors such as Deleuze and Badiou introduced concepts like cause,
event, and desire. In today´s altermodernity i, contemporary writers like Žižek,
Hardt and Negri emphasize the uncertain human drive based in the power to act
- being, loving, trusting, transforming, creating.
If modernity and postmodernity claimed freedom of thought and expression,
respectively, the current altermodernity claims freedom of action.
Thus, in contemporary theory, agency (the voluntary act) finally emerges as an
historical actor. Agree that the design of an assemblage is generally complex.
Since then the term expresses agency's ability to act in an entity or person in the
world, which means "the temporal-relational context of action"ii. But the action
tout court is by nature an operative and interventional role: ‚to be able to ‘act
other-wise’ means being able to intervene in the world.‛iii
Accepting that the agency of the common dominates the present establishes a
theological position from which to look forward to the future, what Derrida
called l'avenir, which is "to come‛. This is based in the assertion that Difference
as an object of postmodern desire is what impels us today to dig into Matters of
concerning grounded in the Commons as a terrain for partage. v A key question is
to define the ways in which the commons, the public and the private are
articulated and can coexist. In the multicultural world that we live in, it is more
interesting to see what brings us together than what divides us.
The recent years of financial crisis have raised important questions about the
neoliberal ideological systemvi,‚in a world where collective efforts are countered
or even replaced by individualism, where politics are uncertain and the swings
of unpredicable economies discourage communal investments.‛vii
Ideological dogmatists, claiming to be in the vanguard, are obsessed with urban
malaise. They characterize the contemporary world and its territory as a
situation where injustices and inequalitie have created a urbanism of victims,
‚where the metropolis is presented as a machine that empties the city of reality, a
sociological field where the horizon is disappearing and where each moment of
stabilization is hypocritical and fleeting; the city as empty spaces, panic,
insecurity, screams and rage, infrastructural parasitism, and so on.‛viii
But we can also see the informal city’s extreme urbanism, with its slums and
favelas, as a demonstration of multiple struggles to achieve equity, ‚the principal
task of the XXIth century is to politize – organize and discipline – the ‚destructed
masses.‛ix Certainly, inequality and poverty are profound. Globally, the top 20%
holds more than 70% of total world wealthx. Inequality threatens economic
stability and democratic rights in the city. This requires a new perspective on
geo-politics: ‚a poverty that history returns to us as wealth rather than origin, as
desire-to-come rather than misery. This is the new use value: the common.‛ xi
Because the city belongs to everyone, the urb has a universal value, it is the place
where shared common interests will emerge, ‚The character of multiplicity of
actions is the essential charm of the city‚xii If cities are to be resilient, equitable
and inclusive, their residents must create it through their common wills. These
new forms of education and practice can help us to imagine different forms of
Voluntary Urbanism.
We live in an era in which the social order of nation-states, class and traditional
family is in declinexiii. Jean Luc de Nancy called this la crise de la communauté.
Today's "exceptions", are poverty, homelessness, permanent unemployment or
the ‚death drive‛ as common tragedy. These circumstance demands communal
living and governance. To create such voluntary political arrangements, it will be
necessary to move from perverted egotism to rational egoism, from ProletariatLiberalism to Voluntariat, an ethics of virtue which operates through communal
and mutual interactions such as generosity and reciprocity, xiv as gift economies,
supported by contributions rather
than taxes or fees. As Zizek says: ‚Instead of taxing the rich excessively, one
should give them the (legal) right to decide voluntarily what part of their wealth
they will donate to the common welfare.‛xv Even more important, the donation
to the welfare state should be an act rather than a material contribution. Such acts
will encourage fuller democracy since everyone will have to do it individually.
The agency of Voluntary Urbanism is based on acting in common while
remaining in the self, a singularity within the Multitude, with a man or woman
seeing themselves both as a human being and as part of a community. Human
Agency is the antidote for passivity. It transforms humanity into a multitude
capable of democracy, through ‚participating actively in government deciding
on all the matters that concern them‛xvi. The agency of the self becomes a
common Habitus (Bourdieu) of the ungovernable ‚active minorities‛(Virno). The
process of voluntary participation in government constitutes political agency as a
new mode of collective activity: the basis for a self-ruled multitude (learn to live
and rule without masters). The moment of truth for the urbanist, is finally a ‚selfconstitutive collective action.‛xvii The power of voluntarism resides in the selfagency of the multitude. The intellectual and political courage to imagine
egalitarian democracies, new political ‚trajectories of living life in common will
lead to the production of the greatest collective oueuvre, the city.‛ xviii The main
task in creating this new city is not ideological but practical.
Today more than ever, it is important to build alternative worlds. Surprisingly,
we can find alternatives already existing inside of current society rather than in
some imagined ‚outside‛. One good example of Voluntary Urbanism is the
volunteer fireman´s community, a locally based group that provides social and
emergency services.
As a case for communal urbanism, a fireman’s life demonstrates a permanent
and stable alternative community, with a balance between work and health. It is
a alternative mode of life that has existed for centuries, rather than a
counterculture invention such as a commune or a faits divers. In addition to
housing firefighting services, the fire station provides several (temporary)
commmon spaces [Fig. 1;2;3] such as the dining room, dorms, floor watch, toilets,
etc. Living life in common means accepting duties and responsibilities, acting
respectfully to others, and, most important, trusting your fellow firemen. This
alternative set of social practices belongs to volunteers, who engage in civic
intervention
with
both
individual
and
collective
consciousness.
Their
participation produces a ‚new civic and urban idea of solidarity.‛xix
Being a fireman is a voluntary community service. Their services bring calm to
the chaos of urban life. Their passion to help others has creates a range of urban
involvement from fighting fires to social services to emergency medicine, all of
which provide, enable and sustain their capacity to successfully help and build a
strongest city. The fireman, as a civic agent operates in the commonality of urban
life and within fields of danger. The main purpose of the job is to save lives,
reduce risk, provide humanitarian services and protect the environment in the
most competent and effective manner possible. Firemen are called upon to tackle
a wide range of emergency situationrems where problem solving skills and
initiative will be vital to resolve incidents quickly and calmly. Since they act in
emergency situations, as volunteers, they accept risk without reward, ‚The Act
occurs in an emergency when one has to take the risk and act without any
legitimization‛xx The potential of such uncertain acts challenges the preestablished standards of urban practice and engagement, both through their
accepted ways of acting and the act itself: ‚A sense of agency is also to accept a
new sense of what it may mean to be an architect, one which the lack of a
pedititated future, is seen as an opportunity and not a threat‛xxi
Could various types of urbanism become an unsolicited act, like that of the
firemen? Voluntary Urbanism is the development of such deliberate efforts,
under material conditions which encourage free voluntary action to overcome
unwillingness or passivity. In this sense, the urbanist today has to become a true
"action man or woman." This urban action approach attempts to go beyond
concepts of political consensus and resistance to encourage agencied practices.
Voluntary Urbanism supports a new moment of experimentation based on our
ability to create spaces and relationships, then transport them into action as part
of a collective will for a common purpose. In short, the meaning of agency in the
city is voluntary participation to both defend lost causes and enunciate new
possibilities for urbanism.
The Voluntary Urbanist in the city (ignoring the structural constraints of
privitazation), should act
with public
objectives, communicating
with
institutions in order to contaminate them with positive thoughts, actions and
collaborations. Their acts should aim for economic and political visibility, in
order to communicate research and actions since there are, "Problems for which
there exists no program, no plan, no ‘cellective agency"xxii. These problems call
for new groups as yet undefined and which, in the end, might be happily
unexpected. Building a real alternative civic project will depend on the capacity
of the society and the nature of the city but most of all on the ability of volunteers
to intervene, mediate and sustain new relationships, to build the foundations of a
shared democratic urbanity.
Michaël Oliveira in graduate from FAUP, Faculty of Architecture University of
Porto, visiting Student researcher at UC Berkeley College of Environmental
Design, currently volunteer architect at the Columbia University GSAPP´s Global
Studio-X Rio exploring the future of cities.
Fig.1 – The Kitchen. Los Angeles Fire Department Historial Archive, Engine
Company No.28, Cecil Lynch Collection, Circa 1950.
Fig.2 – The Common Room. Los Angeles Fire Department Historial Archive,
Engine Company No.28, Cecil Lynch
Collection, Circa 1950.
Fig. 3 - The Rec-Room. Los Angeles Fire Department Historial Archive, Engine
Company No.28, Cecil Lynch Collection, Circa 1950.
____________________
i - Modernity: the triad ‚identity-property-sovereignty‛, and Altermodernity:
‚singularity-the common-revolution.‛ Hardt and Negri refer to the possibility of
a
multitude of alternatives to the classical idea of modernity, in which capitalism
will function without domination. See Hard, M., Negri, A., Commonwealth, The
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, London,
England, 2009.
ii. Emirbayer, M., Mische, A., What is agency?, in American Journal of Sociology,
103(4), p.970.
iii. Ibid. p. 10.
iv. See Latour, B., Why Has critique Run out of Steam?: From Matters of Fact
to Matters of Concern, in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 30, No.2, Winter 2004,
p.225.
v. Rancière, J., Communists Without Communism, in Costas Douzinas and
Slavoj Žižek,
eds., The Idea of Communism, London: Verso Books, 2010, p.167-177.
vi. ‚Neoliberalism is a form of political economic organizing that operates under
the
assumption that human development is best achived when individual
entrepreneurial
freedom are liberated whithin the institutional frameworks of property rights,
free markets, and trade‛ in. Harvey, D., A brief History of Neoliberalism, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2005.
vii. Maas, W., Towards an Urbanistic Architecture, in The State of Architecture at
the
beginning of the 21st Century, ed. By Bernard Tschumi and irene Cheng, The
Monacelli
Press, Columbia Books of Architecture, New York, 2003. p.14. viii. Negri, A., On
Rem
Koolhaas,
in
http://www.haraldpeterstrom.com/content/5.pdfs/Antonio%20Negri%20%20On
%20Rem%20Koolhaa s.pdf
ix Žižek, S., Censorship Today, in Volume No.18, AfterZero, Archis 2008, #4,
p.46.
x. People Building Better Cities, Traveling exhibition, 6 countries, 12 cities, India,
Thailand, Brazil, Australia, South Africa, USA. A Global Studio project in
collaboration with The Center for Sustainable Urban Development in the Earth
Institute at Columbia University, and partners in exhibition cities.
xi. Negri, A., Some thoughts on the concept and practice, in the Idea of
Communism,
Edited by Costa Douzias and Slavoj Žižek, Verso, p.165.
xii. Mendes da Rocha, P., La cuidad es de todos, Colección la cimbra, núm. 9,
trad.
Emilia Pérez Mata, ed. Fundación Caja de Arquitectos, Barcelona, 2011, p.16.
xiii. The "alternative" is recognized for its inherent sense of urgency for civil
society: ‚according to Hegel, the inherent structural dynamic of civil society
necessarily gives rise to a class which is excluded from its benefits (work,
personal dignity, etc.) - a class deprived of elementary human rights, and
therefore also exempt from duties towards society, an element within civil
society which negates its universal principle...‛ in Žižek, S., The Plague of
Fantasies, Verso, London, 1997. xiv. For the concept of ethics ‚gift-giving‛ see
Peter Sloterdijk, Repenser l´impot, Paris: Libell, 2012. See also ‚reciprocity‛ in
Marcel Mauss, Reciprocity, The Gift, trad. Ian Cunnison, Glencoe, IL: The Free
Press, p. 1-2, 3, 10-12, 69-77.
xv Zizek, S., Beyond Envy and Resentment, in The Year of Dreaming
Dangerously, Verso,
London, 2012, p.114.
xvi. Hard, M., Thomas Jefferson, or, the transition of democracy, in Michael
Hardt
presentes Thomas Jefferson, The Declaration of Independence, aditional material
by
Garnet Kindervater, Verso, New York, 2007, p. xvi.
xvii. Étienne de La Boétie, The Politics of Obedience: The Discouse of Voluntary
Servitude, trans. Harry J. Kurz, New York: Free Life Editions, 1975, p. 52-53 cit in
Hard and Negri, Empire, op.cit. ‚What we need is to create a new social body,
which is a project that goes well beyond refusal. Our lines of flight, our exodus
must be constituent and create a real alternative. Beyond the simple refusal, or as
part of that refusal, we need also to construct a new mode of life and above all a
new community. This project leads not toward the naked life of homo tantum
but toward homohomo, humanity squared, enriched by the collective
intelligence and love of the community.‛
xviii. Swyngedouw, E., Civic City Cahier 5: Designing the Post-Political City and
the
Insurgent Polis, Bedford Press, AA Publications, May, London, 2011, p.55.
xix. Montaner, J. M., Muxí, Z., Arquitectura Y Politica – Ensayos para mundos
alternativos, Gustavo Gil, Barcelona, 2011. p.137.
xx. Žižek,S., Welcome to the Desert of the Real!, Verso, New York, 2002, p.153.
xxi. Schneider, T., Till, J., Beyond Discourse: Notes on Spatial Agency, in Agency
in
Architecture: Reframing Criticality in Theory and Practice, Footprint, 2009, p. 98.
xxii . Livesky, G., Agency, Assemblages and Ecologies of the Contemporary City,
2010, in
Kossack, F., et al, op.cit., p.2.
Image Sources:
Fig. 1 - http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS028/photosCecilLynchCollection/CecilLynchCollection.htm
Fig.
2
-
http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS028/photos-
CecilLynchCollection/CecilLynchCollection.htm
Fig. 3 - http://www.lafire.com/stations/FS028/photosCecilLynchCollection/CecilLynchCollection.htm
ANG MANILA TIMES VILLAGE SA LOOB NG TATLUMPU’T-LIMANG
TAON, 1972-2007
ABSTRAK
Maglalahad ang bahaging ito ng buod, konklusyon at rekomendasyon ng
pinag-aralang kasaysayan ng Manila Times Village sa loob ng tatlumpu’t limang
taon.
Matatagpuan ang Manila Times Village sa gitnang bahagi ng lungsod ng
Las Piñas na bahagi ng kalakhang Maynila. Katabi naman ito ng ospital ng
Perpetual Help Medical Center na nasa gawing timog silangan nito.
Ang
Perpetual Help University System-DALTA naman ang nasa bahaging hilaga
nito. Ang munisipyo ng lungsod ng Las Piñas ay nasa gawing kanluran ng
subdibisyon.
Malapit dito ang mahahalagang institusyon na karaniwan ay
nilalakad lamang.
Ang Manila Times Village ay itinayo ng huling mga taon ng dekada
sisenta. Ang debeloper nito ay inialok kay Joaquin ‚Chino‛ Roces, may-ari ng
Manila Times para tirahan ng mga nempleyado ng pahayagan. Ang may-ari ng
pahayagan na ito ng mga panahong iyun ay si G. Joaquin ‚Chino‛ Roces. Sa
tulong nga ni G. Roces ay nakakuha ang ilan sa mga nagtatrabaho sa Manila
Times ng bahay sa subdibisyong ito. Isaisang naglipatan ang mga nakabili ng
taong 1970.
Halos hindi pa buo ang mga bahay nang lumipat ang karamihan sa
kanila.
Unti-unti nilang pinagawa ang pagpapatapos sa bahay habang
nagbabayad sila sa Social Security System ng buwanang bayad na halos
isandaang piso kada buwan.
Maliban duon ay iniaawas ng paunti-unti sa
kanilang buwanang kita ang tatlong libong piso na kanilang hiniram kay G.
Roces upang ipambayad ng ‚equity‛ sa SSS para maka-utang sila ng bahay at
lupa. Hindi naging problema ang pagbabayad ng mga unang taon sapagkat
maayos ang kanilang kita, masaya sila sa kanilang kumpanya.
Hanggang dumating ang araw ng Septyembre 22, 1972.
Isang araw
matapos madeklara ang martial law ay isinara ang pahayagang Manila Times.
Naging dahilan ang makasaysayang pangyayaring ito upang mabago ang takbo
ng mga buhay ng mga tagarito. Lumipas ang halos mahigit labing-apat na taon
bago pa ito muling nabuksan. Ang mga empleyado ng pahayagan na nakatira sa
Manila Times Village ay nakakuha ng ‚separation pay‛. Subalit ang halagang
kanilang natanggap ay hindi sapat para sa karamihan na makakuha ng
panibagong pagkakakitaan upang ipagpatuloy ang pagbabayad sa bahay at lupa
na kanilang nautang sa SSS.
Karamihan sa mga taga-rito ay ibinenta ang
kanilang mga bahay at lupa. Sa kasalukuyan ay humigit-kumulang sa limampu
na lamang ang mga orihinal na residenteng nakatira sa kasalukuyan. Ang
mahigit kalahating porsyento ng mga ito ang nakapanayam ng mananaliksik
upang makalap ang mga datos na ginamit sa pag-aaral.
Sa aspeto ng heograpiya, masasabing ang pisikal na anyo ng barrio ay
nabago sa loob ng tatlumpu’t limang taon 1972-2007. Ang mga panahon ng
dekada 70 ay mailalarawan ang berdeng kapaligiran sa barrio. Mga kadamuhan
ang mga lupang nakapaligid dito, mabango ang simoy ng hangin, hanggang
unti-unting nagbago sa pagsusulputan ng iba’t-ibang barrio gaya ng BFRV at
Manuela. Higit na nakabago sa anyo nito ay ang pagtatayo ng paaralan na
sinundan ng ospital ng Perpetual Help, taong 1974
Ang pangkabuhayan ng mga taga-rito ay nabago matapos na ipasara ang
pahayagan ng Manila Times noong 1972. Sa loob ng mga unang taon matapos
maisara ang pahayagan ng Manila Times, ang mga residente na nagdesisyon na
huwag ibenta ang kanilang lupa at bahay ay nagsikap na pagdugtungin ang
araw at gabi sa iba’t-ibang marangal na paraan. Ang medyo bata pa ay nakalipat
ng ibang mapapasukan. Ang iba ay naging mandaragat ng barko na bumabyahe
sa ibang bansa. May ilan sa mga maybahay ang naging tanging kumikita at
nagtaguyod sa pinansyal na pangangailangan ng pamilya sapagkat ang ilan ay
may trabaho gaya ng pagiging guro sa pampublikong paaralan. Ang ibang
maybahay ay nagtinda ng pagkain o meryenda, nag-gupit ng buhok o di kaya’y
nagtahi ng damit. Ang ilan nama’y tinulungan ng mga kamag-anak na mga
nagtatrabaho sa ibang bansa o di kaya’y may anak na nakatapos na ng pag-aaral
at tinaguyod ang pamilya. May ilan na napakinabangan ang separation pay at
nakasimula ng negosyo gaya ng taxi at maliit na tindahan.
Sa pagkakatayo ng paaralan at ospital ng Perpetual nagkaroon ng
pagkakataon ang mga taga-rito na madagdagan ang kanilang kita.
Una ay
naging suki ng ilan ang mga trabahador nuong itinatayo pa lamang ang mga
gusali sa perpetual, sumunod ay ang ilan sa mga empleyado at estudyante rito,
ay naging ‚bedspacer‛ ng mga tagarito. Sa kasalukuyan marami pa rin ang
kumukita sa pamamagitan ng pagpapaupa ng mga kwarto. Nadagdagan pa
ang pagpapaupa sa mga pwesto na ginagamit sa komersyal na dahilan.
Ang halos humigit kumulang na sumunod na sampung taon ay binalot ng
kahirapan ang orihinal na residente na taga-rito. Ang mga panahon ng dekada
otsenta ay unti-unti na silang nakaka-ahon sa kahirapan dahil ang ilan sa kanila
ay nakapagpatapos na ng pag-aaral ng mga anak. Ang lumipas na sampung
dekada simula sa kasalukuyan ay halos panahon ng pag-aani. Subalit ang iba ay
hirap pa rin dahil sa mga karamdaman dala ng katandaan. Ang konsolasyon
nila ay wala na silang iniintinding buwanang bayaran sa SSS kundi ay ang
taunang buwis na lamang.
Sa ekolohikal na aspekto, naharap ng mga taga-rito ang problema sa
umaapaw na tubig pag tag-ulan, problema sa basura, masikip na daan dahil sa
dami ng mga sasakyan na nakaparada sa kalye at kawalan ng ika nga’y
‚privacy‛. Ang asosasyon ng homeowner’s ay sinisikap na tugunan ang mga
problemang nabanggit.
Sa aspekto ng populasyon, nagsimula sa 150 ang residente hanggang sa
ito ay halos nasa 50 na lamang ngayon. Karamihan na sa mga nakatira dito ay
mga nasa pangalawang henerasyon ng residente o yaong mga nakabili ng lupa
at bahay mula sa orihinal na taga-rito. Malaki ang porsyento ng mga estudyante
na nakatira na ngayon dito.
Sa aspekto ng seguridad masasabing ang lugar ng Manila Times Village
ay tahimik sa pangkalahatang paglalarawan. Maliban na lamang sa mga ilang
panaka-nakang problema ukol sa ingay ng mga estudyante, nakawan at awayan
ng grupo ng kabataan sa paglipas ng tatlumpu’t limang taon.
Sa pamanang kultural ay tinalakay ang mga nakaugalian ng mga taga-rito
sa okasyon ng kasal, binyag at libing.
nangingibabaw
ang
pagtutulungan
Sa lahat ng okasyon na nabanggit,
ng
mga
magkakaibigan
at
magkakapitbahayan. Ang pagdadamayan sa panahon lalo na ng kamatayan ay
laging nakikita sa mga taga-rito.
Ang mga taga-rito ay kuntento sa uri ng pamamalakad ng lokal na
pamahalaan. Maayos din silang nakikiayon sa mga bagay na inaasahan din ang
kanilang kooperasyon.
Ang karamihan sa mga taga Manila Times ay may relihiyong katoliko.
May mangilan-ngilan na hindi hindi katoliko pero bahagi pa rin sila ng ibang
sekta ng simbahang kristyano.
Ang mga katoliko ay hindi gaanong regular sa
pagsimba tuwing linggo. Kaunti lamang ang aktibo sa mga gawaing simbahan
gaya ng pagsali sa Basic Ecclesial Community, Annual retreat, at iba pa.
Ang buhay para sa ilang mga taga-rito ay tinuturing nila na pagkakataon
ng lahat na imulat ang mga bata para maging mabuting tao. Sa pananaw ukol sa
kamatayan, ayon sa ilan ito ay isang bagay na siguradong darating sa
kaninuman. Sa pananaw ukol sa edukasyon, tinuturing ito ng karamihan na
pinakamainam na maiiwan sa mga anak, Ang edukasyon ay nagsisimula sa
tahanan. Ang trabaho ay dapat hinaharap natin ng may ibayong sipag, pagiging
propesyonal sa pakikitungo sa katrabaho at katapatan sa institusyong
pinaglilingkuran. Sa pananaw ukol sa pamahalaan, naibulalas ng ilan sa mga
nakapanayam ang kanilang pagkadismaya sa takbo ng maruming pulitika sa
bansa. Sa pananaw ukol sa pamilya, matuturing na pinakamagandang regalo
mula sa Diyos ang pamilya.
Ayon
sa isa sa mga nakapanayam, ang
pagpapamilya ay dapat wag haluan ng ibang pamilya.
Karamihan ay
mababakas ang ugali ng pagpapahalaga sa relasyon nila sa Diyos at sa kapwa
tao. Ang kanilang hirap na pinagdaanan ay naging instrumento sa naging uri ng
pakikitungo sa kapwa ng nakararami dito.
Inirerekomenda ng mananaliksik ang sama-samang gawain ng mga
nakatira dito upang mapanatili ang kalinisan at kaayusan sa seguridad. Ang
mas madalas na pagkakaroon ng mga sibikong proyekto ay mapatupad para sa
mas mapalalim ang mga samahan lalo na sa mga kabataan ng kasalukuyang
henerasyon.
Mas maging masigasig ang opisyal ng simbahan para mas
mahikayat ang mga taga-rito lalo na ang mga kabataan na maging aktibo sa
gawaing naglilinang sa kaluluwa at nagpapalalim sa relasyon sa Diyos. Naway
mas lalong mapalakas ang tinatawag na mutwal o ‚symbiotic‛ na relasyon sa
pamamagitan ng mga residente at ng mga namamahala sa Perpetual. Sana ay
lalong maging masigasig ang mga guro at opisyal sa unibersidad na
paalalahanan ang mga mag-aaral ng tamang pagkilos sa loob o labas man ng
unibersidad. Ang unibersidad ng Perpetual ay maaaring makipagtulungan sa
ilang residente na nagpapaupa ng mga kwarto upang mahikayat ang mga
nagtapos dito na maging aktibo sa mga proyekto ng alumni.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
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CALAIRO, Emmanuel Franco (2006) Hand-out in Preparing Syllabi for Social Science).
Lecture delivered in UPHSD-GMA, Cavite.
HERNANDEZ, Juan B. (1982) For Love of Freedom-Japanese Occupation, National
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REMPEL, William C. (1993) Delusions of a Dictator, Little, Brown and Co., Boston, USA
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Its Implication to Education. RED Journal Research and
Educational Development Journal
RUBIN, Ligaya G. Tiamson (2005) ANGONO RIZAL: Kakambal ng Ibang Mga Bayan,
UST Publishing House, EspañA, Manila
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Publishing House, EspañA, Manila
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Proceedings of the Manila Studies Conference, 1986. Isagani R. Medina, The
Social, Political and Cultural Life of Manila in the 19th Century.
Masteral Theses and Dissertations
CONCEPCION, Hezekiah (1994) Sulu Under The Harrison Administration (1913-1921),
Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Ateneo de Manila University
ESTERNON, Bernard ( 2002 ) Kabite: Pagbabagong Pang-Ekonomiya, Pangkultura at
Pampulitika 1979-1994. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, De La Salle University.
FERRER, Jerrick C. (2001) City Growth and Development of Las Piñas. Unpublished
Master’s Thesis, University of Asia and the Pacific.
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1917. Unpublished Master’s Thesis, De La Salle University.
HABANA, Olivia Anne M. (1996) Gold Mining in Benguet, 1990-1941: Modernization
and the Decline of the Baknang Class, Unpublished Master’s Thesis, Ateneo de
Manila University.
REYES, Evelyn M. (1999)
Romblon During The American Regime 1898-1946,
Unpublished Master’s Thesis, De La Salle University.
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Thesis, University of the Philippines, Quezon City.
SUMULONG, Sassy (http://www.geocities.com/rocesphils/manilatimes.htm
COMMODIFICATION, TECHNOLOGY, and the MACHINISTIC FUTURE
Today, according to Rodney Brooks, the director of the Artificial
Intelligence Laboratory at MIT since 2003, a new age is about to begin and such
changes will have a major impact on our lives.1 But what are those ‘Changes’?
What are the factors that will make such changes possible? What or who makes
such changes possible? In this paper I posited three topics that, I think, are
interrelated with each other: (1) Commodification, (2) Technology, and the
(3)Machinistic Future. These concepts are essential to this paper and they operate
RodneyBrooks,‚Us and Them‛, in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and Nanotechnology. See
also, RodneyBrooks, Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us, (New York: pantheon Books,
2002). pp. 197-212. Moreover, in this paper, though Rodney Brooks is speaking here in a different
context, emphasizing such a drastic change will serve as an introduction for the framework of
this paper.
1
as the backbone of this study. We will attempt to break down these thick
concepts as we go on and be surprise to what we will discover soon, but for the
time being, let’s make an initial guess as to what this paper will lead us.
I. INTRODUCTION
History is always a History of Ideologies. These are the words that still
echoes in my mind from the first time I heard it, which fortunately, coming from
a respectable professor knowledgeable in Marxism. Following such logic, History
becomes a symbol, a word that represents a phenomenon which constitutes
ideology. Whether a struggle between ideologies is performative in this
phenomenon or not, that we don’t know, but one thing is for certain, an ideology
prevail thus a society manifested. Accordingly, ideologies were propelled by
‘interest’ in the Marxian language while it is ‘intention’ in the field of
phenomenology. Hence, the one million dollar question is: whose ideology;
whose interest; whose intention? We are out of context if we says that it is the
interest of the otherwise than being which is a non-human. Although, we can
open the possibility to grant that assumption, however, in my rather obvious
presupposition, we will otherwise sit for a ‘temporal agreement’2 that it is the
interest, the ideology of the ‘privilege few.‛ 3 Currently, at this present but now
instantaneously becomes past time, I may ask, if history is dominated by the
privilege few, granting that they operate with such magical act, what happened
to the ‘unprivileged many’4? Are we, the unprivileged many, threatened with the
process they are using to progress their interest? What devises or tool they are
The concept of ‘Temporal agreement’ here denotes the Gadamerian Hermeneutical
character of saying that this agreement is not fix, not rigid, not absolute. Thus, opening the
possibility for ‘becoming’, the possibility to be change. For a more broad understanding about
this concept of temporal agreement read, Hans-Georg Gadamer, Truth and Method, (London:
Sheed& Ward Ltd, 1979).
2
I just coin the notion of the ‚privilege few‛ here in order to present a rather quasioffensive endearment to those what Marx says the ‚haves‛ in contrast to those who ‚have not‛. It
can also animate the idea of a Capitalist, the Bourgeois. However, if the term ‘privilege few’
appeared on some leading philosophers before, my apologies for not citing this concept to them.
3
The contra-position of the privilege few, the ‘have not’s’, or the Proletariats in Marx, the
working class.
4
utilizing to advance this ‘privilege interest’? What kind of future is waiting for
us, humanity at large?
II. THE DRIVING FORCE OF COMMODIFICATION
Before we speculate within the deeper level of this concept of
commodification, let’s make the ground of discussion by defining what this
commodification function in this paper. Commodification is an activity of man,
allocating value to objects—-the objectification of things—-in and for a certain
purpose: one of this is commercialization. Commodification is not limited to
objects, things, like food, metallic utensils, etc. Even human beings, technology,
or at some extent, a passport to heaven can be commoditized. Two things are to
be noted in the process of commodification: 1) there must be an existing ‘goods’
or ‘service’ that is being valued or have putted some value, 2) that goods or
services were being commercialized. It can manifest in any form but the central
of this system of commodification is the control of the human. Commodification
cannot be without the control of the human subject. While on the technological
level where Artificial Intelligence is possible, still, commodification cannot
flourish without the contrivance of human intelligence.
Thus, the human subject controls the process. The subject is celebrating
an anthropocentric character in the field of commodity. Therefore, in reading the
intention, the interest that maneuvers the whole process of commodification, we
must look directly to the subject—to man per se. What is it that shapes man to
enter in the process of commodity, to buy the idea of trading? My thesis in this
question is that human beings are longing for something. What is this
something? What triggers us to crave for something? Saint Augustine has long
been rallying his points in this query. For him, man is a finite being created with
infinite wants and needs, thus his concept of God to necessarily exist. 5 That God
for Augustine is the only one who can satisfy man, since He is the infinite giver
of these infinite wants and needs. Though, Saint Augustine’s projection of the
finiteness of man sounds theological, it enables us to grab some hint on the
For broader discussion see Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann, The Cambridge
Companion to Augustine, (Cambridge Companions Online © Cambridge University Press, 2006).
5
nature of man, rendering visible the kernel elements of the human interest, even
the interest of the privilege few.
A. DESIRE AS THE PROPELLER OF COMMODIFICATION
Through Augustinian access of the human nature, we will draw out what
he meant by ‘longing’ to a more theoretically concrete representation of it—
desire. In guising the concept of ‘desire’ here, I postulated it as something active,
something that always pointing for something. I think the concept of
phenomenological ‘consciousness’—Franz Brentano’s intention6---can help us
understand the concept of desire that is controversial in this paper. Accordingly,
‘desire’ is always a desire of something, auto-implicating a sense of ‘content’.
Needless to say, desire is not just a transparent-passive concept that doesn’t
point to something but on the contrary, when one is speaking of ‘desire’ it is
integrated in it a theme, or content, speaking of something other than the plain
act of desiring. Now, we can openly ask, what are the content(s) of this desire, of
our desire, of the desire of the privilege few?
i.
Desire for Survival
The first content of desire that I’ve postulated is the desire for survival. I
think no one will disagree to this assumption unless he/she is advocating some
sort of suicidal philosophy since even Albert Camus, an Existentialist-Absurdist
philosopher that sees ‘human that expect’ and a ‘world that disappoints human
expectation’ still advocates living in a most possible fulfilling way.7 Moreover,
Edmund Husserl (1859–1938) in his Logical Investigations (1900).according to Husserl,
consciousness is always consciousness of something, then thinking is always thinking of
something. See also Karl Simms, Paul Ricouer, (Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, London and
New York) p. 35. This logical framework is what I follow in this concept of ‘desire’, that desire is
always a desire of something.The idea is first initiated by Franz Brentano in his concept of
‘intentionality’, see http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/brentano/
6
http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/camus/
7
when we observe nature and species in it, the manifestation of this desire for
survival is everywhere. Creatures have this innate survival instinct that they
used when caught in a crucial situation. Squid excretes black inks for defense
mechanism, skunk discharges bad odor, dog bites, and even human beings use
force in order to be safe. Thus, this is undeniably evident. But one thing is still
important in the concept of the desire for survival. It is what I called here, the
struggle for maintaining and gaining the basic structure of life. Initially, it is not
complex at all for it only pertains to what species do, especially us, humans to
acquire our life support, such as our basic needs, security, health and the like.
Hence, this point opens wide technical or practical answers of sustaining human
life, but again the central idea of all this is that we desire to survive and it is
fundamental to all of us, thus, even to the privilege few.
ii.
Luxurious Desire
Another kind of desire is a rather non-organic desire, the desire for
luxury, enjoyment, comfort, and the like that is not basic to human survival.
However, I will not argue that it is artificial to man to have this desire, this
luxurious desire, since even in the ancient times, man already dreamed of having
huge and elegant houses, or something that will comfort and satisfy their
cravings for ideally great things. This is why I manage to drag the Augustinian
concept of ‘finite and infinite’ and his notion of infinite wants and needs.
Humans were created in this condition, and for Augustine it is for theological
purposes, a sense of satisfaction in the true beatitude—God. But to avoid
confusion and some sort of theological conceptions, we will bound this luxurious
desire as the ground why ‘excessiveness, ‘surplus’, inequity, accumulation of
wealth, tyranny, monopoly, manipulation, and so as what we call the privilege
few come into the picture. The vision to maintain the basic human needs in
reference to the future creates ‚greed‛, competition, oppression, exploitation,
and other forms of it. They are afraid of the future that they will be deprived of
such human needs, and so they wanted to have more of those.
This kind of desire injects man the stimulus to, willfully or unconsciously,
enter in the system of commodification. The privilege to say and be recognized
that ‚I have‛, ‚I own this‛, ‚I am the master‛, is what this luxurious desire tends
to do. Although, we can see another version of the luxurious desire as a
programed being conditioned to others, atleast, the originator of this desire is
authentic in having such impressions. The lure of the idea that one can put value
to objects around us and even to human itself and use it to become a means for
trading, celebrates at the heart of those who feared to become a ‘have not‛.
iii.
The manifestation of Desire as ‘Ideology’
Concretely, desire is put into action when it becomes the ideology of
someone, or a group maybe. The privilege few may not have a specific and
identical desire but their desire has one common denominator, that is, the
luxurious desire which is manifested in the ideology they advocate. The
luxurious desire now becomes their way of living. SlavojZizek describes
ideology as ‚you do not know it but you are still doing it‛.8 It is a symptom one
is not aware of why he continues doing it but enjoys to do it. Therefore, the
privilege few, the ‚haves‛, the capitalist desire, the luxurious desire they were
addicted to and becomes their ideology is a form of madness.9
Warranting that they didn’t know it cannot excuse the fact that they desire
for an excess, they desire for the fulfillment of themselves. I think, in them, the
ubermench, the superman of Nietzsche will and can possibly emerge. At this
point, it seems inevitable to think and be excited as to what this ideology is all
about. I myself wanted to know more about this ideology, and in this paper we
cannot but offer only an understanding of this ideology from the standpoint of
the outside, from another horizon (horizont) in the language of Gadamer. That is,
this ideology wishes to fulfill first/only the interest of the privilege few, and if
granted, the interest of the unprivileged many, later. And all that we can see is
SlavojZizek, The Sublime Object of Ideology, (New York/London: Verso, 2009), 16. I wanted
to license here the idea that there is a great possibility that the subjects involve in an ideology are
not even aware and conscious of the ideology they are involved with.
8
9
paper.
I think Nietzsche must be the basis of this idea of madness that I am rejoicing in this
this kind of ideology creates hundred folds of oppression, exploitation, alienation
and the like.
On the other hand, this event or a phenomenon of luxurious desire within
the sphere of the privilege few is aggravated by the substantial tools they have
such as capital—wealth; technology—system; power—politics; etcetera. And
these tools are now the binding force, the backbone of the society. These tools are
the major factors which influences the development and degradation of the state
in different level, in the economic level for instance. Thus, whether or not this
privilege few are united in one grandeur vision, the fact that they function as the
life-support network of the state seems to already denote their dominion, and
power, and so alienation and oppression.
This is what we call the capitalist ideology, the ideology of the privilege
few. The ideology that is centralized in the commodification of goods, services,
and so as humans, and is peppered with tools, such as technology, for the
smooth sailing of their privilege interest.
III. THE ROLE OF TECHNOLOGY AND ITS COUNTER EFFECT
A. Technology Defined and Its Role As The Apparatus Of The
Privilege Few
There are ample of ways to define technology, and these definitions are
not weak, ineffective, and implausible at all. Some of the leading thinkers of our
time define technology as hardware10, rules11, system12, and even applied science.
See Lewis Mumford (1895-1990), in the article What is technology? Defining or
Characterizing Technology. Mumford claims that the earliest ‚machine‛ in human history was the
organization of large numbers of people for manual labor in moving earth for dams or irrigation
projects in the earliest civilizations, such as Egypt, an acient Sumer in Iraq, or ancient China, he
calls it the ‚megamachines‛ (Mumford 1966).
10
Look for Jacques Ellul’s concept of ‚technique‛, he treats technology as a rule rather
than a tool.
11
The economist John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2004) defined technology as ‚the
systematic application of scientific or other knowledge to practical task‛(Galbraite, 1967).
12
To make our definition of technology meet in this paper, I will attempt to offer
my definition of technology, in order to know my standpoint. Technology is a
mode that systematized human activities and ease human effort. Thus, this
definition includes systems that put-in-order human actions, for instance
government laws. It also includes the machines that contribute in the
development of industrialization. But how come that I reach the thesis that
technology is the apparatus of the privilege few? One will argue that technology
is for everyone, no one can put a name in it stating that ‘technology is mine’. But
the means of producing such technologies are owned and can be owned by
some. It is not as free as the term technology imbibes. In Marxism, this is
unequivocal, the forces and relations of production is now owned and
monopolized by the bourgeois, by the capitalist. Therefore, technology is owned
by the ‘few’—the strong and powerful few. They invest huge capital for the
advancement in technology that common people experience. Millions of money
was founded or backup even single research for a cure of disease. And these
‘few’ are not priest but businessmen, so they expected profit with their
investment.
Let’s imagine how much money Microsoft earned every year, that is
partially equivalent to the money third world countries losses every year.
Therefore, the logic is clear, in order to gain and control huge amount of power,
whether it is through political, economical, and security, or, just for comfort and
pleasure, the privilege few have to invest their money and make larger profit out
of it. And technological investments are one of the trending investments in the
sphere of the capitalist now a day. All of these arguments boiled out to one
conclusion: they use technology as a means to advance their interest, to make it
more concrete, and attainable. And technology is not the isolated being that were
used as a means of the privilege few, but also the unprivileged many, abusing
the very logic of their predication, the ‘have nots’, the ‘unprivileged’.
Moreover, it is define as ‚any systematized practical knowledge, based on experimentation
and/or scientific theory, which is embodied in productive skills, organization and machinery‛
(Gendron, 1977). Further, it is ‚ the application of scientific or other knowledge to practical task
by ordered systems that involve people and organizations, productive skills, living things, and
machines‛ (Pacey, 1983).
Because the unprivileged possess nothing, but life and force, such as labor
force and multiplicity, the privilege offer them a deceitful offer, bargaining what
was left for the unworthy things such as money, that first and foremost,
originally without value but a piece of metal. How do they do it? Again, they do
it, in and through the enticement and trickery via technological products, e.g.
technological artifacts and technological programs. It is a wide raging
conditioning that slowly happens but penetrates not only within the surface of
the physical but most importantly within the mental level, within the very being
of man itself. What a terrible alienation isn’t it?
B. Technological Attack And Its Quasi-Self-Independency
This technological advancements and development also influences the
culture and different aspects of society, therefore I will call it here the
technological phenomenon. Consequently, if it is a technological phenomenon,
whereas the above discussion made such questions clear, it will also imply that
the new phenomenon society is living is the phenomenon governed by the
privilege few. And in this phenomenon, alienation is tolerable; exploitation is
acceptable and backup by law. Through technological advancements, the
capitalist power spread like air particles. New systems and technology opens a
much easier way to hamper human freedom. One example of this is the cyber
law that is controversial in the Philippine virtual reality. It explicitly shows the
oppression of freedom, freedom of speech and freedom of information in
particular. Developments in machines reduces human labor, and man power,
and as a result, ‘unemployment’, ’surplus’ of goods, and under-wage. Here,
unemployment, surplus and underwage create new opportunity for the privilege
few to make abuses even more acceptable. It served as a pre-wired working
system that goes in favor of the capitalist. There are other forms of alienation and
oppression cause by technological advancements, such as the ‘invasion of
privacy’. The technology of surveillance system magnifies the treat on privacy. 13
See J. Stanley and B. Steinhardt, Bigger Monster, Weaker Chains: The Growth of an
American Surveillance Society. (American Civil Liberties; Union Technology and Liberty Program.
13
Moreover, technological advancements in human genetics, robotics, and
nanotechnology even leads to the ‘alteration’ of the natural structures of man—
physical, psychological, social and so on.14 If one argue that privacy is a rather
fabricated concept because there is no such thing as private, and then let us hear
some of the thinkers arguing the contrary.
James Fitzjames Stephen (1873) says, ‚there is a sphere, nonetheless real
because it is impossible to define its limits, within which law and public opinion
are intruders likely to do more harm than good.‛ Here, the ‘intruders’ that
Stephen pertains, I will utilized in this paper, is the capitalist conditioning and
alienation which seems invisible but actually happening in the technological
level of enticement. If the unprivileged many will be deprived even of their right
to privacy, which I think is the greatest alienation and oppression of all times,
then life within this technological phenomenon it is not the life I dreamed of.
Privacy is worthy of safeguarding, these approaches argue, because intimacy is
important; privacy is worth protecting because we value the sanctity of a
personal realm.15
However, on top of all of this, a greater reality waits to be revealed. The
truth that technology slowly acquires a quasi-human character, an identity that
eludes human predication, is another controversial point here. Heidegger
already envisions a technology that, poetically speaking, lives on its own. It
became autonomous. In our rather naïve conception of technology, according to
Heidegger, technology is just a complex of objects and techniques, that seems
passive in itself; indeed, we conceive of it as activated only by us, but the essence
of technology reveals it as something far from neutral or merely an instrument of
human control; it is an autonomous organizing activity within which humans
January2005) . It is well exposed in it the danger brought by the technological advancement such
as surveillance security program in reference to our privacy.
Michael J. Sandel, ‚The Case Against Perfection‛ (The Atlantic Monthly, April 2004),
51-62. Further, try reading Bill Joy, Why the Future Doesn’t Need Us,(Wired Magazine: August 4,
2000).
14
Helen Nissenbaum, ‚Toward an Approach to privacy in Public: Challenges of
Information Technology‛in Ethics and Behavior, (Laurence Erlbaum Associates Inc. 1997), 207-219.
15
themselves are organized.16 Here the point is clear, technology becomes the
master of itself, and as far as the capitalist or the privilege few sees they are the
one controlling technology in order to manipulate the unprivileged many, on the
contrary, even them, they were controlled by the technology. How can such an
assumption even possible? As we see, the capitalist invest on technology for
technological advancements, thus converting mountains to plain fields for the
plantation of plants that will produce sources of energy. Then seeing the
progress of technology as simple as that, but the thing is, they now become the
‘workers’ that maintains the technology they created. They become the slave of
technology, in one reason, because for them, for the capitalist, technology is their
means to attain their luxurious vision, to attain the realization of their ideology.
Therefore, in the end, through the autonomous character of technology, the
unprivileged many are not the only one being exploited and oppress here, but
unconsciously, even the privileges few. They are now victims of technology as
well. But, considering the fact that technology is not human, and in the human
subject only interest resides, and ideology and intention is possible, we cannot
overthrow the idea that the privilege few is still in the privilege position which
gives them the power to oppress the weak, and claim to be the master.
IV. THE MACHINISTC FUTURE
In the course of our discussions, we establish that there is an existing and
prevailing ‘desire’, ‘Human interest’, ‘Ideology’ in the society which is actually
the interest of the privilege few. Now, let’s see the effects of these technological
conditioning guided by the Capitalist ideology on other elements of society such
as Religion, Education, and Culture. But first, it must be noted that through
technological forces penetrating the Social Systems, Laws, Politics, extending it to
the virtual reality where social networking sites are populated by the ideologies
of those who ‚have‛; and the technological researches in nanotechnology,
genetic engineering, robotics, etc., consume large part on the field of medicine,
Aesthetic standards, reproduction, recreational activities, and the like; what is
the response and effect of this in the elements of society?
Tad Beckman, Martin Heidegger and Environmental Ethics, (Harvey Mudd College,
Claremont, CA 91711. 2000).
16
A. The Response of Religion
The before peaceful areas of religion is now breaking its silence as an
inevitable response to the changing environment it is situated. Some religious
sect manages to become more radical as to the point of welcoming the influences
of technology. They were allowing their members to alter the natural structure of
their bodies and the like. One good example of the changes and effect of
technology in religion is the dichotomy of stands they were advocating in
response to the issue of Reproductive Health Bill. Some of them are pro and
some are cons. This is really a great manifestation that the technological
advancements penetrate the sacredness of religion. In other words, the capitalist
ideology as it is tantamount to technological influence is slowly corrupting the
once been sacredness in the religious sphere, making them more mechanically
entice and will not hesitate to follow the deceitful offers of the capitalist.
B. Education As The Cradle Of Slave Mentality
And The Forerunner In The Production Of Future Machines
Education is one of the vital elements of the society. Wherein, the molders
of the uncountable generation of productive citizens are necessary. These are the
teachers, professors, directors, and president. But what if, these groups of noble
people were being conditioned by the capitalist ideology through technological
advancements, do you picture out what kind of citizens will live in the future?
Initially, because of the technological growth in different level, universities
cannot deny the external influences they encounter everyday when it comes to
formulating their curriculums and the goal of the university. Let’s try to break it
down in a more simple way. The capitalist having in possession of the
technological forces that dictates the economy for example, is logically the
dictator of the ‚demand‛ and ‚supply‛ regarding employment, jobs, wage,
industries, factories, and the like. Thus, by controlling the demands on the level
of employment and what specific job is demanded, the universities, on the other
hand, will response to the call. They will formulate curriculums that will best fit
to the demand of the capitalist. Of course, it is also for the benefits of their
students in order for them to have a job as soon as they graduated. But on top of
all of this, in the standpoint of the capitalist, the university is just a cradle of the
slave, the workers that they will soon utilized for the progress of their
businesses, for the advancements of their capitalistic interest. Thus, the
university only produces workers specialize on areas demanded by the privilege
few but not professionals professing the alienating phenomenon the students are
situated. Further, what is even more trembling here is the fact that universities
didn’t even know what they were actually doing. They didn’t know that the
knowledge they imparted to the students are the knowledge provided by the
capitalist and is in accordance to the promotion of the ideology of the privilege
few. The university is not aware that they were molding the great slave machines
in human history, it is in and through, the impregnation of the slave mentality to
their students. The slave mentality that working under the capitalist is good
because it is the only way to live, and that the capitalist benefits such as bonus,
incentives and the like are enjoyable.
Therefore universities becomes a tool, an institution, hand in hand with
technology,
that
served
as
a
means
for
human
exploitation,
and
commodification, all for the advancement of capitalistic ideology and the interest
of the privilege few.
C. The Culture of the people without Identity
And what can we speak of the culture in this kind of setting—a setting
where the capitalist ideology is penetrating even inside the close plastic of
‘boybawang’? The culture as being the reference of the identity of the people will
easily be corrupted, which for the most part, what is happening right now. Why
did I say so? If we look at the Philippine context where people, specially the
youth, are easily been entice to other culture, we will see that the allegiance and
loyalty to their own culture is not an important factor anymore of living. But, in a
deeper sense, it reflects a rather greater truth: the people of today thus lost their
identity that is why they even try to copy or borrow the identity, culture, styles
and the like of other country. The most celebrated example of this is the
emergence of POP Culture, the popular culture which implies that alienation, an
oppression on the level of cultural struggle takes place, and there is an existing
oppressor and oppress. Thus, advancing and supporting our claim that people
becomes mechanistically animated by the dictate of a larger than being
influences, that is, the capitalist ideology, the interest of the Privilege few. People
of today are not interested at all in retrieving the lost culture, their lost identity,
because on the first place they were being conditioned that they didn’t actually
possess such identity, and culture.
D. The Picture of the Future
Out of these fragments of ideas that become visible to us, in relation to the
exposition of the privilege-few vision (capitalist ideology), and also as a
prophetic act of envisioning the future, let us assemble the pieces of ideas like
chips of the puzzle. And in the process, do you know what I see?
I foresee a future where people, things, and animals vanish—only
commodity exists.
I see a picture of a rather unimaginable present-future in the hands of the
privilege few. I see machines, but these machines are not made out of metals and
run by fuels. These machines are first class.They were called the ‘human
machines’—the cyborgs of the future. The future manufactures different types
such as doctors, teachers, lawyers, president, etc. Though these machines have
various titles and functions,one thing is common to them, they were all slave
machines programmed for the advancement of the interest of the few.
The authenticity, freedom, love, and all the abstract things that
fashionedhuman beings into its humanity reduces to a simple concept—value.
And all the activity of man, his potentialities that can be actualize, this future has
a term on that, labor force.
It is a world much more cruel and fearful than what Aldous Huxley
envisions in his book Brave New World:since in this world of future machines
the only thing that exists is the manifestation of the Capitalist interest.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Beckman,Tad.Martin Heidegger and Environmental Ethics.Harvey Mudd College,
Claremont, CA 91711. 2000.
Brooks, Rodney. ‚Us and Them‛ in Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, and
Nanotechnology.
________. Flesh and Machines: How Robots Will Change Us, (New York: pantheon
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THE IMAGES OF THE FIRST FAMILIES
AND THEIR POLITICAL DYNASTIES
IN THE PHILIPPINE PRINT MEDIA
ABSTRACT
The first families are very influential in the Philippines. They represent the
Filipino families in the country and around the world. Since the Philippines is a
country with people who are family-oriented, the first family is always seen as a
cultural and political icon. Because of their great power to build the nation, it is
significant to study their images in the media which serve as one of the most
influential social institution in the country. Since political dynasty is a perennial
issue in the Philippine government, it is being asked to every individual who
wants to run the politics and to those who are already in the position. Even the
first families are not exempted to be in hot seat to answer the said issue.
Political dynasty is being prohibited by the 1987 Constitution yet there are
still no law which will support that provision. Though the term political dynasty
is yet to define, the existence of politicians coming from the same descendants is
becoming a trend in the Philippine politics. It is also clear that most of the past
presidents including their first families rooted from either a close relative or a
political dynasty. Because of this, the first families and their obedience to the
Constitution is being subjected to inquiry.
Several news items were written about the first families and their political
dynasties in the leading newspapers. These news items together with the
perception of people from different sectors form the images of first families and
their political dynasties.
The study is a qualitative in nature with case study as a design. The
researcher will use content analysis and focus group discussion as methods in
drawing the image of the variables in the study. The study hopes to give a
descriptive analysis of the family and political culture as portrayed by the first
families in the Philippines.
INTRODUCTION
When a political icon became a president, it was not only his own life that
would change but also the lives of his family members. As he officially became
the leader of the executive branch of the government, his family would be
labelled as the first family gifted with instant celebrity status and public praise.
In the country with people who value family the most, the culture within family
became a part of a larger political culture.
The political ambition of the first family actually expands to a political
dynasty which is forbidden by the constitution. It is clearly prohibited in the 1987
Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines: Article 2– Declaration of
Principles and State Policies Section 26 the existence of political dynasties in the
country which rule out the equal access to public service. This provision in the
body of rules of the government needs full respect primarily by the highest
officials of the republic. The family culture of Filipinos within homes continues
to overrun in the public offices until they monopolize the power in the local and
national government. The living proofs of this infringement are the first families
whose members over the past years had dominated the local and national
elections. Why does this kind of abuse to the provision of constitution been a
practice? It is because there is still no approved law that will explain such
statement in the constitution. Law-makers could not agree with the definition of
political dynasty. The first families of the past would also point their fingers to
other political dynasties.
The Philippine mass media have dual roles in the uninterrupted
increasing number of political dynasties. While journalists question the political
dynasties, advertisements allow politicians to project themselves as role models.
Therefore, there is a balanced projection of image of the first families and their
dynasties. However, what is being projected more by media may not be equated
to what the public will think about them. The image of the first families and their
dynasties are significant symbols of the family and political culture in the
Philippines as they are seen as the representation of what Filipino family is
among other families in the world.
OBJECTIVES
This paper aims to know the images of the first families and their political
dynasties in the Philippine print media during their years of reign. Specifically, it
aims to achieve the following objectives:
1. To identify the first families of the Republic of the Philippines and their
political dynasties considering their backgrounds, geographical scope of
power, and positions held in the government;
2. To analyze the content of the leading newspapers considering the news,
editorials, and features which were related to the first families and their
political dynasties:

Topic / theme

Treatment to the issue (positive or negative)

Emphasis to the issue (space consumed in the media)

Exposure of the issue (frequency)
3. To know the perception of the people from different sectors toward the
first families and their political dynasties’ portrayal in print media; and
4. To draw the images of the first families and their political dynasties based
on the content and perception analysis.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
In drawing the image of the first families and their political dynasties,
political science and communication theories will be utilized.
Italian Scientist Vilfredo Pareto in his major work The Mind and Society sets
out to identify a minority of highly talented individuals at the top levels of
society who possess superior personal qualities and wield great social and
political power (Berberoglu, 2005, p. 29). This particular group of people are
called elites.
Pareto also divides the elite into two (political and social) segments: A
governing elite, comprising individuals who directly or indirectly play some
considerable part in government, and non-governing elite, comprising the rest
(Berberoglu, 2005, p. 30). The first families and their political dynasties are
considered governing elite considering their grand power in the political arena.
But not all members of the first families are governing elites, although most of
them are public officials in the executive and legislative branch of government,
other family members are influential in other fields or career.
The rise and fall of the elites can be described by the Circulation of Elite
Theory which emphasizes the change in regime. This happens not when the
rulers are overthrown from below but when one elite replaces another. The first
families who are considered elites transfer their title to another family not
through a legal action but through a change of regime. Pareto asserts that people
are assigned elite positions by virtue of being so labelled (Coser, 1970). First
family is the label given to the family of the chief executive of the Philippines.
The first families continues to survive by expanding its prominence to its
extended family which further evolve into political dynasties because of the
same ambition inherited to its family members.
Figure 1. Theoretical Model of Circulation of Elite
Another theory to be used in the study is the Semiotics. It will be the way
of understanding how language works particularly in the print media. Semiotics
is the science of studying produced meanings. Its ultimate goal is to unravel the
meanings that are built into all kinds of human products, from words to
symbols, narratives, symphonies, paintings, and comic books to scientific
theories and mathematical theorems (Danesi, 2007, p. 3). The study will take into
consideration the communication and linguistic aspect of the theory by
understanding the print media content about the first families and their political
dynasties.
Linguist Ferdinand de Saussure designed a model of what constitutes a
Figure 2. Theoretical Model of Semiotics
sign. He offered a dyadic or two-part model of the sign. According to him, sign is
composed of a signifier (the form which the sign takes) and a signified (the
concept it represents). The relationship between the signifier and the signified is
referred to as signification (Chandler, 2007, p. 14).
The newspaper content about the first families and their political
dynasties is the signifier while the perception of people from different sectors is
the signified. While the signifier holds the main linguistics and communication
variable, the signified serves as the interpretations. The association of these two
is the image formed of the first families and their political dynasties. And since
there is always a change of first family who are considered political and social
elite, the images also vary.
Figure 3. Conceptual Model of the Study
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURES
The First Family of the Philippines: A Model
The first family is a title given to family of the head of government of a
country. It is a family considered to rank first in social prestige in a particular
place. A first family usually consists of: chief executive of the state, the first lady
or first gentleman, and any children of the couple. The Philippines whose people
are family-oriented look up to first family as a representation of all Filipino
families in some aspects of living.
The Filipino family is closely knit and characteristically an extended
family. A typical Filipino household consists of the father, mother, children, and
additional members composed of grandparents, uncles, aunts, or other relatives
of close affinity (Ongsotto & Ongsotto, 2002, p. 20). Because the members of the
family respect collectivism and take care their other relatives, their powers as
families are also extended. The most apparent confirmation to this is the
existence of political dynasties.
Guillermo (2012) in his book entitled Historical Dictionary of the
Philippines defined political dynasties as established clans of elite families in
various regions in the Philippines and wield a great deal of political clout in most
aspects of government, business, and society (p. 339). Political dynasties,
exemplify a particular form of elite persistence in which a single or few family
groups monopolize political power (Querubin, 2011, p. 2). First families of the
Philippines are not safe for being disobidient to the Constitution. The Laurels of
Batangas, Osmeñas of Cebu, Roxas of Capiz, Macapagals of Pampanga, Marcoses
of Ilocos Norte, and Estradas of San Juan City are some of the first families
whose members of nuclear and extended family have entered politics in the
national and local levels. If these families who at some point of the history had
become an icon family with much respect and praise from public, become
representations of unhealthy democracy, no wonder that local government
offices also become nests of political power with family interest.
First families and their political dynasties are political elites referring to
power holders of a body politic and includes the leadership and social
transformations from which leaders typically come (Simbulan, 2005, p. 6). Not
only does Filipino culture articulate strong beliefs about the family in the abstract
but individuals, as both leaders and followers, are influenced by kinship
concerns in making political decisions (McCoy, 2009, p. 8). Because of this
kinship concerns, though it makes the family culture of the country broader, it
affects some decisions in the governance of the leaders.
The social status of a family defined by their economic status is also a
symbol of power. As what the society today dictates, the socio-economic and
power of people were seen as related. Those who had luxury goods specifically
those from foreigners was quated to social prestige and political power (Junker,
2000, p. 3). The relation of politics and economy is now one of the strategies used
by people to occupy the political arena.
According to Rafael Vicente’s Contracting Colonialism: Translation and
Christian Conversion, it can also be traced in the history that during the Spanish
occupation in the Philippines, Spaniards favored the ruling elites by putting
them in the colonial hierarchy. As Phelan notes from Pigafetta’s account: the
Spanish colonizers did not seek for Filipino rulers rather they created it (Woods,
2008, p. 35).
The First Families in the Philippines
Over the past years, the history has named fifteen (15) presidents of the
Republic of the Philippines with each having a family considered as first family.
Current President Benigno Simeon Aquino III is the only chief executive elected
without a spouse. The table below shows the first family from the first republic
to the present. It also includes the descendants who ventured into politics.
Elpidio Quirino was the only president with no family members or close family
members who are politicians according to the literature gathered. His
descendants are well-known in the field of pageant, health, and media. Other
presidents also have descendants who are celebrities in other fields such as
media and arts.
Philippine
Presidents
Emilio F.
Aguinaldo
1898-1901
Manuel
Quezon
1935-1944
L.
Jose P. Laurel
1943-1945
Place
of Origin
Cavite
Aurora
Batangas
First Lady/
Children
Gentelman
Hilaria Del
1. Carmen
Rosario
Aguinaldo
(first wife and 2. Melencio
considered
3. Emilio
the first lady)
Aguinaldo, Jr.
4. Maria Aguinaldo
Maria
Poblete
Agoncillo
5. Cristina
(second wife)
Aguinaldo
6. Suntay Miguel
Aguinaldo
Aurora
1. Maria Aurora
Aragon
Quezon
Quezon
2. María Zeneida
QuezonAvancena
3. Luisa Corazon
Paz Quezon
4. Manuel L.
Quezón, Jr.
Paciencia
1. José Laurel, Jr.,
Hidalgo
2. Jose Laurel III,
3. Natividad
Laurel
4. Sotero Laurel II
5. Mariano Antonio
Laurel
6. Rosenda
Pacencia Laurel
7. Potenciana
Descendants in Politics
1. Cesar Virata, A
(grandnephew and
Prime Minister of the
Philippines)
2. Ameurfina Herrera
(granddaughter and a
former Associate
Justice of the Supreme
Court)
1. Manuel L. Quezon III
(grandson and current
Undersecretary of
the Presidential
Communications
Development and
Strategic Planning
Office)
1. Jose Laurel IV
(grandson,
representative of the
3rd District of
Batangas, son of José
B. Laurel Jr.)
8.
9.
Sergio
Osmeña
1944-1946
Cebu
Estefania
Chiong
Veloso
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Manuel
Roxas
1946-1948
Elpidio
A.
Capiz
Trinidad de
Leon
1.
2.
Ilocos Sur
Alicia Syquia
1.
Laurel Yupangco
Salvador Laurel
Arsenio Laurel
Nicasio Veloso1. Sergio Osmeña, Jr.
Osmeña
(son and former
Vicenta VelosoSenator)
Osmeña
2. Sergio Osmeña III
Edilderto Veloso(grandson and
Osmeña
incumbent Senator)
Milagros Veloso- 3. John Henry Osmeña
Osemeña
(grandson and former
Emilio VelosoCongressman and
Osmeña
Senator)
Maria Paloma
4. Tomas Osmeña
Veloso-Osmeña
(grandson and former
Jesus VelosoMayor of Cebu City;
Osmeña,
2nd District
Teodoro Velosorepresentative)
Osmeña
5.
Emilio Mario
José VelosoOsmeña, Jr.
Osmeña
(grandson and former
Sergio Osmeña,
governor of Cebu)
Jr.
Ma. Rosario
1. Gerardo M. Roxas
Roxas
(son, former
Gerardo M.
congressman)
Roxas
2. Dinggoy Roxas
(grandson, former
congressman)
3. Manuel ‚Mar‛ Roxas
(grandson, former
congressman, senator,
and current
department secretary)
4. Felix Roxas y
Fernandez
(former mayor of
Manila)
Tomas Quirino
Quirino
1948-1953
Ramon
Magsaysay
1953-1957
Carlos
Garcia
1957-1961
Diosdado
Macapagal
1961-1965
P.
Zambales
Luz
Magsaysay
Bohol
Leonila
Dimataga
Pampanga
Purita dela
Rosa
(first wife)
Dr.
Evangelina
Macaraeg
(second wife,
considered
the first lady
because the
former wife
was already
2. Armando
Quirino
3. Victoria QuirinoDelgado
4. Fe Angela
Quirino
1. Teresita BanzonMagsaysay
2. Milagros
BanzonMagsaysay
3. Ramon BanzonMagsaysay, Jr.
1. Ramon Magsaysay, Jr.
(son and former
Congressman and
Senator)
2. Genaro Magsaysay
(brother; former
Senator
3. Vicente Magsaysay
(uncle and former
congressman and
former Governor
of Zambales
4. Joseph Benedict
Aquino Magsaysay
(grandnephew and
barangay captain)
1. Linda
Garcia- 1. Policronio Garcia
Ocampos
(father and former
municipal mayor in
Bohol)
On first wife
1. Cielo Macapagal1. Arturo
Salgado (daughter and
Macapagal
former provincial vice
2. Cielo Macapagalgovernor),
Salgado
2. Gloria MacapagalOn second wife
Arroyo
3. Gloria
(daughter and former
MacapagalPresident of the
Arroyo
Philippines)
4. Diosdado
3. Juan Miguel
Macapagal Jr.
Macapagal Arroyo
(grandson and current
congressman, 2nd
dead during
the
presidency of
Macapagal)
Ferdinand E.
Marcos
1965-1986)
Ilocos
Norte
Imelda
RomualdezMarcos
1. Maria Imelda
Marcos
2. Ferdinand
Marcos, Jr.
3. Irene Marcos
Corazon
Cojuanco
Aquino
1986-1992
Tarlac
Benigno S.
Aquino, Jr.,
1. Maria Elena
Aquino
2. Aurora Corazon
Aquino
3. Benigno Simeon
Aquino III
4. Victoria Elisa
Aquino
5. Kristina
Bernadette
Aquino
district of Pampanga
4. Diosdado Macapagal
Arroyo (grandson and
current congressman,
Camarines Sur)
1. Maria Imelda "Imee"
Marcos (daughter and
Governor of Ilocos
Norte)
2. Ferdinand "Bongbong"
Marcos, Jr. (son and
current Senator of the
Philippines
1. Servillano Aquino
(former
Representative of
Samar to the Malolos
Congress in 1898)
2. Benigno Aquino, Sr.
(former
Representative of the
2nd District of Tarlac
from the 4th
Philippine
Legislature to the 7th
Philippine
Legislature and
Senator)
3. Benigno Aquino, Jr.
(husband, a former
Vice-Governor and
Senator of the
Philippines (19681972) who was
assassinated during
the Marcos regime)
4. Agapito Aquino
(brother-in-law and a
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Fidel
Ramos
1992-1998
V. Pangasinan
Amelita
Martinez
1. Angelita Ramos- 1.
Jones
2. Josephine RamosSamartino
3. Carolina Ramos- 2.
Sembrano
4. Cristina RamosJalasco
former Senator and
Congressman)
Teresita AquinoOreta
(sister-in-law, and a
former Senator of the
Philippines)
Herminio Aquino son of Servillano
Aquino, he is a former
Congressman (19921998) and ViceGovernor (1998-2001);
Jesli Aquino Lapus
(brother-in-law and a
former Congressman
and secretary of
Department of
Education)
Benigno Aquino III
(son, former
Congressman,
Senator, and currently
the President of the
Philippines)
Paolo Benigno Aguirre
Aquino IV
(nephew and former
Commissioner of
National Youth
Commission)
Sen. Leticia RamosShahani
(nephew and former
Senator)
Ranjit Shahani
(Former
Congressman)
5. Gloria Ramos
Joseph
Ejercito
Estrada
1998-2001
Gloria
Macapagal
Arroyo
2001-2010
Manila
Dr. Luísa
Pimentel
(considered
First lady
because she
was with the
president
during its
term)
Pampanga
Jose Miguel
Arroyo
On Dr. Luisa
Pimintel
1. Jose Ejercito, Jr.
2. Jackie Ejercito
3. Jude Ejercito
1. Dr. Luisa Pimintel
(wife and former
Senator)
2. Guia Gomez
3. (former wife, currently
the Mayor of San Juan
On Guia Gomez
City)
4. Jospeh Victor
4. Jose Ejercito, Jr,
Ejercito
(son, former Mayor of
San Juan and currently
On Joy Rowena
a Senator)
5. Jojo Ejercito
5. Joseph Victor Ejercito
(son, former mayor
On Laarni Enriquez
and congressman of
6. Jerika Ejercito
San Juan City)
7. Jake Ejercito,
6. Emilio Ramon Pelayo
8. Jacob Ejercito
Ejercito
(former Mayor and
currently the
Governor of Laguna)
7. Gary Pelayo Ejercito
(nephew, and Board
Member of Quezon
province)
1. Juan Miguel
1. Jose Ma. Arroyo
2. Evangelina
(grandfather of Jose
Lourdes
Miguel Arroyo and
3. Diosdado Ignacio
former Senator)
Jose María
2. Juan Miguel
Macapagal
Arroyo (son and
congressman from 2nd
district of Pampanga)
3. Diosdado Macapagal
Arroyo (son and
congressman from
Camarines Sur)
4. Ignacio Arroyo, Jr.
(brother-in-law and
congressman from 5th
district of Negros
Occidental)
5. Maria Lourdes Arroyo
(sister-in-law and
Party-list
Representative)
and other Macapagals
as mentioned above
Benigno
Simeon
Aquino III
2010-present
Manila
Unmarried
The president’s
sisters:
1. Maria Elena
Aquino
2. Aurora Corazon
Aquino
3. Victoria Elisa
Aquino
4. Kristina
Bernadette
Aquino
Source: Presidential Museum and Library, malacanang.gov.ph
same as mentioned to
former President Corazon
Aquino
The Family and Political Culture
Political dynasties are common in many contemporary such as Argentina,
India, Japan, Mexico, and the Philippines. The Philippines is a notable example
of a dynastic democracy. More than half of the elected congressmen and
governors have a relative who has held elected office previously (Querubin,
2011, p. 2). According to UP sa Halalan 2013, a project of the University of the
Philippines in cooperation with the Commission of Election and ABS-CBN
(Political Dynasties, 2013), 94% or 73 out of 80 of the provinces have political
dynasties. Almost 250 political families have dominated Philippine politics at the
national and local level. Of the political dynasties, 56% come from old political
elites while the 44% emerged after EDSA I in 1986. Six presidents will most likely
have relatives serving in the next Senate namely Osmeña, Magsaysay, Marcos, C.
Aquino, Estrada, and B. Aquino III. There are 15 out of 23 Senators in the 15 th
Congress have relatives serving in elective positions; 11 out of 15 have relatives
in the House of the Representatives. This phenomenon can be described by our
family and political culture.
The Philippine society is characterized by diversity, complexity, and
ambiguity. Despite this diversity, there are important cultural norms and values
that are common to most Filipinos (Timberman, 1991, p. 15). Some of these
cultural factors influences on politics and economic affairs in the Philippines.
Lucian Pye has written that culture is unquestionably significant in some
undetermined degree, in shaping the aspirations and fears, the preferences and
prejudices, the priorities and expectations of a people as they confront the
challenges of social and political change. Political culture as an important aspect
in understanding the Philippine politics is defined as the pattern of individual
attitudes and orientations toward politics among the members of a political
system (p. 15). The subjectivity of this culture underlies and gives meaning to
individual political actions. It is also the reason why it is difficult to identify a
nation’s political culture supplementary to the problematic political behaviour of
leaders.
Any description of Philippine society must begin with an explanation of
the central role of the family. The extended family is the most important social
and economic unit in the Philippines. The primacy of the family is reinforced by
custom, embedded in Catholic teachings, and proclaimed in the 1987
Constitution (p. 16). Another evidence of state recognition to the primacy of the
family is the Artcle 216 of the Philippine Civil Code which says that ‚The family
is the basic social institution which public policy cherishes and protects‛
(McCoy, 2009, p. 8). Such institutions motivated more the Filipinos to set their
families as their priorities, if not one of their priorities in life from childhood to
adult stage. This may explain why politicians encourage their young family
members and relatives to run politics because they wanted not only to continue
the hold to the power but also to reward or to transfer their wealth and fame.
In addition to the extended families which are connected by blood is the
frequent use of compradazgo or ritual kinship which bonds unrelated families of
equal socio-economic status together (Timberman, 1991, p. 16). Political careers
of unfamiliar people actually emerge because of this connection. Even first
families use this to maintain their powers even after their title has been erased on
them.
Because of the influence of elite families, social, political, and economic
interactions are shaped. Interfamily relations can determine the personal
friendships and enemies, marriages, political, and economic alliances and
rivalries. The advent of media reveals the personal life of the first family as well
as their issues and controversies with their friends who turned to be their
political rivalry after some years.
The truest essence of value for family can really be seen in the conduct of
politics and government. Local politics traditionally have been dominated by
two or three land-owning families. These families’ landholdings give them the
wealth and political base. Pakikisama has also been blamed for contributing to a
brand of politics that values style more than substance. Philippine politics has
been known for its ‚showbiz‛ quality, its reliance on political rituals and the
indulgence of politicians in palabas or ostentatious show (p. 16). These political
cultures describe the first families and their political dynasties and how these
two invade even the media industry to promote and expose their social and
personal agenda.
Roles of the Elite Class
A family name is a valuable set in Philippine politics. Along with their
land and capital, elite families as Jeremy Beckett argues, are often thought to
transmit their character and characteristics to younger generations (McCoy, 2009,
p. 8). Every election, it cannot be denied that politicians with ‚good name‛
emerge and most of the times they win over those without prestige in their
names. Their exposures to media which either mold or damage their image are
part of their strategy to enter each household in the country. It is no doubt that a
Laurel in Batangas, an Osmeña in Cebu, a Conjuanco in Tarlac, or a Lopez in
Iloilo stands a good chance of polling strongly.
Once entrenched, influential politicians are often bequeath power and
position to their children, in effect seeking to transform the public office that they
have won into a private legacy of their family (McCoy, 2009, p. 24).
The Philippine historical experience shaped to varying degrees, its
contemporary social, economic, and political structures. Equally important,
history influences people’s values, beliefs, and attitudes about themselves, their
nation, and the world around them (Timberman, 1991, p. 6). The roles and
interests of elite class are defined by the history and changes in the country.
Economic changes in the nineteenth century, such as the opening of the
islands to foreign trade and capital investment, led to the rise of prosperous class
of mestizos and native elites or principales (Ileto, 1997, p. 3). The opportunity that
came allowed the elite class to send their sons to universities in Manila and
Europe. Educated Filipinos called ilustrados or the enlightened promoted radical
changes in the country. It goes to show that the elites at that point of the past
aimed to be treated equal with Spaniards to fight for the national freedom.
The patriotic roles of the elite class transformed from the rulers of freedom
into rulers of the lower class as they are being seen as landlords in the economic
arena. From elite heroes they became big bureaucrats mainly because of the
societal changes that the Philippines were no longer striving for independence
although Filipinos are not yet really free.
The big bureaucrats are characteristically big compradors and big
landlords themselves (Guerrero, 1970, p. 69). They treat their offices as private
entities and served as assistants of big bourgeoisie and landlord class to pursue
their self interest over the public.
They are also the helping mechanism to the liberal lie that a ‚poor boy can
become a president,‛ no one has ever reached the rank of even a congressman
without representing the exploiting class and without in the process of joining
them. By the time that someone has become president in the present system, he
shall have become not only the chief of political representative of the exploiters
but also one of the biggest among them (p. 69). The democracy is then ruled out
because an aspiring politician needs not only the charisma to the people but also
the power to control them when he won the election.
Because the bureaucracy is nothing but an instrument for facilitating the
exploitation of the broad masses of the people by the foreign and feudal interests
(Guerrero, 1970, p. 70), its people are coated with many controversies. The very
prominent which mushroom every election is the issue on the exchange interest
when imperialists, compreador, and lanlord masters support a political party or
an individual candidate, they in return become bound to the class interests of
their supporters.
Bureaucrat capitalists are also prone to get bribe money on the adoption of
laws, executive orders, and court decisions. Their pockets also benefit from the
enormous funds appropriated for public works (Guerrero, 1970, p. 70). From the
local to the national government offices, bureaucrat capitalists find ways to
directly support their interests in the most silent manner. One of the examples of
corruption was that of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s administration involvement
on the fertilizer deal in 2003 and NBN-ZTE in 2007 issue to name a few.
The elite class also venture directly into the most starkly illegitimate
activities. They are involved in smuggling, usury, plain extortion, gambling,
cattle-rustling, and prostitution. Bureaucrat capitalists enjoyed and developed
standard tricks for keeping their loot. They keep ‚petty cash‛ (in millions of
pesos) in their house vaults for immediate use, deposits under numbered
accounts in Swiss banks, strings of palatial houses and buildings, jewelry and all
kinds of luxuries, securities in profitable corporations, and land titles (Guerrero,
1970, p. 71). The former president Estrada faced the storm of gambling issues and
became the main ground for the second people power in EDSA which brought
the new administration in the scene.
The Marcos’ declaration of war against the Communist Party of the
Philippines, patriotic mass organizations, and the people in general gave more
confidence to the bureaucrat capitalists cliques and dynasties all over the country
to kill, burn, and loot (Guerrero, 1970, p. 74). The power of the first family most
especially the president is adomino effect to lower government units. Therefore,
the political actions of those at the top must always be in lline with the public
interest and social progress to achieve a national development through social,
political, and economic changes.
The Elites and The Other Class
It is through studying the discourse of historical power comes the
understanding of the mechanisms for social order and power structure in the
society (Gealogo, 1994, p. 33). In the Philippines, it turned out that the power of
elites, although known for masses especially those active in social education and
activism are still being equated to a weak nation-state. McCoy (2009) stated that
the country has a long history of strong families assuring social survival when
the nation-state is weak (p. 7).
Gealogo (1994) explains that it is important to look at the struggles as a
reflection of several dimensions of people’s perspectives in achieving social order
(p. 31). The contradicting class in the state, the elite and the revolutionary have
different views and principles in creating organizations for struggle. Ordinary
people belonging not in these groups also possess different standpoints about the
existing struggle. These three dimensions perpetuate a dynamic relationship
among catalysts of history.
Ang magkasalungat na layunin ng elite at ng kalaban nitong
‚rebolusyonaryo‛ ay kapwa nakasalalay sa mga simulain (at kontradiksyon sa
loob) ng sibilisasyong Kanluranin. Samakatuwid, kapwa ang mga nakaupo sa
kapangyarihan at yaong gustong magpatalsik sa kanila ay nakasanddal sa mga
kategoryang hiram o produkto ng kanilang pagiging xerox copy ng banyaga.
Walang orihinal na kaisipan ang dalawang direksyong ito ng tunggaliang sosyopulitikal. Sa katunayan, ang dalawang magkatunggaling puwersa lamang ang
siyang nagkakaintindihan sa labanang ideolohikal na ito, sapagkat sa wika at sa
mga kategoryang banyaga lamang isinasagawa ang pingkian ng mga ideya
(Salazar, 1997, p.105; Guillermo R., 2009, p. 1).
The socio-economic backgrounds of the conflicting classes are totally
dissimilar and therefore their ideology differs too.
It is believed that the mentality of the elites is shaped by the foreign
culture and the reason for them to leave behind their own culture. The masses,
on the other hand symbolize the rest of the people who are living with the
national and original culture (Guillermo R., 2009, p. 15).
Added to the westernized culture that they have, elites primarily the state
officials, first families, and political dynasties have simply not gained the right
and ability to make rules they would like. Families and clans have the power to
change the order of the society to what they think best for the country and its
people.
Families and clans may seek to marry off children at ages quite different
from the minimum age of marriage set by the state law. Landlords and
shopkeepers may seek interest rates for loans at variance with those legislated by
the state. The major struggles in a society like Philippines, are over who has the
right and ability to make the countless rules that guide people’s social behaviour
(Migdal, 1988, pp. 30-31).
The rich people remained assisted by the colonizers during the Japanese
occupation in the Philippines. Novelists Lazaro Francisco added that many of the
elite families were related to the very government officials who were cooperating
with the Japanese. The elite families also benefited from being a friend of the
government authorities no matter what the government was. Furthermore, the
Japanese government gave elites no cause for alarm or opposition. It made no
threats against their property (Kerkvliet, 1977, pp. 65-66). The influence of rich
people to the government undeniably happened in the past and continues to
happen in the present from the local government to the national government.
Both the rich people and the government keep their relationship by maintaining
their loyalty and mutual benefits.
METHODOLOGY
The research to be undertaken will be qualitative in nature. The case study
as design will be utilized to capture the images of the Filipino first families and
their political dynasties in the Philippine print media. Two research methods will
be undertaken: content analysis for determining the news about the first families
and their political dynasties considering the topic, treatment, emphasis, and
exposure; and focus group discussion with different people from different
sectors regarding the image of first families and their political dynasties.
The study will be a good source of historical images of first families if it
will cover all the regimes but not all administrations have established political
dynasties. The primary consideration for the sample to be analyzed in the study
will be those first families with at least four (4) relatives who also took politics
and governance as their endeavours.
All first families which will fall on such criteria will be part of the study.
Primarily, the content analysis will be the first method to be done by analyzing
the leading broadsheet newspapers in the Philippines. A follow-up research
method will be done, the focus group discussions with representatives from the
academe, business, civil society, church, media, government, women, and youth.
The data gathered through the two research methods will be consolidated
and analyzed to determine the different images of first families and their political
dynasties in the print media.
PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Family and media are two of the most important recipe of Filipino culture.
Filipino people are not Filipino people without great family culture within them.
While Filipinos always relate themselves to others, the media industry
propagates this Filipino trait resulting to a nation that is whole. In any form of
media, family stories really appeal to Filipinos, from drama, comedy, horror,
advertisement, and even in news.
First family represents what kind of family the Philippines has. It may
project an image to the international community and serve as an agent of
opportunity for tourism, economic, and cultural development. But how do
Filipino people especially those in print media help in shaping the image of the
first family? How do Filipino people especially the masses react on such media
material? And how such image change as regime changes.
Case 1. The Marcos Family
The educational and political track of former President Ferdinand E.
Marcos impressed the nation and gave a good reputation to the Marcoses. The
president’s phenomenal memory was aspired by all the types of people from the
top executives of businesses, academe, and even by the masses.
Marcos family became an icon during their stay at Malacañang. Imelda
Marcos, the first lady was widely covered by the local and international media.
She became a special envoy of his husband allowing her to travel to different
parts of the world such as China, the Soviet Union satellite states, the Middle
East and even the non-Soviet dominated communist state such as Yugoslavia
and Cuba. The public also witnessed her passion for arts and architecture as she
pushed the construction of many institutions in the country such as Cultural
Center of the Philippines, Philippine Heart Center, Lung Center of the
Philippines, Kidney Institute of the Philippines, Nayong Pilipino, Philippine
International Convention Center, Folk Arts Theater, Coconut Palace, and the
Manila Film Center. Ferdinand and Imelda’s children, Maria Imelda Josefa
Romualdez Marcos and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. became excellent in their
respective education. Imee happened to hooked on business and arts while
Bongbong took the path of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics. The Marcos
family showed what an ideal Filipino family must possess.
However, U.S. imperialism, facism, and dictatorship under Marcos regime
became the highlights of the history. The irony of Marcos life and the ordinary
Filipino family life resulted into a national revolution led by different sectors of
the society. The challenge for the study is the conduct of content analysis
considering the effect of the Martial law.
Case 2. The Aquino Family
Three of the Aquinos became political icons: Benigno Aquino Jr., Corazon
Aquino, and the current president Benigno Aquino III. They projected the image
of a good governance, nationalism, and democracy. They became heroes for the
most because after his assassination, he instantly became an idol of democracy.
Her wife, Cory continued his legacy as she decided to run for presidency against
the dictator Marcos. Their son, Noynoy ran the presidency after her mother died,
the same moment when people clamour for a new leadership to change the
integrity and sincerity of the highest office in the Philippines due to the
controversies of the precedent administration.
On the other hand, the Aquino family from the time Cory seated as the
chief of the state to her son’s administration, mass organization who aimed for
social justice on the issue of Hacienda Luisita which Cory together with her
siblings inherited from her father Jose Cojaunco. Although the Aquinos were
positive change makers to most Filipinos, the family themselves can be
questioned on how they define political dynasties because they are obviously a
family of politicians.
In spite of the contribution of the Aquino family to the recovery of the
democracy in the country, and their role in gaining the attention of the
international community to admire the Filipinos, the media and the people like
in any other regime, saw the rooms for improvement and faults that militant
groups spotted and served as their alias to overthrow the leadership. The
dynamic reactions of people toward the Aquino family, their leadership, and
their monopoly power are important ingredient of the study to be undertaken. It
is significant to understand what image has been instilled in the minds of the
Filipino people.
Case 3. The Ejercito Family
President Joseph Ejercito Estrada made a history for being the first
president to be jailed because of graft and corruption. This misfortune
overshadowed the president’s effort to promote economic development and
agrarian reform in the country.
The Estrada administration allowed controversies to hit them each year.
Political issues on Subic Bay leadership dispute, Textbook Scam intervention,
The Philippine Daily Inquirer ads pullout, The Manila Times controversy, BW
Resources scandal, Philippine-Taiwan Air Agreement controversy, PCSO
Funding controversy, Midnight cabinet, Hot cars scandal, Building law violation,
Dacer-Corbito double murder case, Second envelop suppression, and even
personal issue on Estrada’s mistresses.
The corruption charges to the President made a bad impression in the
Filipino and non-Filipino communities all over the world. It is very interesting to
know what image/s were being portrayed by the print media about Estrada
family considering the excellent leadership record of the President himself and
the admirable political will of his family members in politics namely Loi
Pimentel-Ejercito, Jose Pimentel Ejercito, and Joseph Victor Ejercito. Aside from
their political careers, the Ejercito family became an image of the masses as Loi
became dubbed as the First Lady ng Masa and Doktora ng Masa, while the halfbrothers Jinggoy and JV became influential in movie industry.
To note, these three Ejercitos were elected in the national and local
elections
after
the
presidency
of
Joseph.
Although
Filipinos
know
generalizations, the victories of the Ejercitos are very exceptional. Remember that
even in the last presidential election, if not President Benigno Aquino III won, it
would be the former president. This made the Estrada family a very interesting
one to study.
Case 4. The Arroyo Family
One of the most controversial first families in the history of the
Philippines is the Arroyo family. When former President Gloria MacapagalArroyo became the rising leader brought by the second people power in EDSA,
controversies on corruption and anomalies never left her and the rest of the
Arroyo family members.
The public and media recognized more the loopholes and mistakes of the
administration rather than its contribution to the nation. Gloria MacapagalArroyo was involved in the political controversy Fertilizer Fund Scam where
P728 million fertilizer fund was diverted to 2004 election campaign fund of the
same president. The Hello Garci scandal damaged the credibility of the
administration as the president wanted to continue her presidency by
manipulating millions of votes. The Philippine National Broadband Network
(NBN) controversy was an issue of corruption involving COMELEC Chairman
Benjamin Abalos, First Gentleman Mike Arroyo, and the president herself. It was
regarding the proposed government-managed NBN for the Philippines and the
awarding of its construction to the Chinese firm Zhong Xing Telecommunication
Equipment Company Limited (ZTE), a telecommunication and networking
equipment provider. These issues affect the image of the Arroyos not only as a
political icon but a cultural icon as a family.
Although the general public’s perspectives toward the first family was not
pleasant, the first family and their political dynasties still get sympathies from
their political partners, relatives, and even to some mass organizations. It is also
interesting to look at the motivation of the president to continue her and family’s
political career.
The media industry including the print has supported the termination of
the Arroyo administration. In spite of the massive effort of the public and media,
the regime continued and was never overthrown from the palace. This made the
administration an important and interesting sample of the study.
SYNTHESIS AND CONCLUSION
Filipinos’ value for family is extensive up to the politics. The leadership
and governance of the Philippines reflects the type of family culture of its people.
Media, as the ‚fourth estate of the government‛ continue to look over all the
aspects of government to further influence people outlook. What news and
features media people creates about politics and what people think about it are
the composition of the image of the Philippine political system.
The first families of the Philippines have vital roles in shaping the nation
and in showing to the world the good qualities of a Filipino family. But like an
ordinary family, the first families underwent trials and disappointments which
may be the reason behind the anomalies and corruption during their stay at the
Malacañang Palace. It may also be a result not of challenges but of their
behaviour and way of thinking or worldview which were moulded by
institutions such as church, school, community, or home. It goes back again to
the home and family culture.
Therefore, it can be said that to understand politics is also to understand
the different aspects of life of the leaders. Decisions and actions of politicians are
not made overnight. It may be a result of the way he behave and think even
before he entered politics.
The media only reports the facts and its opinions are made in behalf of the
public. First families’ actions are very sensitive to the eyes of the press. It is
because they were treated like celebrities whose stories are interesting for the
public. Their political dynasties are part of their perspectives on power and
control.
This paper analyzed four (4) first families namely the Marcos family,
Aquino family, Ejercito family, and Arroyo family. These families consist of
people with the same orientation and career, the politics. Within the presidents’
families are younger generations of politicians. It is no ordinary because even
some of the presidents are the product of older generations of political icons in
the history. Political dynasties are also running through their bloods. It is very
ironic because as leaders of the country, they should follow the order of the
Constitution. No president in the Philippine history pushed to define the term
political dynasty in the Constitution mainly because majority of them are
considered the main violators. They are always raising the argument of their
right to equal chances to be elected and be in the position.
Newspapers especially those circulated nationwide allotted spaces for the
prominent families even after their reigns. That describes the extent of their
influence. Stories covered their political and personal actions and decisions. But
more spaces in the newspapers are allotted for negative issues such as graft,
corruption, and rivalries. These are the hottest issues which are also given
importance in the other parts of the newspaper such as the opinion and feature.
What balances this unpleasant news are the aspiration and determination of their
administration to fulfil its duty to perform for social, economic, cultural, and
other aspects of development.
The voices of the different sectors are also significant in drawing the
image of the first families and their dynasties. People from the academe,
business, civil society, church, media, government, women, and youth also have
their views and reactions on the content of the newspapers. It cannot be denied
that media also has the power to set agenda for the people. What is important is
the reflection of the ordinary and unheard people about the issues of the first
families. What remains in their minds and the lessons that it may contribute to
the history will constitute the image of the first families.
By understanding and processing the content of the media and
perspectives of the people, this paper can draw the image of each first family and
political dynasty. Various approaches and methods of Philippine studies are
very functional to the progress of this study. The use of multidisciplinary fields
such as culture, politics, sociology, media, and communication are needed to
describe the phenomena of this study. Family culture and background are the
basis of all the thoughts and actions of individuals. Politics and its system may
also affect a politician’s characteristics. The field of sociology can be used to
guide this study on the responsive action of people toward the government that
they are either admired or detested. The media analysis will be a useful
mechanism in understanding the role of media in projecting the first families and
their political dynasties. Communication patterns and concepts help the study in
defining what image is and its components.
This study will contribute to the disciplines stated above primarily on
political science, culture, and media. The intensive methods to be carried out in
the study and the theories, concepts, and literatures will suffice the whole study
particularly the presentation and analysis of the complete samples.
The same guide will be used to look into the neighbouring countries’
image of first families or royal families and their political dynasties. Print media
are also recommended to be the form to be studied because of its nature of
consistency, reliability, and availability. To this end, the researcher hopes for
public awareness of what constitute an image and how to look at it using the
allied fields.
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On the Philosophy of Labor: Marx’s
Concept of labor on the post-industrialist
society
Introduction
The basic premise that could be ascribed with such assumptions to the
reason why people are working would be the proposition of survival; the
necessity to eat, to have shelter, clothing and to reproduce so as to repeat the
needed cycle of such. This assumption is clearly identified with Marx notion of
the basic premise of all humans; Living, Conscious, Human individual. This
premise points out that man must first serve his animal functions before
achieving his human functions which is to think and to rationalize, an influence
from a Hegelian point of view. Since man has been exploited into working not
for human functions but for survival, man is reduced on his animal functions;
that the work that he does is not the extension of him but an object separated
from him. Most modern thinkers argue that such notion is applicable only on
material labor in the industrial age, not in the present post – industrial society.
One point is the argument that Marx’s philosophy on labor has been obsolete,
that such concept of productivist labor is applicable only on a given industrial
society of the past century. And since it is assumed that the modern society has
expanded labor into other forms aside from the crafts and the arts, Marx’s ideas
needed a reboot and expansion. This paper shall attempt, if possible, a discussion
on the post-Marxist movement and a counter argument on the assumption of
Marx’s ‚obsolete‛ philosophy with the new post-Marx philosophers, namely
Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt and to view the necessity of revising Marx’s
Concept of labour.
The Material Labor and Immaterial Labor
From the writings of Marx from the Economic and Political Manuscripts
of 1844, clearly it is pointed out that Marx was referring to the objections of
productions; that men produce materials as extensions of them, as a material
object in its formative stage with form. Most interpretation tend to reduce Marx’s
concept into a limited notion of labor; being only to point out material labor and
formative aspects of it. Since the idea was postulated in the last century, most
ideas of Marx are considered obsolete and needed revisions and expansion.
Although it is clear that such assumption on the theory is not conflicting to the
idea of Marx’s dialectical materialist system of knowledge, the idea should not be
considered as obsolete since the theory of Marx is considered the foundation of
all post Marx movement in society.
Say for example, the theory of Paulo Freire’s Liberation Pedagogy as a
formation of new thought with regards to utilizing Marx’s idea as the base. It is
clear that power struggle in the schools are discussed in a way that class struggle
in the whole society is elaborated. Education is seen as both a liberative force and
could also be tool for oppression, and it is in the student – teacher relation that
liberation be possible; that in order to be liberated, the teacher must also be a
student and a teacher. In this case Marx’s idea was merged with existential
notions and some radical philosophies yet still seeing Marx’s idea as a necessary
point to consider since his philosophy discusses oppression and liberation
comprehensively.
Society has changed drastically from the past centuries in terms of
political, economical and cultural aspects. The change also brought up
development in the economic sphere, wherein most industries in the present are
not just secluded in manufacturing and craftsmanship. What arose in the
industry is the birth of new kinds of profession that does not produce material
objects, and these are what Negri and Hardt assume as ‚Immaterial Labor‛
According to Hardt and Negri's book Empire, there is a regulating system
in society, which they called Biopower.
Biopower is a form of power that
regulates social life from its interior, following it, interpreting it, absorbing it—
every individual embraces and reactivates this power of his or her own accord.
Its primary task is to administer life. Biopower thus refers to a situation in which
what is directly at stake in power is the production and reproduction of life itself.
All human labor is social and necessarily involves a communicative element; and
at the same time all human social relations are rooted in material labor.
In this assumption, the process wherein we take part in Biopower is the
participation of men into labor may it be material or immaterial labor.
Immaterial labor is a new form of labor that does not have formative
characteristics and does not produce objects materially, these are what Negri and
Hardt identified as separated into three:
1."Informaticized" industrial labor that has become a service to the market
2. Analytical and symbolic labor—knowledge work both creative and routine
3. Production and manipulation of affect labor. Involves human contact, and
includes bodily labor
These three contain services, communication, networking and actions
which does not produce any product at all; the individual itself is the
commodity, not the product of his skills. Since these kind of immaterial labor
does not have any form, the Marxist concept of labor now becomes obsolete,
although is should be understood that what Marx pointed out in his writing is
also a coverage of such labor. ‚All those things which labor merely separates
from immediate connection with their environment, are subjects [i.e., objects] of
labor spontaneously provided by nature, Such are fish which we catch and take
from their element, water, timber which we fell in the virgin forest and ores
which we extract from their veins‛ (Marx, 1961, 178).
It is also in such development that manufacturing and all around workers
has withered through the development of industry, the relation of worker to
product becomes increasingly mediated and distanced. The labor process ceases
to involve the direct transformation of the object on the part of the worker. The
craft element is almost entirely removed from the work activity itself. In the
production process, machines act on their own, nature acts upon itself. Human
purposes are realized through the use of science and technology and the
application of knowledge. (Sayers, 2007)
In these aspects, labor has been identified differently from what is
described by Marx, but it does not mean that the Marxist concept did not achieve
to identify such forms of labor, and, in addition, labor in those forms does not
seem immaterial although it offers services, communication and networking, it is
basically a mediation towards the individual and the subject. It does not follow
that if machines were built to build other machines, external forces for such act
are still present, which are the workers. Workers now serves multitude of task
and processes, and also such labor that covers the Immaterial aspect still has the
form which they follow; these form are the very processes they do to a specific
service, the uniform acts and the protocol of services. Such would be the second
type of immaterial labor that serves codes, symbols and analytical aspects of the
industry. Although considered immaterial, labor of this kind has form and takes
shapes in numbers and figures.
It should also be considered that the very reason men go into labor is
survival and extension of him to the process of objectification; with such
objectification, man can obtain social relation, which is the form of labor we have
in the post-industrialist society. Marx had pointed out such assumptions; the
detail-worker of to-day, crippled by one and the same trivial operation, and thus
reduced to the mere fragment of a man, [will be replaced] by the fully developed
individual, fit for a variety of labors . . . to whom the different social functions he
performs, are but so many modes of giving free scope to his own natural and
acquired powers. (Marx, 1961)
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ReviewPress, New York and London, 1971
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York, 1964
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Fromm, Erich, Sane Society, Fawcett publications, inc., Greenwich Conn. 1955
Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri, (2000), Empire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press.
Mandel, Ernest and Novak, George, The Marxist Theory of Alienation, Pathfinder
Press, New York, 1970
Martel, Harry and Selsam, Howard, Reader in Marxist Philosophy, New York,
International publisher, 1903 – 1970
Marx, Karl, and Hegel, Friederich, Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844,
Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1932
Meszaros, Istvan, The Marxist Theory of Alienation, Merlin Press, London, 1970
Reitz, Charles, Art, Alienation and the Humanities: a Critical Engagement with
Herbert Marcuse, New York Press, Albany, USA, 2000
Sayers, Sean, The Concept of Labor: Marx and His Critics, Science & Society, Vol. 71,
No. 4, October 2007, 431-454
Modern Humanism in Education
HUMANIZATION OF EDUCATION
Critics are saying that the school –or at least most schools are not fit places
for human beings.
“Many are not even decent places for the children. They damage, they stifle
children’s natural capacity to learn and grow healthy. (Charles Silberman)
Their hidden function is all too often “The destruction of the human spirit”.
(George Leonard)
They destroy the minds and hearts of children. The schools are inhumane, they do
not treat children as person. (Jonathan Kozol, the Destruction of the Hearts and Minds of
Negro Children in the Boston Public Schools.)
The schools are under the attack. They have been for more than a decade.
There have been two major focuses of this attack. The first criticizes the school
for lack of success in fostering high levels of academic achievement. The second,
more recent, says the schools are inhuman in their treatment of children, so they
are in many cases not fit for places for children to be. Because of these critics, a
new approach to education was proposed. Critics said there should be a
restriction of public education to development of the intellect. Instead of
preparation of ‚making a living‛, it should be ‚preparation for living‛ Interest in
the individual’s physical and mental condition as it influence by academic
performance was replaced by interest in the social and emotional development
to be upon preparing the student as a person. The focus as emphasis, however
tended to have upon preparing the student for responsible citizenship, rather
than the student’s development as an individual or a person.
Educators are more concerned about the development of the student as a
person, his growth and development as a free individual. This approach
emphasizes respect for the student as a person, with the rights of a person.
Patterson points out that ‚our most pressing educational problem involves
learning how to create and maintain a humane environment in our schools‛
All of these are characterized by humanistic approach to education. It is
concerned with psychological or emotional atmosphere of the classroom. It
conceives of teaching as essentially a good human relationship, but it goes
beyond this in not restricting its concern to cognitive learning’s as a goal of
education. It includes as goals the development of good attitudes and feelings –is
it the education of the emotions, the fostering of adequate emotional
development as a legitimate and desirable goal of education. It has been called
by some affective education, meaning the education of affect, involving more
than the concern with affective techniques in education.
Humanism is a school of thought that believes human beings are different
from other species and possess capacities not found in human. Humanists
therefore, give to the study of human needs and interests. A central assumption
is that human beings behave out of intentionality and values. . This is a contrast
of operant conditioning theorists who believe that all behavior is the result of the
application of consequences or to the beliefs of cognitive psychologists who hold
that the discovery of concepts of processing of information is a primary factor in
human learning. Humanists also believe that it is necessary to study the person
as a whole, especially as an individual grows and develops over the lifespan. The
study of self motivation and goal setting are also areas of special interest.
It is to counteract the dehumanizing effect of technology. According to the
old report titled No Need To Be of UNESCO. This is actually chaired by Former
Minister of Education of France who chaired the International Commission on
Education for UNESCO. The report produced in 1972 and the central idea of the
report is that due to technical progress, there has been a kind of risk. The young
generation of students and also the public are being animated or dehumanized in
the process of material progress (Zhou Nanzhou, 2006). So a major proposal was
made that the fundamental end of education shall not only be the cognitive or
intuitive development but the fulfillment of a complete process in all dimensions
of the richness of the personality.
The Fourth R-Human Relation
A child learns because he or she is inwardly driven, and derives his or her
reward from the sense of achievement that having learned something affords.
This would differ from the behaviorist view that would expect extrinsic rewards
to be more effective. Extrinsic rewards are rewards from the outside world, e.g.
praise, money, gold stars, etc. Intrinsic rewards are rewards from within oneself,
rather like a satisfaction of a need. These accords with the humanistic approach,
where education is really about creating a need within the child, or instilling
within the child self-motivation. Behaviorism is about rewards from others.
Humanism is about rewarding yourself!
An important aspect of personal development or self actualization in
interpersonal relationship. One can’t be self-actualizing in vacuum. Therefore
education, must as must all of society, become concerned with the development
of men not just as citizens, but as persons, as members of the community and as
members of the human race, ‚Where the actions of one can drastically affect the
lives of others from the distant, it will be crucially important that each person
master the skill of feeling what others feel. This skill more than new laws or new
politics is soon become crucial to survival of the race.
The emphasis of the education in this philosophy is upon human
relations. As Asheley Montagu has said: Our educational institution should be
train us in the ability of love, not the three R’s at the college level. Rather than
having the concern about human relations will be the focus of the curriculum.
The Aim of Education:
‚In the world which is already upon us, the aim of education must be
develop individuals who are open to change‛
Carl Rogers, Freedom to
learn
The modern humanities revolution in education involves change in the
goal of education. The problems of individual, of the nation, society of
civilization will not be solved by the development of intellect one. Of the many
problems facing man today, four major ones are: I feel, poverty, pollution,
population and personal (or interpersonal) relations. The first three are
essentially technical problems, but the fourth clearly requires more than
intelligence and technical know how.
We need not only men who can think, but men who can feel and who can
act, not only on the basis of intellect but of feeling as well, we need men who can
understand other men, who can accept and respect others, as well as themselves
and who are responsible.
The goal of education then is to produce human, or humane, beings,
whole beings not automatons or intellects, but thinking feeling, living or actingperson, person who can love, feel deeply, expand their innerselves, create and
who continue the process of education.
Another aim of education is to foster the development of persons who can
live together as fully functioning human beings, It is not sufficient simply that
society be preserved under conditions which prevent the personal development
of individuals. If society is to change it can only be through changing
individuals. This is the function of education.
What kind of person, specifically necessary to form such a society? What
is the nature of a fully functioning person? Writers in the field of counseling or
psychotherapy have studied questions because of their concern about desirable
outcome or goal of counseling or psychotherapy. The work of psychologists or
psychotherapist seems to be converging on a definition or description of the fully
functioning person, a term introduces by Carl Rogers or other used to refer to the
same concept of: self-enhancement, self-realization, and self-actualization.
Perhaps the most common used terms is the ‚self-actualization‛ It becomes the
aim of education or more accurately, the purpose of education is to develop self
actualizing persons.
In adopting this aims, education is not at odds with other institutions in
society. The production of self-actualizing person is-or should be-goal of all our
social institutions- the family, the church, political institutions, the economic
system and other social institutions and organizations.
This goal is inherent in the human organism and in this respect is not only
a goal of the society, but the goal of the individual, the purpose of life. It is single,
basic, common, motivation of the individual.
An objection has been made to the concept to the concept of self
actualization on the grounds that it leads to selfish and self centered behavior;
this is a misunderstanding of its nature. Every individual lives in a society
composed of other individuals. He can only actualize himself. Interaction with
others. Selfish and self centered behavior would not lead to experiences which
would be self actualizing by nature. As Rogers states it, the self actualizing
person ‚will live with others in the maximum possible, harmony because of the
rewarding character of reciprocal positive regard. We don’t need to ask who will
socialize him, for one of his own deepest needs is for affiliation and
communication with other. As he becomes more fully himself, he more fully
himself, he will become more realistically socialized. He is more mature, more
socialized in terms ‚of the goal of social evolution‛ Tough he may not be
conventional or socially adjusted in confronting sense.
The Self-Actualizing Person
A major criticism of a broad, general goal such as self-actualization is that
it is too general and vague to be useful. The behaviorists ask for a specific,
objective or operational definition. The measurement of self actualization is in
principle possible. Here are some of the discussions of self actualization will help
us to understand its nature.
According to Snygg and Combs human beings are motivated by one basic
striving, the maintenance and enhancement of the self. Man seeks to develop an
adequate self. The adequate person perceives himself in positive ways: he has a
positive self concept, he accepts himself. The adequate person also accepts
others. He is also spontaneous and creative since being secure, he can take
chances, experiment and explore. Since the adequate person is secure and
accepting himself, he is capable of functioning independently; he finds that his
own feelings, beliefs and attitudes are adequate guides to behavior. Finally the
adequate person, according to them, being less defensive, he can relate closely
with others with concern rather than hostility or fear.
Carl Rogers describes three major characteristics of such fully a
functioning person (1) such a person to open to his experience, to all the external
and internal stimuli; he has no need for defensiveness or distortion. He aware of
himself and environment; he experiences both negative and positive feelings. (2)
He lives existentially. Each moment is new. Life is fluid not rigid. The person is
changing in process flexible and adaptable. (3) This person would find his
organism a trustworthy means of arriving at the most satisfying behavior in each
existential behavior.
Early Kelley describes the fully functioning person in terms similar to
Coms and Rogers. Such a person thinks well of himself, feeling able or
competent. Through being aware of his limitations. He also thinks well of others
and sees their importance to him as opportunities for self-development. He sees
himself as changing and developing. He recognizes the value of mistakes, since
in the process of changing and growing he can’t be right all the time. He sees
mistakes as a source of learning and profits from them.
Abraham Maslow has perhaps studied the nature of self-actualization to a
greater extent than anyone else. His description of the self-actualizing person
draws together the characteristics considered above, with others resulting from
his work, into a comprehensive picture of the highly self actualizing person.
Maslow defines self-actualization as ‚the full use and exploitation of talents,
capacities, potentialities. Such people seem to be fulfilling themselves and to be doing the
best that they are capable of doing. They are people who have developed or are developing
the full stature of which they are capable. “
Humanism would concentrate upon the development of the child's selfconcept. If the child feels good about him or herself then that is a positive start.
Feeling good about oneself would involve an understanding of one’s' strengths
and weaknesses, and a belief in one's ability to improve. Learning is not an end
in itself; It is the means to progress towards the pinnacle of self-development,
which Maslow terms 'Self-actualization'.
Curriculum:
Humanists believe that the function of the curriculum is to provide
each learner with intrinsically rewarding experiences that contribute to personal
liberation and development. To humanists, the goals of education are related to
the ideals of personal growth, integrity, and autonomy. Healthier attitudes
toward self, peers, and learning are among their expectations. The ideal of selfactualization is at the heart of the humanistic curriculum. A person who exhibits
this quality is not only coolly cognitive but also developed in aesthetic and moral
ways, that is, a person who does good works and has good character. The
humanist views actualization growth as a basic need. Each learner has a self that
must be uncovered, built up, taught.
DIRECTIONS IN HUMANISTIC CURRICULUM
There has been prevalent form of humanistic curriculum, confluent.
Confluent education generally supports the existing subject matter curriculum.
Some applications, such as ‚a curriculum of concern,‛ take learners to be the
subject matter and their emotions, feelings, and thoughts are the basis for inquiry
and learning. Aspects of humanistic curriculum have been preempted by those
working with other curricular orientations. Both academic and social
reconstructionist orientations are introducing humanistic factors. Academicians
are beginning to realize that the emotional qualities of the humanistic curricula,
such as flow, are necessary for improving complex achievement. Social
reconstructionists who want to take advantage of the humanists’ success in
increasing student personal power and sensitivity to feelings (consciousness of
self) are building on self-awareness to develop critical awareness of patterns in the
society.
Rationale for Confluence:
The essence of confluent education is the integration of an affective
domain (emotions, attitudes, values) with the cognitive domain (intellectual
knowledge and abilities). It is an add-on curriculum, whereby emotional
dimensions are added to conventional subject matter so that there is personal
meaning to what is learned. The confluent teacher of English, for example, links
affective exercises to paragraphing, organization, and argumentative and other
discursive forms of writing. By beginning with the student’s personal,
imaginative, and emotional responses and working out from these, the
confluentist helps learners both to acquire language skills and to discover
themselves.
Their goal is to provide students with more alternatives to choose from in
terms of their own lives, to take responsibility for appreciating the choices
available, and to realize that they, the learners, can indeed make choices. A
confluent curriculum includes the following elements:
1. Participation. There is consent, power sharing, negotiation, and joint
responsibility by co participants. It is essentially no authoritarian and not
unilateral.
2. Integration. There is interaction, interpenetration, and integration of
thinking, feelings, and action.
3. Relevance. The subject matter is closely related to the basic needs and
lives of the participants and is significant to them, both emotionally and
intellectually.
4. Self. The self is a legitimate object of learning.
5. Goal. The social goal or purpose is to develop the whole person within a
human society.
Methods:
1. Co-operative Learning - Students are often in competition with each other or
have to work individually towards achieving their personal goals. Co-operative
Learning not only combines cognitive and affective aspects of learning, as well as
emphasizing participation and active engagement, But also stresses academic
achievement and clearly defined curricular goals.
Reasons for co-operative learning
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Decreases dependence on teachers
Decreases divisiveness and prejudice.
Improves academic performance (Johnson et al, 1984)
Eradicates feelings of alienation, isolation, purposelessness and social
unease amongst students (Johnson et al, 1984).
Promotes positive attitudes to schools (Snow and Swanson, 1992)
Students prefer co-operative approaches (Huber et al, 1992).
Teaches personal skills and life skills.
Johnson et al (1984) outlines 4 components of co-operative learning:
1. Positive interdependence - students work towards a common goal and
share materials.
2. Individual accountability - every student must contribute to the final
outcome
3. Interpersonal and small-group skill development - The goal has an inbuilt
social skill component.
4. Face to face interactions - an essential part of this leaning strategy.
2 Student Teams - Achievement Division (STAD)- New material presented in
class in tradition manner. Following this group given material to study and
worksheets to complete. Encouraged to help each other. At the end that week’s
material, student answer quizzes individually. Team scores are calculated. Team
that has improved the most is given the most recognition. Slavin (1983) ‚students
see learning activities as social instead of isolated, fun instead of boring, under
their own control instead of the teachers. Help each other more; do not make fun
of those with learning difficulties.
Jigsaw - Each member gets separate parts of the whole. Must teach what they
have learned to other members of the group.
Group Investigation - Students select topic - then divided into sub-topics, based
on student's interests. Groups are formed to investigate each sub-topic. Each
group formulates a plan and assigns responsibilities. Members can work
individually or with others. At end group members meet to share information.
They then decide how to present this information to the rest of the class.
Teachers help with academic and social skills.
Reciprocal Teaching- Students taught specific procedures in questioning,
clarifying, summarizing and predicting. They then have to teach some of the
material to their teacher. (Palinsar and Brown, 1984)
Role of the Teacher
The teacher provides warmth and nurtures emotions while continuing to
function as a resource and facilitator. He or she should present materials
imaginatively and create challenging situations. Humanistic teachers motivate
their students through mutual trust. They encourage a positive student–teacher
relationship by teaching out of their own interests and commitments while
holding to the belief that each child can learn. Those who assume a leadership
role in affective approaches to learning get in touch with themselves and
students. Albert Einstein’s comment, ‚The supreme act of the teacher is to
awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge,‛ belies a humanistic
orientation.
The humanist teacher is a facilitator, not a disseminator, of knowledge.
Participatory and discovery methods would be favored instead of traditional
didacticism (i.e. learn parrot-fashion everything the teacher says). As well as the
child's academic needs the humanistic teacher is concerned with the child's
affective (or emotional) needs. Feeling and thinking are very much interlinked.
Feeling positive about oneself facilitates learning.
One of the models included in the humanistic teaching was facilitative
teaching developed by Carl Rogers (1975). Teachers who were highly facilitative
tented to provide more:
o response to student feeling
o use of student ideas in going instructional interactions
o Discussion with students (dialogue)
o Praise of students
o Smiling with students
Three essentials for the humanistic teacher as seen by students are the
following:
• Listens comprehensively to the student’s view of reality. (‚She cares
about my feelings and understands what I wish to say when I have difficulty in
expressing it.‛)
• Respects the student. (‚He used my idea in studying the problem.‛)
• Is natural and authentic, not putting on appearances. (‚She lets us know
what she feels and thinks and is not afraid to reveal her own doubts and
insecurities.‛)
Education Principle:
Lifelong Learning
According to Learning the Treasure Within (1996):
‚-it is the process of an aware, personal construction of the individual
through learning and education but also through existential experience to which
thought has been given, conditioned by multiple, interpersonal, social
relationships. Simple learning or the teaching-learning relationship, is no more
than the cognitive dimension on which the acquisition of explicit, practical,
learning is based, essential pillars for the development of the thought, reasoning,
logic, analysis, synthesis and questioning- all the cognitive skills that help the
individual to know how to learn, with the support of whoever is assisting or
alone.
Four Pillars of Education
The Report of the Commission in 1996 identifies the four pillars as
constituting the foundations of education, to provide a framework for how
societies might move towards learning throughout life- which was a focus of
commission and a ‚necessary utopia‛ in which all people’s talents (treasures that
lies buried within them) are realized.
1. Learning to Know
Broad general education with possible in depth study of selected subjects,
to provide a ‚passport‛ to lifelong education by laying educational foundations
and giving people a taste for lifelong learning.
2. Learning to do:
Learning to do a job of work and acquiring competence to deal with a
variety of situations and to work in terms, this can be sometimes best be acquired
by involving pupils and students in work experience and social schemes.
3. Learning to Live Together:
Learning to understand others and their history, traditions and spiritual
values, the aim being to encourage people to implement common projects and to
manage conflicts intelligently and peacefully; a necessary Utopia, wrote Delors, if
we are to escape a currently dangerous cycle sustained by cynicism and
resignation.
4. Learning To Be:
At its very first meeting, the commission firmly restated the fundamental
principle that education must contribute to the all-round development of each
individual- mind and body, intelligence, sensitivity, aesthetic sense, personal
responsibility and spiritual values. All human beings must be enabled to develop
independent, critical thinking and form their own judgment, in order to
determine for themselves what they believe they should do in the different
circumstance of life.
Conclusion
Listening, self-evaluation, creativity, openness to new experiences, and
goal setting are important curriculum goal areas. Learners have a real concern
about the meaning of life, and curriculum developers should be responsive to
that concern. Putting feelings and facts together makes good sense. It is alarming
that studies of classroom interaction show that only 1% of instructional time
assesses student feelings about what they are learning. We should also help
learners acquire different ways of knowing. Still, few persons would want the
humanistic curriculum to be the only one available or to be mandated for all.
We have much to learn before we can develop curricula that will help
students become self-directed. Our best thinking today suggests that selfdirection may follow from a climate of trust, student participation in decisions
about what and how to learn (typically students report 95% of instruction on the
what and only 5% on the how to learn), and efforts to foster confidence and selfesteem. The obstacles to be overcome are a desire by some institutions and
persons to maintain power over others, a distrust of human nature, and a lack of
student experience in taking responsibility for their own learning.
A fruitful approach to improving humanistic curriculum has begun. It
includes focusing on the physical and emotional needs of learners and
attempting to design learning experiences that will help fulfill these needs. The
idea that curriculum standards and activities should match emotional issues that
are salient at particular times is powerful. Curriculum developers might ask how
a particular subject matter could be structured in order to help students with
developmental crises. Adolescents, for example, who are experiencing an
identity crisis and trying to reconcile conflicts with parents might study history
to illuminate the origins of parental attitudes and beliefs, considering the present
validity of these origins. Students might use the sciences in meeting their needs
for coherence and understanding the world rather than studying isolated
subjects. Or, they might use the arts to express their feelings and their natural
desire to be themselves.
Bibliography:
Clinical Education and the Doctor of Tomorrow. (1994). Humanistic
Curriculum New York: New York Academy of Medicine
Delors, Jacques. (1996). Learning the Treasures Within. Paris, France:
UNESCO
Moss, Donald. (2002).‛ The Roots and Genealogy of Humanistic
Psychology. Journal Humanistic Education
Paterson, C.H. (1973). Humanistic Education. New Jersey: Prentice Hall
Inc.
Harnessing Student Movements through Authentic Humanization
‚O Youth, illumined by the arts and letters,
Stride forth into the arena, break down the heavy
Fetters that bind your genius down, for in
These tropic regions were untortured darkness<
Hand bestows today a splendid crown
Upon the native of this Eastern land.‛
-
Jose Rizal
Importance of Values in Student Movements
Values is broadly defined as a measure of goodness or desirability of an
action. From this definition, we can say that values must be a manifested attribute
of behavior. It is quite difficult to illustrate values unless it is keenly observed.
This rough definition of values poses more contentions than clarifications. Since
people could not always single-out which action is desirable or not (and
according to whose terms), let us situate this values concept in the language of
student movements.
Organizing values (or values employed in student organizations) is
referred to as ‘any perceived desirable decision and action taken by a group to
advance its cause’. Simply put, organizing values is ‘anything that we hold dear’
in the course of our actions as a member of a student organization. This values in
organizing is said to be the ‘culture- side’ or the ‘glue’ that binds members
together. Without this glue, the student movement will remain a loosely
confederation of individuals having no definite goals and authentic principles.
When we speak of organizing values, we are generally dealing with the set of
principles and/ or dogmatic beliefs of any student organization. These principles
hold its members into a cohesive force, sharing a common ‘frame-of-mind’ and
sentiments in the analysis of recurring social problems and dilemmas, and
choosing what, when and where opportunities may arise for student campaigns,
meaningful social
and scholastic reforms and /or visibility through photo-ops and interviews, as
they judge fit and advantageous for their organization.
Two Contrasting Values System among Student Movements
In the early years of student activism and social movements (1960s?),
organizational values is generally in the bastion of the elitist ‘brains of the
movement’ (Nemenzo 2000). They are the ones who decide and perpetuate the
kind of values they deem necessary for the advancement of the revolution (Nafisi
2004), dismissing any attempt towards a liberalist education (i.e. reading Western
literature that they brand as revisionist/ propaganda campaigns of the
Imperialist and engaging in what they call as anti- revolutionary actions-- like
watching The American Idol, etc...) and conservative traditions and customs (i.e.
practicing one’s religious and cultural beliefs). What this movement lacks is the
respect for individual dissent and creative imagination. For this movement,
values is fixed, unchangeable and encompassing. As Professor Nafisi of Iran
describes it:
‚ It is they who fashioned democratic centralism and exerted a
strong hold over their members’ lifestyles and social activities
(Nafisi 2004).‛
Those days are never gone. Rightly or wrongly, we can no longer survive in a
student organization that is hesitant of bureaucratic changes and non- party
political and economic scrutiny within and among its ranks (Burgess 1978). This
myopic view of collective voice’s supremacy over the individual’s choice is a
dismay, if not a shame for those who themselves ‘servants of the people’ and
‘liberators of the oppressed.’ Bertrand Russell, a Logician-Mathematician and
Critical Philosopher, gives us a more democratic and less bureaucratic means of
establishing relationships among (student) organizations:
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Never try to discourage thinking.
3. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your
children, endeavor to overcome it by argument, and not by
authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and
illusory.
4. Do not use power to suppress opinion you think pernicious, for
if you do, the opinions will suppress you.
5. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive
agreement, for if you value intelligence as you should, the
former implies deeper agreement than the latter (Russell 1950).
Bertie’s tenets are sound and simple, yet many organizations fall short in its
application. Since we all live in a macho culture wherein being strong and being
right is everything, while gentleness and uncertainty is failure; we will always
find Bertie’s creed struggling in the corner of our minds-- like a homunculus
trying to escape from its cell. I agree with Bertie’s tenets, but more than the
values of thinking and reflecting, it is urgent for student movements to establish
a set of values necessary to establish a breed of disciplined student activists. For
this reason, I believe that Authentic Humanization or Tunay na Pagpapakatao
(TPP) best fit this purpose.
The next relevant questions would be: What is this Authentic Humanization
principle? And how are we supposed to make- use of it in our organization--- as
a reform- seeker, democracy- builder and social critic youth organization within
our respective universities/ colleges and nation.
Relevance of Authentic Humanization
What I understand about Authentic Humanization is that this values set
gives a concrete and unified explanation on how we could possibly execute our
daily human activities, following the tenets of humanization. It attempts to
explain the process of humanization and answers the basic question of human
existence which has found its best translation in the Filipino language: ‘Madaling
maging tao, pero paano ba magpakatao?’ Again, it is the process of humanization
that is essential in AH. How to become truly human? Perhaps Paulo Freire’s
explanation on the contrasting modes of education-- the dehumanization and
humanization process, will give us a comprehensible analysis on the
assumptions underlying Authentic Humanization.
The Brazilian social critic and pedagogical reformer differentiates the
dehumanization from the humanization process in education:
‚Dehumanization is a concrete expression of alienation and
domination; humanistic education is a utopian project of the
dominated and oppressed. Obviously both imply action by
people in a social reality-- the first, in the sense of preserving the
status quo, the second in a radical transformation of the
oppressor’s world (Freire 1985).‛
He further distinguishes the two:
‚In essence, one of the radical differences between education as a
dominating and dehumanizing task and education as a humanistic
and liberating task is that the former is pure act of transference of
knowledge, whereas the latter is an act of knowledge (Freire 1985).‛
I believe that Freire’s elucidations are enough. What he is actually trying
to say is that most people around the world are either educated, with some
variations, to become the oppressor or the oppressed and/or the master or the
slave. Both, however, are victims of a dehumanizing education (Freire 1985).
Thus, the first step towards the humanization process would be the realization
that ours is a society of people besieged by the alienating forces of unrestricted
capitalism, bloated bureaucracy and massive apathy. The next step is deciding
upon actions for the creation of critical and appropriate knowledge in the crucial
formation of student movements. The last step, nonetheless the most difficult
one, would be the implication of actions in altering the status quo and
establishing a system suited for the peaceful co-existence of people, regardless of
their race, class, age, gender and cultural beliefs. This is, I think, what is meant by
Authentic Humanization. You can
call it Utopian. But in the words of Professor Randolf David, ‚it is far better to
construct new Utopias than engage in an endless debunking and degenerated
cynicism‛ (David 2004). Recalling his words: ‚ there is less and less room in the
modern universities that can inspire and move, that enable us to stand in the awe
of something, or to imagine better worlds... for the life of the mind have no
choice but to reinvent academe so that it may serve once more as a lively refuge
for dreamers and utopia-builders (David 2004).‛ The academe may be one
relevant institution for this project, but student and youth movements have their
own equal share of social responsibility in utopia-building.
Contextualizing Authentic Humanization in Student Movements
How are we going to make use of AH, as a value set, in our student and
youth organizations?
First, we must establish the self’s role in the cosmic cycle of interrelated
human relationships. The self is basically the decision- maker and action- taker.
S/he embodies the potential critico- prophetic individual who constantly shapes
himself/ herself in order to fulfill what Professor Francisco Nemenzo referred as,
‘the role of the intellectual as a social critic’ (Nemenzo 2000). However, the self is
much more complicated than it seems. It is not without any problem. One
problem is the reality of transience. The individual will sooner or later, face the
reality that his/hers is a transient organization. That what s/he has with it is only
impermanence. Thus, a lot of student organizations tend to gain and lose
members quickly. In the 1970s, the sociologist Alvin Toffler has foreseen this
phenomenon in the USA:
‚ Thus, we find the emergence of a new kind of organization man-a man who, despite his many affiliations, remains basically
uncommitted to any organization. He is willing to employ his skills
and creative energies to solve problems with equipment provided
by the organization, and within temporary groups established by it.
But he does so only so long as the problems interest him. He is
committed to his career, his own self- fulfillment (Toffler 1970).‛
Though originally observed among the corporate organizations, this
phenomenon should be better understood as a ‚wake-up-call‛ (pardon me for
the cliché) for student movements to recreate and redefine its strategies in
dealing with the challenge of transience and the primacy of the individual, rather
than take this as an omen towards the death of student organizations.
Second, we must see ourselves as an integral part, like all other parts, of a
cosmic whole; wherein the self is constantly relating with the material world, the
physical environment and the Spiritual- Other. In this whole, whatever we do
could have a direct or indirect effect (either desirable or not) to other people,
including our physical world. This second tenet can be summed- up by the
Confucian maxim, ‚Do unto others, as you want others to do unto you.‛ Or by
the Christian ethics, ‚Love your neighbor, as you love yourself.‛ The concept of
loving and respecting others are not new. In fact, they have been readily
available since time immemorial and have been constantly interpreted and
employed in various human undertakings. Professor David goes further, not
only does he believes in such values, but also he advocates for virtues that can
assist people in facing the challenges of the modern, and others would argue-post-modern society (David 2004).
In
1969,
Professor
Nemenzo
dissected
the
student
composition and posed a challenge to modern student organizations:
‚The student movement in the Philippines and elsewhere, is a
heterogeneous entity. In terms of social composition, it is very
movements’
difficult to define because the activists are recruited from various
social strata. This heterogeneous character of the movement
amounts for its lack of ideological coherence< (Nemenzo 2000)‛
What Professor Nemenzo posed as a problem in the late ‘60s vis-à-vis the
lack of ideological coherence among student movements has been responded by
Professor David’s ‚Ten Virtues for the New World‛ (David 2004) three decades
later. The ideological coherence could be reinstated by virtues linking our
understanding and appreciation of the conditions underlying our commitment to
generate social movements and mass actions. One particular virtue is solidarity.
Solidarity is ‘the capacity to feel the pain of others by an imaginative
identification with their situation (David 2004).’ With this description, we are
reminded of social strata amongst student activists as something that we should
not be anxious. For if someone ‘has the readiness to find common cause with
those who are struggling against oppression, exploitation and despair (David
2004)’; then be confident for half of the battle is won. However, it does not end
there. For an organization to succeed, much work should be put on planning
relevant activities, delivering what has been deliberated and reflecting on the
outcomes of the activities. Most youth organizations fail to reach the final route.
For any undertakings to be truly revolutionary, student movements should
never lack the courage to carry-out what is learned and unlearned (Velasco 2005/
Nemenzo 2000). Hence, the first word of this essay --‚harnessing‛, is simply a
memento for student activists, like a ‚tap-in-the-shoulder‛, to continue and
struggle.
Third, we are to take the environmental issues and the ethical use of our
natural resources and material environment, seriously (Al Gore 1992). Economics
really is a science of material use and wealth spending. And there lies the
problem; we allow environmental atrocities in the guise of economic
development. But how can we use economics without sacrificing our
environment. That puzzles everyone. However, AH proposes that we should
have that conscious effort to consider the effects of our economic and noneconomic activities in our material environment. I have seen several instances
where people does not regard environment as something we should also fight
for. And who are these culprits? Not the huge manufacturing industries or
mining companies, but the participants of mass mobilizations, mostly comprised
of social and political activist. With crumpled papers and scraped plastics left on
the street after each mobilizations, it is an indication of how ignorant and
irresponsible we are. We can fashion ourselves as socialists, nationalists,
progressives and revolutionaries-- yet we can never escape the fact that we are,
in one way or the other, contributors to the rapid degradation of our natural
environment. With Authentic Humanization in mind, treating environment as
though resources are never scarce is perilous; since we are, reiterate, part of that
cosmic cycle of interrelated human relationships. For this reason, let us
understand our enduring situation by looking back at some economic realities:
1. Economics tells us that resources available in the physical
environment are scarce. There is a limited supply for raw
materials so people should make use of it efficiently. Nonrenewable resources are not replaced once consumed (e.g. oil,
coal, gold, minerals, etc.)
2. Due to unrestricted capitalism and the unpredictable movement
of financial assets, derivatives and portfolio investments,
markets and governments usually fail in uplifting the living
conditions of its people (Bello 2006).
Finally, youth movements have an arduous task in this process of integrating,
employing and harnessing AH not only as an organizational values but also as
virtues necessary for the development of the ‘self’. There will always be hope
and a task to bring about meaningful social changes (Fabros, et al 2006) and
youth movements have a significant role in its realization. Toffler reiterates this
hope and task:
‚The responsibility for change, therefore, lies with us. We must
begin with ourselves not to close our minds prematurely to the
novel, the surprising, the seemingly radical< it means fighting for
freedom< (and) the right of people to voice their ideas, even if
heretical (Toffler 1970).‛
REFERENCES
Bello, Walden. Deglobalization: Ideas for a New World. Ateneo de Manila
University Press, Katipunan Avenue, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines,
2006.
Burgess, Anthony. Bakunin’s Children, pp. 69- 82 (found in 1985. Arrow Books
Limited, London, Great Britain, 1978).
David, Randolf S. Ten Virtues of a New World, pp. 340- 342 (found in Nation,
Self, and Citizenship: An Invitation to Philippine Sociology. Anvil Publishing
Inc., Pasig City, Philippines, 2004).
Fabros, Aya, et al (eds.). Politics of Place and Identity, pp. 11- 45 (found in Social
Movements: Experiences from the Philippines. Raintree Trading and Publishing,
Inc., Institute for Popular Democracy, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 2006).
Freire, Paulo. Humanistic Education, pp. 111- 120 (found in The Politics of
Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation. Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc.,
Massachusetts, USA, 1985).
Gore, Al. Eco- nomics: Truth or Consequences, pp. 182- 196 (found in Earth in the
Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit. New York, USA, 1992).
Nafisi, Azar. Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books. Random House Inc.,
New York, USA, 2004.
Nemenzo, Francisco. The Intellectual as Social Critic, pp. 91- 102 (found in U.P.
Into the 21st Century. University of the Philippines Press, Diliman, Quezon City,
Philippines, 2000).
_________________. The Student Movement and the Revolutionary Process, pp.
115- 126 (found in U.P. Into the 21st Century. University of the Philippines Press,
Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines, 2000).
Russell, Bertrand. The Functions of a Teacher, 112- 123 (Unpopular Essays: 12
Adventures in Argument by the Winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for Literature.
Simon & Schuster, New York, USA, 1950).
_________________. The Free Thinker’s Creed (undated)
Toffler, Alvin. The Concept of Transience, pp. 44- 45 (found in Future Shock.
Random House Inc., USA, 1970).
_________________. The Collapse of Hierarchy, pp. 137- 142 (found in Future
Shock. Random House Inc., USA, 1970).
Velasco, Djorina. Rejecting ‚Old Style‛ Politics? Youth Participation in the
Philippines, pp. 79- 122 (found in Go! Young Progressives in Southeast Asia.
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung , Manila, Philippines, 2005).
FINDING THE PUBLIC IN THE INTELLECTUAL
IN PHILIPPINE PHILOSOPHICAL DISCOURSES1
This paper shall examine the state of Philosophy in the
Philippines in terms of its demographics, pedagogy and
discourses produced from 2006-2012. The author shall argue
that for Philosophy programs to provide a significant
contribution to national development, it should strive to
produce public intellectuals capable of influencing public
opinion towards the realization of goals and ideals beneficial
for the common good.
This paper intends to be a continuation to Quito’s seminal work, The State of
Philosophy in the Philippines (1983). Quito’s work is probably the only work of its
kind which attempts to give a comprehensive assessment of the history, practice
and policy directions of Philosophy in the Philippines at the time. A more recent
work, Gripaldo’s (2004 and 2000) critical bibliographies provides an empirical
profile of the philosophical practice in the country in terms of publications
produced during the covered period. Studies of these sort provide posterity a
perspective of philosophical activities in the distant past and to reflect on the
progress and future directions the current generation will take in advancing
philosophical discourse and practice in the country.
An attempt to evaluate the state of Philosophy in the Philippines reuires that we
revisit the objectives as to the reasons for its being. Article 2, section 37 of the
1987 Philippine Constitution stipulates that the State shall give priority to
education<to foster patriotism and nationalism, accelerate social progress, and
promote total human liberation and development. Article 14, section 3 of the
Constitution also states that all educational institutions shall: (1) inculcate
patriotism and nationalism, (2) appreciate the role of national heroes in historical
development, (3) foster love for humanity. (4) teach the rights and duties of
citizenship. (5) strengthen ethical and spiritual values, (6) develop moral
character and personal discipline, (7) encourage critical and creative thinking, (8)
broaden scientific and technological knowledge and (9) promote vocational
efficiency.
It is worth noting that the state puts much emphasis on civic responsibility over
individual development. It presupposes that educational institutions are bound
and expected to teach students how to think and act with the public interest in
mind. This entails that students, as citizen should learn and aspire to be good
citizens to both enrich the country’s human capital and to contribute to the
collective good of the country.
The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) was created to oversee the
operations of both public and private higher education institutions (HEIs) to
ensure that academic programs being offered meet the prescribed standards and
policy directions. Since its inception the CHED embarked in reviewing and
prescribing applicable policies and standards for all academic programs through
the issuance of corresponding Memorandum Orders. Just recently the issuance of
CHED Memorandum Order No. 23 s. 2012 – Criteria and Implementing
Guidelines for the Identification, Support and Development of Centers of
Excellence and Centers of Development in Philosophy Program2provides the
criteria for the recognition of outstanding Philosophy programs in the country.
This issuance states that the philosophy programs are recognized for the
development of world-class scholarship, nation building and national
development. This objective reiterates the educational provisions stipulated in
the 1987 constitution to stress the importance of the academe and Philosophy’s
role in the collective good of the nation through the development of the country’s
intellectual capital.
How much has academic Philosophy programs in the attainment of these
objectives? In providing an impact assessment of the field, the author shall be
working with the assumption that Philosophy programs are intended to cultivate
in the creation of a mass of a reflective and critical minded citizenry capable of
questioning and articulating issues of paramount importance to the individual or
the collective good. As such, Philosophy graduates are expected to be well
versed in (1) interpretation and analysis, adept in (2) critical assessment of
arguments, ideas, and presuppositions, capable of (3) fluent application of
philosophical concepts, distinctions and methods addressing philosophical
problems, and (4) creatively developing and pursuing through effective oral and
written communication, a novel approach to a broad class of puzzling issues
(Rudisil 2011, 243). The development of such citizens is necessary for the
cultivation of a healthy and robust democratic society.
This paper has two goals: (1) To provide a profile of philosophical discourses in
Philippine HEIs via the theses and publications produced from 2007-20123, and
(2) to assess the extent to which Philosophy programs have attained the
educational objectives it was meant to accomplish stipulated in the country’s
legal statues. The author shall conclude this paper with recommendations
regarding possible directions Philosophy educations may adapt for it to become
a potent force in nation building and development. To do this it is best to
examine the structure of Philosophy education in the country.
PHILOSOPHY EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINES
The Philosophy Curriculum Past and Present
Philosophy education in the Philippines has changed substantially since it was
first offered in the country by the University of Santo Tomas (founded in 1611).
Changes are brought about not just by changes in the curriculum but also in the
social and technological climate as well. Now, more than any era in Philippine
history, Filipinos today enjoy a great deal of liberty in terms of freedom of
expression and access to information. The internet revolutionized the
dissemination as well as retrieval of information which made a whole gamut of
literature available to the public mostly for free thereby making data gathering
much easier.
It should be noted that specialized Philosophy courses in the Bachelor of Arts in
Philosophy Degree (please see Table 2) has doubled since its original design in
the 1940s. The curriculum at the time seems to have a bent towards metaphysics,
religious education, Greek and Spanish language5. Perhaps the popular
perception that philosophy graduates are meant to pursue careers in law or the
clergy may be rooted in the curriculum design of the 1940s. This and the
University of Santo Tomas’ (founded in 1611) distinction of having the longest
running philosophy and a strong Thomistic tradition may have contributed to
this perception.
BACHELOR OF ARTS IN PHILOSOPHY DEGREE PROGRAM
1940s*
1997 to present**
st
First Year – 1 Semester
Philosophy 1 (Principle of 3 units
Logic)
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 0 units
nd
First Year - 2 Semester
Philosophy 2 (Principles of
3 units
Ethics)
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 0 units
st
Second Year – 1 Semester
Logic
3 units
Sub Total 0
Sub Total 3
Units
Units
nd
Second Year – 2 Semester
Philosophy
of
the 3 units
Human Person
Philosophy Elective
3 units
Sub Total 0
Sub Total 6
Units
Units
Third Year – 1st Semester
Philosophy 3 (Cosmology)
3 units
History of Philosophy I
3 units
Chinese Philosophy
3 units
Metaphysics
3 units
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 9 units
Third Year – 2nd Semester
Philosophy 4 (Natural
3 units
History of Philosophy II
3 units
Theology)
Social Philosophy
3 units
Epistemology
3 units
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 9 units
Fourth Year – 1st Semester
Philosophy 9 (Metaphysics) 3 units
Ethics
3 units
Philosophy of Religion
3 units
Philosophy Electives
6 units
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 12
units
Fourth Year – 2 Semester
Philosophy 5 (History of
3 units
Philosophy of Science
3 units
Philosophy)
Philosophy Electives
6 units
Sub Total 3 units
Sub Total 9 units
TOTAL 18
TOTAL 48
units
units
Table 2. Standard Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy program major subjects
nd
*from Quito (1983, 16-18)
**Based on CHED Memorandum Order No. 44 s. 1997
Philosophy students and scholars today enjoy a wide variety of specialized
philosophy courses offered in the undergraduate curriculum. The design may
have been intended to provide students with a panoramic understanding and
appreciation of the various fields of philosophy with the hope that some students
may be inclined to pursue graduate education and do research on specialized
interests.
An examination of the current curriculum design would also suggest that the
constitutional provisions regarding the role of education in propagating civic
virtues is also incorporated. A healthy balance of mandatory courses such as five
(5) specialized courses (e.g. Logic, History and Philosophy 1 and 2,
Epistemology, Metaphysics, Philosophy of Science), three (3) civic-oriented
courses (e.g. Ethics, Social Philosophy, Chinese Philosophy) and two (2) selfintrospective courses (e.g. Philosophy of the Human Person, Philosophy of
Religion) has been built-in the curriculum design.
It may be inferred that the state intended to produce graduates who can practice
intelligibly on public socio-political discourses and perhaps inspire good civic
virtues individually and collectively. Among the philosophical areas Ethics,
Social Philosophy deal with the appropriate norms one should adopt when
dealing with others and society as a whole. It articulates the general principles to
be observed for the cultivation of harmonious and productive relations with one
another which is necessary for the economic and cultural advancement of any
society.
Judging from the curriculum design, philosophy graduates in the Philippines are
expected to possess a degree of socio-political and moral sensitivity. This entails
the acquisition and cultivation of competencies mentioned by Rudisil (2011)
necessary for the critical assessment and articulation of issues as well as its
resolution. An effective civic education should be able to cultivate among
students socio-political emotions such as anger over what is deemed social
injustices and to discern sides taken by political actors in in a number of sociopolitical disputes/issues (White 2012, 10).
This is in contrast to western-oriented curriculum such as the one used by the
University of Cambridge which mandates just two (2) civic oriented courses (e.g.
Ethics and political philosophy) in its tripos system and the rest devoted to
specialized courses. Though it can be argued that civic and introspective courses
may be pursued as electives, however such design is left to the student’s own
volition and personal interest independent of any collective ideal.
Unlike western countries in the United States and Europe which offers several
elective courses delivered as public lectures which students may choose as
electives. Should there be insufficient enrolees, electives may be offered as
‘tutorials’ where classes may be held in smaller rooms instead of lecture halls.
The Philippines does not have such a luxury. With limited budget, elective
courses are generally offered when there are sufficient students enrolled in order
to cover expenses for the professor’s salary, electricity and other operating
expenses.
Within the context of limited resources, the beauty of prescribing mandatory
courses is brought to light. It allows the state to subtly influence students to
follow sound civil norms to become good citizens contributory to the economic
progress and development of the nation. This is perhaps the academe’s greatest
contribution to nation building – the cultivation of public intellectuals broadly
defined as persons with or without academic background who influence large
publics for a duration of time (Elieason and Kalleberg 2008, 1-2).
Public intellectuals like politicians enjoy a popular following among citizens at
large. Though it is difficult to say why such personalities have such a strong hold
on the public’s attention and patronage, it may be safe to assume that more than
their charisma, politicians and public intellectuals are able to communicate to lay
citizens issues of general interest and their proposed vision on how such issues
can be resolved. The ability to communicate ideas, visions and possible worlds in
an simple and engaging manner easily understandable to lay citizens is perhaps
one of the most effective means how to influence people. Being able to delineate
issues and allowing the fellow citizens to understand the intricacies of positions
being taken and articulating the best course of action for fellow citizens to
consider and follow is perhaps one of the strongest contributions philosophy
programs and graduates to nation building.
How much have philosophy programs and graduates have achieved so far? To
give a picture of the ways, means and issues being articulated by philosophy
students and scholars in the Philippines, it is worth exploring the context and
mechanism shaping philosophical discourses in the country.
Examining the Philosophical Landscape: Student Statistics and Infrastructure
Today HEIs offering Philosophy programs has almost quadrupled since 1976
(please see Annex A). Records show that 28 HEIs were said to offer Philosophy
programs. Now a total of 104 HEIs have been authorized by CHED to offer
Philosophy degrees at the undergraduate and graduate levels. It is also worth
noting that the geographic location of Philosophy offering HEIs have also
increased. Before only a select few regions have HEIs with Philosophy programs.
Now all regions in the country have their respective HEIs granted authority by
CHED to Philosophy programs thereby democratizing the access to philosophy
education.
On the average the National Capital Region (NCR) alone has 1/3 of the total
population of all philosophy enrolees and graduates across all regions. The NCR
is also home to the three HEIs with CHED Centers of Excellence in Philosophy
which may partially contribute to the promotion of Philosophy degrees among
prospective students. It is also worth noting that the major publishers who from
time to time publish philosophy books are also based in the NCR such as the
Ateneo de Manila University, University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, De
La Salle University in partnership with C&E Publishing and Anvil, among
others.
Given the exposure in terms of the presence of HEIs with excellent philosophy
programs, the existence of substantial philosophy library collections as well as
the ready availability of philosophy texts in Metro Manila bookstores, it is
understandable why the NCR has the biggest share of the pie in terms of student
enrolees and graduates. The availability of such infrastructure across the country
is necessary for Philosophy to flourish. Unfortunately, resources in philosophy
are rarely available and difficult to obtain in many provinces and regions in the
country. Despite this, the internet and the availability of open access materials
and literature makes up for the perceived unavailability of NCR produced
literature. Today almost all major texts in philosophy can be downloaded at no
cost. Efficient use of the internet can bridge the geographic divide in the
promotion of philosophical resources and the discipline itself.
Despite the substantially enhanced access to philosophy education and academic
materials, Philosophy programs does not seem to be the course of choice for
many students all over the country. Today Philosophy programs generally enjoy
a good number of enrolees from Academic Year 2005-2011. CHED (Dilidili 2013)
statistics show that enrolees from the said period have a slight growth in
enrolment or an average of 1.90% increment for the six (6) year period (please see
Table 1).
2005/06
Reg.
E
2006/07
G
E
2007/08
G
E
2008/09
G
E
2009/10
G
E
2010/11
G
E
G
01
88
18
100
19
88
21
79
20
87
13
98
13
02
105
24
199
11
154
18
159
51
235
31
256
24
03
146
9
157
22
248
38
528
46
362
30
469
51
04
492
122
562
102
491
66
478
56
422
60
410
48
05
363
83
422
112
474
73
473
60
647
92
505
69
06
349
56
436
60
425
55
422
62
384
61
357
144
07
833
107
718
153
776
319
1,707
194
663
118
678
288
08
43
5
201
37
171
35
181
39
168
36
159
35
09
74
19
79
26
61
27
57
24
88
11
72
31
10
151
21
252
30
268
30
235
34
239
37
230
75
11
162
32
244
23
235
22
332
29
356
27
362
26
12
170
34
97
10
158
20
200
25
193
31
183
25
13
136
39
347
59
288
53
288
53
309
30
284
48
NCR
1,685
421
1,940
326
2,433
339
1,851
375
1,675
331
1,591
359
CAR
268
66
305
61
413
64
337
58
218
30
218
30
ARMM
25
5
25
5
25
5
25
5
25
5
32
5
TOTAL
5,090
1,061
6,084
1,056
6,708
1,185
7,352
1,131
6,071
943
5,904
1,271
Egr
Egr%
AEgr
Ggr%
644
-1,281
-167
16%
9%
9%
-21%
-3%
-5
129
-54
-188
328
-0.47%
10.89%
-4.77%
-19.94%
25.81%
17.36%
17.67%
15.38%
15.53%
21.53%
-1.84%
E:G
AE:G
624
1.90%
Ggr
AGgr
994
20.84%
20.95%
Table 1. Statistics on Philosophy enrolment (E) and graduation (G) from SY 200520114
Legend:
Egr
- Enrolment growth
Ggr – Graduation growth
E:G = Enrolment to
graduation ratio
AE:G – Average enrolment
to
graduation ratio
Egr % - Enrolment growth
Ggr% - Graduation growth
percentage
percentage
AEgr - Average enrolment
AGgr – Average graduation
growth
growth
The slight increase in graduation is offset by the decline in average graduation
rate of 1.84%. More alarming is the average enrolment to graduation ratio of
20.95%. This translates to roughly only two (2) out of ten (10) enrolees manage to
graduate and obtain a degree in Philosophy for both the graduate and
undergraduate levels. This suggests that many students at one point in time do
not feel the urge to pursue their degree in philosophy. Though a study on the
reasons why former philosophy students opt not to finish their degrees has yet to
be published it is worth examining some of the possible reasons why philosophy
remains far from being the degree of choice among prospective students in the
country.
ISSUES IN THE PROFESSION
NOTES
I wish to extend my gratitude to the Philippine National Research Society
(PNPRS) and to my sister, Anna Monica M. Esguerra for providing me a grant as
well as the support to proceed with this study. Special thanks also goes to Ms.
Xenia Romero and Ms. AizaDilidili of CHED for providing supplementary
materials for this paper.
2 The official CHED Memorandum Order prescribing the standards for
Philosophy programs has not been issued as of this writing. At the moment
pending the issuance of each discipline’s prescribed standards, all humanities,
social science and communication disciplines follow the standards prescribed by
CHED MO No. 44 s. 1997
1
Readers are advised that the materials to be examined in this paper are only
those available from: CHED records, the National Library online catalogue, as
well as the online public access catalogues (OPAC) of PhD in Philosophy
granting institutions.
4 CHED states that their enrolment statistics is consolidated for both the graduate
and undergraduate levels. Segregated data is not available at this moment.
5
For the complete curriculum and course descriptions, please see Quito 1983, p.
16-18.
3
REFERENCES
Co, Alfredo P. 2004. Doing philosophy in the Philippines: 50 years ago and 50
years from now.Karunungan a Journal of Philosophy. 21.
Commission on Higher Education.Memorandum order no. 23 s. 1997 – policies
and standards for humanities, social sciences and communication education.
Dilidili, Aiza. E-mail to James Victor M. Esguerra. 15 January 2013.
Eliaeson, Sven and Kalleberg, Ragnvald. 2008. Academics as public intellectuals.
Newcastle, Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Gripaldo, Rolando M. 2007. Filipino philosophy, western tradition and nation
building.Φιλοσοφία: International Journal of Philosophy. 36(1).
__________________. 2004. An update 1998-2002 [of Filipino philosophy: A critical
bibliography] Available
athttp://ia600305.us.archive.org24/items/PhilippineStudiesMaterials_258/Filipino
PhilosohyACriticalBibliography1998. Accesed: 1 February 2013.
__________________. 2001. Filipino philosophy: A critical bibliography, 2nd edition.
Manila: De La Salle University Press. Also available at
http://ia600309.us.archive.org/30/items/PhilippineStudiesMaterials/FilipinoPhilos
ophyACriticalBibliography1774-1997.pdf.Accessed: 1 February 2013.
Quito, Emerita S. 1990. Teaching and research of Philosophy in the Philippines.
In A life of philosophy selected works (1965-1988) of Emerita S. Quito. Manila: De La
Salle University Press.
__________________. 1983. The state of Philosophy in the Philippines. Manila: De La
Salle University Press.
Rudisil, John. 2011. The transition from studying philosophy to doing
philosophy. Teaching Philosophy.34(3).
University of Cambridge.Undergraduate prospectus 2014 entry.Cambridge,
University
of
Cambrisge.
2013.
Availabe
at
http://www.study.cam.ac.uk/undergraduate/publications/prospectus/docs/UGP2
014.pdf. Accesed 2 February 2013.
The 1987 constitution of the Republic of the Philippines.Available at
http://www.gov.ph/the-philippine-constitutions/the-1987-constitution-of-therepublic-of-the-philippines/.Accessed 1 February 2013.
White, Patricia. 2012. Making political anger possible: A task for civic education.
Journal of Philosophy of Education.46(1).
ANNEX A
HEIa AUTHORIZED BY CHED TO OFFER PHILOSOPHY PROGRAMS
19791
2012-Present2
National Capital Region (NCR)
1. University of the Philippines
1. University of the Philippines-Diliman**
2. University of Santo Tomas
2. University of Santo Tomas**
3. Ateneo de Manila University
3. Ateneo de Manila University**
4. De La Salle University
4. De La Salle University**
5. Adamson University
5. Adamson University
6. Our Lady of Angels Seminary
6. Our Lady of Angels Seminary
7. San Carlos Seminary
7. San Carlos Seminary
8. San Jose Seminary
8. Polytechnic University of the Philippines
9. St. Paul Seminary
9. Philippine Christian University
10. Christ the King Mission Seminary 10. San Beda College**
11. Sacred Heart Novitiate
11. St. Paul University-Manila
12. University of Manila
12. Divine Word Mission Seminary
13. Trinity College
13. Philippine Dominican Center for Institutional Studies
14. Lyceum of the Philippines
15. Rogationist Seminary College
(Manila)
16. Saint Anthony Mary Claret College
17. St. Camillus College Seminary
18. Centro Escolar University-Manila**
Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR)
1. St. Louis University
1. St. Louis University*
2. San Pablo Major Seminary
3. University of Baguio**
Region 1 (Ilocos Region)
1. University of Pangasinan
1. Colegio de San Jose Alominos
2. Mary Help of Christians College Seminary
3. University of Luzon**
4. Urdaneta City University
Region 2 (Cagayan Valley)
1. Our Lady of the Pillar College - Cauayan
2. Saint Mary’s University
3. St. Ferdinand College-Iligan
4. University of St. Louis-Tuguegarao
5. Lyceum of Aparri*
6. Isabela Colleges**
7. Isabela State University-Cabagan**
8. Northeastern College**
9. University of La Salette**
Region 3 (Central Luzon)
1. Mater Redemptorist College of San Jose City
2. Mother of Good Counsel Seminary
3. Mount Carmel College-Baler
4. Our Lady of Peace College Seminary
5. Nueva Ecija University of Science and TechnologyMain**
6. PamantasanngAraullo**
Region 4-A and B (CALABARZON and MIMAROPA)
1. Divine Word Seminary
1. Divine Word Seminary
2. St. Francis de Sales Major
2. Batangas State University-Main
Seminary
3. Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Seminary 3. De La Salle University-Dasmariñas
4. Don Bosco College-Canlubang
5. International Peace Leadership College
6. Laguna Northwestern College
7. Maryhill College
8. Oblates of Saint Joseph
9. Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary Seminary
10. Saint Paul Seminary Foundation
11. Saint Peter’s Colleges Seminary
12. San Pablo Colleges
13. University of the Philippines-Los Baños
14. Cavite State University-Main**
1.
1.
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
Region 5 (Bicol Region)
Aquinas University
1. Aquinas University
2. Ateneo de Naga University
3. Bicol University-Daraga Campus
4. Holy Family Center of Studies Foundation
5. Holy Rosary Minor Seminary
6. Mater Salutis College Seminary
7. Our Lady of Peñsfrancia Seminary
8. Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity College Seminary
9. Southern Bicol Colleges
10. Bicol College**
Region 6 (Western Visayas)
St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary
1. St. Vincent Ferrer Seminary
Central Philippine University
2. Colegio de Sta. Rita
3. Kabankalan Catholic College
4. Sacred Heart Seminary School
5. Saint Anthony’s College-Antique
6. Sancta Maria, Mater et Regina, Seminarium
7. Santo Niño Seminary
8. St. John Mary Vianney Seminary
9. Colegio de la Purisima Concepcion
10. University of Negros Occidental-Recoletos
11. University of San Agustin
12. Iloilo State College of Fisheries-Main**
13. University of Antique-Main**
Region 7 (Central Visayas)
San Carlos Seminary College
1. San Carlos Seminary College
University of San Carlos
2. University of San Carlos**
Colegio de San Jose-Recoletos
3. University of San Jose-Recoletos*
Siliman University
4. Siliman University
5. ColegiumSocietasAngeliPacis
6. Holy Name University
7. Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary
8. Mary’s Children Formation College
9. Rogationist Seminary College
10. Saint Joseph Seminary College
Region 8 (Eastern Visayas)
Sacred Heart Seminary
1. Sacred Heart Seminary
2. Christ the King College-Calbayog City
3. Saint Joseph College
4. Saint Mary’s College of Borongan
5. St. Vincent de Paul College Seminary
Region 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula)
1. Ateneo de Zamboanga University
2. Immaculate Concepcion Archdiocesan School
3. Saint Columban College
4. Saint Vincent’s College
5. Universidad de Zamboanga**
Region 10 (Northern Mindanao)
1. Saint Michael’s College of Iligan
2. San Isidro College
3. Xavier University
Region 11 (Davao Region)
1. Ateneo de Davao University*
2. Saint Francis Xavier College Seminary
3. University of Mindanao Tagum College
4. University of Southeaster Philippines-Main**
Region 12 (SOCKSARGEN)
1. Notre Dame University
1. Notre Dame University
2. Notre Dame of Kidapawan College
3. Notre Dame of Marbel University
Region 13 (CARAGA)
1. Saint Peter College Seminary
2. St. Paul University Surigao
3. Saint Augustine Seminary
4. Saint Joseph Seminary College
5. San Lorenzo Ruiz Seminary
Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)
1. Mindanao State University-Marawi
TOTAL:
28 TOTAL:
Legend:
*
- Authorized to grant Master’s degree in Philosophy
** - Authorized to grant Doctoral degree in Philosophy
104
Notes:
Based on the 1976 Fund for Assistance to Private Higher Education College Handbook in
Quito (1983, 44-45)
2 Based on email to the author from Ms. AizaDilidili of Ched dated 15 January 2013.
1
TRACING A VIRTUE OF CONTENTMENT IN LEVINAS
“Thesis discussed is No. 3 “Levinas' fascinating insight on the urgency to escape il y a
helps us appreciate the coming to being of existents. In existing, however, there is still the
solitude of being from which I have to be delivered by the Other.”
From il y a to jouissance and the solitude of being
In an early work On Escape (De l’evasion) (2003), Emmanuel Levinas hints an
attempt to go beyond Western thinking, wherein anything that threatens the
central place of the I or the same is approached with hostility. But the egonomy
of Western thought reverts to another problem – the always already given
position of being even before thinking. At the time though, recent literature
seems to signal a break from a thinking always already engaged in the
dichotomy of being and nothingness (p. 51) Levinas agrees and suggests an
escape from this (p. 56).
The point of the said work was extensively given figure in Existence and
Existents (1995). To break free from being, Levinas examines what is before being
and calls this the il y a or the there is. For the lack of language, Levinas resorts to
fleeting and even vague themes such as vertigo, light, insomnia, lethargy, nausea
to characterize the there is. Lingis in his note (1995) says Levinas examines ‚a
relationship with the terrestrial<prior to every relationship with things. In such
preobjective relationships the analysis discovers a process of auto-position in our
existence, by which the domain of inwardness and privacy is established‛ (p. 9).
Levinas is proposing a new way.
Because Levinas examines the emergence of being from il y a, being is
emancipated from the definition as foremost a thinking thing. Being is not
immediately rational, but is rather seen as sensibility, as living from< the fruits
of the earth (Levinas, 1969, p. 110). In this state called jouissance, being is like an
empty stomach taking its fill from the bountiful world and even happy for its
needs like hunger and thirst. Here, nothing is a tool, but everything is an end, to
be consummated with. This is the experience of the first alter. While in the height
of enjoyment, the I seem to take life as giving a promise of fulfillment of being.
However, the objects that are enjoyed are located in the elements that
cannot be possessed like the sea, air, or light, which separate being from the
infinite (p. 132). These elements delineate the future, which threatens jouissance.
But the future or tomorrow is mastered, suspended and postponed by possession
through labor. ‚The hand both brings the elemental qualities to enjoyment, and
takes and keeps them for future enjoyment‛ (p. 161). With this, the mode of
living is no longer sensibility, but possession and domination. (But to posses
anything means one must first be at-home (chez-soi) and has a dwelling, because
the separated being, the atheist needs a place to fill itself with the fruits of life.)
The face of the Other decenters the I
Since Levinas describes man’s existence after emerging from the there is as
sensibility and then atheist, separated, chez-soi, the entry of the Other is thus a
surprising experience. This is because the Other, unlike the first alter (vegetable,
scenery) cannot be taken in at-home and enjoyed. Instead, it is even this Other
that displaces the I and takes it away from itself to the otherwise (hors-de-soi). The
I, by the entry of this irreducible Other, comes in contact with something
untranslatable to one’s self and understanding, with something from the
dimension of height that suggests that it is both a master or a teacher but at the
same time the dispossessed, the powerless, the vulnerable, the placeless.
But while the Other is truly alter, it could still be encountered because of
the access it provides through its face. In speaking of the face, Levinas is not
referring to a metaphor, but is literally referring to the flesh of the face, if not
even the fragility of the Others’ whole body. While this piece of flesh may seem
akin to the first alter, this only proves the complete alterity of the Other, because
in the case of murder for instance, the Other escapes the power of the I after the I
had annihilated the body (p. 199). Thus, the Other cannot be contained in terms,
locked in categories, and limited based on her historical existence.
Mistaking the Other for the first alter
In Levinas, the problem begins when the I confuses the alterity of the Other into
a first alter (a piece of bread, visual art). This non-acceptability of the otherness of
the Other, which is also called totalization, can take various forms such as the
largest genocide in history, murder, transformation of a person as tool for a
selfish end, and racism, among others. But it is not limited in such events.
Mistaking the Other for something consumable could also be seen in the every
day. For instance, in bullying, in threatening, in punning, in creating schemes,
even in ‚diplomacy<brainwashing, pestering, intimidation or bribery‛
(Burggraeve, 2009, p. 17). In fact, forgetfulness that there is a life beyond the face
and flesh of the Other can be seen during the rush hour at the Metro Rail Transit
(MRT) station in Cubao during weekdays. The commuters, almost all going to
work, would push one another just to get inside a train’s cabin that resembles a
can of sardines, if not Holocaust.
This attempt to reduce the Other into a thing or a food for consumption
and tool may signal that one cannot accept that reality is more vast and complex
than what can a single mind conceive. Instead of listening to the other side of the
story from the others who are part of it, one would opt to construct a plot. The I
who cannot accept the intersubjectivity of space is egocentric par excellence. He
will try to reduce the Other’s dimension of height, and at the same time the
Other’s placelessness into the level of his own space. There will be no ears for
discourse, no room for correction, the other would be placed under a light and
under scrutiny of the eyes. There will be no trial, because the Other is accused
even before facing the court (Levinas, 1998, p. 34).
Accommodating the other and the virtue of contentment
And yet, no matter how the I try to reduce the Other into categories and heaps of
terms, the Other is always fleeing and is always more than names. No matter
how the insecure I fashion reality after one’s own image, micromanage persons,
prepare schemes to control the Other, the Other would always ‚exceed the
grasp‛ and even when stripped, can never be transformed into the same. For
instance, modern organizations that access every information exchange passing
in their employees’ computer units (the Foucauldian shade of Panopticon) could
still not read the individuals’ minds.
Thus, in Levinas, it appears that the key to peaceful co-existence is to
disregard the initial promise of jouissance and to look away from the approach to
life as living from<the fruits of the earth. Disregarding this preliminary promise
of fulfillment of being gives way to the attitude of consideration and tolerance.
Consideration for the Other (after you, thank you) whom I have no power over,
and tolerance for the simple cultural or moral differences. The I, knowing that
the Other is coming from a strange land, will no longer be irritated by simple
variations in intonations, diction, or accent and instead would listen to the real
speech.
In any case, the I can never be satisfied again after it has escaped its
immersion in life as living from< The satisfaction of need that can still be
fulfilled by consummating with the first alterity, is forever altered by the entry of
the Other, which is approached in the unquenchable Desire. The Other is truly
other, and with her the I exists in an intersubjective space wherein not only
intentions, but also dreams, ambitions, goals, acquisition of pleasure are not
guaranteed as these intermingle with all the others’ acts and the events they
shape.
However, Levinas clarifies that his philosophy does not cultivate slavish
values of the Nietzschean herd by explaining that by the entry of the third party,
the I is also made an Other infront of an Other, making oneself responsible for
oneself. Lingis writes, ‚the very structure of concern for oneself<is from the first
an ethical obligation. The sense that one is answerable for one’s own being too‛
(1998, p. xlx.)
Thus, the virtue of contentment, in the Levinasian sense, would not mean
abandonment of a life project and of one’s potentials and goals. However, it
would mean a reconsideration of one’s ambitions in face of an Other. It would
mean acceptance of perpetual discontent in the intersubjective space and the
priority of ethics before the fulfillment of being. The I then would have to
reconsider if his accumulated wealth or recognition is still desirable if these
would entail sacrifices from others around. At the heart of this call for
contentment is not the voice of mediocrity, but a fear to generate violence and a
fear to take another’s space. Levinas says:
My being-in-the-world or my ‘place in the sun’<, have these not
also been the usurpation of the other man whom I have already
oppressed or starved, or driven out into the third world<? Pascal’s
‘my place in the sun’ marks the beginning of the image of the
usurpation of the whole earth. A fear for all the violence and
murder my existing might generate, in spite of its conscious and
intentional innocence (1989, p. 72).
Speaking of contentment and space, in the business district Makati,
vertical architecture (office buildings, condominiums) is most rational
because of lack of space for horizontal development. But of course, this
does not explain the utter contrast of the structures’ co-existence with the
homeless and the lost around the area. Perhaps height in this sense could
also mean the capability of first receiving the new wealth of the country’s
anticipated tiger economy, which would unlikely trickle below. But to face
this gap is the task of institutions, which to Levinas also reverts to the
philosophy of the face.
References
Burggraeve, R. (2009). Proximity with the Other: A Multidimensional Ethic of
Responsibility in Levinas. India: Dharmaram Publications.
Levinas, E. (1969). Totality and Infinity: An Essay on Exteriority. (A. Lingis, Trans.).
Pennsylvania, PA: Duquesne University Press.
Levinas, E. (1989). Ethics as First Philosophy. In S. Hand (Ed.), The Levinas Reader
(75-87). Cambridge, MA: Basil Blackwell
Levinas, E. (1998). The I and the Totality. Entre Nous: On-thinking-of-the-other. (M.
B. Smith & B. Harshaw, Trans.). New York, NY: Columbia University
Press.
Levinas, E. (2003). On Escape (De l’evasion). (B. Bergo, Trans.). California, CA:
Stanford University Press.
Lingis, A. (1998). Translator’s Introduction. In E. Levinas, Otherwise than Being or
beyond essence. (A. Lingis, Trans.) Pennsylvania, PA: Duquesne University
Press.
Does Emotional ‘Grey Matter’ matters in Management Competencies?
Implications of emotional attributes in managerial skills among academic
managers
Introduction
True intelligence is having the capacity to balance information from
the emotional side of the brain as well as the rational side of the brain and deal
with that information appropriately. Traditionally, philosophers have defined
emotions to be interruptions to otherwise logical states of being (Smith & Kirby,
2000). The recent resurgence of research in the emotional realm in both
psychology and cognitive science agrees with the view developed by the late
Charles Darwin who, in the late 1800s, conceived that emotions play an
important part in our cognition and serve to provide us with the mechanisms for
adaptive behavior in a dynamically complex world (Smith & Ellsworth, 1985).
Emotional intelligence (EQ) is a phrase that has only become popular in the
1990s, yet this quotation shows that we have been aware of the power of it for
many decades. John Mayer and Peter Salovey in 1990 first coined the phrase
'emotional intelligence' (Mayer and Solovey, 1997). Since then Daniel
Goleman raised awareness of the nature of EQ and its influence on success in life.
Starting with his first publication Emotional Intelligence in 1995, he has been
adamant that EQ has more to contribute to success than IQ and he has argued
convincingly that high IQ does not correlate highly with success in the job.
Goleman states that IQ contributes about only 20 per cent to the factors that
govern success, while EQ accounts for the remaining 80 percent. Undeniably, it
helps to have brainpower, but this is not enough for success in leading change.
Emotions are the driving force behind all human behavior. David Mead, Chief
Operating Officer, First Direct says:
For me the emotional side of the Customer Experience is the
essence of First Direct. All the other things, the physical things,
are what a customer is entitled to get from any bank. The
emotional piece is what will make First Direct successful over
the next ten years. For a customer to put the phone down, or
click off the Internet and not only know that something has been
sorted, but feel good about it means the customer would not
want to go anywhere else.
Vice President of Marketing for IBM, Buck Rodgers said: 'People buy emotionally
and then justify with logic'.
An example of the development of EQ at work is the way it has been
instrumental in helping lawyers deal with emotionally charged situations.
Following recommendations from the Macpherson report into the death of
Stephen Lawrence, changes have been made in the way victims of crimes are
informed about whether the case against their perpetrator will proceed to court
or not. This was a role originally dealt with by the police. The Crown Prosecution
Service (CPS) now has to contact victims of crime. They have direct dealings with
them when they write or see them in person to tell them of the decision to
prosecute. Over an 18-month period the CPS' 2,000 lawyers took part in a tailormade training course based on EQ intelligence in order better to handle this
difficult process. It was identified early on that given the rational, logical
thinking style of lawyers, the change of role required them to think about how
their decisions would make people feel and how best to deal with the subsequent
potentially distressing discussions.
Education is considered one of the integral tools and indispensable mechanisms
of society for continuous nation-building and holistic development of its society
for the greater good; hence, educational institutions in the Philippines hire
qualified and knowledgeable Academic Managers (e.g. Deans, Department
Heads, and Directors) in providing quality and excellent educational system and
approach to their studentry. Schools are considered one of the busiest industries
of human development as well as work ground for anyone, where experiences
such as pleasures, jealousy, rage, guilt and love are displayed but researchers in
work psychology have been slow to incorporate emotion into their analysis
(Cassell, 1999). Fineman (1966) says good organizations are places where feelings
are managed, designed out or removed. It is believed that determining the link
between the emotional intelligence and management competencies (i.e. factors
that can predict the job success through the ability of doing something efficient
and effective or superior performance, McClelland, 1973) may help the higher
academic management in choosing or assigning certain positions to most capable
people in relation to their emotions that has something to do with their
management competencies. The aim of this study is to determine the links
between emotional intelligence and management competencies of the middle
management academic managers of educational institutions.
Topic:
Emotional Intelligence and its link with Managerial Competencies
Main Goal:
Increased understanding of the role of emotional intelligence in developing
managerial competencies
Specific Objectives:
a. To determine the levels of emotional attributes and managerial
competencies of top and middle management personnel;
b. To establish the link between the emotional attributes and
management competencies among top and middle management
personnel;
c. Basing on the outcome of the study, to predict the managerial
performance of top and middle level managers given a range of
emotional attributes; and
d. To suggest a framework for appointment of potential top and middle
managers.
Problem Statement:
There is an apparent deficiency in understanding of the role of emotional
intelligence in a person’s academic managerial competencies. There seems to be a
dearth of studies in the field of work psychology focusing on establishing the
link between emotional intelligence and managerial competence. This may have
caused the slow incorporation of emotions in studies analyzing management
competency issues, as claimed by authorities working in industrial and
organizational psychology (Cassell, 1999). This study will look into the
significant links between the emotional intelligence and management
competencies among academic managers. Furthermore, it aims to examine the
levels of emotional factors that may affect managerial competencies and lead to
better performance among top and middle management personnel of academic
institutions. This study argues that emotional intelligence plays a significant role
in management skills identification and development.
Research Method:
This research will utilize Methodological Triangulation wherein the researcher will
use Interview and Standardized Questionnaires (i.e. WPQei-Work Personality
Questionnaire emotional intelligence and MDQ-Management Development
Questionnaire). The WPQei is based on a conceptual model of emotional
intelligence that has seven components. An overall score for emotional
intelligence is generated in addition to a score on each of the seven competencies.
A narrative report then describes each area in more detail. In addition, the report
advises on areas for development, and also identifies respondents’ preferred
team role using the Belbin model. While, MDQ is is a tool for assessing the skills
and competencies of managers and professional staff. It is based upon extensive
research exploring the skills required to be a successful manager in today's
economy and business climate. Because of its unique feedback report, it is
especially suited for coaching and training executives and managers. One major
use of the MDQ is for staff development because it is designed to help managers
better understand their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for selfimprovement.
On the other hand, the data will be process using Structural equation modeling
(SEM). SEM is a statistical technique for testing and estimating causal relations
using a combination of statistical data and qualitative causal assumptions based
on the data that will be gathered thru conducting interviews and administering
questionnaires. This definition of SEM was articulated by the geneticist Sewall
Wright (1921), the economist Trygve Haavelmo (1943) and the cognitive
scientist Herbert A. Simon (1953), and formally defined by Judea Pearl (2000)
using a calculus of counterfactuals. Structural equation models (SEM) allow both
confirmatory and exploratory modeling, meaning they are suited to both theory
testing and theory development. Confirmatory modeling usually starts out with
a hypothesis that gets represented in a causal model. The concepts used in the
model must then be operationalized to allow testing of the relationships between
the concepts in the model whether significant links really exist between the
competencies of emotional intelligence and management among academic
managers. The model is tested against the obtained measurement data to
determine how well the model fits the data. Hence, the theoretical
framework/model of emotional intelligence and management competencies
among academic managers will be realized.
References:
Baillie-de Byl, P., & Toleman, M. (2005). Engineering Emotionally Intelligent
Agents. In M. Khosrow-Pour (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Information Science and
Technology (Vol. 2, pp. 1052-1056). Hershey, PA: Idea Group Reference.
Retrieved from http://goo.gl/7RfOq
What Is EQ and How Can It Help During Change? (2004). In S. Cook, S.
Macaulay, & H. Coldicott, Change Management Excellence (pp. 164-176).
London: Kogan Page. Retrieved from http://goo.gl/k4jH7
Wright, Sewall S. (1921). "Correlation and causation". Journal of Agricultural
Research 20: 557–85.
Simon, Herbert (1953). "Causal ordering and identifiability". In Hood, W.C.;
Koopmans, T.C. Studies in Econometric Method. New York: Wiley. pp. 49–74
Pearl,
Judea (2000). Causality: Models, Reasoning,
University Press. ISBN 0-521-77362-8.
and
Inference. Cambridge
Bollen, K A, and Long, S J (1993) Testing Structural Equation Models. SAGE Focus
Edition, vol. 154, ISBN 0-8039-4507-8
Sharing Values, Shaping Worldviews:
The Essence and Dynamics of Filipinos’ Spaces for Interactions
Filipinos have a long history of communal experience that leads to a wide
and complex range of interpersonal relations. This has been initially studied by
psychologists Enriquez and Santiago through their proposed eight-level
classification of interaction – from the relatively uninvolved civility (pakikitungo)
to the total sense of identification (pakikiisa).
All these are part of the
conceptualization of kapwa, the recognition of shared identity or the inner self
shared with others, as a Filipino core value. This is the primary reason why
Filipinos are very fond of mingling with each other thus creating a particular
space for that purpose.
In the initial collection of data, the researcher found out different terms used
to identify these spaces – dap-ayan in Ilocos, tongtong among the Ibalois, ator in
Bontoc, pergula in Isabela, balawa among the Tinguians, alulong in Pangasinan,
papag in Pampanga at Bicol, ungkutan in Batangas, talantangan in Laguna, balaybalay in Albay, payag-payag in Romblon, payag in Aklan, pajag in Leyte,
kamalig/tambayanan in Cebu, lagkaw in Negros Oriental, casita in Zamboanga,
payag-payag in Misamis Oriental, tambayanan in Bukidnon, and lantay in Davao.
This shows how Filipino people value the spaces wherein they can share stories
and ideas as part of intensifying their relationship with the community – its
environment and its people.
As preliminary, the research will focus on the spaces for interaction in Metro
Manila.
One of which is the salamyaan of Marikina.
Florendo-Imao (2002)
defined salamyaan as:
...a romanticized Tagalog word used to describe a
modest shed where Marikeños, mostly senior citizens,
gathers and spend their leisure time engaged in lively
discourse about absolutely anything under the sun, as
well as eat, rest, or just simply hang out. (12)
In a fast-paced lifestyle of urban centers like Metro Manila, one can question
how these traditional spaces like the salamyaan survive through the years. Many
of these have actually disappeared because of reasons like sidewalk
improvement, land utilization, and lack of interest to continue the tradition from
the younger generation. On the other hand, even if these spaces have been
physically lost, the practice continues in places like sari-sari stores, theme parks,
malls, and waiting sheds. Therefore, it is important to see these spaces not just as
physical structures but also cultural traditions that cannot be easily
denied/eradicated to the people. For this reason, the place for interaction can be
considered as a ‚battlefield‛ of tradition and urbanization that will eventually
lead to the idea of a community/nation in present times.
Objectives:
From the discussion above, it can be said that more than just being a place
for recreation, the space is, in effect, a home where kinship and a deep sense of
community among the people are continually nurtured and strengthened. In line
with this, the proposed research attempts to look into these spaces for interaction
in the Philippines and its vital role in passing the values and shaping the
worldviews of Filipinos.
It tries to investigate the kinds of talastasang-bayan
(cultural discourse) created in these places through the dynamics of sharing
stories and opinions on wide array of topics and issues. It also highlights the
politics of space imposed by urbanization and how this affects the sense of
community of the people and the idea of a nation based from the relationships of
people to the environment and to each other.
Approach and Method:
The proposed research highlights the interdisciplinary approach of
Philippine Studies, particularly the fields of humanities and social sciences. It
gives value on oral literature – stories created by the people– and the indigenous
methods of Filipino psychology and anthropology (ethnography) to fully
understand the tradition of these spaces that eventually lead to the recognition of
Filipino consciousness, experience, and heritage.
Preliminary References:
Alegre, Edilberto N. 1993. Pinoy Forever: Essays on Culture and Language. Pasig:
Anvil Publishing, Inc.
Florendo-Imao, Cielo. 2002. ‚See you at the Salamyaan.‛ Ka-Angkan 2002:
Salamyaan sa Ilog. Edited by Melvin Cruz, et al. Marikina City.
Maggay, Melba P. 2002. Pahiwatig: Kagawiang Pangkomunikasyon ng Filipino.
Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press.
Mojares, Resil B. 1997. House of Memory. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
Navarro, Atoy M. and Flordeliza Lagbao-Bolante, eds. 2007. Mga Babasahin sa
Agham Panlipunang Pilipino: Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Pilipinolohiya, at
Pantayong Pananaw. Quezon City: C&E Publishing, Inc.
Petras, Jayson D. 2010. Salamyaan: Isang Pag-aaral sa Talastasang Marikenyo. M.A.
thesis in Philippine Studies, University of the Philippines.
Rodriguez-Tatel, Mary Jane B. 2005. ‚Ang Dalumat ng Bayan sa Kamalayan at
Kasaysayang Pilipino.‛ Bagong Kasaysayan, blg. 15. Quezon City:
Palimbagan ng Lahi.
Santiago, Carmen E. and Virgilio G. Enriquez. 1982. ‚Tungo sa Makapilipinong
Pananaliksik.‛ In Sikolohiyang Pilipino: Teorya, Metodo, at Gamit, ed. Rogelia
Pe-Pua, 155-160. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Veneracion, Jaime B. 1987. Agos ng Dugong Kayumanggi: Isang Kasaysayan ng
Pilipinas. Quezon City: Abiva Publishing.
Tales of Rizal Province as Socio-Cultural Resources of the
Rizaleños
Objectives of the Study
Generally, this study aims to gather the various kwentong bayan in the
province of Rizal and use these as cultural resources to study the cultural
practices and beliefs of the Rizaleños. Specifically, it has the following
objectives:
1. to determine the particular cultural practices and beliefs of the Rizaleños
that are reflected from the kwentong bayan;
2. to unfold other untold kwentong bayan through oral history;
3. to determine the inconsistencies of what was written and what was
researched; and
4. to identify the cultural beliefs and practices that are still observed by the
Rizalenos.
Introduction
Few years after the Spanish arrived in the Philippines, the
predominant value of literature for the Filipinos is as instrumental as sword
to fight against the invaders. But alongside this sole purpose of literature
during that time, folk tales or the kwentong bayan is one of the forms of
literature that is less accounted for it is only just used by the Filipinos as a
form of entertainment.
Until such time this form of literature was noticed by people
indulge in studying the Philippines because of its relevance in the country.
From there, kwentong bayan were started being used by the anthropologists,
historians, linguists and other scholars to study the history and cultural
heritage of the country. According to Damian Eugenio, of the University of
the Philippines, these scholars would have seen that, ‚(kwentong bayan)
reflected the geographical location, the archipelagic nature of the country, the
numerous ethnolinguistics group to be found in it, and the various historical
forces, that have shaped the destiny of its people.‛
This move of the scholars opened more opportunity for the
kwentong bayan. One of which is the publishing of the collected stories.
Eugenio said that there was no published collection during the three
centuries Spanish rule except for Dr. Jose Rizal’s ‘The Tortoise and the
Monkey’ which was published in 1889.
Additionally, as cited by Lumbera & Lumbera (2004), ‚prose
narratives in pre-historic Philippines consisted largely of origins, myths, hero
tales, fables and legends. Their function in the community was to explain
natural phenomenon, past events, and contemporary beliefs in order to make
the environment less fearsome by making it more comprehensible and, in
more instances, to make idle hours less tedious by filling them with humor
and fantasy.‛
From these citations, it only manifests the relevance of reading
and studying kwentong bayan not only just for the scholars’ purpose of
knowing, but for the many Filipinos to learn their past and the way of life
they live in, and to better understand culture as a pivotal force that drives the
people together within the society.
The researcher had also seen this significance to the Rizaleños
that is why this research is conducted. This study is an attempt to have an indepth study about the culture of Rizal province using kwentong bayan as
cultural resources.
Background of the Study
Literature as one of the bases of history is not only used to
recount the experiences of the people of the past and to continuously record
events. It is also used for specific purpose—that is in historical and cultural
analysis of a certain society.
Kwentong bayan would have considered as one of the oldest forms
of literature, together with the lullaby, chant and maxims among other. These
stories had passed already the test of time, though proofs of their roots were
not yet established. However, one thing is for sure for the scholars who used
kwentong bayan in their researches; this form of literature is a manifestation on
how people of the past lived. Besides, kwentong bayan are stories from the
mouth of the people during the early years. This is where these people
expressed their social consciousness, and the norms that they believed and
practiced. Hence, historical and cultural implications are likely more probable
in the kwentong bayan.
From this posit, this study attempted to study culture based on
literature perspective. The researcher sees that aside from observing how do
people in a certain society behaves and interacts, culture can be understood
through studying literary works. By doing this, cultural resources are taking
into consideration.
Cultural resources are defined as the collective evidence of the
past
activities
and
accomplishments
of
people
(retrieved
from
www.nysm.nysed.gov on October 21, 2012). Using cultural resources as
instrument of research is proven to be scientific. Most of the anthropologist,
historians, social scientists and other scholars used these resources in
supporting their claim. Relative to this, culture is the way of life of a
particular society or group of people, including patterns of thought, beliefs,
behavior, customs, traditions, rituals, dress, and language, as well as art,
music, and literature (Webster’s New World Encyclopedia, 1992).
The main objective of this study is to gather the kwentong bayan in
the Province of Rizal and used this as cultural resources to study the culture
of the province. In achieving this objective, Qualitative Research Design
utilizing document analysis and oral history will be used.
Kwentong bayan is not just an instrument of this study; it is also
instrumental for the Filipinos to learn of their culture, particularly for the
Rizaleños.
Rizaleños do have culture that is as colorful as their arts and
festivities, and as rich as their historicity. Historical data proves that Rizal
Province became the battle ground of Spanish-Filipino war, but more to that
is the richness of their folktales that are left untouched by many.
Only few of the stories are being documented, like those of the
stories in Angono, Rizal such as the ‘Myth of Buwaya’, various ‘Legends
about the name of Angono’, and the ‘Myth of Mermaid’ to name few. These
stories were gathered and published by Prof. Ligaya Tiamson-Rubin, who
was named as the ‘Diwata ng Angono’ and a professor emeritus of the
University of the Philippines. Other stories were being told orally, like ‘the
story about a child crying at the middle of the rice field’ in Teresa, the myth
about the Pulong Dyablo in Binangonan, and the story about ‘the Image of
Mama Mary at the Tipulo tree’ and the ‘myth about the bell in Hinulugang
Taktak’ in Antipolo City; the ‘myth about Bernardo Carpio in Motalban’; the
‘legend of Ka Inta’ in Cainta among others. However, there is no available
document pertaining to the numbers of folktales and their names in the
province, hence, in-depth research of those stories are indeed necessary for
the purpose of this study.
Relevance of this study is not only to lead understanding of the
culture of the Rizal Province, but this is also considered as a niche to provide
essential way to preserve the kwentong bayan of the province that are little by
little has a fear to be forgotten in the succeeding years.
The setting of the study is the Rizal province, which is comprised
of a city, and thirteen towns, to name these are: Antipolo City, Teresa,
Morong, Baras, Tanay, Pililla, Jala-jala, Cardona, Binangonan, Angono,
Taytay, Cainta, Rodriguez, and San Mateo. Each part of Rizal has their
folktales that are worth to tell because of their implications to the culture of
the province.
Dealing on this study is pivotal to the needs of not only just for
the Rizaleños but also to every Filipinos to understand purely the heritage
that they have at present, since those that they have in this modern time are
the by-products of the development of the culture of the Philippines.
They might learn of the past events that being recounted from the
centuries of torture from the invaders, from the rise and fall of the country’s
economic, political and social state, and from the disappointments, they felt
from the leaders of the country, but there is nothing more encompassing than
to learn of the culture of the country. For culture manifests ‘Filipinism’ among
the Filipinos. It made Filipinos to be identified as ‘Filipinos’ outside the
country. It made the Filipinos of the past, molded the Filipinos of the present,
and will nurture the Filipinos of the future. Besides, of all the things that
country had right now, cultural beliefs and practices are at once— inevitable.
Theoretical Framework
This study is anchored on Discourse Theory (DT) by Ernesto
Laclau and Chantal Mouffe. The theoretical starting point of Laclau and
Mouffe’s DT is the proposition that all social phenomena and objects obtain
their meaning(s) through discourse, which is defined as ‚a structure in which
meaning is constantly negotiated and constructed‛ (Laclau 1988: 254).
The concept of discourse is also described as a structured entity,
which is the result of articulation (Laclau and Mouffe 1985), which in turn is
viewed as ‚any practice establishing a relation among elements such that
their identity is modified as a result of the articulatory practice‛.
Nodal points are constructed on the basis of articulation:
‚The practice of articulation consists in the construction of
nodal points which partially fix meaning; and the partial character
of this fixation proceeds from the openness of the social, a result, in
its turn, of the constant overflowing of every discourse by the
infinitude of the field of discursivity‛. (Laclau and Mouffe 1985:
113)
Additionally, the term discourse refers precisely to the capacity of
meaning-making resources to constitute social reality, forms of knowledge
and identity within specific social contexts and power relations (Hall, 1997).
As Fairclough’s list of meanings illustrates, the field of discourse
studies always has had to come to terms with a diversity of meanings that are
attributed to the signifier discourse. Discourse can for instance be defined as
‚‘samples of spoken dialogue, in contrast with written text’; ‘spoken and
written language’; ‘situational context of language usage’; ‘interaction
between reader writer and text’; ‘notion of genre’ (for example newspaper
discourse)‛ (Fairclough 1992: 3). Using Van Dijk’s (1997) definition of
discourse studies as the study of ‚talk and text in context‛ as a starting point,
this significatory diversity can be structured — and the difference between
Critical Discourse Analysis and Discourse Theoretical Analysis explained —
by distinguishing between micro and macro approaches towards both text
and context. These approaches were illustrated in the next figure.
Figure 1 shows (see next page) that those in micro-textual
approaches the definitions of text (or discourse) are closely related to
language. Again, Van Dijk’s (1997) definition provides us with a helpful
illustration: ‚Although many discourse analysts specifically focus on spoken
language or talk, it is *<+ useful to include also written texts in the concept of
discourse‛.
Macro-textual approaches use a broader definition of text, much
in congruence with Barthes (1975), seeing texts as materializations of meaning
and/or ideology. In these macro-textual approaches the focus is placed on the
meanings, representations or ideologies embedded in the text, and not so
much on the language used. Secondly, whilst in micro-contextual approaches
the context remains confined to specific social settings (such as a
conversation), macro-contextual approaches refer to the social as the realm
where the processes of the generation of meaning are situated.
Figure 1
The paradigm showing the micro-textual and macro-textual
approaches of CDA and DTA
Discourse analysis is part of applied linguistics but does not
belong exclusively to it; it is a multi-disciplinary field, and hugely diverse in
the range of its interests (Lomax).
The study of culture coincides with the study of linguistic
communication (or specifically the literature) in a way that in the historical
horizon of tradition, an analysis of texts from within the limits of tradition
always involves. This constitutive link between literature and culture, has led
to the use of Discourse Analysis that equates culture with meaning, and
literature which used text as symbols of culture.
It also happen quite the same with some anthropologists,
ethnographers of communication, and ethnomethodologists. Their analysis of
discourse has to do with a more general cultural analysis and the defense of
specific cultural identities and worldviews. These approaches go from
ethnography to ethnolinguistics through some major trends in anthropology.
What is remarkable here is that they collect a huge number of empirical data
(discourses), but at the end there is no theoretical analysis –explanation- of
them (Garfinkel 1967, Sacks et al 1974, Sacks 1992).
Conceptual Framework
This research, Tales of Folks: Kwentong Bayan as Cultural Resources
of the Rizaleños aimed to gather the kwentong bayan from Rizal Province and
to identify the cultural beliefs and practices of the province that are reflected
from the stories. Figure 2 on the next page presents the concepts of the
process of achieving the objectives of this study.
The framework begins with ‘culture’ which is being pointed by the
‘beliefs’ and ‘practices’. It signifies the scope of culture to be investigated in
the research. In this research, the scope of cultural practices are the practices
on courting, on marriage, on birth, on baptism, on burial, and on feast; and
the scope of cultural beliefs are the beliefs on body marks; on omens; on
ghost; on spirits; on witches; on after life; on gods and goddesses; and on
gruesome creatures like Manananggal, Tikbalang, Aswang, Tiyanak, Pugot,
Nuno sa Punso, Kapre, Mangkukulam, Wak-wak, and Sigbin.
The variable ‘culture’ is placed inside the circle bearing the variable
‘Experiences of Rizaleños’ which is pointing ‘Kwentong Bayan’. This only
implicates that those kwentong bayan that are told by the Rizaleños are based
from their experiences while following the cultural practices and beliefs.
These stories are further extended in ‘written form’ since these were
documented by historians, writers, anthropologists, and others who showed
interest in preserving these; obviously these stories were once told ‘orally’.
Finally, orally transmitted documents, which are gathered through Oral
History, and written document will be analyzed to identify the cultural
practices and beliefs that are reflected from the kwentong bayan.
as Cultural Resources of Rizaleños
A Conceptual Framework on the study “Tales of Folks: Kwentong Bayan
Figure 2
Assumptions
The researcher assumes the following notions:
1. Rizal Province has its own distinct cultural practices and beliefs that
can be reflected from the kwentong bayan.
2. There are inconsistencies between the documented and the researched
kwentong bayan in the province of Rizal.
Scope and Limitation
This study will examine the cultural practices and beliefs of Rizal
province through using kwentong bayan as cultural resources. Cultural
practices include the practice of courting, marriage, birth, baptism, burial, and
feast; and cultural beliefs include the beliefs on body marks; on omens; on
ghost; on spirits; on witches; on after life; on gods and goddesses; and on
gruesome creatures like Manananggal, Tikbalang, Aswang, Tiyanak, Pugot,
Nuno sa Punso, Kapre, Mangkukulam, Wak-wak, and Sigbin. This study
limits itself to the selected kwentong bayan from the towns and the city of the
Rizal Province. Kwentong bayan, as operationally used in this research, is
exclusively explicit to stories on province’s anecdotes, myth, legend, epic,
fables and parables, which are expressed either orally or written in a form of
either prose or poetry.
Significance of the Study
This study is significant in several ways.
The country/Rizal Province – identifying the cultural practices
and beliefs of the Rizal province can enrich not only the culture of the
Philippines, but also the Philippine history and literature. This will help the
country/province to generate projects in consonance to the preservation of the
culture of the country/province. Also, this will serve as their basis in finding
solutions to present-day societal maladies specifically the deteriorating
Filipinos values. More importantly, this research can enhance the
country’s/province’s heritage.
Higher Educational Institutions/Education Sectors – New
concepts may be generated from this study, for one, this research can be a rich
source of educational and cultural materials in explaining lessons or topics
related herein. This can also be used as basis of the possible revisions and
modifications of syllabus on culture and literature.
Students – this will give them knowledge on the cultural
accounts of the Philippines, and of the Rizal province in particular. Also, this
will make them appreciate the culture and literature of Rizal province. The
output of this study is to produce a compilation of the kwentong bayan, where
students can use this compilation as reference to their study.
Researcher – conducting this research will likewise enlighten the
researcher on the present condition of the cultural preservation in Rizal
province. This research will also enhance the knowledge of the researcher
about culture and literature; since he is a teacher by profession, he can share
the results of this study to his students.
Research Method
To achieve the fundamental thrust of the study, the researcher will
employ the Descriptive-Qualitative Research Design utilizing Document
Analysis and Oral History as methods. These methods will determine the
cultural practices and beliefs of the Rizaleños using kwentong bayan of the Rizal
Province as cultural resources.
As defined in ‚The Handbook of Research for Educational
Communication and Technology‛: Descriptive research can be either
quantitative or qualitative. It involves collections of quantitative information
that can be tabulated along a continuum in numerical form, such as scores on a
test or the number of times a person chooses to use a-certain feature of a
multimedia program, or it can describe categories of information such as
gender or patterns of interaction when using technology in a group situation.
Document Analysis is a social research method and is an important
research tool in its own right and is an invaluable part of most schemes of
triangulation. Chris Wharton in his article defined this analysis as: ‚detailed
examination of documents produced across a wide range of social practices,
taking a variety of forms from the written word to the visual image. The
significance of documents may be located in the historical circumstances of
production, in their circulation and reception of the item and also the social
functions, interpretations, effects and used that may be associated with them.‛
Oral History is the collection and study of historical information
about individuals, families, important events, or everyday life using
audiotapes, videotapes, or transcriptions of planned interviews. These
interviews are conducted with people who participated in or observed past
events and whose memories and perceptions of these are to be preserved as an
aural record for future generations. Oral history strives to obtain information
from different perspectives, and most of these cannot be found in written
sources. Oral history also refers to information gathered in this manner to a
written work (published or unpublished) based on such data, often preserved
in archives and large libraries. (Wikipedia)
Document analysis will be executed to the available written
documents that are gathered during the field research and the personal copy of
the researcher. However, due to some unavailability of written documents, the
research will be applying the method of Oral History to gather orally
transmitted materials. Those people who are knowledgeable on the history,
culture and literature of Rizal, and those who witnessed the particular event in
the past which involves the birth of a certain kwentong bayan are the prospective
respondents of this research. The gathered data will be using an in-depth
analysis utilizing the Discourse Analysis approach. This approach is more
appropriate since this involve the making of meaning for both text (the
language itself) and context (the implicated culture from the word for instance)
‚to constitute social reality, forms of knowledge and identity within specific
social contexts and power relations (Hall, 1997).‛
Research Participants
Participants of this research are those knowledgeable on the
kwentong bayan of the Rizal Province. Since there is no recorded data or facts
identifying the numbers of people knowledgeable on kwentong bayan in Rizal
Province. They will be identified through linkages from personal contacts, and
the tourism, culture and the arts organizations, and offices of the municipalities
and the province. They are those who can retell the kwentong bayan from the
province of Rizal, they should be from of any refutable organization, such as
the cultural and arts group in Rizal like ACTCA, Neo-Angono, municipal and
city tourism and cultural offices, and the office of culture and the arts of the
Provincial government. They are also individuals whose course of work are
related to history, culture, arts, folklore, and anthropology who will be
identified through linkages. They could be the oldest person alive, or anyone
related to that person in terms of sanguinity, who had witnessed the past
events, which concern the kwentong bayan.
Instrumentation
The researcher will be using the kwentong bayan in identifying the
cultural practices and beliefs that are followed by the Rizaleños. These stories
will be gathered using the resources, which are readily available from the
researcher including the other kwentong bayan to be gathered from each town
and municipality through interview and document research. Interview guide
will be used for oral history.
Data Gathering Procedure
Data are what research is searching for and which are subjected to
analysis, statistical procedures, and interpretation so that inferences, principles,
or generalizations are drawn (Calderon & Gonzales, 1993).
Gathering stories like kwentong bayan is critical as doing historical
research. These old stories require validation of their authenticity to achieve
accuracy in the interpretation of data. To achieve this, respondents to be
interviewed using oral history approach will be carefully selected. They will be
identified through personal contacts and linkages from each town and the city
of the province of Rizal. Besides, each Municipality and the City has
Municipal/City Tourism, Culture and the Arts Office was employed with
people who knew of the culture and the arts of their municipality and city.
These employees can also be useful to locate other prospective respondents of
this research.
Definition of Terms
For further understanding of the terminologies used in this study,
the following terms are defined:
Anecdotes. Conceptually, involving actual persons, whether
famous or not, usually in an identifiable place. However, over time,
modification in reuse may convert a particular anecdote to a fictional piece,
one that is retold but is "too good to be true". Sometimes humorous because
their primary purpose is not simply to evoke laughter, but to reveal a truth
more general than the brief tale itself, or to delineate a character trait in such a
light that it strikes in a flash of insight to its very essence.
Cultural Beliefs. Conceptually, these are assumptions that are
held to be true by an individual or a group regarding concepts, events,
people, and things. Specifically, the research will investigate on the beliefs on
body marks; on omens; on ghost; on spirits; on witches; on after life; on gods
and goddesses; and on gruesome creatures like Manananggal, Tikbalang,
Aswang, Tiyanak, Pugot, Nuno sa Punso, Kapre, Mangkukulam, Wak-wak,
and Sigbin.
Cultural Practices. Operationally, refers to the manifestation of
culture or sub-culture especially in regard to the traditional and customary
practices of a particular ethnic or other cultural or other. Specifically, this
research will investigate practice of courting, marriage, birth, baptism, burial,
and feast.
Cultural Preservation. Operationally, recognizes the many
strands of culture: language, stories, songs, dances, practical skills; buildings;
sacred sites; artifacts; arts and crafts; relationships to the land; and form of
subsitence.
Cultural Resources. Conceptually, defines as the collective
evidence of the past activities and accomplishments of people.
Documented Kwentong Bayan. Operationally, refers to the
kwentong bayan that are told orally which are written or published for the
purpose of preservation.
Epic. Conceptually, this is an extended narrative about heroic
exploits often under supernatural control. It may deal with heroes and gods.
Fables. Conceptually, is a succinct fictional story, in prose or
verse that features animals, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature
which are anthropomorphized (given human qualities such as verbal
communication), and that illustrates or leads to an interpretation of a moral
lesson.
Kwentong Bayan. Operationally, generally refers to a prose or
poetry that deals with any of these genre— anecdotes, myth, legend, epic,
fables and parables.
Legend. Conceptually, these are fictitious narratives, usually
about origins.
Myths. Conceptually, an ancient story dealing with supernatural
beings, ancestors, or heroes like gods and goddesses that serves as a
fundamental type in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of
the natural world.
Parable. Conceptually, it illustrates one or more instructive
principles or lessons or a normative principle, which generally feature human
characteristics.
Rizaleños. Operationally, is the name used to refer to the people
residing at Rizal Province.
Undocumented Kwentong Bayan. Operationally, refers to the
kwentong bayan that are told orally which are neither written nor published
for the purpose of preservation.
Testimonial Therapy: Bridging the Psychological and Legal
Aspects of Interventions in Attaining Healing and Access to Justice
of Torture Survivors
I. Purpose: This paper describes an evolving conceptual model of the
contribution of testimonial therapy in linking the therapeutic value of the legal
aspect of BALAY’s work among torture survivors in attaining rehabilitation and
facilitating access to justice of the same through the therapeutic activity.
In undertaking its psychosocial rehabilitation work among survivors of torture
utilizes the multi-disciplinary approach seeing that a continuum of service and
advocacy/legal and psychosocial components are essential in achieving
rehabilitation.
There are various forms and wide ranges of legal interventions for survivors of
torture such as advocacy to work with the law (advocacy of enactment of laws
such as Anti Torture Law, OPCAT), creating a pool of legal experts, monitoring
of the implementation of the laws and coming up with analysis and challenges,
educating survivors about legal rights, legal representation in court and
pursuing test cases to seek redress. It cannot be denied that that there are
psychosocial benefits in the various forms of legal interventions and advocacy to
the survivors. However, it is noted that psychological interventions have not
been used extensively to complement or contribute to the legal battle of the
survivors especially in helping to strengthen the resolve of the victim to pursue
justice or so if it is done it always as a result of the whole package of the
psychosocial interventions aimed to help survivors move on to functionality and
help in easing out some traumatic experience and symptoms.
These are helpful prerequisites in enhancing the capacity of the person to fully
achieve fullness in life, needless to say, detained torture survivors would rather
see themselves out of the jail than spend most of the times undergoing
therapeutic sessions within the confines of an institution where source of stress is
never ending.
The psycho-legal relationship of the survivor to the lawyer, social worker,
counsellor and doctor is a way therapeutic as it gives them the hope that they
need.
Testimonial Therapy
The Testimonial Therapy (TT) as an approach confirms and documents a reality
of what the people had experienced, in BALAY’s case, the tortured ; it creates a
document so as to avoid retraumatization by repetitive telling and at the same
time, provide symptomatic relief by catharsis. Unlike in the usual counseling
and brief therapy sessions wherein secrecy is the code that exists between the
survivor and the therapists, in Testimonial Therapy, the therapy itself can be
used as a public document to seek redress. It has therefore a psycho-legal
characteristics, both the process and the output of the TT is potentially helpful in
healing at the same that it can be used to prepare the victim for litigation.
II. Method: In a span of fifteen months from April 2010 until September 2011,
twenty-two persons who are political prisoners, wives of political prisoners,
former children in conflict with the law and Martial Law survivors - all of whom
are survivors of torture of state perpetrated violence - underwent testimonial
therapy sessions under Balay. Prior to the four therapy sessions, Monitoring and
Evaluation tools (WHO-5 Well Being Checklist and Participation Scale) are
accomplished for each participant to identify their state of well-being. A new set
The testimonial therapy is a psycho-legal approach offered to victims of torture
and organized violence. It has the objective of transforming the trauma story
from an account of ‚shame and humiliation‛ to one about ‚dignity and virtue‛.
It also intends to provide relief from emotional distress and improve the
functions of the person who underwent the therapy. This therapeutic approach
is most suitable for survivors of injustice or human rights violations, for
survivors who want to break the ‚conspiracies of silence and avoidance‛.
Testimonial Therapy is in itself a ‚mobilizing‛ therapy which aims to support
survivors towards their empowerment.
This therapy has four sessions:
 Session one: Opening the story, the first draft of the testimony is written
and an M&E questionnaire is filled in.
 Session two: Closing the story: arriving at a written statement that the
survivor can approve
 Session three: A symbolic delivery ceremony which honours the survivor
(can be done in many variations)
 Session four: Follow-up – including a repetition of the M&E questionnaire
to assess changes in the well-being and participation of the survivor after
three months.
III. Result: From among the twenty-two survivors who underwent Testimonial
Therapy, all of them manifested improvement in their well-being immediately
after the sessions. However, its efficacy in terms of being used for litigation
purposes is now being considered for pilot testing including looking into TT’s
potential to draw public attention and that of authorities on the need to redress,
compensation, restitution, non repetition and of course rehabilitation as outlined
in Article 14 of the UNCAT.
IV. Conclusion: The Testimonial Therapy approach is effective as a brief
therapeutic modality for survivors of torture and organized violence. It is a
potent tool for access to justice especially due to the fact that the process has
enabled the person to be empowered while the output can be utilized for
litigation and advocacy purposes.
Bibliography:
Agger, I, Raghuvanshi L, Shabana S, Polatin, Peter, L Laursen. Testimonial
Therapy: A Pilot Project to Improve Wellbeing among Survivors of Torture in
India. Torture: Journal on rehabilitation of torture victims and prevention of
torture; Vol 19 no 3, 2009 pp 204 – 217
Agger, I, Ansari, F, Suresh, S, Pulitkuthiyil, G. Justice as a Healing Factor:
Psycho-legal Counseling for Torture Survivors in an Indian Context. Peace &
Conflict: journal of peace psychology vol 14 no3, 2008 pp 315 – 333
Agger, I et al. Testimony Ceremonies in Asia: Integrating spirituality in
Testimony Therapy for Torture Survivors in India, Sri Lanka, Camboadia and the
Philippines. Transcultural Psychiatry vol 49 no 3-4 2012 pp 568 – 589
R. Germalin, Velez, L. Legal Services: Best, Promising, and Emerging Practices.
Torture vol 21 no 1 2011 pp 56 – 60.
B. Glaser. Therapeutic Jurisrudence: an Ethical Paradigm for Therapists in Sex
Offender Treatment Programs. Western Criminology Review vol 2 no 2 2003 pp
143 – 154
Kapardis, A. Psycholegal Research: An Introduction, Psychology and Law: A
Critical Introduction, 2nd Edition. Cambridge University Press
Drogin, E. In Search of Psychology: A Jurisprudent Therapy Perspective on
Sexual Offender Ris Assessment Mental Health and Experts Manual
www.dpa.state.ky.us/library/manuals/mental/Ch11.html
The Year of Desiring Dangerously
…First step is the negation of capitalism as the untranscendable horizon of our time.
-Benjamin Noys
The Persistence of the Negative
The shattering events of 2011 map the attempt to transform each private cause
into desired privy effects: from the efforts to overthrow dictatorships among
Arab nations, UK student riots contra government policies on education reforms,
and up to the camping scenes on the Zucotti Park in New York to worship the
brazen bull of the 99 percent movement.
The question: are these efforts worth fighting for?
The cognitive mapping of social change failed to occur when these efforts
remained on a ‚fixed point‛—a characterization of Jean-Pierre Dupuy as the
‚dystopian zero-point of the ecological breakdown of global economic and social
chaos‛17 from a resistance that disintegrates in the process. However, this fixity
should be altered; instead one must make a move to dissolve this static nature of
the situation. This differing voice can be found on the short-piece Declaration of
Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt: ‚that the task is not to codify social relations
in a fixed order, but instead to create a constituent process (<) the movements
have declared a new independence and a constituent power must carry that
forward.‛18 What is this constituent process or power? What will it contribute to
the movement that desired the emergence of new social power? Do the Zuccoti
Park campers and Tahrir Square goers resemble this very constitution of power?
I
Slavoj Žižek, The Year of Dreaming Dangerously (London/New York: Verso, 2012), 125.
Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, Declaration (New York: Argo Navis Author Services,
2012) [pagination not applicable].
17
18
Before regulating the ‚cunning of reason‛ it is apropos to examine first the
mechanism of those social movements that created uproar in the socio-economic
and political global situation. As what these events shown, there were two major
axes that shaped these protests, one is tyranny of the government rulers and the
other is the introduction of neo-liberal programs that traps humanitarian
policies. But these two things often intertwined that builds the major problem
today: the phenomena of global capitalism.
What is global capitalism?
As dominant ideological theory, capitalism proves to be the maximal
source of power in the society where it tends to control everything—from the
universities, markets and so on. As for Žižek in his book, The Year of Dreaming
Dangerously, he embodied capitalism as,
<a social formation *that+ is characterized by a structural
imbalance: the antagonism between forces and relations is present
from the very beginning, and it is this very antagonism which
pushes capitalism towards permanent self-revolutionizing and selfexpansion—capitalism thrives because it avoids its fetters by
escaping into the future.19
The ‚structural imbalance‛ brought by social unrest in terms of monarchical
excesses (e.g. the tyranny of the Absolute Monarchy that catered the French
Revolution and eventually resulted in giving importance to the rise of the middle
class that converted the Old Regime into free and equal citizens of the country,
that is, the fruitful labor of initial democracy) brings capitalism into its new
identity: a perfect persona of liberation by means of its latter neo-liberal
democratic essence. However, it does not cater a long period to keep capitalism
into its ‚zero-point‛20 edifice. Another imbalance in terms of antagonism
emerged when capitalism gears into self-revolution and expansion in which its
way is to elude the future of decline because for the antagonists ‚there is no way
Žižek, Dreaming Dangerously, 8
Quoted by Žižek in his video The Year of Dreaming Dangerously Panel Discussion, 2 hrs., 2
min., Columbia University, 2012, Video recording. The ‚Zero-point‛ is the primordial or the
original form of capitalism. It is capitalism without capitalism, or capitalism without the elements
of democracy. Communism, according to Žižek, is the ideal form of Capitalism (akin to the
Platonic Republic as the ideal framework of the existing Greek Society) which is ‚capitalism
without capitalism‛ a mechanism wherein there is ‚expanded self-reproduction without profit
and exploitation‛ *Žižek, Dreaming Dangerously, 134+. The problem, Žižek writes, is that we treat
communism (might as well as the Republic) as too utopic, meaning in light of futurism [Ibid.].
19
20
out‛ and the ‚ruling elite is clearly losing its ability to rule.‛21 Capitalists then
learned to adapt to their postmodern environment and adhere themselves to the
invention of ‚multiple worlds.‛22 They understood the logic of evolution. What
arose is the new breed of class in terms of ‚salaried bourgeoisie.‛23 This is how
they revolutionized their own mechanism.
This is the new face of capital theory. High productivity brought by this
class tends to depict the formation of contemporary capitalism, that is, corporate
capitalism in terms of ‚socialism within capitalism.‛ 24 This is a socialization of
capitalism, upbringing to distribute the labor of capitalism to the common,
exactly how one supposed to radicalize Marx in Capital. However, Hardt and
Negri, says Žižek, found the limitation to this radicalization of Marx in terms of
historically constraining a centralized and hierarchically-organized form of labor
that acts as the ‚general intellect‛ or for a more Western image, a central
planning agency.25 What we need, according to Žižek, is to revolutionize Marx in
terms of engaging his ideal society in a ‚subjective standpoint‛ where his
communism will be ‚objectively possible.‛
This is a timely call also for Marxism to evolve as what Virgilio Rivas
wrote in his paper on Marx and Philosophy:
As dictated by evolutionary laws under which human life and
existence may be said to be determining its yet undefined future,
Marxism needs to evolve in order to survive, a challenge that it is in
the right position to take on given its intellectual bias in favour of
evolution. But, granting its relative success in making itself
evolve—we have seen too many ideological wars between and
among Marxists the result of which is the almost quixotic
sharpening of differences between orthodox and heterodox
(roughly the same ideological rupture that has descended upon all
religions of the world, Eastern or Western), between classical and
modernist, between modernist and postmodernist—the question
whether it is viable still to call it Marxism or some form of a new
Ibid., 127.
Slavoj Žižek, The Parallax View, (Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2006), 35. This
multiplicity of worlds clearly enunciates the rise of the postmodernity together with cultural
relativism and subjectivity.
23 Ibid., 8. Quoted by Žižek from Jean-Claude Milner, Clartes de tout (Paris: Verdier, 2011).
24 Ibid.
25 Ibid.
21
22
breed becomes a tall order for any serious Marxist who clings to a
distinct tradition of theory that has evolved out of Marx’s
engagement with the historical problems of his own time.26
Do the present social movements favor the call for engagement from a
subjective standpoint as what Žižek analyzed? Or do these social movements
exhibits another ‚quixotic sharpening‛ of differences between ideological
formations whether ethnic, gender or religious instances that causes these
movements to occur in the platform of subjectivity (relativism)? One thing is
pure from Zizek to Rivas: return the original Marx to his time and its now the
hiatus to radicalize Marx from our subjective standpoint in the current
interesting times.
II
Going back to mechanism of capitalism, in today’s condition where
‚immaterial labor‛ is quite hegemonic, a form of ‚general intellect‛ permits it
eccentric rise to the side of these capitalists. They radicalized the theory to cope
to the globalizing world. In Marxism’s veins, contemporary social capitalism is
strict in making changes as compared to the old system of physical and manual
labor. Today, immaterial labor allows ‚intellectual labors‛27 such as codes,
figures, ideas, software, and so on, and also ‚affective labors‛ which involves
bodily affects like surgeons, flight attendants and baby-sitters.28 With such kind
of change in forces of production, there is also a corresponding shift from
material into symbolic products. To quote Žižek,
What thereby emerges is a vast new domain of the ‚common‛:
shared knowledge, forms of cooperation and communication, etc.,
which can no longer be contained by the form of private property.
For, in immaterial production, the products are no longer material
objects, but new social (interpersonal) relations themselves—in
short, immaterial production is directly biopolitical, it is the
production of social life.29
See Virgilio A. Rivas, ‚Marx and Philosophy,” In Marx Festival 2012-Philippines,
Polytechnic University of the Philippines, March 6-7, 2012, (unpublished/pagination not
applicable).
27 Ibid.
28 Ibid., 9.
29 Ibid.
26
Materiality is not anymore the finality of capitalistic machinery, but the vast
shared knowledge of each social institution like what Althusser named as state
apparatuses or Foucault’s biopolitics became products of this newest mode of
production. The central planning agency, as what Marx envisioned on the other
hand, is greatly possible today, not in terms of the Party politics that hinges
communism but to the contrary—that what vanguards our society is a
monolithic totem of social cooperation of institutions that maintain the
production at whatever costs, in terms of corporations, church, universities, the
government and so on. What happened is that, for Žižek’s analysis of Negri and
Hardt’s theory, contemporary capitalism sought to privatize what supposed to
be a ‚common or shared knowledge‛ of individuals.
In these veins, Communist regimes fell under the pressure of neocapitalist framework. A ‚common shared knowledge economy‛ driving a
symbolic product came not to the expectation of Communist-attempting to
mimic the Marxian ‚general intellect‛ paradigm by establishing a central
planning agency and so on. Capitalism today, as Žižek wrote, is completely
frictionless.30 What lacks communism is the incapability to control or regulate the
‚information knowledge‛ which is immaterial and far more symbolic. The old
communist system, hence, failed to adapt to the rapid development and autoexpansion of capitalist machineries.
With this new paradigm, capitalist (old bourgeoisie) tends to refunctionalize as a salaried one: like those managers who runs the company, and
not anymore the old-type of entrepreneurs who manage their own businesses.
CEOs hire intellectual workers so as to run their corporations. All the more those
franchisers hire branch managers for the management of their franchise like
McDonalds. Salary then in terms of ‚surplus-wages‛ binds the social relation of
each and every bourgeoisie and their shared knowledge as cream of the crop
managerial know-how gang, thus is privatized. According to Žižek, this
maintains the power and ideology, that is, for political purposes let there be a
middle-class that manages the society at hand and promotes social stability.31
However, this terminal of the middle-class in power may serve not only balance
that is exclusive for managers or CEOs of the corporation that runs the global
playing field of stocks and bonds; remember politics is also an alter ego. The
possible threat of social imbalance may find its trace from the middle-class itself
since they are the ones who are responsible for the inflows and outflows of the
knowledge economy.
30
31
Ibid.
Ibid., 11.
Žižek gave a good example. In China, the goal of Chinese capitalism is to
promote ‚capitalism without bourgeoisie‛ (since it is already in the middle class
that originates the possible resistance from the subjective standpoint since they
are the foci of politico-economic order). Chinese leaders are fully aware that
instability might be brought by the middle class bourgeoisie and ex-Communists
themselves begun to re-functionalize as efficient managers of Capitalism.32
III
The framework of social movements little by little came to the spotlight.
Hence, the resistance is solely molded from middle-class who is being exploited
by this biopolitical relation in powerful social institutions by low-salaries, wages
and non-security of economic future. That is why, the corporate capitalism per se
promotes a precarious social instability that anytime may decenter the political
power from leaders who are re-emerged as capitalists themselves. This marks the
involvement of the middle-class with proletarians in political protests though the
real spirit of the movement is against the brutal logic of the market and what the
bourgeoisie wants is to regain their non-gaining economic position, increasing
their wages for example so as to secure their privilege status in the future.
Bourgeoisie then becomes proletarianized, in a sense that they want to
humanize capitalism at least or as what Žižek frequently alludes, ‚a capitalism
with a human face.‛ It is like Marx saying that Plato’s Republic is not ‚too
utopian‛33 but it is just a mere idealization of the existing Greek politicoeconomic society. Like that of today, communism is not a utopia but an ideal
equivalent of capitalist society. Communism is the ‚human face‛ of capitalism:
the fair and equal distribution of resources and wealth of the society. Welfare
state, thus, regained. This concept of Welfare State pertains to the Eurocentric
idea of what constitute a State. As Žižek says in is recent public lecture entitled A
Reply to my Critics, ‚ongoing political situation in Europe converts a series of
demands which are Epistemological Obstacles<people know what they want.‛
These ‚epistemological obstacles‛ are demands of what should a welfare state
looks like a far from what the dominating ideology dictates.
32
33
Ibid.
Ibid., 15.
He gave two paradoxical theses of how to find the roots of this obstacle:
first, large majority of people wants to be passive and just rely to a state
apparatus; and second, people know what they really want when they are
engage<the true battle of the left should be on the domain of citizen facility.
But, today, the global monster of capitalist machinery continues to persist
like a ghost and haunt the world as to what they appear yet without a body. This
ghost transforms people into natural beasts who enjoy the pleasures of life
brought by the capitalist themselves in partnership with democratic machinery
of the state. In Seminar XVIII, Lacan produced the discourse of the Capitalist in
which,
The connecting lines remain the same as in the Master’s
discourse ($—a, S1—S2), but they run diagonally: while the agent is
the same as in the discourse of the Hysteric, the (divided) subject, it
does not address itself to the Master, but to the surplus-enjoyment,
the ‚product‛ of capitalist circulation. As in the discourse of the
Master, the ‚other‛ is here the Servant’s Knowledge (or,
increasingly, scientific knowledge), dominated by the true Master,
capital itself.34
Hence what is being generated by the capitalist ideology is the impossible
object-loss (a), the immaterial labor or the conspiracy of the agents of social
institution which is workers’ and slaves’ knowledge on the other side (S 2/a). Isn’t
this worship of the object-loss the very same predicament of social resistance
efforts like the Occupy Movements and the Arab Spring? Yes, that behind their
dangerous occupations, they have nothing in their causes but to overthrow a
dictatorial regime and the recognition of their privileged economic position?
Well said then, that they have nothing but empty signifiers of themselves which
is basically the product of the social relation. This hegemonic encounter of
contemporary capitalism thus proved two things: that the impossible is Real and
there is only an auto-production of capitalism itself. What lies is that as long as
there is resistance, there will be capitalist because what they are is not
revolutionary subjective engagements but mere recognitions of their function. As
Found on Žižek, Dreaming Dangerously, 56. Originally on Nestor Braunstein, ‚Le
discours capitaliste, ‘cinquieme discours’?‛ in Savoirs et Clinique 14 (2011), 94-100. The Seminar
XVIII of Lacan is entitled The Savoir [knowledge] of Psychoanalysts which remained unpublished
today in English but already a part of Lacan’s posthumous book Autres Ecrits.
34
what Lacan famously said as his critic against the 1968 student uprising: If you
demand new Masters, you will surely get one!‛35
IV
Social movements are products of how a particular society is structured.
However, what differs in reality is that people tend to react as vanguard to their
personal interest of this ‚absent-cause.‛36 The event of the 1968 in France and its
waves that spread to the entire world that time is thus repeated in the
contemporary end times. The Occupy Wall Street, for an instance, is a social
movement participated by the middle-class that are proletarianized in high hopes
of negating their present conditions of being in the brink of unemployment, low
income and depravity of social, educational and health care services. The
negation of their current state is a social struggle, an emancipatory attempt
towards self-fulfillment. What are being solved in the process are their personal
problems, or more specifically their interests. Similarly, the Arab Spring is no
different to campers of the Zucotti Park that worships the power of the brazen
bull or the inanimate symbol of their force that desires in universalizing freedom
from economic control and also politico-social dyslexic position in US. The
indignados of Barcelona and Puerta de Sol in Madrid led an upsurge that benefits
only their cause of ousting the socialist-led government of José Luis Rodriguez
Zapatero.37 Mohamed Bouazizi, a Tunisian vendor, set himself on fire to protest
the injustices, poverty and corruption in Tunisia that raised the first baton to
Cairo’s Tahrir Square and other Arab nations against the repressive regime of a
certain Hosni Mubarak and other dictators. In Athens, people encamped to
Syntagma Square to protest the austerity measure to Greece by the European
Union
This non-privy interest of 2011 social unrest delays the cause of making
the communism as ‚objectively possible.‛ What we need, as Žižek stipulated in
the Introduction of his book, is the Kantian spirit of enlightenment, that is, the
outflow of ‚public use of reason.‛ The ‚public use of reason‛ stands from the
perspective of true subjective engagement and when we say this kind of
See Jacques Lacan, ‚Analyticon‛ in The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, Book XVII: The Other
Side of Psychoanalysis, ed. Jacques Alain-Miller; trans. Russell Grigg (New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2007), 198-208.
36See Louis Althusser, The Future Lasts Forever, trans. Richard Veasy, eds. Olivier Corpet
and Yann Moulier Boutang (New York: The New Press, 1992). ‚Absent-cause‛ notably was his
reaction to the 1968 student protest in France namely; they were struggling with an absent cause.
37 See Slavoj Žižek, Violence: Six Sideways Reflections (New York: Picador, 2008), 102-4.
35
engagement one is absolutely pertaining to a ‚shared-cause‛ which is also
equipollent to capability of the public to know. To know is not only a marketable
place for us to buy Metaphysics (or the old Philosophy) in which Aristotle
popularized the notion that ‚All men desire to know.‛ What we need, from the
spirit of anti-capitalism, is the courage from the public sphere to dare the polyinstitutional capitalistic framework, to criticize and eventually change. This step
towards change immediately warns the enemies of its presence. This should be
the attitude of Occupy Movements, UK Student Revolts, Arab Spring and others.
The same line remains consistent to his recent public lecture, ‚From a
pyramid to a pluralistic rhizomatic system, Europe’s protests have no central
agency or committee. There are plural protests to meet and debate. In today’s
capitalism, however, power works in a post oedipal way. Today’s power is a
multitude of power.‛38 In the present times, there is already a decline of the
father, since the post-oedipality permits the invention of multiple worlds that is,
the power to generate multiple frameworks that results to relativism as what
capitalism in postmodern times exhibits. What clashes this postmodern frame of
capitalism is on the contrary the power of the multitude, exceptionally, with a
central axis of control. Žižek offered a solution: ‚there is only a possibility of selforganization/discipline collective action that is not framed in the figure of the
Master (Father). If you reject this, the only alternative is postmodernism.‛ 39
The future-world is not simply futurism but the exact perspective of an
unknown-future, that is, l avenir.40 The present social resistance is evidently a
warning from the unknown-future, the apocalyptic event (that is, apokalypsis—to
unveil). That there is something that we need to avoid in the present, that the
cause of these resistances has something to do for the publication of the future
run and this cause will establish the immediate effect in lieu of the time un-given.
This apocalyptic event marks the search for a Pascaline deus absconditus,41 or a
hidden god, not on the image of the brazen bull and lavish palace of the Arab
dictators but a god who gives warning from the future (that is to come). The
desperate plea of Žižek is to believe; that is, to strengthen the faith that some
unknown time in the future, as a community of believers,42 that this god of
Slavoj Žižek, A Reply to my Critics.,Public Lecture by Slavoj Žižek and Panel Discussion
led by Coustas Douzinas, Birkbeck Institute for Humanities, University of London, 2013, sound
recording.
39 Ibid.
40 Žižek, Dreaming Dangerously, 134.
41 Ibid., 129.
42 Slavoj Žižek, The Puppet and the Dwarf, (Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2003), 110.
38
whom we are toiling our sweat would come and welcomes us to the present
anew. This community suspends all ethnic divisions. 43 The lesson of Hegel, as
Žižek reflexively defined, is that the struggle for freedom should go on and
accept its danger. We have to learn how to act without an ontological guarantee.
Lastly, Žižek invokes as that we should fully accept this openness,
guiding ourselves on nothing more than ambiguous signs from the future.44
Echoing the same reason,
The least we can do is to look for traces of the new communist
collective in already existing social or even artistic movements.
What is therefore needed today is refined search for ‚signs coming
from the future,‛ for indications of this new radical questioning of
the system.45
References
Books & Journals
Althusser, Louis. The Future Lasts Forever. Translated by Richard Veasy. Edited
by
Olivier Corpet and Yann Moulier Boutang. New York: The New Press,
1992.
Braunstein, Nestor. ‚Le discours capitaliste, ‘cinquieme discours’?‛ In Savoirs et
Clinique 14 (2011): 94-100.
Lacan, Jacques. ‚Analyticon.‛ In The Seminars of Jacques Lacan, Book XVII: The
Other Side of Psychoanalysis. Edited by Jacques Alain-Miller. Translated by
Russell Grigg. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2007: 198-208.
Milner, Jean-Claude. Clartes de tout. Paris: Verdier, 2011.
Negri, Antonio and Michael Hardt. Declaration. New York: Argo Navis Author
Services, 2012.
Žižek, Slavoj. The Year of Dreaming Dangerously. London/New York: Verso, 2012.
Ibid., 139.
Žižek, Dreaming Dangerously, 135.
45 Slavoj Žižek, Living in the End Times, (London/New York: Verso, 2011), 363.
43
44
________. Living in the End Times. London/New York: Verso, 2011.
________. Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. New York: Picador, 2008.
________. The Parallax View. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2006.
________., The Puppet and the Dwarf. Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2003.
Video and Sound Recordings
Žižek, Slavoj. A Reply to my Critics. Public Lecture by Slavoj Žižek and Panel
Discussion led by Coustas Douzinas. Birkbeck Institute for Humanities,
University of London, 2013. Sound recording.
________. The Year of Dreaming Dangerously Panel Discussion. 2 hr, 2 min..
Columbia University, 2012. Video recording.
Unpublished Manuscripts
Rivas, Virgilio A. ‚Marx and Philosophy.‛ In Marx Festival 2012-Philippines.
Polytechnic University of the Philippines, March 6-7, 2012. Pagination not
applicable.
SAN JUAN’S FOOD HERITAGE
INTRODUCTION
Cultural heritage is not only limited to material evidences such as
monuments and objects that have been preserved over the period of time.
Heritage also include certain practices, beliefs, rituals, memoirs, foods, and
others that provide a sense of meaning and identity to a particular community or
locality and is worthy to be preserved and inherited by the future generations.
According to UNESCO, ‚The importance of intangible cultural heritage is
not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills
that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next. The social and
economic value of this transmission of knowledge is relevant for minority groups
and for mainstream social groups within a State, and is as important for
developing States as for developed ones.‛46 Since intangible heritage is important
to different societies, a well-documented collection of a living heritage is
essential in safeguarding particular languages, practices, and rituals that are
deeply threatened by the pervasiveness of globalization.
In line with this objective, this paper aims to provide vital and substantial
information about San Juan Del Monte’s intangible heritage in order to help the
city preserve its distinct cultural expressions for the benefit of its future
generations.
Food and Man
‚Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es.‛ (Tell me what you eat and I
shall tell
du
you
what you are.) - Anthelme Brillat-Savarin in Physiologie
Gout, ou Meditations de Gastronomie Transcendante, 1826
There is a common maxim that goes ‚You are what you eat‛, and this
probably holds true if we look at how people consume different types of food
everyday. If you see someone getting all stuffed with dishes that are high on fats,
calories, and preservatives, we often associate this consumption to a mental
46
What is Intangible Heritage?
http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/index.php?lg=en&pg=00002
assumption of a person’s lifestyle. Through our personal lenses, we look at
people who indulge with these types of food as those who will most likely have a
detrimental and sedentary way of life. More often than not, one’s value of which
food to consume is a reflection of how a person values his or her well – being, in
a holistic sense.
Though food choices may suggest a glimpse on an individual’s
personality, taste, class, and stature, dishes and cuisines in different parts of the
globe have been strongly linked with vast changes that occurred in man’s daily
life. Rather than it only being a means to an end, food consumption, preparation,
preference, and taboos were interwoven with man’s struggles within the
ecological system and the changes in man’s complex social life. Indeed, some of
these dishes are constantly renewed throughout history and are encapsulated
and embedded with every bit of man’s experiences and memoirs. Food is a
meaningful medium connecting every man to his past and his future, and it
resembles a particular identity – be it local, national, or global.
The same perspective is also applicable when we examine the food
consumption patterns, preferences, taboos, and choices throughout different
societies. For example, one can determine a particular ethnicity based on the taste
of different dishes. Indian cuisine has been known to be spicy, full of flavor, and
pungent in smell as compared to American food, which is a bit mild in taste and
insipid. The consumption of rice has been associated with people residing in
Asian regions, while bread has been a main course in Western dishes. The same
logic goes when we examine religious differences and taboos. Hindus are known
to exclude cow meat in their protein diet, and a logically parallel taboo is known
with Jews and Moslems, when it comes to devouring pork meat.
Food consumption patterns maybe a response to maintain an ecological
equilibrium or a symbol of a community’s distinct identity and of its collective
representation, but nonetheless, it speaks much about man’s culture. The
explanations for food consumption may differ in various perspectives, but it is a
given fact that man’s association with food has molded and cultivated the life of
the individual as well as different societies.
Food as an Intangible Heritage
Aside from being a reflection of a community’s particular culture,
practices that are related to food – consumption, preparation, rituals, and others
can provide us relevant explanations regarding a community’s particular
identity. According to Peter Howard, ‚Indeed, the deepest cultural identity
seems often to be inherent not in objects which can be preserved but in more
personal features and cultural traits‛ (2003:88). And this personal features and
cultural traits are well manifested through food consumption and preparation.
Along with other ephemeral heritages, food consumption patterns and other
activities associated with it are considered as links to a community’s particular
historical roots. Understanding the dishes of a particular community can provide
a glimpse of what life was before and what things and practices are meaningful
then and now.
The need to preserve a particular recipe or dish is essential in building a
social heritage. A concise and well-documented list of foods available to a
particular locality serves as an indicator of a community’s rich culture, taste and
food preference, and a reflection of its individual’s personal traits and distinct
cultural features.
The Foods of San Juan
Since the city of San Juan is rich in cultural traditions and historical
significance, a deeper understanding of what sort of dishes are available to it is
important. It will provide us relevant information that will help us understand
San Juan’s community life. This purpose of this paper is to document the most
popular dishes available exclusively to San Juan. It will tackle about the history
of these dishes, its unique features, and its cultural significance to the
community.
a.
Leonardo’s Lechon Gallina
Brief History:
Soon after the war, Leonardo’s Lechon gained popularity all over the
residents of San Juan. Leonardo’s Lechon roasted its first ‚lechon‛ in the humble
home of Leonardo (Totoy) and Josefina (Pinay) Aquino. During fiestas and
special occasions, friends and relatives would ask the couple to cook for them
and their specialty dishes became a hit on community gatherings. Hence, with
their small capital acquired from selling various products in San Juan public
market, Totoy decided to earn his living and invest in selling his special lechons
to various clients within the municipality. Due to his hardwork and brilliant skill
in roasting pigs, Leonardo ‚Totoy‛ Aquino created an empire based on
perseverance and the love for food. Soon after, he started to expand his business
and built a house with the lechonan at its backyard. He also invested in delivery
vans to be able to deliver to various customers and cover a broader market.
Since then, Leonardo’s lechon reached various cities within the Metro and it was
enjoyed in different occassions by different sorts of people – both meek and
powerful. Up to this day, the legacy of Totoy and Pinay’s special lechon still
lives on and its exquisite taste became one of San Juan’s true heritage.
Why is it different?
Compared to other lechon houses that sell pigs coming from hog farms,
Leonardo’s lechon has been known to roast native lechons which were directly
acquired from home-based raisers in Pangasinan. Leonardo’s lechon also takes
pride in their Lechon Gallina – a roasted pig stuffed with a raw chicken inside.
The practice of Lechon Gallina started when one of Totoy’s son, Sonny , decided
to try new ways to make lechon. The Lechon Gallina was an offspring born out
of different experiments and researches by Sonny. Aside from this distinct way
of roasting, Leonardo’s lechon is also known to be very tasty because of the
signature recipe of unique herbs and spices which are passed on through
generations. This ‚sinful‛ treat has been one of the most sought after delicacies of
San Juan.
b. Aling Banang’s Halo-halo
Brief History:
Aling Banang’s halo halo was first introduced inside the San Juan public
market. Mother and daughter Urbana ‚Banang‛ Silva Santiago and Adoracion
Santiago started selling this lovely treat in the 1930’s and has gained popularity
all over San Juan ever since. Even before commercial halo-halo’s started putting
ice cream toppings for the native dessert, Aling Banang’s halo-halo takes pride to
reinvent the normal leche flan topping style.
Originally, Aling Banang’s halo-halo packaging is a result of a creative
idea – it was served using used milk tin cans which gives the treat itself a native
and cozy feel.
Why is it different?
Aling Banang’s halo – halo has been known to put fresh native ingredients
on their halo – halo.
According to Rolando Mendoza, the successor of the
original Aling Banang, from the beginning up to the present, Aling Banang staff
make it a point to use homemade ingredientsto give the halo – halo an authentic
and uncompromised lutong bahay taste.
Aside from the homemade ice cream topping, one original ingredient that
gives the treat a full flavor was the leche flan made from duck eggs place at the
top of the halo – halo. Contrary to the traditional leche flan made from chicken
eggs, Aling Banang’s duck egg leche flan is tastier and it has a more thicker and
gummier crust.
c. Aling Banang’s Pancit Bihon
Brief History:
After the San Juan public market was burned, Adoracion, together with
her son Rolando was able to acquire a small stall at the newly established Agora
Market. Since the setting of the Agora Market is very different from the previous
San Juan public market, Adoracion and Rolando decided to include other
products in their menu in order to sustain their livelihood.
Since the young Rolando was then new into cooking other dishes,
Adoracion decided to commision a cook for their stall. As years pass by, Rolando
was paired with different cooks and he harnessed a relevant amount of
experience to cook custom dishes for the restaurant. One dish which particularly
stood out was his lechon kawali. His unique style of cooking lechon kawali
became so popular within the community that he and his mother tried
incorporating it into other dishes.
With Rolando’s lechon kawali being the prime edge of Aling Banang’s
food empire, Rolando then decided to make a traditional pancit bihon with a
different kind of twist – adding his famous lechon kawali as a topping for the
pancit, Aling Banang’s lechon kawali gained popularity all over San Juan and in
adjacent cities within its vicinity.
Why is it different?
Unlike the traditional pancit bihon, Aling Banang’s variation makes pancit
bihon a festive dish. Plus the fact that Rolando’s excellent lechon kawali is a
standout dish in itself, the collaboration of the traditional pancit bihon and the
lechon kawali is a truly inviting and sumptuous meal.
d. Allan’s Maki-mi
Brief History:
Allan’s Maki – mi is one of the most popular ‚informal economies‛ that
emerged in San Juan. Started in the early 80’s by a Chinese-Mestizo Owa Arnaiz,
the food Maki-mi was originally served as a late night snack for drunk workers
at the Arnaiz’s motor shop.
Since then, Owa’s Maki-mi became a hit after
drinking sessions and the news of a special dish spread out like a wild fire. The
father and son tandem then decided to make a profit out of the food and it
attracted all sorts of customers particularly those who came from late night
drinking sessions, tricycle and jeepney drivers, barangay tanods, police officers
taking the graveyard shift and others. After Owa died, his son Allan took over
the small enterprise and it still caters to different customers up to present.
Allan’s maki –mi is served with Kiampong, a chinese style fried rice.
Why is it different?
Though Allan’s Maki – mi is not far different from other Maki – mi’s,
what’s special is its peculiar store hours. During daytime, the place is a
motorshop and it transforms into a noodle house at night. It opens around 2 in
the morning and closes by 6 am. Also, a factor that gives this special dish a native
feel is that it is cooked as early as 4pm for the process of cooking this is
traditional – big amounts of soup are cooked over low fire using coal as a fuel.
e. Tita Lulu’s Pancit Palabok
Brief History:
Over the last decade, one of the most sought after foods in San Juan can be
found in front of Puregold Shopping Center (the former Agora Mall), known as
Tita Lulu’s. Along with other stalls, Ms. Lulu Gavino’s store stood out. It offered
a dish that genuinely follows the traditional San Juan flavor. Simple traditional
dishes modified to fit the cravings of a community that is known to love festive
foods. In the mid-90’s, Lulu, or Tita Lulu as the community calls her, decided to
cut into San Juan’s competitive and conservative food market. Since Tita Lulu
has been a native of San Juan, she knew that the only way to establish her own
food empire was to create a dish that would particularly embed into the
community’s scrutinizing and highly critical taste buds and at the same time
something that would capture their hearts.
Armed with her passionate love for cooking, Lulu decided to open a small
stall in Brgy. San Perfecto. Right there and then, her dishes became a hit in the
community, particularly her Pancit Palabok.
Though she modestly admits that
her Pancit Palabok is one of the best dishes that San Juan has to offer, she said
that her method was cultivated due to a continuing process of trial and error. As
a native of San Juan, she knew that the only way to captivate her customer’s
hearts and to keep them engrossed on her dishes is to carefully craft her cooking
skills and to ask the individuals in the community for their opinions regarding
her food. She also makes sure that she only use the freshest ingredients in her
food, which makes her dishes tight and full of flavor.
Why is it different?
Tita Lulu’s Pancit Palabok is also topped with Lechon Kawali. Like Aling
Banang’s Pancit Bihon, her pancit palabok boasts San Juan’s style of making
traditional dishes festive while keeping it inexpensive. The success of her Pancit
Palabok also kept her name at San Juan’s food industry. Her modesty and
congeniality also helped her in gaining a huge amount of patronage and this trait
continuously contributes to her success.
San Juan local recipes are symbols and representations of familiarity and
social bond within the community. These social bonds transcend even different
classes based on socio-economic status. According to Rolando Mendoza, owner
of Aling Banang’s F. Blumentritt Branch, ‚Dito sa San Juan, lahat ng tao mahilig
kumain. Dati sa may palengke, kahit nakapangopisina pumapasok pa sa loob para
kumain.”
With this statement, it is evident that when it comes to eating, upper
status individuals and people with professional backgrounds mingle with people
from the working class and lower professions. The possibility of this
phenomenon is due to the fact that, for the people of San Juan their preference on
food is based on a taste familiar to them and their mutual bond with the people
who prepare it. In an interview with Leonard Aquino, a third generation heir of
Leonardo’s Lechon, he stated, “The people of San Juan always prefer the food that they
are familiar with. Our business is successful because the people of San Juan are
guaranteed that we will provide them great tasting lechon.” And because of the strong
social bond within the community, even the people who prepare the food keeps
in mind that in order for their businesses to continuously flourish, they must
gain the community’s approval not only in taste, but also in trust. They make it a
point to maintain the warm, homey, native San Juan style to retain their patrons
and gain new customers.
It is also remarkable to cite that the most successful food businesses in the
city are local restaurants that built their menu from original homemade recipes.
These recipes were served in local fiestas, family occasions and gatherings.
Examples of this continuing heritage are Leonardo’s Lechon, Aling Banang’s,
Tita Lulu’s and Allan’s Maki–mi. All these dishes became small enterprises due
to the demand of the community. These food traditions are decades old, and are
passed on from generation to generation.
Another interesting fact about the dishes of San Juan is that they prepare
traditional and native dishes with a different twist. That’s why their food always
appears to be festive and extravagant. The type of pancit available in San Juan is
a little different compared to nearby cities and municipalities: instead of the
normal chicharon toppings, at Tita Lulu’s and Aling Banang’s, they use lechon
kawali. The same goes with others, and each of these featured dish offer a
surprising element in its preparation and presentation.
The people of San Juan take pride on these dishes and they associate their
local identity with it. One statement that suggests this example clearly is “Kung
hindi mo kilala ang Aling Banang, hindi ka taga San Juan”. It is an impression, which
shows that one’s familiarity with the iconic Aling Banang is actually an indicator
of one’s acknowledgement of local identity.
This strong food heritage in San Juan reflects their strong sense of community
life and awareness. They treat these homegrown dishes as part of their family
and community tradition, and they put all their effort to consciously have it
protected and preserved.
APPENDIX A
DATA CAPTURE SHEET FOR
LEONARDO’S LECHON GALLINA
Address/ Location: J. Basa St., San Juan City, Philippines
Food:
Lechon (Roasted Pig)
Owner/ Proprietor:
Leonard Aquino (Aquino Family)
Origin of Food:
Ingredients Used:
Whole pig, traditional herbs and
spices, dressed chicken (Lechon
Gallina)
Distinct Feature:
Lechon Gallina (Lechon stuffed with
Whole chicken)
Photo credit: John Dalisay
Date taken: May 5, 2011
DATA CAPTURE SHEET FOR
ALING BANANG’S HALO-HALO
Address/ Location: F. Blumentritt St., San Juan City, Philippines
Food:
Halo Halo (From tagalog word halo,
‚mix‛)
Owner/ Proprietor:
Aling Banang (Mendoza Family)
Origin of Food:
Filipino dessert
Ingredients Used:
Various traditional sweets and root
crops, kidney beans, young rice
(pinipig), shaved ice, topped with
Leche Flan and/or ice cream
Distinct Feature:
Home made Ice cream on top;
originally used duck eggs for leche
flan
Photo credit: John Dalisay
Date taken: May 5, 2011
DATA CAPTURE SHEET FOR
ALING BANANG’S PANCIT BIHON
Address/ Location: F. Blumentritt St., San Juan City, Philippines
Food:
Pancit Bihon
Owner/ Proprietor:
Aling Banang (Mendoza Family)
Origin of Food:
Philippines (Derived from Chinese
food Hokkien or “pian-i-sit”)
Ingredients Used:
Bihon, soy sauce, vegetables, etc.
Distinct Feature:
Topped with Lechon Kawali
Photo credit: John Dalisay
Date taken: May 5, 2011
DATA CAPTURE SHEET FOR
ALLAN’S MAKI-MI
Address/ Location: F. Manalo St., San Juan City
Food:
Maki – mi and Kiampong
Owner/ Proprietor:
Allan Arnaiz
Origin of Food:
Chinese dish
Ingredients Used:
Noodles, cornstarch, spices, meat (pig
and beef)
Distinct Feature:
Store hours (2 am to 6 am)
Photo credit: Web
Date taken: Unknown
DATA CAPTURE SHEET FOR
TITA LULU’S PANCIT PALABOK
Address/ Location: N. Domingo St., San Juan City, Philippines
Food:
Pancit Palabok
Owner/ Proprietor:
Lulu Gavino
Origin of Food:
Philippines (Derived from Chinese
food Hokkien or “pian-i-sit”)
Ingredients Used:
Noodles, shrimp sauce, chicaron.
smoked fish (tinapa), Philippine
lemon (kalamansi)
Distinct Feature:
Topped with Lechon Kawali
Photo credit: Ariel De Leon
Date taken: May 11, 2011
APPENDIX B
TITA LULU’S PANCIT PALABOK
Lulu Gavino, the owner of Tita Lulu’s Pancit Palabok, partly shared with
us the recipe of her famous palabok. She maintained that it the ‚secret
ingredient‛ that makes her palabok famous but she refused to disclose it to us for
obvious reasons. So, the recipe below is based on our own interpretation of how
it tasted, plated and served. The recipe is also a modification from a recipe in the
book: Kulinarya a guide to Philippine cuisine. The measurements and the
ingredients, especially the toppings, are only approximation based on the
inventory of the palabok we ate.
(Serves 6)
Ingredients:
500 g thick rice noodles (pansit
luglug)
Water for soaking noodles
4 tbps / 60 ml annatto (achuete) oil
4 tbsp / 60 g all-purpose flour
2 cloves / 10 g garlic
4 cups / 960 ml chicken/pork/beef
stock
200 g shrimps (fresh suahe shrimp)
1 tbsp / 20 ml fish sauce
salt
¼ tsp / .75 g white pepper
Preparation:
1. Soak the rice noodles in water for 3 – 4 hours.
2. Crush, peel and mince the garlic.
3. Bring 1 cup of water to boil. Add the shrimps and a pinch of salt. Remove
from the heat as soon as the shrimps turn pink.
4. Peel and devein the shrimp. Strain and reserve the broth.
5. Pull the heads and boil together with the shell trimmings and make a
stock (1 cup/240 ml) to flavour the sauce.
6. Grind the shrimp until it has a paste like consistency. Add the shrimp
paste to make a shrimp stock.
Cooking:
1. In a pot, heat the annatto oil and sauté garlic for 1 minute.
2. Add the flour, whisking continuously. Cook for another minute.
3. Add the shrimp stock and chicken (pork or beef) stock and cook for about
15 minutes, stirring continuously.
4. Season the resulting sauce with fish sauce and pepper. Set aside and keep
warm. Then you have the palabok (luglog) sauce.
5. Boil the noodles for 2 – 3 minutes, then drain. Cooked noodles will expand
to approximately 1.2 kg.
6. Prepare the toppings.
Toppings:
1. Pork crackling (chicharon)
2. Smoked fish flakes (tinapa)
3. Powdered fish crackers
(yellow in colour)
4. Slices of lechon kawali
5. Hard-boiled egg cut into
wedges
6. Palabok (luglog) sauce
7. Squid rings/bits
8. Chopped lechon kawali
9. Spring onions
10. Toasted garlic
Pancit Palabok Toppings:
5 cloves / 25 g garlic
1 / 80 g onion
250 g squid
100 g smoked fish (tinapa)
50 g pork cracklings (chicharon)
2 sprigs / 10 g spring onions
4 tbsp / 60 ml annatto oil
A morsel of lechon kawali good for
six persons
A packet of fish crackers
3 eggs
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
Calamansi
Fish sauce
Preparation:
1. Crush, peel and mince the garlic. Divide equally into 3 portions.
2. Peel and chop the onion. Divide equally into 2 portions.
3. Wash squid and remove tentacles. Peel off skin from the body and slice
into rings. Remove beak and ink sac from tentacles. Wash to clean.
4. Flake the smoke fish and wrap in aluminium foil.
5. Coarsely chop the pork cracklings.
6. Ground the fish cracker to powder consistency
7. Slice the lechon kawali
8. Chop the coriander leaves.
9. Chop the spring onions.
10. Divide annatto oil into 2 portions of 2 tbsp / 30 ml each.
Cooking:
1. Hard boil the eggs. When done, peel and slice into wedges and set aside.
While the eggs are cooking do the next procedure.
2. To make squid topping: preheat the same pan once more with the
remaining portion of the annatto oil. Sauté 1 portion of the garlic and the
remaining portion of the onion and 1 bay leaf. Add the squid rings and
tentacles and cook until tender. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. In the same pan, fry the remaining chopped garlic. Set aside.
4. Roast wrapped flaked smoked fish on the stove.
Assembly:
Place cooked noodles on a plate then pour sauce over the noodles and then
generously pour the following (in order) powdered fish crackers, pork
cracklings, and smoked flaked tinapa. Arrange the following toppings over the
sauce: squid, lechon kawali and wedged eggs. Sprinkle on top the chopped
spring onions, and fried garlic. Serve with sliced calamansi and fish sauce.
APPENDIX C
KEY INFORMANTS (SAN JUAN’S FOOD HERITAGE)
Ms. Loreta Sicat
(Secretary Leonardo’s Lechon)
Mr. Rolando Mendoza
(Owner, Aling Banang, F. Blumentritt)
Ms. Lulu Gavino
(Owner, Tita Lulu’s)
References:
Ferraro, Gary. 2008. Cultural anthropology: an applied perspective. 7th ed. US: Thomson
Wadsworth.
Harris, Marvin and Orna Johnson. 2003. Cultural anthropology. 6th ed. Boston: Pearson
Education, Inc.
Haviland, William A. 1999. Cultural anthropology. 10th ed. Forth Worth: Harcourt
College Publishers.
Niera, Fr. Eladio OP. 1994. Glimpses into the history of San Juan, Metro Manila. San
Juan, Metro Manila: Life Today Publication.
Pertierra, Raul. 1988. Religion, politics, and rationality in a Philippine community.
Quezon City: Ateneo De Manila University Press.
Schultz, Emily A and Robert H. Lavenda. 2005. Cultural anthropology: a perspective on
the human condition. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press.
208
Ang Pagdalumat sa Konsepto ng Bayani ng
Makabagong Panahon
Outline
I- Panimula- pagpapakilala ng konsepto ng bayani, kahulugan o depinisyon at
pagbabanyuhay ng konsepto mula prehistorikong pagpapakahulugan hanggang
sumapit sa kasalukuyan.
II- Ang bayani sa Modernong konsepto
a. Makabagong pagpapakahulugan
b. Papel at suliranin
c. Layunin at misyon para sa pagbabago
d. Ang bayaning makabago bilang tagapagbasag ng makalumang konsepto.
III- Mga uri ng bayani sa modernong panahon
a. Bayaning nagtataglay ng kakaibang kapangyarihan (Fantastic hero)
b. Mga taong itinuring na bayani dahil sa makabuluhang Gawain at pinasikat ng
medya (Mediatised hero)
c. Bayaning sumibol dala ng poot sa politika (Political hero)
IV- Pamantayan sa kasaalukuyang panahon sa pagpili ng bayaani
V- Konklusyon
VI- Mga Pinagkunang batis
209
Abstract
Mahalaga ang konsepto ng bayan para sa isang bansa. Ang mga bayani ay nagsisilbing
inspirasyon para sa isang lupon ng tao. Inspirasyong hindi lamang upang gayahin ngunit mas higit ang
pagbibigay ng pag-asa sa mga tao na may lulutas ng kanilang suliranin at may magbubuklod sa kanila
tungo sa pagkakaisa. Madalas ang mga bayani ay nakapagbibigay ng saya, katuparan, inspirasyon at pagasa sa karamihan at minsan ito na rin ang nagiging sandigan ng lakas upang ipagpatuloy ang pakikibaka
sa buhay. Tunay ngang malaki epekto ng konsepto ng bayani sa nakararami ngunit sa panahon natin
ngayon ano na nga ba ang konsepto natin ng bayani?
Sa aming pag-aaral na ito, nais naming dalumatin ang kasalukuyang konsepto ng mga pilipino sa
bayani. Pag-uugat kung ano na nga ba ang tingin at pamantayan ng lipunang pilipino sa konseptong ito at
muling pagbabanyuhay ng depinisyon ng bayani mula sa protopilipinong pagpapakahulugan hanggang sa
kasalukuyang panahon.mula sa konsepto ng bayan sa unang panahonbilang mga taong nagmula at
gumagawa para sa bayan-matatapang at sinasabing walang takot, lider mandirigma na mabisang ugatin sa
pamamagitan ng pagkatas ng depinisyon at konsepto gtamit ang mga akdang pangliteratura katulad ng
alamat, kwntong bayan at epiko ay masasabing kalat ang konsepto ngbayani.
Nais sagutin ng aming papel na ito na mula sa mga depinisyong nasa itaas ay paano at ano na nga
ba ang konsepto ng bayani sa ating kasalukuyang panahon. Nag bago ba o nanatili?, nadagdagan ang
pagpapakahulugan o dili naman kaya’y nabawasan?, ilan lamang ito sa mga tanong na nais naming
sagutin at ipabatid ang paglalahad ng modernong konsepto ng bayani para sa ikabubuti ng ating lipunan
kinabibilangan at ng iba.
210
I – Panimula
Mahalaga ang papel ng konsepto ng bayani sa isang bansa. Ang bayani ay nagbibigay ng
inspirasyon, lakas, kasiguraduhan at pag-asa sa lupon ng tao o sa isang lipunan.
Isang mabisang paraan upang mapag-isa ang ating lahi ay sa pamamagitan ng
pagpapabatid ng konsepto ng bayani. Bago pa man sumapit ang mga kanluraning mananakop sa
ating kapuluan ay masasabing mayroon na tayong konsepto ng kagitingan, katapangan, at
pagmamalasakit sa bayan. Ang mga magagandang katangian na nasa itaas ay isinasatao ng isang
bayani, Ayon sa boxer codex (1590) ang bayani ay isang lider mandirigma, walang takot, at
nagbibigay ng tulong na walang kapalit. At ito rin umano ang mga magigiting na lalaki na
palaban at may mataas na katayuan o dignidad. Noong ika labing anim o ika labing pitong
dantaon, ang bayani ay isang taong may tapang at ito ay ayon kay Pedro San Buenaventura.
Nabuo naman nila Juan de Noceda at Pedro san Licar ang ibat-ibang anyo ng salitang bayani,
tulad ng magbayani, ipabayani, at bayanihan. Ang magbayani ay nangangahulugan ng
pagpapanggap bilang isang bayani samantalang ang dalawang nahuling salita ay ukol sa
paggawa ng walang kapalit. Makikita ang protopilipinong pagpapakahulugan na ito sa ating
bayani sa mga matataandang akdang pangliteratura n gating lahi na siyang mabisang pagkunang
batis sa makalumang konsepto ng bayani.
Sa panahon ng krisis, ang panahon kung saan ay sinakop ang mga Pilipino ng mga
espanyol (1565-1896) masasabing isang bayani ang isang tao kung mapanatili niya ang kaayusan
at maipagtanggol nya ang bayan. Dito nagbigay ng pakahulugan sa Atoy Navasero- ang bayani
ayon sa kanya, ay ang tagapagtanggol hindi lamang ng bayan ngunit maging ng santinakpan.
211
Ang bayani rin daw ang nagpapanatili ng kaayusan sa isang bayan. At bayani rin ang turing
samga taong magtatangkang maibalik ang bayan sa dati nitong ningning o/at kabuuan o kaya
namaý magtatangkang bumuo ng bagong kabuuan. Hanggang dumating ang mga mananakop na
amerikano at hapon nananatiling ganito ang tingin at pamantayan sa isang bayani ngunit nang
sumapit ang 1896 hanggang sa kasalukuyan at hinaharap, ang bayaning maituturing ay isang tao
na kayang mapag-isa at mapagbuklod ang inang bayan, bansa, at sambayanan.
II- Ang bayani sa Modernong Panahon
Makikitang pagsapit ng panahon mula 1896 hanggang sa kasalukuyan at maging ang
hinaharap, bayaning maituturing ang isang tao kung mapag-iisa niya ang inang bayan, bansa, at
sambayanan.
Sa harap ng pagtalaakay nitong paksa, marapat lamang na ugatin nating mga Pilipino
kung bakit ganito ang pagpapasa konsepto natin sa bayani. Mahihinuha marahil na matapos ang
sigwang nalasap n gating lahi mula sa kamay ng mga mananakop ay nawala an gating sariling
pagtingin at pagkakakilanlan. Ayon sa isang batikang mamahayag na Amerikanong si James
Fallows, Ang Pilipinas di umano ay isang bansang may sirang kultura.47
Matapos ang panahon ng pananakop ay tila nagbagong bihis ang liping kayumanggi at
animo’y nawalan ng pagkakaisa.Ito marahil ay implikasyon ng negatibong epektong ating
kakayahang makiangkop (adopt) at tumanggap ng kulturang labas. Ang panahong ito rin ang
47
James Fallows, The Atlantic Monthly: November, 1987
212
panahon kung saan naipagwawalang bahala na ng mga Pilipino ang tunguhing mapagkaisa ang
bansa at tila nagkakanya kanya na nga ba tayo at tumutupad na lang sa ating mga pansariling
layunin? Ito lahat marahil ay dahil wala na sa loob ng mga Pilipino ang banta ng pananakop.
Sa hiblang ito makikita ang dahilan sa pagkilos na isinakatuparan ni Claro M. Recto.
Ginamit ni Recto ang konsepto ng pambansang bayani sa mga nararapat na iasal at gawin ng
mga tao at upang maging instrumento sa pagbuo ng kaisipang nasyonalista at pagkakabuklodbuklod ng mga Pilipino. Ito ang dahilan ng pagkakapasa ng RA 1425 o mas kilala bilang Batas
Rizal na kasalukuyang ipinapatupad sa ating pambansang konstitusyon ng maraming Pilipino
lalo na ang mga kabataan na hindi nababatidang dahilan kung bakit itinuturo ang kursong Rizal
sa kolehiyo.
Mula sa kasaysayan, mahihinuhang ang konsepto ng bayani sa makabagong Panahon ay
yaong mga taong makapag-iisa sa isang bayan, sa bansa, at sa sambayanan at nakagagawa ng
mga makabuluhang bagay.buhat sa lumang konsepto ng bayani, ito ay lumabas at masasabing
nagkaroon ng ilang pagbabago sa mga gawi, pag-iisip, at pagkakakilanlan ng bayaning turing.
Malaki rin ang epekto ng panahong moderno sa pagbabago ng konsepto ng bayani sapagkat dala
ng Panahong “modern” o “global” nagkaroon ngayon ng pagbabago na tilang nakikiakma sa
kasalukuyang panahon. Ang mga pagbabagong ito ay dala ng teknolohiya, modernisasyon, social
media, at marami pang iba na naging batayan ng mga tao sa pagpili ng bayani. Dito ay tinuring
ng mga taong bayani ang hero at savior na masasabing mali sapagkat dayuhan ang mga sumunod
na salita.
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Gayunpaman, ibinigay niZeus Salazar ang pagkakaiba ng dalawang uri ng taong may
nagawang mahalaga para sa bansa. Ang Heroe (salitang para sa hero) at bayani. Ayon kay
Salazar, ang salitang Heroe ay banyagang konsepto ng pagiging martir at ang ibig sabihin ay
isang tao na may kakaibang katapangan, lakas at pakikipagtulungan sapagkat kailangan. Mariing
na pinagdidiinan ni Salazar ang puntong walang nakalagay na “bayan” o dapat na kasama ang
bayan. Na kaiba ika nya sa ating katutubong konsepto ng “bayani” o bagani. Ito marahil ang
pinagkaiba ng dalawa sapagkatangating katutubong konsepto ay hindi kailangang maging martir
o mag-isa sapagkat siya’y lumalaban o kumikilos kaisa ang bayan.Sa mata ni Salazar ang
pagkakaiba ng Heroe at bayani ay mas mapapaliwanag ng paghahambing kay Rizal at Bonifaciosi Rizal bilang Heroe at si Bonifacio bilang bayani na kung saan kanyang sinabing si Rizal ay
isang tunay na Heroe sapagkat isa itong “bayaning” may kamalayan na kanluranin at may
pansariling misyon. Samantalang ang mga tunay na bayani kagaya ni bonifacio ay kumikilos
para sa grupo at hindi nahihiwalay sa bayan. Isa pang napagkakamalan ng lipunang kasing
kahulugan ng bayani ay ang konsepto ng tagapagligtas o savior na isang banyagang salita at
kung saan ang pakahulugan ay ang mga taong nakapagligtas o nakapagbigay ng mabilisang
tulong ay itinuturing nabayani. Ayon sa ilang pag-aaral ay dala lamang ng ilang dahilan katulad
na lamang ng “Social media” at iba pa.
Sa mga naitala, mahihinuhang mula sa lumang pagpapakahulugan ng katutubong
konsepto ng bayani ay kumawala ang agos ng pagbabago sa konsepto at depinisyon dahil sa
panahon at ilang pangyayari sa kasaysayan.
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II- Mga uri ng bayani sa modernong panahon.
Mahalaga ang konsepto ng bayani sa isang bansa. Ang mga bayani ay nagpipinta ng pagasa, inspirasyon at katuparan sa mata ng mga taong naniniwala sa mga ito. Kaya naman
napakahalagang ugatin kung ano na nga ba ang kasalukuyang konsepto ng bayani ng liping
kinabibilangan upang ating malaman ang mga salik at dahilan ng paglitaw ng mga uri ng
bayaning ito at maiangkop ang kanilang tunay na pwesto at epekto sa ating buhay. At sa
pangkalahatang perspektiba bilang isang lipunan.
Larawan na nagpapakita ng ibat-ibang mga super hero
na inidolo ng mga Pilipino. Karamihan ng kuha ay mula
sa Goggle Images.
215
1.1 Bayaning nagtataglay ng kakaibang kapangyarihan (Fantastic hero)
Bayaning maituturing sa mata ng iba ang mga taong nagtataglay ng kakaibang
kapangyarihan. Ang mga taong ito ay sumisimbolo ng kalakasan, kagitingan, katalinuhan at
kakaibang kapangyarihan na maituturing na kakaiba at katangi-tangi.
Sa hiblang ito masasabing malaki ang epekto ng mga napapanood, nababasa at naririnig
ng mga tao. Sa aspeto ng pagiisip, kadalasan ang mga tao partikular na ang mga bata ay
nagkakaroon ng konsepto ng bayani sa katauhan ng mga ng mga karakter katulad na lamang nila
“Captain Barbell, Darna, Jouquin Bordado, Lastikman at marami pang iba. Ito ay dala ng mga
kakaibang katangiang tinataglay ng mga karakter naito nanagbibigay ng inspirasyon at pag-asa
para sa mga tao at kung minsan, humahantong pa ito sa mga pangarap na silaý maging katulad
ng kanilang mga iniidolo. Malaki rin ang epekto ng mga karakter na ito sa mga taal na
tagatangkilik. Halimbawa, nagiging modelo ang mga bayaning ito at nais kaparisan ng iba Ang
mga tagatangkilik din ng mga bayaning ito ang nagtatakda upang gawin silang tunay na ehemplo
ng pagkatao.
Ayon kay Dr. Marilou Doronillana asawa ng batikang kolumnista sa pahayagan na si
Amando Doronilla, sa kanyang Disertasyong pang Doktorado sa Pamantasan ng Pilipinas, ang
konsepto ng bayani ng karamihan partikular na sa kabataan ngayon ay impluwensya ng
kulturanglabas na kung saan ang mga konsepto ng “superhero” na nagmula sa bansang banyaga
ay bayani para sa mga tao ngayon. Dakila rin ang tingin ng mga nakararami sa mga karakter na
nagtataglay ng mga kakaibang abilidad na tila nakuha at minana ang ganitong konsepto sa unang
tingin sa isang bayani bilang Malakas at kakaiba. Dahilan din ito ng pagkakaroon ng tatak ng
216
mga bayaning ito sa mga Pilipino bilang mga kilalang tao na dapat ay sinusunod at iniidolo na
kung saan ay nakapagbibigay sa kanila ng inspirasyon at lakas sa pagpapatuloy at paglaban para
sa bayan. Ang mga salik din ito ang nagpapabuhay kung bakit ang mga kinikilalang personahe o
karakter kagaya nina Darna, Captain Barbell, Lastikman at marami pang iba ay nagiiwan ng
malaking marka sa katauhan ng isang tao. Mistulang walang kamatayan din ang turing ng
lipunan sa mga karakter na ito sapagkat nagkakaroon ng pag-unlad o ”Inovation” sa wikang
banyaga sa mga tauhang ito.mistulang panapanahon ay nagkakaroon ng pagbabago sa dating ng
ilan sa mga karakter na ito sapagkat nais palitawin ng lipunan ang esensya ng mga karakter na
superhero at fantastiko sa ating buhay. Masasabi ngang sila ay mga likhang isip lamang ngunit
ang epekto at ang dulot nito sa ating lipunan at araw-araw na pag-iisip ay malaki at tunay na iba.
(larawan blng 1.- si Efren Florida habang tinatanggap ang Parangal
Bilang CNN Hero of the Year sa bansang Estados Unidos,(kaliwa)
at si dating DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo. (kanan)
.(kuha mula sa Goggle image)
1.2 Mga taong itinuturing na bayani dahil sa makabuluhang gawain at pinasikat ng midya
(Mediatised hero)
217
Pamilyar ka basa kabayanihang ginawa ni Efren Penaflorida at Janella lelis? Kilala ang
mga kabayanihang ginawa ng mga taong ito sa kasalukuyang panahon. Sila ang mga indibidwal
na nagpamalas ng isang makabuluhang gawain kaya itinuring na huwaran o bayani. sa panahon
ngayon, naging madali na/o mabilis ang pagkalat ng kabayanihan ng mga taong ito dahil sa
inpormasyong dala ng “Social media”. Ang teknolohiyang ito ang naging daan kung bakit ang
pagtuturo ni kua Efren sa lansangan ng libre na naging daan upang masungkit niya ang “CNN
hero of the Year award” at pagligtas ng batang si janella Lelis ng naga sa isa sa pambansang
sagisag n gating bansa ay mabilisang kumalat at /o malaman ng nakararami. Ito rin ang dahilan
kung bakit ang tulad nila Efren at iba pang malalaking personalida ay pinag-uusapan at
gumagawa ng ingay sa ating lipunan.
Masasabing nakagawa ang mga ito ng mga makabuluhang gawain ngunit sapat na ba ito
upang bigyan sila ng malaking pagkilala, hindi sapagkat dinala ang mga pangalan ng mga ito ng
social media kung saan ang isang maliit na boses ay nagiging malaki o dumadami sa
pamamagitan ng mga makabagong instrumento ng pagkakalat ng impormasyon. Matatandaang
kumalat ang kabayanihan ni Janella Lelis ang batang taga Bicol na sa harap ng sakuna ay
sinagip o iniligtas ang Pambansang simbolo ng Pilipinas.sa pamamagitan ng pag-aupload ng
kanyang imahe na tangan-tangan niya ang pambansang simbolo ng ating bansa sa mga social
network sites kagaya ng FB at Twitter. Samantalang midya at telibisyon naman ang kay Efren
Penaflorid,. Mahihinuhang kumakalat sa nakararami ang mga nagawa ng mga bayaning ito sa
pamamagitan ng progresibong pag-unlad ng teknolohiya. Ngunit masasabing makakapagkatas
din tayo ng mga katangian ng isang bayani mula sa lumang konsepto sa mga pilipinong ito na
tunay na nakatulong sa lipunang ating kinabibilangan sapagkat tumayo rin naman sa harap ng
218
kagipitan ang mga nasabing personalidad na tunay na nakatulong at nakpagbigay ng liwanag sa
iba at nakapag hikayat na lumagay sa tama ang lipunan., ngunit an gating |”punto de bista” rito
ay ang malaking back-up o dulot ng makabagong teknolohiya sa pagiimpluwensya sa iba ng
konsepto ng kabayanihan na mula sa pagpapakilala sa isang maliit na boses ay lumalaki at
nagbibigay ng pagkakataon na ikalat sa mas malaking kaganapan.
Ayon saSikolohiya, malaki ang epekto ng Social media sa isang lipunan. Malaki ang
ginagampanan nito sa pang araw-araw na buhay ng mga indibidwal at grupo ng tao48. Sa isang
pag-aaral na isinagawa ng kagawaran ng komunikasyon ng pamantasan ng pilipinas (UP
Masscom) nalaman na sa patuloy na pag unlad ng Social media ay patuloy ang pag apekto nito
ng malaki sa isang lipunan. At malaki rin di umano ang epekto nito sa kaisipan ng mga tao
sapagkat nahihimok ng sinasabing mga propaganda. Dala ng mga midyang ito ay ang pagiging
bayani ng mga OFW, Bagamat sinabi ni Zeus Salazar na tugma ang pagtawag sa mga OFW
bilang “Modern Bayani49. Sapagkat kahit umano delikadong mangibang bansa ay sumigi pa rin
upang makapagbigay ng tulong sa bayan. Di ganap na masasabing sa ganitong paraan ay
masasabi nang mga bayani ang mga OFW sapagkat nadadala lamang ng Social media ang mga
ito. Masasabing sa pamamagitan ng social media ay nakikintal sa isipan ng marami ang
pagkabayani ng mga OFW at napapasigi ang pagpapakalat ng mga ganitong adbokasiya sapagkat
ganap ang pagkalat sa pamamagitan ng Social Media. Masasabi rin na sa panahon ngayon,
possible sa ating henerasyon na mapag isa ang lahat dahilan na rin sa pagkakaroon ng Social
48
Social Psychology and its Effect to the Society, University of chicago
Papel na binasa sa isang sangpaksaan sa NTC
49
219
Media. Ito marahil ay isa nanamang malaking pag aaral sapagkat napakadelikado ng
impluwensya ng midya sa iba.
(larawan blng II, mga tumayong whistle blower’s
sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas. Kuha mula sa
Google Pictures)
(Larawan bilang 2)
1.3 bayaning sumibol dahil sa poot sa loob ng politika (Political hero)
Sinasabing isa ang bansang pilipinas sa mga bansang may magulong sistema pagdating sa
politika. Isa rin di umano ang bansang ito sa mga pinakamaraming korupt na namumuno. Ito
marahil ang dahilan kung bakit sumibol ang mga bayaning naninindigan upang isiwalat ang mga
katiwalaan at gulo sa likod ng politika sa bansang ito. Ilan lamang sa mga ito ay ang mga
“whistleblowers” na nagsalita ukol sa mga maling gawain o/at sistema sa pamahalan. At
220
nagpamalas ng katapangan at paninindigan sa pagsisiwalat ng ilang dumi ng politika sa ating
bansa. Naging mainit ang pagtanggap ng lipunang Pilipino sa mga bayaning ito. Nagkaroon ng
mga susog na aksyon kung saan dumarating sa pagkakataon na napagiisa ang sambayanan.
Sa antas ng indibidwal, malaki ang kontribusyon ni Jun lozada sa lipunanan ng isiniwalat niya
ang anomalya sa mga maling pamamalakad ni dating pangulong Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Nakapagpababa ng imahe ng dating pangulo ang aksyong isinagawa ni Jun Lozada. Tunay ngang
nagpamalas ng katapangan ang huli sa pagsiwalat sa maduming administrasyon ni pangulong
Arroyo. kahit na nakasalalay dito ang kanyang buhay at pamilya boung tapang pa ring lumaban
si Jun Lozada, siyaý nagsagawa ng krusada upang gisingin ang sambayanan upang mamulat ang
kanilang mata sa mga maling gawain ng kasalukuyang administrasyon ng panahon na iyon. Sa
kanyang paglipat-lipat sa ibat-ibang parte ng bansa nilayon niyang mapagkasundo ang buong
bansa na labanan ang katiwalian ngunit masasabing siyaý hindi nagiisa sapagkat siya ay lumapit
sa Kalinga ng simbahan. Sa mga pari at madre at sa bayan na uhaw sa pagbabago upang siya ay
samahan sa kanyang laban para sa isang tuwid na landas, para sa ating bayan ngunit ang tanong
ay bakit hindi kaya gawing “campaign rally” ni Jun Lozada ang kanyang krusada upang
mapagisa ang sambayanang Pilipino?
221
Larawan blng 3, Isang aklat na naglalaman ng
mga siniwalat na dumi sa rehimeng marcos ni
Primitivo Mijares (kuha mula sa Goggle image)
IV- Pamantayan ng kasalukuyang panahon sa pagpili ng bayani
Sa kasalukuyang panahon kung saan tayo ay masasabing Malaya na dahil wala nang sumasakop
at nagpapahirap sa ating lahi, anon a nga ba ang pakahulugan ng iba at tingin sa isang bayani?,
narito ang ilang kwalipikasyon ng isang bayani ayon sa aming pag-aaral.
 Gumagawa o umaaksyon
 Matapang
 Matalino,kritikal
 May kamalayang panlipunan
 Handang magsakripisyo
 Maimpluwensya
 makamasa
 lider
 malakas ang loob at may paninindigan
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V- Konklusyon
Mga bayaning maituturing ang isang tao na kayang mapag-isa at mapagbuklod ang inang
bayan, bansa, at sambayanan. Ganito ang hinihingi ng kasalukuyang panahon upang hirangin
bilang isang modernong bayani, Tunay ngang masasabing ang konsepto ng bayani ay kalat
sapagkat ang bawat panahon ay may napoprodyus na uri o isang bayani. Sa kasalukuyang
pagtingin, makikita na nagkaroon ng makabagong tingin ang lipunan sa konsepto ng isang
bayani, ngunit masasabi rin naman nating malaki ang impluwensya ng kahapon o nakaraan sa
kasalukuyan at hinaharap sapagkat malaki ang impluwensya ng unang konsepto ng bayani sa
kasalukuyang pagtingin sa isang bayani. Sapagkat tayo ay nabibilang sa makabagong panahon,
malaki ang epekto ng mga makabagong teknolohiya at pamamaraan sa konsepto ng isang bayani
na kung saan sa pamamagitan ng “Media” naiimpluwensyahan ng malaki ang isang lipunan.
Mula sa taas, mahihinuhang ang mga super hero sa telibisyon, magazine at mga
babasahin, mga whistleblower’s at ang mga taong laman palagi ng mga pahayagan at medya ay
tinuturing ngayon bilang “modern heroes” ng ating panahon. Bagamat masasabing iba ang mga
katangian at kakanyahan ng mga ito kumpara sa ibang mga bayani masasabi pa rin na may
makakatas na katangian sa mga ito na katulad o mayroon din ang mga naunang
bayani.mapapansin din na kung susuriin ang konsepto ng pagpapakabayani ng labas ay
makikitang hindi nalalayo ang kasalukuyang konsepto sapagkat dala na ito ng kasalukuyang
takbo ng panahon. Malaki rin ang impluwensya ng mga makabagong bayaning ito sa pang arawaraw na buhay ng mga Pilipino na kung saan ay malaki ang epekto sa kanilang pagkatao. Ito ang
dahilan kung bakit mahalagang ugatin ang kasalukuyang konsepto ng bayani sa lipunang ito.
223
Ergo, delikado ang ating panahon sapagkat mabilis ang pag-unlad ng mga bagay-bagay. Ang
social media na isang produkto ng makabagong panahon ay tunay na malaki ang ginagampanan
sa pagpapakalat at pagbabanyuhay ng konsepto ng bayani sa kasalukuyang lipunang Pilipino.
Mabubuod na sa ating panahon ngayon ay wala pang pumapantay o nakagagawa ng mga
Gawain o kabayanihang katulad ng mga nagawa nila Gat Jose Rizal, Andres Bonifacio at
marami pang mga kilalang bayani ng lumang panahon. Dahil nga ito siguro na silang mga
pambansang bayani ay mayroong sariling panahon ng pagpapakabayani at ang pagpapakabayani
sa panahong makabago ay lumabas na sa makalumang konsepto na dapat ay patay na at
nakagawa ng kagitingan para sa bayan. Sa ating panahon ngayon, ang pagsasakonsepto ng
bayani n gating lipunan ay lumabas sa kahon ng pagtingin mula sa lumang kwalipikasyon ay
masasabing nagkaroon na tayo ng sariling pamantayan. Ang bayani sa kasalukuyan ay ang mga
taong gumagawa ng maaliliit na bagay na makatutulong ng malaki kapag pinag sama-sama.
224
Sanggunian
Zimbardo, Philip. Heroic Imagination Project.
Salazar Zeus A. Si Andres Bonifacio at kabayanihang Pilipino. Lungsod
Mandaluyong: Palimbagang Kalawakan.1997
_____________. Heroe at Bayani diskusyon ukol kay Rizal at Bonifacio.
Trillana, Pablo S. Rizal and heroic traditions: a sense of national destiny
other essays and home town stories. Lungsod Quezon: new day Pub_2005
Mga Indibidwal na aming kinapanayam:
Prof. Virgilio Rivas, Institute of Cultural studies
Dr. Guillermo T. Bungato
Prof. Bucks Amorillo
Prof. Mary joy Castillo
Prof. Perla Carpio
225
Ang Ugat at Dulot ng Haraya:
Isang Eksploratoryong Papel at mga Tala tungo sa
Ginintuang Panahon ng Panitikang Pambata sa Pilipinas
Introduksyon
Bilang pambungad ng papel na ito, marapat na tingnan ang introduksyon ni Jack
Zipes sa kanyang aklat na The Fairy Tale and the Art of Subversion:
Even though the fairy tale may be the most
important cultural ang social event in most children's
lives, critics and scholars have failed to study its
historical development as a genre. There are chapters on
the fairy tale for adults, in-depth psychological
explorations of the fairy tale's effect on children, and
structuralist and formalist studies of individual tales
galore. But no history of fairy tale for children, in
particular, no social history. Just a gap.
Ang Panitikang Pambata sa Pilipinas (o PPP) ay maituturing na napakabata pa
kung ikukumpara sa mga bansa kung saan lumaganap ang mga fairy tale, young adult
literature at iba pang akdang pambata, partikular na sa kanluran. Kung malalaman ang
226
kasaysayan nito (Panitikang Pambata sa Pilipinas), malalaman na lampas lamang ng
tatlong dekada o tatlumpung (30) taon nang sumulpot ang pabliser at industriya ng
nakatutok sa mga storybook o kuwentong pambata tulad ng Adarna House, Lampara
Books, Tahanan Books for Young Readers at iba pa. Kung pagtatambisin ang naging
pahayag sa itaas sa ating napakabatang literatura, ano kaya ang ating nito?
Ayon kay Dr. Eugene Y. Evasco sa kanyang papel na ‚Ang Ikatlong Dekada,
binasa noong Ikalawang Kumperensiya sa Panitikang Pambata noong 2009 sa
Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Diliman,
Depenisyon ng Termino
Panitikang Pambata --- ayon sa CCP Encylopedia of Philippine Art: ‚Ayon sa
tradisyon, ang panitikang pambata ay ang mga picture books, tula, maikling kuwento,
dula o
nobela na isinulat para sa mga bata. The pag-unlad ng iba pang porma ng midya tulad
ng pelikula, radyo at telebisyon at ang pagiging populat ng mga ito sa mga bata, ang
nagpalawak ng orihinal nitong depenisyon. Sa kasalukuyan, ang panitikang pambata
227
ay tumutukoy sa anumang isinulat o ginawa upang tumugon sa partikular na
pangangailangan ng batang audience.‛50 [Sa akin ang salin] (Traditionally, childrens's
literature includes picture books, poems, short stories, plays, or novels written for
children. The development of other media such as film, radio, and television, and their
popularity with children, has expanded this original definition.
Today, children's
literature refers to anything written or produced to suit the particular needs of a child
audience.) Dagdag pa rito, ayon kay Pambansang Alagad ng Sining Virgilio Almario, sa
Pilandokan: ‚May isang naiibang katangian ang panitikang pambata. May tiyak itong
mambabasa: mga bata o kabataan‛.51
Ang bata na tinutukoy sa itaas ay ayon at mula sa depenisyon ng United Nations
Childrens Fund o UNICEF. Ito ay ang mga nasa edad labingwalong (18) taong gulang
pababa. Ginamit rin ito ni Villanueva sa kanyang lektura sa UP Institute of Creative
Writing na pinamagatang ‚Saan Nagpupunta ang Araw kapag Umuulan?‛ noong
Pebrero 2006.
Ang panitikang pambata na ituturing at tatalakayin para sa pag-aaral na ito ay
ang mga akdang pampanitikan na ginawa para sa bata na may layunin na magbigay
50
“Children's Literature”, historikal na sanaysay sa Tiongson, Nicanor, et al (mga editor), CCP Encyclopedia of
Philippine Art, Volume 9: Philippine Literature, (Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1994), p. 112.
51
Almario, Virgilio S. “Mga Gampanin Para sa Kaunlaran ng Panitikang Pambata” nasa Torres-Yu, Rosario,
Pilandokan: Konteksto at Kritisismo ng Panitikang Pambata sa Pilipinas, ekperimental na edisyon, (Quezon City,
Unibersidad ng Pilipinas Diliman, 2010), p. 19.
228
aliw o magbigay ng aral sa kanilang mga natatanging mambabasa.
Ito man ay
anumang uri na nabanggit sa itaas at isinulat ito ng mga Pilipino sa wikang Filipino.
Tulad ng nauna sa itaas, ang pinaiksing inisyal na PP ay gagamitin sa pananaliksik na
ito.
Kahalagahan ng Pag-aaral
Update sa
Rebyu ng Kaugnay na Literatura
Ang Personal: Mga Sanaysay sa Lupalop ng Gunita na nilathala noong 1999 sa ilalim
ng Anvil Publishing ay mahigit na apatnapung (40) na mga non-fiction o sanaysay na
isinulat ni Rene O. Villanueva na pinapaksa ang samu't saring tagpo sa unang
dalawampung taon ng kanyang buhay --- mula sa pagkakakilala ng kanyang mga
magulang hanggang sa kanyang pagtatapos ng kolehiyo. Matutunghayan sa aklat na
ito ang buhay at karanasan ni Villanueva mula pagkabata sa kanyang kinalakihan sa La
Loma. Maaari pa sanang ituloy ito at magkaroon ng kasunod o karugtong ang aklat ito
kung hindi lamang sa biglaang pagpanaw ng awtor. Kung susubok ang mananaliksik
229
ng tesis na gumawa ng isang biograhical sketch ni ROV, ang Personal ay isang mayamang
primaryang batis para sa pananaliksik na ito na maaaring kuhaan ng impormasyon
tungkol sa buhay ng may-akda tulad ng kung paano siya nagiya sa pagsusulat, atbp.
Bagamat hindi pinamagatang Personal Dos (dahil ayaw ni ROV na gumawa ng
sequel), ang (Im)personal: Gabay sa Panulat at Pagkamanunulat na inilathala ng Anvil
Publishing noong 2006 ang tinukoy na pangalawang bahagi ng Personal ani Villanueva.
Dagdag pa niya: ‚Binalangkas ko ang (Im)Personal bilang katipunan ng mga sanaysay
tungkol sa pagsusulat at pagiging manunulat.‛52 Nahahati sa tatlong bahagi, bawat
isang sanaysay o artikulo rito ay kumakatawan sa isang yugto tungkol ng kanyang
buhay at pagiging manunulat, Tampok rin dito ang ilang mga personal na listahan o
tala ng kanyang mga hilig bilang isang manunulat. Tulad ng naunang aklat sa itaas,
ang (Im)personal ay isang mahalagang akda mula kay Rene O. Villanueva na
mapaghahalawan ng kuwento at kaalaman sa sinumang nais na pag-aralan siya.
Kasama si Rene O. Villanueva sa mga manunulat na ininterbyu sa aklat na
Sarilaysay: Danas at Dalumat ng Lalaking Manunulat sa Filipino nina Dr. Rosario Torres-Yu
at Alwin C. Aguirre noong 2004.
Dito ay kinapanayam si Villanueva tungkol sa
kanyang buhay at karanasan bilang lalaking manunulat. Mga bahagi ng buhay bilang
52
Villanueva, Rene O., (Im)personal: Gabay sa Panulat at Pagkamanunulat (Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 2009),
(Introduksyon) viii-x.
230
manunulat naman ang pinapakita ni Prop. Ligaya Tiamson-Rubin sa artikulong ‚Rene
O. Villanueva: Tagpi-taping Kabanata sa Buhay ng Isang Premyadong Manunulat” sa
Diliman Review noong 2004. Ang dalawang ito ay mga natatangi at iilan pa lamang na
mga artikulo na naisulat tungkol sa paksang manunulat.
Ang
personal
na
blog
ng
paksang
manunulat
(ROV),
ang
http://www.renevillanueva.blogspot.com, na makikita sa internet ay sari-saring mga
sulatin ng awtor sa huling tatlong buwan ng kanyang buhay mula Setyembre hanggang
Nobyembre 2007.
Naglalaman naman ng mga piniling papel mula sa iba't ibang iskolar ng
panitikang pambata na itinanghal sa nakaraang dalawang Pambansang Kumperensiya
sa Panitikang Pambata ang Pilandokan: Konteksto at Kritisismo ng Panitikang Pambata sa
Pilipinas ni Dr. Rosario Torres-Yu. Sa mga papel na iyon ay may mga pagtatangi at
pagpapahalaga sa mga gawa ni Rene O. Villanueva tulad ng natalakay na sa naunang
bahagi sa itaas.
Nagsilbing teksbuk ito ng mananaliksik sa kursong Panitikan ng
Pilipinas 165 (Panitikang Pambata) ang eksperimental na edisyon ng aklat na ito.
May mga tesis at mga papel na nakalap ang mananaliksik mula sa aklatan na
tumalakay kay ROV, sa kanyang mga akda at sa panitikang pambata sa kabuuan. Una,
ang di-gradwadong tesis ni Eilene Antoinette Narvaez (BA Araling Pilpino) na
231
pinamagatang ‚Baboy, Papel at Dagat bilang Simbolo ng Pagpapalaganap ng
Pagpapahalagang Pilipino: Isang Pagsusuri sa mga Kuwentong Pambata ni Rene O.
Villanueva‛ noong 2003. Sa pag-aaral na ito sinuri ni Narvaez ang ilang kuwentong
pambata ni Villanueva (tatlo bilang eksakto – Ang Unang Baboy sa Langit, Nemo, Ang
Batang Papel at Dagat sa Kama ni Troy) ayon sa lente ng istrukturalismo at/o semiyotika.
May bahagi rin rito ng pagtalakay sa buhay ni ROV sa konteksto ng pag-unlad ng
pantikang pambata.
Nagawa pa ito noong nabubuhay pa ang manunulat at may
panayam rito. May ginawang paglilista ng mga kuwentong pambata ni ROV, ngunit
mga akdang nalathala lamang sa Adarna Books ang naitala nito. May pagkakahawig
rito ang nais na tesis ng mag-aaral ngunit sa mas komprehensibong paraan. May
magkahawig at magkakawing ding pag-aaral ang tesis ni Elisa S. Cabarubias (BA
Araling Pilipino) na ‚Pagsusuri sa Tatlong Dekada ng Aklat Pambata sa Adarna Books
Services, Inc.‛ (2001) at papel pananaliksik ni Gonzalo Campoamor II (ngayo'y
propesor sa Departamento ng Filipino at Panitikan ng Pilipinas at Katuwang na Dekano
ng Kolehiyo ng Arte at Literatura) na ‚Dokumentasyon at Pagsusuri ng Kuwentong
Pambata sa Pilipinas Partikular sa mga Aklat Adarna‛ noong 1994. Kapwa tinutukan
ng pansin ng dalawang pag-aaral ang Adarna Books bilang pangunahing pabliser ng
mga aklat pambata na siyang pinagmulan ng mga unang akda ni ROV sa larangang ito.
232
Mahuhusay na batis ang mga ito sa nagtatangka na magsagawa ng pagtalakay sa
kasaysayan ng panitikang pambata.
Konklusyon
233
Sanggunian
Almario, Virgilio. Panitikang Pambata sa Filipinas: Mga Gunita, Tala, Puna't Pansin sa
Kasaysayan. Pasig: Anvil Publishing, 2010.
Evasco, Eugene. ‚Pag-akda at Pagkabata: Ang Namamayaning Tunguhin at Estetika sa
Panitikan
Pambata sa Pilipinas‛ nasa Humanities Review 51 (3), 2004.
Iñigo, Eliezar. Si Rene O. Villanueva at ang Panitikang Pambata: Isang Preliminaryong Pagaaral at
Anotasyong Bibliyograpikal. Di-gradwadong thesis, BA Araling Pilipino:
Unibersidad ng
Pilipinas Diliman, Abril 2013.
Torres-Yu, Rosario. Pilandokan: Konteksto at Kritisismo ng Panitikang Pambata sa Pilipinas.
Textbook. Eksperimental na Edisyon. Quezon City: Unibersidad ng Pilipinas
Diliman, 2010.
Zipes, Jack. Fairy Tales and the Art of Subversion: The Classical Genre for Children and the of
Civilization. New York: Routledge, 1988.
234
Ang Drama nga Kinantahan ni Iluminado Garcia Lucente:
Talaban ng Dulaan at Bayograpikal/Pampook na Konteksto
Abstrak
Isa sa kinikilalang mahusay na makata at mandudula sa panitikang Waray si
Iluminado G. Lucente (1883-1960). Tinatayang nakapagsulat siya ng tatlompung drama
nga kinantahan at lahat ay naitanghal. Hindi lamang sa mga kapistahan itinatanghal
ang kanyang mga drama nga kinantahan, kundi maging sa mga pampublikong
aktibidad tulad ng pagbubukas ng paaralan at pagtitipon ng mga kaguruan.
Bagama’t maraming katawagan si Lucente sa kanyang mga akda tulad ng drama
nga kinantahan, melodrama nga binisaya, melodrama, drama nga kinantahan, comediahay nga
kinantahan, at haliput nga kalingawan; sa pag-aaral na ito ay aangkupin ang ‘drama nga
kinantahan’ bilang katawagan sa mga dula ni Lucente bunga ng konsiderasyon na mas
madalas niya itong gamitin. Umaangkop sa katangian ng mga dula ni Lucente.
Binubuo ng dalawa o apat na yugto ang mga drama nga kinantahan ni Lucente.
Karaniwang may apat hanggang anim na eksena ang bawat yugto. Kadalasan, ang
drama ay nagsisimula sa isang kanta/awit. Karamihan sa mga kanta ay solo o duet at
paminsan-minsan ay mayroong koro. Ang mga kanta na nakapaloob sa drama nga
kinantahan ay nasa apat hanggang anim na kanta. Ang mga kanta ay maaring halaw sa
235
mga awiting-bayan sa Leyte at Samar o di kaya’y sinulat mismo ng awtor para sa
naturang drama. Ngunit, kadalasan batay sa mga awiting-bayan ng Leyte at Samar ang
ipinapaloob na mga himig.
236
Bukod sa pagsusulat ng mga drama nga kinantahan ay isa rin siyang mamamahayag.
Katunayan, siya ang nagtatag ng kauna-unahang dyaryo sa wikang Waray, ang ‚An
Kaadlawon.‛ Pinasok din ni Lucente, maging ang larangan ng pulitika at naglingkod sa
publiko. Natalaga siya sa ilang posisyon sa pamahalaan tulad ng pagiging kinatawan
ng ika-apat na distrito ng probinsya ng Leyte at naging alkalde ng Tacloban.
Bunsod na rin sa haba ng panahon na sinaklaw ng kanyang buhay, na mula
panahon ng Katipunan hanggang sa pumasok ang Amerikano, at nang pagdating ng
mga Hapon hanggang sa panahon ng Liberasyon at Komonwelt, naging saksi siya sa
mga pagbabagong naganap sa loob mismo ng kanyang lipunan. Kaya sa mga drama
nga kinantahan, mahahalaw ang ilang mga pagbabagong naganap sa lipunan ni
Lucente noon na kanyang tinalakay sa mga akda, partikular ang mga kagawian, ugali at
pananamit ng mga tao.
Sa pag-aaral na ito, nais kong salungguhitan ang mga sumusunod: 1. paglalatag
sa drama nga kinantahan bilang katawagan na aangkupin ng pag-aaral; 2. datos sa
pagsasaentablado ng mga drama nga kinantahan noon at ang mga manonood nito;
3.pagdalumat ng talaban ng drama nga kinantahan at ang bayograpikal/pampook na
konteksto ni Lucente; 4. bilang pagtugon sa layon at suliraning kinakaharap ng mga
panitikang mula sa etnolinggwistikong-pangkat tulad ng panitikang Waray, ilalahad ng
pahapyaw ang muling pagsasaentablado nito sa naganap na lektura/tanghal.
237
Bagamat ang pangunahing kaabalahan pa rin ng pag-aaral ay ang bulto ng datos
mula sa mga 21 drama nga kinantahan na nakalap ko, partikular ang pagsilip dito
bilang anyong pandulaan sa kultura at lipunanang Waray. Inaasahan ang talaban sa
pagitan ng tatlong saray na natukoy sa taas at ang bulto ng tekstual na datos mula sa
nakalap.
Layon nito na maitampok ang panitikang Waray, partikular ang mga drama nga
kinantahan na sa danas ko sa unibersidad ay tila naisasantabi ang mga panitikang
nagmumula sa iba’t ibang etnolinggwistikong-pangkat sa Pilipinas, partikular ang
panitikang Waray.
Gayumpaman, ang marjinalisasyon ng panitikang Waray ay maaring maugat na rin
natin sa kadahupan ng mga pananaliksik bunga na rin ng kahirapan/kawalan ng mga
primaryang batis tulad ng mga manuskrito at ang kakulangan ng salin sa mga ito.
238
Pagsipat sa mga Pangunahing Tauhan ng Antolohiyang Gerilyero:
Mga Kuwento ng Pakikibaka ni Cesario Yakat Torres
Unang Burador
Paksa/Keywords
Cesario Yakat Torres
Gerilyero: Mga Kuwento ng Pakikibaka
Kasaysayang Pampanitikan
Tesis na pangungusap
Mahalaga ang naging ambag ni Cesario Y. Torres sa larangan ng panitikan at lipunang
Pilipino. Pinatutunayan ito ng kanyang mga naisulat at pakikisangkot sa iba’t-ibang
organisasyong pampolitika at Kultural.
Sisiyasatin ng papel na ito ang walong kuwento ni Cesario Torres. Sa pamamagitan ng
kanyang mga kuwento ay kakapain ang personal na danas ng awtor at pangkasaysayang
konteksto ng kanyang mga akda. Maaring makalkal din ang batis ng karanasan ng awtor sa
kanyang mga kuwento. Matutukoy ang kaligiran ng awtor na nakaepekto sa malikhaing
proseso ng pagsulat ng kanyang mga akda.
Maikling Prebyu:
Pamagat:
Gerilyero: Mga Kuwento ng Pakikibaka
239
Awtor:
Cesario Yakat Torres
Palimbagan:
Kalikasan Press, Manila
Ilustrador:
Sophie Guillermo
Si Cesario Y. Torres ay isa sa mga natatanging manunulat sa panitikan ng Pilipinas.
Nagtapos siya sa kursong Bachelor of Science in Commerce major in Economics noong 1974 sa
Philippine College of Commerce (ngayon ay Polytechnic University of the Philippines ). Siya ay
naging kasapi ng Hukbalahap ( Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon) noong 1942. Nabilanggo
siya ng halos dalawang dekada sa kasong ‚ rebellion complex and other crimes‛, lumaya noong
1970.
Siya ang tagapagtatag ng PANDAYLIPI, Ink. Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas (
UMPIL), Pambansang Lupon ng mga Manunulat ( PLUMA), Pambansang Unyon ng
mga Manunulat (PANULAT), Galian sa Arte at Tula( GAT) at Poets, Essayist, Novelists
( PEN) International, Philippine chapter.
Nakasulat siya ng tinatayang 7,000 tula, mga 50 maikling kuwento, mga sanaysay, 5
dula, isang nobela, at salin buhat sa ng Ingles ng Noli me Tangere ni Leon Ma. Guerrero.
Paglalahad ng Suliranin
Napapanahon nang suriin at pag-aralan ang kasaysayan ni Cesario Torres bilang isa sa
mga natatanging manunulat na Pilipino. At ang kanyang ginampanang papel sa panitikan at
lipunang Pilipino.
Nais kong magsagawa ng preliminaryong pag-aaral sa mga akda ni Cesario Y. Torres.
Layunin
1. Suriin ang antolohiyang Gerilyero: Mga kuwento ng Pakikibaka
2. Maglikom ng mga panimulang materyal upang mabigyan ng hugis ang naratibo o
talambuhay ni Cesario Y. Torres kasabay ng konteksto nito sa kasaysayan
240
Kahalagahan ng Pag-aaral
Mahalaga ang pag-aaral sa pag-aambag ng iskolarsyip sa panitikan ng Hukbalahap.
Mahalaga ang pagkalap ng lahat ng kanyang mga akda upang magsilbing batis ang
pinaplanong pananaliksik. Pagbibigay ng pagkilala sa naging ambag ni Cesario Y. Torres
bilang isa sa mgan natatanging manunulat sa panitikang Pilipino.
Metodolohiya
Maaring pagkuhaan ng datos sa pananaliksik ang mga sumusunod: mga libro at
artikulo na may kinalaman sa paksa, sa wikang Filipino at wikang Ingles, mula sa mga aklatan,
mga interbyu sa mga indibidwal na naging malapit sa awtor, at ibang awtoridad na may
kinalaman sa buhay ni Cesario Yakat Torres.
Saklaw at Limitasyon
Sinasaklaw nang pag-aaral na ito ang buhay ni Cesario Y. Torres. Malabayograpi ang
magiging pagtalakay sa unang bahagi. Nakatuon lamang sa isang antolohiyang ng mga
kuwentong nailimbag ang lunsaran ng pagsusuri. Sisikapang gawan ng tekstwal na analisis ang
bawat kuwento.
241
The Double-bind of Modern Technology
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
–Albert Einstein
Every double bind is a tragedy in itself. A double bind is a distressful dilemma
wherein the person in question is put up between two choices that negates one
another but both needs to be done. A paradox, as the logician would have said,
where the problem seems to have no logical and real solution or in other words, a
no-win situation. Modern Technology, as it is today, is caught up in such a paradox.
And this is what makes the question concerning technology one of the most, if not
the most, thought provoking problems of the present age. So what really is the
242
problem with modern technology? And what exactly is the question concerning it
interrogates about?
The problems that technology created can only be solved through technological
means, by furthering and improving the technical aspects of manufacturing,
innovating, and so forth. And yet even if the said problems were to be solved a
different problem of the same, if not greater, magnitude will eventually occur due to
the furthering of the technological way of thinking. The double bind of modern
technology presents itself in this way, a vicious cycle that operates at a very
aggressive pace.
But before anything else, the author wishes to clarify that this paper is neither
anti-technology in any perceivable light nor does it support any attempt to
antagonize technology in any possible way. Like this paper that you now hold in
your hands, Technology is neither good nor evil. It has no intentions by itself; it is
outside the bounds of morals as it is with most things. As was shown in the
discussions in the second division of chapter two, technology may possibly be
considered evil only if it is under the control or caretaking of a human being inclined
to do evil.
243
The current mode of technology today, though cannot be totally said to be of an
evil nature, creates the possibility for the occurrence of evil. The evils and dangers of
a technologically advance but technologically blind society who is totally oblivious
to the dangers that technology posses, a society that threats everything as mere
commodity, where the age old contradiction of master and slave still persists, from
which the current societies of today is not far from being if not already one. But
technology was not always in this mode, the genuine mode of bringing-forth of premodern technology attests to this fact. Thus, for clarification’s sake the author would
wish to emphasize that, today even in the age of modern technology, not everything
technological or relating to technology should be seen as evil. The thing things, but it
lies outside of the bounds of human morality. Thus, as much as this thesis is
concerned with the technological it is also deeply focused in the study of the human.
Dasein and Technology
To be sure, the current problems of technology are one way or the other,
technological by nature.
And yes, because they threaten Dasein physically they
demand urgent solutions that must be thought up by people who are at home with the
realm of the technological; by specialists, technicians, and engineers. However, as these
244
solutions are thought up by technologically thinking specialists within a strictly
technological paradigm, it fails to see the real problem with modern technology.
A deeper reflection on the current trend operating within modern technological
systems brings thought face to face with a problem of modern technology that cannot
be left solely into the hands of technologically masterful people. Keeping this in mind as
the directive of any subsequent thinking about the problem of technology, it becomes
obvious that although most, if not all, of the problems of technology, whether ancient or
modern, is by all means technological by nature—the fact that it is still firmly grounded
and deeply rooted in yet another problem holds true; the problem concerning the
essential mode of being of Human Dasein which is by no means technological.
This can easily be seen if one is to analyze the workings of modern technological
society. As was stated in the earlier chapters, the life of modern Dasein is alwaysalready entrenched in the technological. He makes use of technology in almost all of his
daily dealings with life. From the moment he opens his eyes early in the morning with
the help of his alarm clock to the moment he closes it again late at night after watching
his favourite late night T.V. show. Everything he consumes to sustain and make his
existence in this earth not just possible but a worthwhile passing is either a direct
product of a technological device or the indirect making of a technological system. This
245
is particularly true of the food and water that nourishes his body, the fabric that clothes
his body, and the dwelling place that protects him from the elements – the most basic of
all his material needs.
During the pre-technological eras, the constant search for food and water
preoccupies the daily life of primitive men. He hunts and gathers for food, again and
still with the help of primitive technologies, the same way that he searches for potable
drinking water. The discovery of agriculture and animal rearing enabled him to put up
permanent settlements, which also paved the way for the development of disciplines
that are not solely concerned with day to day survival.
Nowadays, in the current era of supermarkets and malls, food and water is very
much abundant not in the natural meaning of the term, but in a very sinisterly
convenient and scientific way. Such that a large majority of Daseins no longer need to
produce their own means of survival. Food, water, clothing, and shelter are available
for the ordering. Systematic and commercial farming and fishing enables man to
produce food more than what the population needs, deliver it to remote places by the
use of delivery trucks and highly systematic webs of highways, and perpetuate it
almost limitlessly with the help of advance methods of preservation and refrigeration.
At surface level, it can be argued that there is nothing wrong with all these things. Who
246
would contest the fact that modern technology has helped Human civilization
flourished and made Human life infinitely more convenient over the centuries? As
Heidegger pronounced in the essay ‚Building Dwelling Thinking‛53, the essence of
building is that of dwelling. Humans build for them to be able to dwell, it makes human
dwelling possible. The farm is cultivated to produce a stable source of nourishment. The
river is dammed, not only to provide a constant supply of potable drinking water but
also to unlock the power it possesses by means of the turning of hydroelectric turbines.
It enables man to live the way he lives today. Modern medicine is also a testament to
this relationship between technology and human dwelling. With the help of modern
techniques in medicine Dasein was able to drastically extend his lifespan and prevent
untimely deaths from formerly fatal and incurable diseases. The current advancements
in stem-cell research holds such great promise in even further prolongation of human
life by employing cell level treatment and the unending rejuvenation of old and dying
cells. So far, it has been shown again and again how technology aids man in his quest
for immortality.
But what exactly is the problem with modern technology? If it helps man to
survive and makes his life much easier, why even try to problematize it? The obvious
53
See Martin Heidegger, Building Dwelling Thinking, in Poetry, Language, Thought, Trans. Albert
Hofstadter (New York:Harper & Row, INC., 2001)
247
answer to both of these questions would be, as the mainstream environmentalist avidly
protests, is the negative effects of technological advancements with the natural
harmony of nature. The accumulation of pollutants both in land, water, and air, the
destruction of natural rainforests due to the ever expanding project of human
settlements, the untimely extinction of countless species of plants and animals, and the
impending threat of a nuclear war. It is undeniable that all these problems are
somewhat technological because they can be traced, one way or another, on some
project that employs the use of technological systems, techniques, and devices. But once
again the questions that must be asked is this, is it purely the fault of technology that
these problems occur? Or is technology merely an accessory that made these problems
possible? And furthermore, are these physical threats of technology the only problem or
is there a more vital problem that is left undiagnosed thus becoming ultimately more
threatening?
The problem with modern technology, as was repeatedly hinted in the above
discussions, is actually rooted in the fact that it is treated as something purely
technological; that it is a problem exclusive within the realm of technology thus can
only be solved from within. It has already been shown how all technological
advancements are done by man purely for the sake of man, which brings us back to the
248
Instrumental and Anthropological definition of technology, that it is a mean employed
by humans towards an end projected by humans. All these technological devices,
systems, and techniques makes man’s dwelling possible. If technology is for man by
man according to this definition, wouldn’t it at least be of good measure to try and
analyze the relation of the problems of technology with the problem of human
existence?
In Being and Time, Heidegger shows the distinction between the two modes of
existence of Human Dasein, the authentic and inauthentic. In the ‚Question Concerning
Technology‛, Heidegger gives a similar distinction between the two types of
technological revealing, the technological revealing of genuine bringing-forth as it was
found in ancient technologies and that of an aggressive challenging-forth as it is found
in modern technologies. The author doesn’t think that this striking similarity in the
formulations of these concepts is of an accidental nature. And so he asks, would an
authentic mode of Dasein’s existence, his being Da-sein (a Dasein that has realized his
being-in-the-world thus capable of standing outside), warrant his support or atleast a
preference for a technological revealing in the mode of a genuine bringing forth? If so,
wouldn’t the origin of all subsequent problems of technology be traced towards the
distinction of Dasein’s authentic and inauthentic mode of being?
249
Dasein and the Challenging character of Modern Technological Systems
An inauthentic Dasein who is always busy with the things of his care and
preoccupied with the urgencies and immediacy of the everyday seldom finds time to
think of his potentialities apart from what the anonymous they prescribes, thus
rendering him incapable of realizing and materializing these other potentialities. He
lives his life like as they live theirs. All his aspirations and potential ways of being are
levelled down and lost in this ocean of the same. His way of life, his taste, his choices,
even the very way he thinks conforms to what the anonymous they approve of. One
look at the current state of modern societies seems to testify for this. Modern humans
are living their lives according to some trend set by an invisible force, by the holding
sway of the anonymous they.
In direct relation to the social problems of modern societies, Modern technology
thrives in the mode of an aggressive challenging-forth of nature. With everything
levelled down into mere orderable reserves, things lose their value in the face of being
enframed. Everything is available yet nothing is truly accessible. As was touched upon
in the essay ‚The Thing‛, enframing makes Dasein’s understanding of the thing lose its
contact with the thingly character of the thing. Up to some point even the relationship
250
between man to man becomes distorted into this enframed understanding of being so
that man to man relations becomes almost impossible and humans treats his fellow
human the same way that he treats an orderable thing. Everything is just mere stock.
From the water he drinks, the food he eats, the clothes he wear, the books he read, to the
services of other human beings< orderable stock reserves that is always available for
the ordering of the orderer.
In a society such as this the possibility of a genuine bringing-forth of technology
is lost. So is the potential to live an authentic life. With everything levelled down
according to the prescription of the anonymous. But who is this anonymous they to
whom the everyday Dasein is much a slave? The term was used numerous times above
but was still never truly discussed. So who is ‚anonymous they‛? The anonymous they is
actually the summation of traditions, and common place beliefs, that has come to
harden out of time, it also includes the hegemonic ideology of that time and the class
that benefits from such hegemony, which is most of the time an elite ruling class.
The Ruling Elite and the Turning of the Technological Machine
It cannot be contested that the schematics of modern economic systems are very
much under the control by the elite ruling class. But how does this scheme exactly
work? In the previous chapter, it has already been shown how modern economic
251
systems, if it aims for continuity, must succeed in reproducing the preconditions of its
existence. On the same note an elite ruling class wants to protect the status quo so as to
remain seated at the seat of power. How? By reproducing the preconditions of their
being seated as such, first by maintaining the traditions and beliefs that favours their
hold to power, and second by controlling the RSA’s and ISA’s of a particular society.
With the physical threat of the RSA’s and the, ultimately more subtle and grave,
intellectual control that the ISA’s provide the elite ruling class succumbs the majority of
the population. By their almost absolute control of the material condition of the majority
of the population, the power of the media and educational institutions; the elite ruling
class was able to subjugate the masses and dictate how they should view things, think,
and aspire. This is how Capitalism mastered the schematics of modern technology. By
adapting itself to the mysterious essence of technology it was able to influence the mode
of revealing that technology inclines into and like an invisible hand, sway the masses
according to their wishes. What’s a better market than a society that buys what it does
not need and for the mere sake of being `in’, where everything is but mere stock and
orderable reserves available always at hand in time of the ordering, with value and
possible profit always in mind? It challenges nature through the endless process of
unlocking power, collecting new material, consumption, and building up waste, which
in turn hurt the ecological balance of planet Earth.
252
This is the turning of the
technological machine that now thrives in modern technological economies. A turning
that have been so aggressive and vicious that it have became a problem that can no
longer be put aside because it endangers the ecological balance of nature, and the
survival of the Human species. The current trend in the turning of this technological
machine shows how, through techno-capitalistic systems, Human beings have
railroaded their selves towards extinction.
Da-sein, Flat Ontology and the Return to a Genuine Technological Revealing
An authentic Dasein or Da-sein is a Dasein that have realized his primordial
being as being-in-the-world. He also have discovered that what lies in front of his
accidental birth which he did not ask nor want is the inevitable possibility of his
eventual cessation, his death which is just as absurd as his birth. His acceptance of these
absurdities enables him to embrace them with open arms thus transforming his being
into a being-towards-death. Being-toward-death frees the said Da-sein from his being
entangled with the things of his caring, of the urgencies and petty demands of the
everyday, thus enabling him to stand outside himself and perform some sort of
stepping back, as was shown by the hyphen. This standing outside one’s self gives Dasein wider perspectives about life, the world, things, and other Daseins. He realizes that
he is not the sole benefactors of all beings, and that actually the cosmos barely cares
253
about him and the little blue planet he calls home. This experience of the call of
conscience humbles and urges him to live life in a much slower pace and practice more
prudence in future dealings with life. And only through the perspective of this Da-sein,
an ecstatic being capable of standing outside of himself can the Ontological Difference
be properly approached.
In the second chapter of this study, Heidegger’s concept of ‚Ontological
Difference‛ and how it is only possible when approached from the sole perspective of
Da-sein have been touched upon, although very lightly and lacking depth. Now the
author wishes to return to this very important part of Heideggerian philosophy in an
attempt to answer the set of problematic that have been laid by the above discussions.
So what is this ‚Ontological Difference‛ whose forgetfulness of, is what Heidegger
deem as the primordial source of all the subsequent problems of western philosophy
and human thinking? As was stated in the second chapter of this study, there lies a
fundamental distinction between being (das Sein) and beings (das Seiende). Rivas views
this distinction this way , “Being is ‚the originary foundational source of disclosed and
254
discoverable knowledge‛ while beings are, ‚the ordinary conception of what makes a
thing as it is, or that of which it is understood as something with a positive value‛54‛.
Throughout the history of modern Humanity, Human beings, together with all
the sciences, have become too obsessed with beings that they fail to see the fundamental
difference between Being and being. The failure to see the difference between Being and
beings leads them to treat all beings as if they are mere resource just waiting for the
taking, which lead to the flourishing of techno-capitalistic systems, which in turn
destroys the ecological balance of nature due to the unreasonable demand it puts into it
that opens up the possible extinction of different species of plants and animals, with
Human Beings as no exception. Viewed from this perspective it appears that Heidegger
is correct when he claimed that the failure to acknowledge the Ontological Difference
between Being and beings is the source for all subsequent problems of not just
Philosophy but the whole façade of disciplines that Humanity devised. From this
realization the author thought that, if this is the source of the problem then why don’t
we begin to address the multitude of problems of the current techno-capitalistic systems
by first returning to this source? And this is where the need for a Flat Ontology or an
Object Oriented Ontology emerges.
54
Virgilio Rivas, Heidegger and the Paradox of Human Decision, in Philosophy: A History of Man. (Manila:
Unlad Publishing Company, 2010), 173.
255
Heidegger defines ontology as, ‚the study of being as such‛, derived from the
two Greek words onto which means ‚to be‛ and logia or ‚to study‛. But for the majority
of the history of Philosophy, ontology failed to view and study beings as such. Instead
of a presuppositionless and unprejudiced view of beings, ontology became; due to its
being oblivious of the Ontological Difference—a study of being from the stand point of
the Human subject. That is why perhaps Edmund Husserl was right when he
proclaimed with the famous slogan of Phenomenology that we should go ‚back to the
things themselves‛. This is why Heidegger calls for the ‚destruktion‛ of the history of
Philosophy in order to be able to retrieve it from these traditional blunders. This
destructive retrieval of the history of Philosophy will eventually lead to the founding of
a new ontological position, a position that is unbiased, free of prejudices and
presuppositions, a flat ontology that doesn’t put man in the centre of the ontological
picture, an ontology that is object-oriented. For only after such can the current problems
of techno-capitalist societies and systems be properly addressed in their core. And only
then can the return to a genuine mode of technological revealing be possible.
Conclusion
256
The problem of technology is not the same with the problems with the workings
of machines and technological systems. It cannot be solved by improving a particular
technology to rid itself of the problems of it precursor. The problem of technology is
something more than what the current schema of techno-capitalistic economies and
systems makes them out to be. It is not a problem of nut and bolts, gears and shaft that
the technician or any other technically masterful individual or group of individuals may
solve by tweaking something here and there. The problem of technology is deeply
rooted in the problem of the very rarely traversed field of human thinking and its
relation with beings.
The mode of technological revealing present and operating within a particular
society, be it that of a genuine bringing-forth or that of an aggressive challenging-forth,
directly stems from the prevalent mode of existence that thrives in its citizens. So the
solution to the present technological problems of our time lies not in the belief that
through further and constant technological advancements we can somehow solve all
the problems of current technologies, but in the fact that technology adheres to its
definition of being both anthropological and equipmental in character. It is deeply
grounded in Humans, in the very core of their existence, their very essence and way of
thinking. Technology is like a mirror that shows how man sees the world around him
257
and at the same time a tool that enables him to change what he sees according to what
he
thinks
he
needs.
Any attempt to reverse, arrest, or derail the turning of the technological trend
operating today can only be done through a similar turn in the ontological schema. This
turning also requires the conscious effort of everyone, in direct relation to the
individual, to live a life that is as close as possible to the authentic. Authenticity doesn’t
only mean the full realization of Dasein’s potentialities; it also means an authentic
relationship of Human Da-sein with non-human Daseins or what we more commonly
refer to as things.
Nowadays, we cannot see the true danger in technology because we are the very
product of a system wherein that danger thrives and it has already affected us in our
beings. The saving power that lies dormant within the mysterious essence of technology
becomes ever more concealed under such circumstances.
The ruling class, having possession and most access of technology, the
educational institutions, and the mass media was able to dictate the trajectory of
Human civilization. By controlling the type of thinking that operates within a particular
society, the ruling elite was able dictate the type of technological revealing that will
thrive within that society. They, through their control of the educational systems, turn
258
masses into technological professionals, such as technicians, engineers, and other
technologically masterful people to further the development of the technology that
gives them profit, the vicious turning of the technological machine which harms the
ecological balance of Nature. They, with the help of the mass media, turn the majority
of the population into people that can only think within a strictly technological and
calculated paradigm where the occurrence of self emancipation is tantamount to nada.
And it is here where the greatest danger with modern technology lies, when it affects
Dasein in his core, in his very way of thinking. The danger of modern technology is that
it perverts human thinking and holds it hostage into a purely technological rationality.
Thus, to solve the current problems of technology together with all its
peripheries (i.e. ecological threat, depletion of natural resources, extinction of the
species, possible nuclear fallout, etc...) it needs to retrace its origin back to where it is
but a mere periphery, in the problem of human thinking; on how we, as human beings,
look at things and the long forgotten Ontological Difference between Being and beings.
The saving power of technology cannot be truly harnessed as long as Human
thinking continues to be held hostage by technological rationality and is dominated by
a thinking that is both manipulative and calculative—not until it transcends these
entrapments will the being and thinking of the being that thinks be ever free again.
259
Bibliography
Althusser, Louise. Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (Trans. by Ben Brewster), in
Lenin and Philosophy and Other Essays. Monthly Review Press, 1971.
Dreyfus, Hubert. Heidegger on Gaining a Free Relationship with Technology, in Heidegger
Re-examined vol. 3 (Ed. by Hubert Dreyfus and Mark Wrathall). Routlegde, 2002.
Heidegger, Martin. Being and Time (Trans. by Joan Staubaugh). State University of New
York Press (SUNY Press), 1927.
________.The Question Concerning Technology, in The Question Concerning Technology
and Other Essays, (Trans. William Lovitt). State Garland Publishing, INC., 1977.
________.The Turning, in The Question Concerning Technology and Other Essays,
(Trans. by William Lovitt). State Garland Publishing, INC., 1977.
________. Building Dwelling Thinking, in Poetry, Language, Thought (Trans. by Albert
Hofstadter). Harper & Row, INC., 2001.
________. The Thing, in Poetry, Language, Thought (Trans.
by Albert Hofstadter).
Harper & Row, INC., 2001.
Marcuse, Herbert. One Dimensional Man. Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1964.
Rivas, Virgilio. Heidegger and the Paradox of Human Decision, in Philosophy: A History of
Man. Unlad Publishing Company, 2008
________. What is Object Oriented Ecology?, available at http://veraqivas.wordpress.com/
(Accessed on October 2012)
260
I. Title or Provisional Title of the work:
‚Exploring the Grammar of Oppression Using Freire’s Concept of
Education as Liberation‛
261
II. Bibliography
A. Primary Sources
Freire, Paulo. Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage.
Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., 2001.
________. Pedagogy of Hope: Reliving Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New
York: Continuum, 1994.
________. Education for Critical Consciousness. New York: Continuum,
1993.
________. The Politics of Education: Culture, Power, and Liberation.
Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey Publishers, Inc., 1985.
________. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Continuum, 1984.
________. Education as a Practice of Freedom (1967, 1974).
________. Cultural action for freedom (1968, 1970).
________. Pedagogy in Process: The Letters to Guinea Bissau (1977, 1978).
________. Teachers as Cultural Workers: Letters to those who dare teach
(1993, 1998).
Freire, Paulo and Antonio Foundez. Learning to Question: A Pedagogy of
Liberation. Geneva: WCC Publications, 1989.
Shor, Ira and Paulo Freire. A Pedagogy for Liberation: Dialogues on
Transforming Education. Massachusetts: Bergin & Garvey Publishers,
Inc., 1987.
262
B. Other Sources
Dewey, John. Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of
Education. New York: The Free Press, 1966.
Estioko, Leonardo R., SVD. History of Education: A Filipino Perspective.
Manila: LOGOS Publications, Inc., 1998.
Giroux, Henry A. Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life: Critical Pedagogy
in the Modern Age. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 1988.
Illich, Ivan D. Deschooling Society. New York: Harrow Books, 1972.
Illich, Ivan D. Celebration of Awareness: A Call for Institutional Revolution.
New York: Anchor Books, 1971.
Marcuse, Herbert. An Essay on Liberation. London: The Penguin Press, 1969.
Sartre, Jean-Paul. Essays in Existentialism. New York: Citadel Press, 1993.
Whitehead, A.N. The Aims of Education and Other Essays. New York: The
Macmillan Company, 1966.
THE ‚I‛ IN THE ‚WE‛
263
It seems only yesterday that man was anything but forced by the iron fist of the
different elements of the society to follow the divine will and/or majority of the populace
otherwise suffer the consequences afterward. Man was not allowed to get away without
conceding to this will I have mentioned.
Culture and tradition are the topmost influential elements in a society which
dictates what is to be considered right or wrong. By these, an individual automatically
begets a predetermined code of conduct, ethics, which solidifies as time goes on. One
may be able to break free from the imposed ethics by discovering the inappropriateness
of the virtues applied, but the chances are very slim for man is a social being.55
In the course of time, two words emerged that are mostly encountered in ethics:
egoism and altruism. These two concepts highly challenge each other and due these
inversely related ethical concepts, man was left with varying options with how to live
his life morally. In a gist, should man choose egoism, he by all means is allowed to do
anything he wish to other beings so long as it is for his happiness, for his sake, even if it
would mean the destruction or compromise of the other. On the other hand, altruism
exactly advises man the opposite. In altruism, man should see to it that his attention is
focused to his neighbors, other people and even strangers; and that these people he
should serve even if it would mean sacrificing himself in doing so.
This paradigm suggests a strong sense of competition. An ordinary person can
even deduce that neither one (concept) exists while the other does. The existence of
them both implies a catastrophe. Is this a question then of elimination? Is this a matter
of which is better? Obviously not. To escape or deal away with these dominating ethical
concepts, one must be able to realize that there is another means of pursuing happiness
without committing the flaw in these two.
What is offered in these two paradigms is either a) the destruction of the others
in egoism and b) the sacrifice of the self in lieu of taking care of the others. In both cases,
there is a drawback in the apparently master plan towards living a good society. Is man
left with no choice but to be a mere puppet for goodness or a tyrant who regards other
people as a medium for whatever goals he may have? My answer is no. There is a way.
There is still a means where man can still recognize the ‚I‛ amidst the ‚WE‛ and vice
versa without losing himself and the others in the process.
In the succeeding paragraphs, I will present the possibility of an ethics which is
based on the philosophy of Objectivism. A discussion of egoism and altruism will be
Social being here may mean two things. One is the prevalent interpretation that an individual is
situated in a society where interaction simply cannot be avoided. The other interpretation (which I
believe is the more appropriate interpretation in the context this term was used) means an individual is a
being for the society – a being that is controlled and dictated by the society.
55
264
presented hereon. I will also expose the stand of Ayn Rand in egoism and altruism. And
in the later part, eventually by using the concepts formulated by Ayn Rand on her
Objectivist Ethics, I will have been able to draw the bridge that will allow me to present
the possibility of her philosophy; that her way of egoism is in effect a transcendental
form of altruism.
EGOISM
...the concept of greatness entails being noble, wanting to be by oneself, being able to be different,
standing alone and having to live independently.
-Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil
Men have been taught that the ego is the synonym of evil<
-Ayn Rand, For the New Intellectual
For the longest time, egoism has been assimilated with the word evil. And every egoist
was automatically branded a pest in any thriving society. Of course this is a very strong
statement; nonetheless, its credibility is valid. Taking a brief glance at history proves the
point.
There are egoists worth the mention to get things started. And in this section, I
will present the ideas presented by certain philosophers whom egoism they upheld. I
will show how such ideas affected and contributed to the development of the word
egoism as commonly understood. To start with the presentation, I will pose a question
that will serve as a guideline to the reader: what made Rand different from the known egoists
of the time? With this question on mind, the presentation commences.
Etymologically, the word egoism can be traced to the Latin word ego meaning
‚I‛. In the course of time, ego, in the context of egoism, would be more associated with
the word ‚self‛. And given this etymological background of the word, a rough
interpretation of egoism would be the doctrine focusing on the self.56 Later, more
interpretations would appear promulgated by various philosophers.
Many will agree that egoism can be traced as far back as the Greek philosophy:
hedonism. Normative hedonism is the claim that all and only pleasure has worth or value,
and all and only pain has disvalue (Moore). The Greeks’ strongly believe that what is
pleasurable is moral.57 It is in the hedonists’ belief that that which is pleasurable is good
It should be noted that the word being analyzed here is egoism and should not be interchanged
with egotism as it would make the presentation vague.
57 We shall later utilize this concept in par with Rand’s belief.
56
265
to the body; and that which is good to the body is life-sustaining. In contrast, hedonists
considered pain to be the ultimate warning that something wrong is happening. This
however presents various loopholes. A classic example is the false belief that all that is
pleasurable is always desirable for an individual. That in most aspect is incorrect.
Another philosopher whose philosophy was celebrated in his time both with
praises and criticisms contributed to the development of the word egoism the way it is
known in the present times. Some considered his philosophy more relevant than his
personality; others considered his insanity the greatest flaw in his ethics. His name was
Friedrich Nietzsche.
Despite issues on his psychological capacity, one cannot deny the brightness of
the ideas contained in his lonely and tormented soul. I will not discuss in great detail
the Nietzschean ethical egoism for there is a dedicated chapter for such discussion; I
will however try to establish the fact that Nietzschean ethics has affected the
formulation of Rand’s concept of egoism.
I will take my point of departure from Nietzsche’s death of god. I have mentioned
already that man heavily relied to the thought that should everything go wrong there is
this ultimate entity that would assure him of the rightness or wrongness of an act. Man
made God an excuse by covering any particular act to be doing His Will. Almost
virtually everything lies in the hands of God. According to Nietzsche, this is not the
case; hence, the death of god.
But with the death of god was the birth of another being. With all courage,
Nietzsche challenges humanity: So where, asks Nietzsche, are the men of courage? Who is
willing to stare into the abyss? Who can stand alone on the icy mountaintop? Who can look a
tiger in the eye without flinching? (Hicks, 2009) And thus, man was reborn.
At this point, I would like to present a varied interpretation of the death of god.
There are some individuals who have another conception of this term. According to
them, this may mean that may the existence of this god be proven or not, the challenge
is to make your existence on earth tolerable and/or bearable. In any case, this
interpretation still goes along the mainstream. It only means that with or without this
ultimate being, man must strive to better his existence.
So, Nietzsche says that egoism is an effort to better man’s existence without –
most of the time – the external help of any benefactors. With the arguments presented
by Nietzsche, some interpreters have come up with the understanding that man should
expect help only from himself; and eventually developed the idea that the weak are of
no particular importance. A question is asked: Why should man bother taking care of
the weak? So, the argument is raised saying that other individuals are no more than
objects for one’s utilization. And the dark background of egoism is drawn.
266
In the present term of the word, egoism means to be self-centered. Egoism means
to have one’s own self the focus in whatever aspirations and ideals may be pursued.
And with the help of the brief history of thought presented in the previous paragraphs,
the individual deducted that egoism gives the exclusive right for any individual to be a
sadist.58 With this notion, there is a transformation and automatic understanding that an
individual being the center of everything around him may manipulate, control and/or
use another individual for the former’s convenience – whether or not justifiable. It will
be helpful to note the usage of the word convenience. The very fact that man used
another being to the very point of exploitation, for his own selfish convenience, is
considered to be moral. The reasoning that since that particular individual only
practiced what he believed to be beneficial for him justifies the act; thus, this is
perpetuated in the form of malicious rulers and ill-willed influential individuals
scattered in the course of history.
Here, I present egoism as is normally conceived at the present time; the kind of
egoism that developed in the course of time. While egoism is being challenged left and
right by a diverse audience, there is another ethical system that is being proposed that
would balance the equation.
ALTRUISM
Altruists offer you a choice between sadism and masochism: either you torture other or you
torture yourself.
-Ayn Rand, Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed
In an attempt to counterbalance the egoism and its possible effects, altruism
sprang. It has been a constant that altruism is the counterpart of egoism. So long as
altruists continually oppose the egoists will I concede to the fact that altruism is
inversely related with egoism. But as for other aspects, they are no more different from
each other.
This section will present in a gist the concept of altruism, its variety and the
persons that will be tackled in this study. A deeper analysis will be conducted later. The
following paragraph will talk of the basic premise altruism presents and an altruist
practices especially those of that will be used in the course of this paper.
The usage of the word is not out of context. It is evident that Rand in one of her interviews
coined the term to give a description of the altruists. Objectively Speaking: Ayn Rand Interviewed, p. 156
58
267
With the desire to deal away with the so-called evils of egoism and/or ‚selfishness‛, people were more than happy to follow any alternatives that would prove to be
better than the values of egoism. Since altruism promised a better tomorrow than what
egoism may have offered, more people were attracted to this system. Their attraction
was rather automatic, without scrutiny.
Allow me to present a simple history of altruism and by doing so expose two
facets of altruism. First is the birth of altruism and how its procreator originally meant
to use the word. In the progress of the presentation, I will be able to show the changes
in the usage and understanding of the term – as is with egoism. The other phase, with
the help of the first, would focus on the current understanding and practice of altruism.
This may be considered as the most common form of altruism, nonetheless as effective
and worth-mentioning as its primitive original formal.
Altruism just like any other ethical system wanted to bring man to the right track
so as to live a morally upright life – to attain the highest possible mode of living. The
objective is clear and remarkable, but as to the question of the how, one is left to guess.
Since most people have accepted by default that altruism is the most - if not the
only - plausible way of making existence on earth bearable, it has already been taken for
granted that altruism is the right solution for the maladies plaguing humanity. Without
further ado, the panacea was conjured out of thin air. And what is the term they use of
it? Right. Just like magic.
Let us take a look at the magical proposal the altruists have to offer humanity.
Assuming the fact that this is indeed the long-sought panacea, the most obvious
question is why is the world no better off from the time this ethics has been practiced?
Why is the world - truth be told - in more chaos amid the advancements of evolution
and technology, and despite the fact that altruism has already been practiced for the
past decades? Does this not suggest something else than it being the actual solution to
the problem? Or does it put the blame on to another element?
Though altruism nowadays has various meanings, it all can be traced and
tracked down to Auguste Comte’s altruism. The philosopher here is a collectivist
without doubt. In his works, the pavement of an idea for a new religion that would
eventually uplift mankind is evident. And it is in these works – particularly System of
Positive Polity – that his concept of altruism is evident and clearly manifest. Campbell
268
outlines Comte’s notion of altruism as ‚living for other‛ (vivre pur autrui). 59 The
following quote will make his concept of altruism clearer.
The individual must subordinate himself to an Existence outside himself in order
to find in it the source of his stability. And this condition cannot be effectually realized
except under the impulse of propensities prompting him to live for others. The being,
whether man or animal, who loves nothing outside himself, and really lives for himself
alone, is by that very fact condemned to spend his life in a
miserable alternation of ignoble torpor and uncontrolled excitement. Evidently the
principal feature of Progress in living things is that the general consensus which we
have seen to be the essential attribute of vitality should become more perfect. It follows
that happiness and worth, as well in individuals as in societies, depend on adequate
ascendancy o f the sympathetic instincts. Thus the expression, Live for Others, is the
simplest summary of the whole moral code of Positivism.60
The picture is that Comte rejects individualism by establishing the fact that an
individual’s personality is the least trustworthy. And as a means of checking, there
must be an external element that would constantly balance the question. By his
deduction, this context allowed the conclusion that man must live for others. So, the basic
premise by which altruism operates is vivre pur autrui.
Live for others. This is a very strong statement. Comte is actually saying that
man is a being for others; that, his very existence is for the others; that, when man,
alone, will not survive due his inability to ‚control‛; and that the external factor is
man’s ‚source of stability‛. Comte’s argument is on the radical and extreme side. It is a
yes or no situation without the gray area. This type of altruism is perfectly refuted by
Rand.
To-date, preachers of various organizations has developed a notion of altruism,
quite different from the original. It will be more crystal clear if I cite for example one of
the major religions I am familiar of, Roman Catholic. It is their dogma that man was born
to serve not to be served. If my years of being acquainted with the church would not
wrong me, this means that man’s sole purpose on earth is to recognize the presence of
the we in the society. To support this argument:
CITATION Campbell, Robert A. ‚Altruism in Auguste Comte and Ayn Rand‛. The Journaly of
Ayn Rand Studies 7, no. 2 (Spring 2006). 359
59
60
269
The Judeo-Christian tradition says this is a world of sin, in which the weak suffer at the
hands of the strong, that we should all be selfless and serve God and others, especially
the sick and helpless, and that in a future ideal world—Heaven—the lion will lie down
with lamb, and the inescapable power of God will bring salvation to the meek and
judgment to the wicked.61
This point alone shows the variance or departure from the original concept of
altruism. For reference, other stereotype definitions of altruism would be: loving others
as oneself (1) behavior that promotes the survival chances of others at a cost to one’s
own (2) and self-sacrifice for the benefit of others (3).62 So from a being originally
created for the others, altruism is presented here as the use of an individual for the
benefit of the other. What better way than for the preachers of morality to instill into
man that the best way for salvation is to contribute to making the world a better place
through the practice of altruism?
So, the common theme in a religious group is working your way to salvation by
random acts of benevolence (e.g. alms, donation, voluntary and charitable acts). At first
glance, this is good and ideal; thus, to be pursued. But there is one grave mistake
presented here – and is also with other altruistic groups: it is the notion that committing
these beneficial acts by self-sacrifice is a must, that in the act of doing so, it is an
obligation to uphold first the others before yourself. A further discussion will be
presented on this argument later. It will be sufficient to establish the fact that in
altruism every action is directed to the others until eventually the word ego is drowned
by the multitude of we. As quoted earlier, in altruism you are expected to torture
yourself.
A HYBRID
With the basic premise of egoism and altruism presented, I pose the question. Is it
possible that a particular concept of egoism be a transcendental form of altruism?
Would it be possible that Rand, a champion of egoism be associated with altruism? I
daresay there is a possibility.
In the following pages to follow is the presentation of an idea that claims the
possibility of a reinterpretation of Rand’s rational egoism (viewed in the lens of
altruism). Since there is already a variety of altruism from the original to contemporary,
INSERT CITATION
‚What is Altruism‛. Helping Others: Altruists International. Accessed at http://bit.ly/9XdACq
last February 2011.
61
62
270
I will make a distinction on what grounds will the practice of rational egoism be
considered altruistic, and if so considered, will answer why it should still be considered
egoism.
R
Roorrttyy’’ss C
Cllaassssrroooom
m
Education is beyond the four corners of classroom.
Rorty’s methodology in presenting his ideas is through an anti-foundationalist
approach. What he does, he will work or create his own without depending on
traditional philosophy. One can say that he is anti-philosopher, but he is doing the same
thing. He insisted from the books that he has written that he encourage the
conversation. Students may start from being critical from what they learn from the past
and what is very evident to the present to be able to create a new culture through being
271
creative in one vocabulary. What best describe Rorty’s Philosophy is this statement of
Robert Brandon:
The best that the journey can accomplish is to cement the freedom to speak our
minds, and to usher in ever-renewable vocabularies expressing new adventures in
self-understanding. For words are tools, and the point of our utterances is not to
answer to the Forms or to represent the intrinsic nature of reality, it is to meet
our needs. Words are Darwinian adaptations, not for copying but for coping. i
Word is power isn’t it?
The idea of Rorty’s education can be extracted from his own conception of
Liberal rooted from John Dewey’s philosophy of education, which was hotly debated
for the past years and still a topic for philosophical discussion. Along with that line, is
the discussion of truth whether it is found or created, or external or internal? Truth
became a doubtful and center of discussion among the universities which for some a
poisonous to youth’s mind. But if take to account that truth may be relative to different
people, because of their behavior, belief, norms, culture, and standards.
What Rorty wants is not to talk argue about these difference but to talk about it
to see how they differ are but also the commonalty to cultures. ‛.
‚What is true to me might be wrong for you.‛ It is the saying that considers that
truth is relative to different people considering cultural variations. We may think that if
truth establishes if most of the people believe that that ‚truth‛ is true and ‚good‛ or
‚beneficial.‛
272
Here’s the scenario there are two worlds in a university. One is the science
technical courses and the other concerns with arts. Let’s imagine a student name John
whose taking an engineering course may observe that his subjects for one semesters
contains a technical subject and his minors contains philosophical subjects like ethics
and humanities. Normally he will focus his study for his major subjects and take for
granted his minors. One may think that ‚why should I spend my time and knowledge
in studying the minor subjects,‛ added the parental and societal pressure that he must
graduate to be able to find a job. Colleges and universities is a platform for ideology
that society wants to imposed, explicitly and implicitly. What supposedly the problem?
1.
The university was unable to conduct an orientation regarding the
significance of Philosophical subjects
2.
for all the courses.
The professors of the university were unable to apply humanistic
significance even to technical subjects.
3.
Everybody in the university sees a solid line between the technical and
philosophical subjects.
What if a professor named Richard Rorty comes in to John’s university?
He would suggest putting some humanistic/critical touch of technical subjects in
curriculums. Yes he would agree that it is necessary to produce graduates from these
technical courses, nursing, law, engineering, business management, etc. and yes it has
societal values it produces manpower that is crucial to economy. But are these people
who graduated from these colleges and universities know the real value of having a
job? Is it only to make a living? Is it really the goal in their life? Then they would end up
slaves of the society. They would end up like a robot that will just follow what is being
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programmed to them. If these simple questions cannot be answered, then Rorty will not
further ask.
What will be the future of the society? But Rorty still hopes for a society starting
from the universities to encourage students to have a conversation, to be a critic to past,
to hope for the future and be creative to one’s vocabulary. What is missing to these
ingredients is some actions, to do beyond professions, beyond what they learn, to leave
the classroom and do something useful.
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i
Robert Brandom. Reading Rorty. Retrieved April 17, 2013 from
http://www.phil.cam.ac.uk/~swb24/reviews/Rorty.htm
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