Ignoble Truths and Noble Lies

Western political philosophy invented the concept of the “Noble Lie.” Plato, the student of the wise Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle who was a teacher of Alexander the Great, argued that the masses in his imagined perfect place—“The Republic”—should be taught this Lie. This Noble Lie says that the masses are made merely of bronze and are therefore inferior to their rulers and rule enforcers who came from the womb of the earth like them, but are constituted by the far more desirable elements of gold and silver. With this “knowledge,” the intellectually unsophisticated masses are expected to accept the pecking order in the class divided society that is Plato's Republic. There’s the lie. As to its nobility… well… The Nobles need it.

The other day, I was again reminded of the Noble Lie. Not because I had to do another lecture on it or that I watched Watchmen again with its suggestions on the need for a Noble Lie from another angle, but because news reports have come out regarding our dear Chief Executive having breast implants.

First, one of her spokepersons denied it. Another spokesperson later admitted it. In all, I count that Malacanang and the President herself delivered at least 3 lies in relation to this story. Didn’t the President claim she was in the hospital for self-quarantine, since she was concerned about possibly infecting others after her travel abroad?

Noble lies? Protecting us from the dangers that our own ignorance might bring against the State? No. More like Ignoble Truths.
One Presidentiable put it well: “Malacañang used a valid public health concern – the A(H1N1) virus – to camouflage the real reason for Mrs. Arroyo’s decision to have herself confined at Asian Hospital. And now that they have been found lying, they are trying to divert the issue by invoking her privacy.”

To my mind, people who have breast implants are, to a certain extent, psychologically troubled (or need it for their "job," say, a model). Unless you really look bizzare, i don't see the need for such invasive cosmetics. This 'President,' I submit, is simply troubled. And her spokespersons are bizzare. Note, I am not saying that people can't or shouldn't have their implants. They can have all the implants they want, for all I care. I only underscore the "psychological" thingy here. Indeed, people have the right to be wrong. Or be pierced. And even look bizarre.

But we do not need a "troubled" person for president. We do not want a habitual, pathological liar at the helm. Perhaps GMA needs a psychiatrist, not a cosmetic surgeon, to face the Ignoble Truths in her life and about herself.

Dear Malaki-ang-kanyang, even assuming that Plato was right and that his Noble Lie was truth, rulers are supposed to be made of gold. Not Silicone.

AH1N1 Ewan: Rehashed note on teaching

The unexpected respite will soon be over. The scare will have to be toned down given the need to let life go on. The AH1N1 scare has only shown us how lacking in science learning and education our students and people are. Hyped by constant and exaggerated reporting on official statements on the issue, the swine flu, of which no one in the Philippines has died, has become more fearsome than Tuberculosis. Now, to the Filipino public mind’s eye, swine flu is death. This despite the fact that it is, for instance, TB that kills 75 Filipinos each day and is almost as infectious as this “Trangkaso.” Fortunately, like TB, swine flu is curable.

Incidents like this remind me of the importance of teaching and education. The swine flu issue is an exemplar on how knowledge, values and decision making intertwine — on how even the supposedly learned layers of society can get it so wrong. Why I teach...

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Why teach if students can learn things on their own especially with things like the Internet? Well, teaching provides direction… and, more importantly, “direction” — values appreciation and personality development. Teaching directs the process of learning. Note that learning can happen with or without a teacher since learning is merely the acquisition of knowledge, skills and values. Education however goes beyond mere learning for education is all about learning things that are productive for not only the individual learner but his community as well. Education is learning plus. Education is learning things in and for society. Education, I believe, requires teaching.

There lies the reason for why I teach. I’m dreaming of a better the world. I want to change the world but I cannot do it alone. I have to have others to breach the limits of the possible in society, to be able to push aside the barriers to a better quality of life for the Filipino in the global community. Teaching is providing education and not merely knowledge. Teaching is not merely about satiating the thirst for knowledge, it is about satiating the thirst for truth and meaning in life. And the meaning is out there — in society. As one line I learned from one of my many organizations in college asked: “Iskolar ng Bayan, sa iyong langit-langitan, sino ang iyong pinagsisilbihan?”

A scholars’ organization (UPGSA), a volunteer’s group (PSC), a fraternity (Pi Sigma), a student political party-alliance (UP-SAMASA), and three NGOs (Bayan-EF-ACT) provided the answers for me. As my frat’s Constitution proudly declares (pertaining to experiences in the struggle for societal change): “Ang sakit ay walang anuman… dadalhin ka nito sa isang antas na mas mataas kaysa sa karaniwan, hindi makasarili ngunit para sa nakararami.”

And so I learned that learning is not enough, really. To be educated truly is to dream of a better community, a better state for one’s country. I learned from Mababang Paaralan ng Rafael Palma, Manila Science High School and the UP in Diliman, but I was educated by my community.
My dear students, be a Iskolar ng Bayan — even if you’re not from UP. It’s all about being of service to others. Serve the people. Serve your country well… and be truly educated.

My school now, De La Salle, puts it this way: it’s all about teaching minds, touching hearts, AND TRANSFORMING LIVES.

To borrow from that mushy tiny tome The Purpose Driven Life: IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.
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My dear Lasallian students, see you all again on June 15. And please stop fearing the swine flu. Just read and learn more about it. We should fear CONASS more... come to think of it, this country needs a GMAectomy, soon.

2OM: Current Market Price of Souls?

Last Saturday, 2 days before the now historic session at the House of RepresentaTHIEVES, or what the Explainer Manolo Quezon prefers to call the BASTUSANG PAMBANSA, I got a text message about pro-CHA-CHA/pro-GMA members of Congress being offered 20M pesos to sell their souls and the Constitution of this country.

If indeed 20M pesos per Chacha Tongressman was distributed (not just as additional pork barrel), there should be a trail somewhere... can a little bird please chirp and tell us something... where to look at least? Seriously, please chirp and help save this nation more wasted monies. Text me for leads... 0905-328-8939.

Now, even if the 20M is just a figment of imagination (or is a "mere" pork barrel and not a "cash gift" like what Gov. Among Panlilio exposed before), why have these supposedly sentient creatures in the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATHIEVES done overtime work just to pass a resolution for virtually nothing but to taunt a Supreme Court laden with GMA-appointees? What a show of collective power! What show of collective wisdom. What arrogance. What attendance. When normally these power-trippers can't complete a quorum for important matters of real legislation, now they're all up and awake! Coffee is a poor substitute to 20M.

Let's show these members of Congress thet they should be representing us, the people, and not Malaki-ang-kanyang (ego!). Let us express our disgust in various forms -- Join the various anti-CONASS initiatives.

Erap has just declared that he is willing to personally lead rallies against this CONASS thing. Binay has convened a broad opposition front. Mar has donned Garlic leis against what he calls CONASSWANG. Noli has said no to CONASS. Chizwiz is speaking in overdesigned tagalog again to hit CONASS. Villar, like the rest of the Senate, is wincing at the Joke that is the HOR.

As for Te-ODOR-o, well, 1% lang naman ang hakot niya sa latest surveys. Lahat yata yun nasa gobyerno, kaya di na counted sa rally roster yun.

Let's all go out then. JUNE 10! Let's dance the Anti-CHACHA! Be in your most fashionable attire! See you all on the dance floor -- the PARLIAMENT OF THE STREETS!

San na ba 'yun sandals ko... Wait, phone message, might be about the 20M... wooo....

Warp

WARP. Noun. Most probably coined before the 12th century, from the Old English wearp, akin to Old High German warf warp; the Old English weorpan meant to throw; and the Old Norse verpa. 1 a: a series of yarns extended lengthwise in a loom and crossed by the weft b: foundation, base [the warp of the economic structure is agriculture — American Guide Series: North Carolina]2: a rope for warping or mooring a ship or boat3 [2warp] a: a twist or curve that has developed in something originally flat or straight [a warp in a door panel] b: A MENTAL ABERRATION. {from good old Merriam and Webster}

I feel I just came from a wormhole and warped back to reality. It's been exactly a month since I last posted here. A lot has happened since April 26, including Angels and Demons, Star Trek and well... BFF. Welcome back to me.

Speaking of StarTrek, that classic popularized the word warp with "warp drive technology" being the posited power behind interstellar travel within the Federation of Planets. In the star trek universe, having knowledge of warping or travelling faster than light meant the difference between being “developed” enough to be invited into the Federation or being just a case study for Vulcans to surreptitiously gawk at in their fascinatingly logical way.

My ecstasy at being able to watch Startrek on the big screen (again) and reveling in the resuscitation of this great sci-fi tradition has been diminished by the current stream of events. As soon as I stepped out of the cool comfort of the cinema, I warp back to Philippine reality… allow me to ramble on and summarize my most unsettling observations for the past three weeks…

• The Great Book Blockade has been simmering. I wonder if my my Star Trek books fall under the category of “educational materials.” Well, I learned a lot from them. I became more interested in science and learning because of Mr. Spock. The Spock character inspired me to explore Logic. Tolkien’s Elvish poems reintroduced me to poetry. Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula tittilated the Gothic side of me. Hmmm… These books can really be dangerous. Perhaps they must be burned.

• N1H1 Ewan. More people die of malaria everyday than this N1H1 flu strain. So what is the fuss all about, really? The point probably is that there are those getting richer and more publicity with money and policy attention now being focused on this virus. But the social roots of the problem is still left largely undiscussed. Here in the Philippines, the (a)Cute Economist has just found a way to score publicity points with kids as she modeled the way of properly washing ones hands. We just wonder how this hand washing exercise sounds to people with no regular source of potable water in this country because of government’s weaknesses in basic public service delivery. At any rate, perhaps GMA is indeed a good model on this matter after all. Magaling naman siya maghugas kamay ‘di po ba?

• Kagubatang Kho at Katrina. Only last year, September 10, 2008, news raised the alarm that “The Philippines lost forest cover at a rate of 2.1 percent every year from 2000 to 2005, the fastest in southeast Asia and the seventh in the world, said Juan Echanove, a project officer of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Philippines.” No wonder that May 21 this year came and went without nothing as hot as the Kho-Katrina copulation being celebrated by our most repressed and most civil society and its equally perverted mass media. May 21? Oh, that is just the World Forest Day. Di na magubat and Pinas. Makapal pa ang buhok sa dibdib ni Hayden Kho at ang mukha ng ilang mga kabilang sa usaping ito kesa sa ating kagubatan.

• Cannoning CARPER Crusaders. And then to top it all off, just yesterday at Congress, cannons were aimed at CARPER (agrarian reform) advocates and they were violently dispersed. For a more personal account of this experience in fascism, see http://capacio.wordpress.com/. Speaker Nograles has just shown us all what a Klingon-Ferengi-Jem’Hadar hybrid he really is -- for the non-Trekkies: that means ASS. Well, what can you expect from this regime and its puppets? The farmers and their supporters wanted to remind Congress of the need to pass this most urgent bill on Agrarian Reform. But what do they get? A bashing from creatures with primeval brains. "We spend a lot of (pause) efforts to keep this place clean…" said Nograles as he tried to defend his order to disperse the farmers who were outside the halls of Congress. What can I say? Can I say PUT@#$%^&+*&=#O Nograles hindi dumi ang mga magsasakang nag-aalaga ng kaning kinakain natin sa araw-araw? Oooopppsss… What did I just say?

Warped interests lead to warped logic, which leads to warped priorities, which lead to warped ways. If only we could warp out of this reality. But sci-fi characters we are not. We can only learn from StarTrek. That is, if we choose to.

By the way, June 5 is just around the corner. In case we forget again, that’s the World Environment Day. I wonder what video will come out next to overshadow our more important concerns on that day. The Belo video anyone?

Warp 9. Engage!

More Science Education Please...

Some thoughts on science education and national development:

I have always had a hunch that religion by some circuitous means has been an obstacle to development in countries that came late in the capitalist game. In these so-called "post-colonial states," like our country, one finds the language of national development peppered by religious rhetoric.

Pardon, I don't want to sound anti-religion or anti-church here, but consider this. A study shows that the top ten “least religious countries” in the world are Sweden (up to 85% non-believers, atheists, agnostics), Vietnam, Denmark, Norway, Japan, Czech Republic, Finland, France, South Korea and Estonia (up to 49% non-believers, atheists or agnostics). Note how most of these countries are among the most developed and orderly national communities in the world today.

The survey, published by the Cambridge University Press in 2005 as a chapter in The Cambridge Companion to Atheism concluded that “high levels of organic atheism are strongly correlated with high levels of societal health, such as low homicide rates, low poverty rates, low infant mortality rates, and low illiteracy rates, as well as high levels of educational attainment, per capita income, and gender equality.”

It further noted that “most nations characterized by high degrees of individual and societal security have the highest rates of organic atheism, and conversely, nations characterized by low degrees of individual and societal security have the lowest rates of organic atheism. In some societies, particularly Europe, atheism is growing. However, throughout much of the world — particularly nations with high birth rates [underscoring ours] — atheism is barely discernable.”

Nations with high birth rates? Is this the reason for the Hierarchy's unrelenting opposition against the Reproductive Health Bill?

I know that religion and politics are a volatile mix, and I may be inviting undue stress by raising some discomfiting questions here and writing on this most delicate of topics, but then again I think no stone must be left unturned in our quest for a solution to our country’s problems. Nothing is so holy in the altar of meaningful change — in our collective effort as a global specie to uplift the human condition in the only planet that we inhabit.

Some learned student of society once argued that a particularly religious attitude — the "Protestant Ethic" (includes hard work and wealth seeking in this world) — could perhaps explain the relative development of certain societies compared to others. What about a "Catholic Ethic" therefore? Is that our key problem in the Philippines?

Now, perhaps a more constructive, precise, and perhaps less controversial way of stating my main point is that communities with a less scientific orientation tend to become less economically developed. This seems a self-evident argument. But exactly how is science then factored into governance and education in a country like the Philippines?

To put it another way, how come, notwithstanding the seeming dominance of the natural sciences in the curriculum of our schools, religion appears more influential in shaping the policy debates in this nation? How do the DOST and DEPED address science education concerns? What roles do they have?

We praise Filipinos students who win in math quizzes and science fairs but our policies on, for instance, population growth, do not seem to be based on sound scientific propositions — how do we explain this country’s cultural schizophrenia? Let's zoom in on the public school system.

I am alarmed at how, in the public school where my two nieces now are studying (pre-school and grade 2), there is a notable lack of science education. The older one told me they had no specific subject on science. Is this now the case really? I have not been too in touch with public elementary school-realities it seems. It is noticeable how she lacks appreciation of the most basic science principles that could be taught in Grade 1, considering that she is supposed to be in a “science section.” We supplement her learning through tutorial and additional materials aside from giving her some access to the Internet (yes, the Net) to satiate her thirst for knowledge.

But how about the nameless others of her cohort who must make do with what is offered to them in the public schools? No wonder we get the lowest marks in international tests on science and math achievement.

When my nieces started going to that public school, I learned that the “Panatang Makabayan” (Oath of Nationalism) has already been rewritten to in fact include the word “dasal” (pray). They make you memorize this. Mildly amused, I was thinking how I don't suppose I turned out so bad without a very prayerful life and a more secular Panatang Makabayan.

Given my primary education in another public school, I attribute the high quality of our learning to persevering teachers like Mrs. Asperas-Sabado (my Grade 1 mentor who introduced me to the beauty of Science) and not to any forced memorization of canticles. Are we now so overly concerned with values and prayers that we have forgotten that science is the base of formal knowledge? If we are, what values are these anyway? Should we not have a sustained concern for national development and not just “prayers”?

But hope springs eternal, indeed. Like my nieces, most school age Filipino youth in developing countries want to learn more science.

Through a 2006 study, “Science-Related Attitudes and Interests of Students” by Talisayon, de Guzman, and Balbin of U.P., the Philippines took part in an international research project, the Relevance of Science Education (ROSE), based in the University of Oslo and funded by the Norwegian government. The study found out that among eleven countries including Egypt, England, Estonia, Ghana, Israel, Japan, Latvia, Norway, Philippines, Russia, and Sweden, the Philippines ranked first on viewing “the importance of Science and Technology for society, and new technologies making work more interesting.” The country ranked second in perceiving “greater opportunities for future generation due to Science and Technology, greater benefits of science than harmful effects it could have, having as much science as possible in school, liking to get technology job, and important for future jobs – working people rather than things and working with machines as tools.” In sum, the Philippine results showed more than 90% of students indicating positive science related interests and experiences. Our students are thirsting for more science.

I have nothing against religious or values education. Definitely, we need more leaders with not just knowledge but integrity and patriotism for this country. However, there is much space for such learning in the private and non-formal sphere, especially in our families where such education truly begins. I am not too keen in spending precious state funds on religious education in public schools. In the public domain, through the formal school system and beyond, what we need to do is to bring science to the mainstream of people's lives.

Let us invest more into science education. I pray for a more scientific and development-oriented education in this country. Thy youth's will be done.

Education and Social Change: Where have all the flowers gone?

March, the start of graduation season, has marched on...

...Those who are privileged enough to pass through the halls of the academe are now asking the proverbial question: where do we go from here?

Worried and hopeful, some of them ask me for advice and what I usually give is an optimistic and yet tempered look at what life is after graduation. I try not to dampen their hopes, in spite of the current financial state of, not just the country, but the rest of the world.

But for those who enjoyed scholarship grants, I usually discuss with them the role that education plays in society. I feel I have to make them realize that as scholars, they are in fact a privileged but probably over-hyped bunch who can do a lot, but not so much. Much is expected of them but then, historically, their being beacons of hope has been wanting, at the very least. These scholars see education as promoting national development. How this works, however, is something they cannot fully explain.

Education as a social process is all about acquiring or transferring meaningful knowledge, attitudes, values and skills among social actors: the teachers and students. Education could be informal, formal or non-formal. Informal education involves learning in the course of day-to-day activities in order for a community to reproduce itself in succeeding generations. It is unstructured and learner-led.

Non-formal education is relatively structured, undertaken through, for instance, training-workshops in firms or even in community organizations. It is often mainly concerned with addressing the immediate educational needs of particular learners. It is not sequenced or structured compared to formal education.

For the more familiar formal set-up, the process takes on a certain form distinguished by the organization of learners into classes. Formal learners sequentially go through levels of education and follow a pre-determined schedule. Knowledge here is transmitted primarily through pre-determined curricula and is systematized into discipline areas. What is also evident is the professionalization of the lead knowledge-transmitters, the teachers, according to these areas of specialization.

When people therefore talk of education, what they often refer to is the formal type, which in the Philippines is mainly realized through the public schools. Tragically, the public school system has been described as perennially in a state of crisis even as education continues to be popularly seen as a key factor in national development.

Education could partially contribute to societal development in two ways. First is by producing a labor force with particular skills, competencies and distribution. Second and perhaps more importantly is that it produces the people’s general ways of perceiving, thinking about and acting upon the world.

Beyond the issue of Filipino children’s low achievement scores in international tests is how the public school system has actually produced people with a “neo-colonial identity and consciousness,” carrying values supportive of personalistic and authoritarian political structures and a “non-critical, fatalistic, non-analytic outlook manifested in a curious readiness to attribute felicitous political events due to miraculous causes.” It no longer wonders why Philippine politics remains to be as it is today, uninspiring at best.

Education is an agency with but a supportive role in social transformation. Indeed, formal education itself “cannot effect thoroughgoing social structural changes,” as the late Dr. Maria Luisa Canieso-Doronilla of the University of the Philippine exquisitely pointed out. “Well meaning individuals who place total fate in the transforming power of education” need to be “reminded that issues of distributive justice when premised only on a more equitable distribution of educational opportunities are immediately translated by the logic of educational processes (such as teaching, learning and grading) into simple matters of individual ability, effort, values, attitudes and grading) without significantly weakening the structure of inequitable relations in society at large.” In other words, Dr. Doronilla succinctly argues that “a program of scholarships to ‘poor but deserving students’ such as is at present provided in the 1986 Constitution will merely co-opt these students if successful, into the elite.”

So, still care to sing and ask “where have all the flowers gone?” One simply needs to look up to the social apex and see. Still students of mine continue to inspire and hope. Hope indeed springs eternal.

Literacy and 2010

The signs are ominous: Illiteracy is growing.

What can we expect from a government whose leaders:

1. Cannot read the people's pulse? They keep pushing for Charter Change even as many public opinion polls show its high unpopularity as a policy option;

2. Cannot count properly? They cannot count the growing numbers of people who are going hungry and poorer every day;

3. Cannot write properly? They cannot write the laws demanded by the people like on the extension of the Agrarian Reform Program; and,

4. Cannot comprehend basic rules? They keep on offering various modes to change the Constitution when the Charter clearly sets very specific modes for amendment.

Illiterate leaders can only breed further illiteracy. The strategic solution? A literate electorate who can write on their ballots to vote away the non-literates.

3,275 : 0

Before Nicole found the courage to face her rapist in court, the record stood at 3,274 : 0, in favor of the Super Power. Dehado tayo. We thought a trend breaking 3,274 : 1 was about to be inscribed on the historical scoreboard.

Now, it's final. 3,275 : 0. The Champion retains the title on an extended game.

At least no one could say it was a hometown decision.

The judges have spoken. And they were all women.

Lady Justice was never so cruel, nor gender blind. Simply blind...

GMA News TV has pointed out that the Philippines has many ‘Nicoles’:

The Philippines has many “Nicoles," but only Suzette Nicolas was served justice when the Makati Regional Trial Court convicted Lance Cpl. Daniel Smith of rape on December 4, 2006.

From 1981 to 1988, when the US military bases were in the Philippines, 3,274 cases of abuse of women and children were filed against US servicemen in Subic and Clark. However, not one of the US servicemen was convicted.

Data from the Olongapo City prosecutor's office showed that during the same period, cases of rape and sexual abuse involving children ages 11 to 16 were filed against US servicemen. Another 82 cases of sexual abuse involving young women were also recorded. All of these cases were dismissed.

Ninety-seven of these cases, in which 15 children were involved, were filed by the non-government Bikolana Gabriela against American soldiers in Clark and Subic.

Smith was the first-ever American military personnel who was convicted of committing a crime on Philippine soil since the establishment of the US military bases in Subic, Zambales and Clark in Angeles, Pampanga and the passage of the Visiting Forces Agreement in 1999. - GMANews.TV

Earth Day and Some Parochial Concerns Somewhere on Earth

Yesterday was Earth Day. Global warming continues. Species are becoming extinct. The earth is dying.

Meanwhile, in a small corner of the globe called the Philippines, members of Congress are still adamantly pursuing their parochial dream of Charter change as their constituents suffer and die in the face of unjustifiable oil price hikes, failed agrarian reform, and police brutality.

In an even smaller corner of that world, friends are starting to ask: Who should we support in 2010? In the past, I had ready answers for such a question, or at least there was a popular pick. Today, things are messier and people are even more cynical given what GMA has done and failed to do.

After days of reflection on that question, and inspired by rains sent down to wet Gaia on her day, I realized that it is not enough that we pose such query and seek answers to it through casual discussion with friends and family.

In the Philippine political forest, one fauna has yet to fully evolve, and that is the political party. I realized that because we don't have real parties that recruit, shape and offer to us their leaders and issue advocates in a sustained manner, and much less, that recruit regular members for solid party machinery building down to the grassroots, this country's typical voter is largely clueless come election season.

I have always been loyal to one particular party in this country (which shall remain nameless forevermore). So when time comes to choose leaders, I go by my party's choice or at least see how my party's principles apply to the necessarily limited choices offered to me.

I suggest that all of us, wherever we are in this archipelago, reach out to our political parties. If they cannot reach out to us, let us reach out to them and force them by our membership and participation to be more mature in handling themselves and our public affairs. Perhaps we should stop asking others and start asking ourselves. Ask this question: what have I done to help shape a better polity in this country? Why don't I belong to any political party? Not even a party list group for the environment? What do I stand for? Citizenship, after all, is not just about following the rules. Even more importantly, citizenship must mean shaping the rules as necessary and providing the leadership that enforces such rules in a fair and meaningful way.

Global citizenship requires even more. As the globe spins and slowly dies, let us ask ourselves, what am I doing with the short life that i have in this sphere called the Earth? Am I like those creatures and cretins in Congress who are wasting days left to them by pushing charter change in the face of the terrible poverty and despair of our people?

Some say that storms are nature's way of cleansing the earth. By 2010 we need a political typhoon to cleanse Congress of all dead and dying fauna. What will you do?

Feel earth's anguish. Belated Happy Earth Day everyone.

To Our Majors

This is an 'open letter' that I crafted some years ago for my students at DLSU-Manila.

To Our Political Science and Development Studies Majors...

At the heart of the science of politics are words. In algebra there are numbers and other algebraic symbols. In the social sciences, there are words and other memes.

Just like words, languages, and the ideas that they convey, government is a social construct. People create governments. The structure of modern governments is a product of the time, ideas, and actions of multitudes of peoples. They are patterns of relationships of power -- and some of these, unfortunately, are more equitable than others. Some individuals, groups, or sectors have been more influential in the design and development of their governments. However, there stands the democratic ideal that government is for everybody, including and specially those who have less in life. Anyone can, theoretically, be a part of government and everyone should benefit from its policies and actions. The magnificent political lesson is this: we can and we need to make government respond to our needs. Remember the character V (in V for Vendetta)? He quipped: People shouldn't fear their governments, governments should fear their people.

We need government or some form of government because many of our problems have taken on forms or dimensions which can not be handled merely by individuals thinking and acting separately or discreetly. These problems have become social problems. They have become “issues.” As such they require a social response -– a collective response. Such a response necessarily implies dealing with an “organization,” a “political formation,” or a “political structure”, i.e. a state or a government.

To illustrate, we may desire or need development given the current state of things in Philippine society. It can be argued that we would have to have, among others, agrarian reform. But then a comprehensive agrarian reform program would affect or involve various socio-economic groups or classes, if you will, which constitute Philippine society. Given such, a group or class could very well dominate the others and have its way. Or it is also possible that an arrangement may be forged to the virtual satisfaction of the potentially contending interests represented by these groups. At any rate, failure is a very real possibility. At worst, the threat of internal and armed conflict could not be discounted given the sensitivity and urgency of such an issue area. Now, therefore, a government has at least two choices. One, to take side with a particular class interest; or two, to facilitate the forging of, if there be any, a course of action mutually acceptable to the contending groups. The bottomline is that government would have to do something about it -– whether for or against its people’s interest.

We need to make government respond to our needs and there are various ways of effecting this. Our collective and individual experiences, capacities, skills, and resources will guide us and ultimately determine our most probable political recourse. Among others, we can tap the available legal or 'legitimate' channels to lobby for governmental action. If government is however invariably and generally unresponsive to our demands as a people, something extra-legal could take shape to the consternation of the more peace loving among us -- Satyagraha has its limits. The point is, as already noted, governments are created. Governments are made. They can be unmade.

The 1896 Philippine Revolution and 1986 Manila Uprising (better known by the pretentious label "Edsa Revolution") and the nationalist and democratic efforts directly leading to and from them have shown us certain ways of doing it.

Closer to our homes, we can involve ourselves in local government and community activities. But then, as the dynamics of our Sangguniang Kabataan and other community bodies would tend to show, it seems the youth are lacking interest, knowledge, and skills in handling local affairs. There is a need for us to reflect on this... for if we can not make our immediate communities happy and healthy, if we can not even make peace with our neighbors or help them to help themselves, how can we even begin to imagine and consider the interests of a broader community and, moreover, to identify ourselves with such?

How can we dare dream of a better national community -– of nation building and national development if we do not even know the name of our barangay and key local officials? (How many of you do know the name of your chief barangay leader?)

The Sesame Street characters once sang: "Who are the people in your neighborhoud?" Can you answer that question?

For our Dev Stud majors, the local development planning officer is supposed to be a person in your neigborhood? Is there one in your community?

More pointedly, for the Christians among us, what have you done for the least of your neigbours as the Christ queries?

To our majors, do you even know who your organization’s officers are?

As someone once said, home is where the heart is. Let me borrow from that fine line and put it this way:

Community is where the political heart is.

Please care for your nation AND your local community… your organization.

Be part of government if you can. Be part of an organization.

Be politically active as you must.

Dare to dream. Dare to imagine.

Dare to use words.

BE POLISCY.

Pattaya and Patayan

From Patayya with love, GMA's Easter message to us: "Risk all for Truth!"

What audacious hypocrisy. What callousness.

Easter is supposed to be about Hope and Redemption. With statements like that from GMA in Patayya, Thailand, we only become more hopeless. GMA could have said something else like, 'I am now stepping down, forgive me...'

May we remind GMA, your rule is tainted with so much political killings but your administration’s police, military, legal, and forensic work have been very wanting. Even Ninoy Aquino’s assassination has yet to be fully resolved but then perhaps it’s best that those soldiers are already out. But then again, as for the other murderers and the rapists whose sentences your regime has cut short, well... are you, GMA, simply being more Christian than the Christ?

Moreover, may we also remind you how many times you have been called to risk all for the truth through the impeachment process. What have you and your minions done? Risk all for whose truth? For whom? For yours and for you?

We need two S’s it seems in this country. Science and Sincerity. A more “science-informed” system of governance and a more sincere set of national leaders.

Patayan ng patayan dito habang nasa Patayya ka. Sabado de Gloria yata talaga ang favourite day mo.

Moral Farce Movement

The Moralists, like zombies, never really die.

After all, who can ever really defeat and kill their arguments? Who can breach the logic of their glittering generalities? Who wouldn't really have a MORALITY?

But wait, what is “morality”? Is there a science behind morality? It seems. “Mores”--the stuff of morality--would seem to have material origins.

It is said that morality can be seen either...

1.descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or, some other group, such as a religion, or accepted by an individual for her own behavior; or,
2.normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons.

In short, morality is constituted by “guides to behavior that involve, at least in part, avoiding and preventing harm to some others.” Morality as a “code of conduct” is informed by one's Philosophy. It requires or presupposes answers to certain basic questions about the world and the life in it. In other words, morality embodies these basic concerns in Philosophy:
Metaphysics-->Study of Existence->What's out there?
Epistemology->Study of Knowledge->How do I know about it?
Ethics------->Study of Action---->What should I do?
Politics-->Study of Force-->What actions are permissible?
Esthetics---->Study of Art------->What can life be like?

For the so-called Moral Force Movement, there is a need to identify a national “transformational leader” for the 2010 elections given Corruption in Philippine society. But how did they arrive at such brilliant analyses? Who can really argue with them on that?

Every election in this country has included Corruption as a top issue. Who does not want to battle corruption? But what is corrupt? Who is corrupt? How do we 'measure' all these? Who is to measure all these? Who is to tell us what we should do and how we should vote?

Who are the people behind the Moral Force Movement aside from Chief Justice Puno? Are they all truly “moral” people as their movement suggests? By the way, what is a “movement”? How many have to be involved in actions for actions to be called a movement?

Are the 8 personalities at the core of the Moral Force Movement to tell us what is “Moral”?

I hope not. Otherwise, we will have nothing but another Moral Farce Movement.

Beware. The march of social zombies with glittering generalities!

Measures and meaningfulness

Someone had the grand idea of making a photo collage with Gloria Arroyo's face on it. The photo is reportedly to be proposed as a Guinness book entry on being the largest photo collage. What Napoleonic complex. Oh, but then we also note how the President reportedly lambasted government offices that used taxpayers money to publish birthday ads for her in newspapers. Perhaps the photo collage idea wasn't hers. Still, thousands of pesos wasted.

Imelda is One of the Greediest Persons in the world. What an understatement.

It was reported that when one Supreme Court justice retired last January, he left 1,159 unresolved cases. A month later, another judge retired and left 1,008 cases hanging. This as 1,310 new lawyers troop to the Court led by their Number One — the Bar Topnotcher, with an exam rating of 87.50%. Vice Prexy Noli has called on them to serve the poor. We wonder how many of them prayed to pass so that they can SERVE the PEOPLE.

The country has been blacklisted for being an uncooperative tax haven. Taxation is another numbers game.

By the way, who among you have ever been given by your lawyers an official receipt for their services? So, how does government know how to tax them for their “professional” service? Just asking.

Numbers, numbers, numbers. Measures, measures, measures. Science is built on measurement. Objectively verifiable measurement requires the concept of numbers.

Many Filipinos are very good at numbers. We need to develop this. This is where we start to create a more scientific culture. But science and measurement, or quantification, are not enough. It is even more important to ask, what should we quantify and why? For whom? For what purpose? What is the meaning of all these numbers?

Is it any good that we have the largest photo collage of our supposed leader? So what if someone even gets 100% in the bar exams? In the end, the question is: Who benefits from all these measures and measurements?

In the final analysis, the measure that must matter most in a democracy are the people in their numbers.

Guns, Goons, Gold and Graphs

The more realist among our Philippine history teachers taught us that the Spanish were motivated by 2 G's in conquering these islands. There's Gold of course, and then there's God. We can't tell if they came in any particular order of importance but we sure know that we were later sold to the North Americans for a few measly silvers. Perhaps the former conquistadores prayed hard and they were instructed by some divine power to let go in the name of the almighty greenbacks.

Much, much later, when the manner of changing regimes in this country was done through a less garapal way, the elites discovered another set of G's. The all powerful three G's of Philippine elections — Guns, Goons and Gold. Guns and goons were basically one G. One is just more effective with the other. Gold is still there shimmering in the glow of its yellow magic. With guns and gold employed in the hugely popular and festive electoral game, oligarchs, landlords and warlords claimed the formal seats of power and created the illusion of legitimacy in raping our motherland.

Today, there really could be three G's after all. Guns, Gold, and Graphs. Presenting, the oracles of the modern age of Philippine politics: SWS and Pulse Asia. These two firms have been keeping the political elite on their toes, praying to whatever gods there may be to bless them with favorable public opinion as regards their most cherished concerns.

With the 2010 elections just around the corner, SWS and Pulse Asia surveys on the Presidentiables are becoming even more precious to the wannabes. It's good propaganda to be at the top of these public opinion surveys. With Ms. X at the top, she can:

1.Fill herself up with hot political air to rise to the political heavens, i.e., begin to think that God is giving her a sign to run.
2.Use that popularity as a leverage in negotiations with possible supporters and edge out other claimants.
3.If she loses, especially with a narrow margin, claim that she was cheated.

Consider this latest piece on the SWS... Favorites are leading the prexy pack. But let us must not make too much of a fuss of these results. Let's not be carried away by the bandwagon, as it were. After all, the graphs only suggest a certain direction and not a CERTAINTY.

It would be more important for us to know how these Presidentiables stand precisely on the issue of Charter Change. If we knew how they stood on this matter, then perhaps we can make a more intelligent choice, especially if we take into account these interesting findings from PULSE Asia (February 2009):

Most Filipinos (57%) know little about the 1987 Philippine Constitution

A big plurality of Filipinos (42%) is against charter change now while a sizeable majority (64%) does not think it is appropriate to amend the 1987 Constitution at this time

Economic improvement is the top reason cited by those favoring charter change while those opposed to amending the 1987 Constitution think it is good enough and would like to avoid any chaos that may arise from changing the country’s supreme law

Filipinos favoring the constitutional convention mode to amend the 1987 Constitution outnumber those supportive of the constituent assembly option (69% versus 31%)

Nearly six in ten Filipinos (59%) do not agree with proposals to shift to parliamentary and federal systems of government

Huge majorities (77% to 84%) oppose specific proposed constitutional amendments having to do with term extensions and foreign ownership of lands. Nearly four in five of Filipinos (81%) are not in favor of extending the term of office of national and local elective officials, and 77% do not support moves to allow elective officials to run in the elections as many times as possible. Both proposals are opposed by considerable to overwhelming majorities across geographic areas and socio-economic classes (68% to 92%), with non-support being most pronounced in Metro Manila. In contrast, these proposed changes to the 1987 Constitution have the support of 19% and 23% of Filipinos, respectively. Visayans are most supportive of these proposals (28% to 32%). As for the proposal to allow foreigners to own residential and industrial lands, majorities ranging from 81% in the rest of Luzon and Class E to 90% in Metro Manila are against this proposed amendment.

The use of surveys as instruments of social science must be considered properly.

Truly,public opinion polls can help us make more intelligent decisions. But let us not turn the elections into a popularity contest by simply basing our choices on who are more popular in these surveys.

If we believe these polls blindly, why still hold elections? Bakit pa tayo magsasayang ng oras at panahon. Let's just commission the SWS and Pulse Asia to do the surveys and let them declare the new president. No need for automation. Less corruption.

Graphs are not there to scare us to a forced choice like Goons, or to tempt us into a sumptuous spot like Gold. Graphs are a guide. Let us be guided accordingly and put people's issues at the top of the electoral discourse.

Bacterium and Politics

Salmonella strikes.

The Bureau of Food and Drugs (BFAD) orders the recall of our favorite Ludy's Peanut Butter from store shelves.

Here clearly is a case of science directly determining a political decision. Can you imagine if science were not there to tell us that our children are getting sick because of ingesting their favorite peanut butter sandwich laced with salmonella?

Salmonella is a bacteria that is a major cause foodborne diseases. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), salmonella infection usually appear 12–72 hours after contamination, and include fever, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea and sometimes vomiting. Illness usually lasts up to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment. However, especially in the very young and seniors and in cases when the bacteria enter the bloodstream, antibiotics may be needed.

If we did not have this information we would have disinformation. Disinformation coupled with people’s seething passions over their sick children could lead to anything.

Such information backed up by credible scientific authority is what we need to make better policies in our polities.

Let’s take the case of the environment. We need to clean up the Pasig River and make it alive once more? Science has the answer. But we also need the political will to make science do its magic in river rehabilitation.

A more telling related case for our poor, the MASA, is the issue of cheap medicines. The law on cheap medicines barely passed Congress given the lobbying of powerful interests. Even with the cheap medicines law, we are not assured of access to quality medicines. Much more needs to be done and our doctors and scientists would be in a good position to do more to show this country’s leaders that indeed medicine prices can be brought down. Hey esteemed members of Congress, we need good implementing rules and regulations.

Aghambayan says we need to take a hint from the lowly salmonella.

Perhaps we should serve peanut butter sandwiches to our honorable members of Congress who love to munch (on national TV) as they untiringly tackle Chacha in their brazen attempt to perpetuate themselves in power.

And we wonder how many in Malacañang love Luli's...er...Ludy's.

The Patriot as Bagani

Culture refers to all manner of human actions and behavior that are learned. Contrary to biology, culture is something humans have that, in the main, makes them human. Language, for instance, is largely associated with culture.

However, something like politics is not so readily associated with culture. But then there is the matter of political culture, which refers to those patterns of beliefs and orientations towards politics and political artifacts that a group of people holds. From our forum, we are left with the impression that in order to have a better polity, we must continuously engage in and learn from activities of the political system and try to realize daily those small acts of “patriotism” that would shape a better Philippine society — we need to mould a better political culture.

In a forum held at DLSU-Manila, the idea of Patriotism was re-explored and the kind of political leadership and system that the country has was problematized. The forum therefore raised issues that are central to creating a meaningful political culture in this country as our speakers, in effect, addressed these key questions: 1) What is the best form government or system of governance for this country? 2) What kind of leadership is necessary to maintain such a polity? 3) What is Patriotism or what kind of attitude must citizens have toward their nation and the state?

One of the speaker’s ambivalence towards participating in the upcoming 2010 elections was tempered by his view that, in the final analysis, we need to engage the political process simply because we learn precisely from such engagements and his belief that Patriotism (love for one’s native land, the Patria) can be expressed in many ways, from envisioning a better nation to doing small acts of kindness towards ones fellow Filipinos.

The other speaker hinted that there may be a more appropriate form of governance for this country as well as a correpondingly appropriate leadership style. From his theoretical explorations, one is asked to consider that a more culturally sensitive study of Philippine history and politics may be needed. To illustrate, what we may need in this country are not just a “Bayani” (hero) but groups of “Bagani” (hero-warriors) who are ready to collectively push a national agenda for reform.

All things considered, we ask the youth to further their engagements in the political system. Indeed, from our youth, our people, can come more Bagani — courageous, idealistic and vibrant political actors who have truly learned from their experiences that elections are but one of the many forms of political participation that there are, and that what we Filipinos really, truly need to do is to participate more in political processes in between these political fiestas called “Presidential Elections.” We do not need less politics in this country. We need more.

We need to shape a more meaningful political culture so, yes, let us vote. Let us learn more about our polity by going through that political exercise. But let us do more beyond 2010. Let us be Bagani ng Bayan. (A Bagani Party anyone?)

"Arroyo" and "Delicadeza"

Arroyo and Delicadeza
-- The Language of Political Maneuvering

“Arroyo son leads Charter change move” wrote the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. (first posted 23:01:00 11/20/2008). He warns that:

Charter change is gathering steam in the House of Representatives with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's eldest son, Pampanga Representative Juan Miguel "Mikey'' Arroyo personally leading a signature drive to amend the Constitution through a constituent assembly (Con-Ass).
Iloilo Representative Raul Gonzalez Jr. said in an interview that the number of signatories to a resolution seeking to organize Congress into a constituent assembly to amend the Constitution, with both chambers voting jointly and not separately, ranged between 120 and 150 signatures. He said the President's party Kampi formed the core group behind the signature drive.

Softness, fineness, gentleness, tact, delicate nature or delicacy. These are just some of the possible translations of the Spanish-Filipino term delicadeza. Hence, one can say that the Arroyo family has no delicadeza. Look at all the scandals and now this Chacha charge of the bulls in Congress.

Why is this son of a prexy prolonging his pernicious posturings on the Charter Change given that there are less politically sensitive yet more urgent and important issues to attend to in the House of Representatives? We cannot suppose that he is simply doing a social experiment, an action research, or merely testing his skills at political maneuverings. He certainly is no social scientist. Only one motive comes to mind. The possibility of term extension.

In the tradition of political science in the Philippines, someone once argued that a good metaphor for Philippine local politics would be the classic folk dance “pandanggo sa ilaw.”* In this perspective, our politicians are dancers, the public are mere spectators clapping or booing as the case may be. The metaphor suggests the fineness of politicians in maneuvering their interests through the halls of power. In the case of the Arroyos, there is nothing gentle and fine in their movements. Walang delicadeza. Walang hiya. They are dancing naked to the scandalous music that is elitist political interests. They are like the emperor parading naked through the streets believing that he is wearing the finest of garments in all the land.

Well, Madam Prexy, please have some delicadeza and act as a mother should! Heed the youth as they tell you, you are naked! Put some clothes on. Mahiya ka naman. Discipline your wild child. Tell him to shut up so we can believe you when you say that there will be no term extensions.

But then again, how can we ever believe you again?

By the way, in Spanish, Arroyo can mean Gutter or Ravine. Kaya naman pala.

-------
*Agpalao, Remigio E. Pandanggo Sa Ilaw: The Politics of Occidental Mindoro, Quezon City: University Of The Philippines, 1965.

Political Forensics

fo•ren•sics (fə-rěn'sĭks, -zĭks). The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition, 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company, defines forensics as: (1) The art or study of formal debate; argumentation; and (2) The use of science and technology to investigate and establish facts in criminal or civil courts of law.

Fresh off the press: “New York-based media advocacy group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Monday assailed the Arroyo administration for the ‘unsolved’ murders of 24 Filipino journalists, one of the highest number of media killings in the world.”

The Philippine government’s incompetence is once again highlighted. The hopelessness of many is waxing.

Aghambayan wonders how our public agencies are doing forensic work on all these killings.

Numerous killings remain unsolved while government seems overly anxious to let murderers and rapists get lighter sentences or commutations of their prison terms. It’s almost tempting to say that, in this country, the science of forensics is purposely left underdeveloped so that the killers (many of them probably in government) maintain their impunity. And if found guilty anyway, you can get out earlier by just donating here and there… No wonder many Filipinos are drowning in their hopelessness.

Consider these — Ninoy Aquino. Lean Alejandro. Dacer. Corbito. What do these names have in common? Mystery. For who really killed them? Even in the case of Ninoy, the question remains for the mastermind has yet to be identified.

And yes, we also want to raise the ghosts of the Dacer-Corbito case. But where is the solid forensic evidence behind these two killings? To compound matters, how can we fully trust government on this when those involved might have been government agents themselves… or are now “enemies” of the government for they purportedly support certain political interests anti-thetical to the current regime? Why is the Dacer-Corbito twin murders being revived this time around? Eleksiyon na naman? We hope government can put as much effort on other killings and disapperances especially the political ones.

Aghambayan thinks that this country needs more science in its governance and politics. More science in its effort to create a better nation.

Let’s start with forensics and a more critical citizenry.