Philippine Democracy Online

  By Dr. Romulo Bautista  Here are some Filipino traits that are bad for the professional manner in which we conduct our work. Due to personal and social pressures, even professionals act in an immature way. The reason may be cultural. Below are some typical traits. In the succeeding section, I will also explain the importance, value and purpose of a code of ethics for professionals.  1. Padrino system is practiced in a business organization or in running the affairs of government to the detriment of the greater good of many or the community. For example, an applicant for a vacant job in a particular company, his closeness to the hiring officer almost assures him of getting that vacant job. Preference is given to relatives and friends in hiring even if they are not qualified for the position. Or a family member may be exempted from following hours of work and standard procedures in a company or given special privileges or favors.  2. Palusot - Some Filipinos have difficulty complying s

By Leo Lusanez To be fair, even those in the deliberative democracy sphere have had a hard time truly placing President Rodrigo Duterte on certain political lenses. Despite the man's statements, he can't reasonably be considered leftist as he has consistently acted against the left's interests.  But on the other hand, you can't entirely place him on the right since his policies tend to be governed by pragmatism rather than ideology, and it just so happens that the context during his term favored a capitalist (some would say neoliberal approach). This is why many of you have had to give him all sorts of labels to identify him as - radical democrat, penal populist, and so many others. His actions have made him difficult to appraise, yet intuitively, we understand that they're not the behavior of some old, demented politician. There is sense, but it's blurred by a kind of haze only Duterte is capable of producing. In an academic situation like this, attempting to d

By Menelito Mansueto The issue of Mindanao's secession has recently been on the airwaves since local politicians began talking about its possibility. The idea is not new, it has long germinated in the minds of some Muslim separatist rebels. Should the idea be taken with a grain of salt, like it was some joke coming from egotistical leaders? What are its implications?  How likely will it occur?  People in the center such as Metro Manila might consider the idea as ridiculous.  We know for a fact how Manileños had long been undermining the capabilities of the provinces as if the provinces are entirely dependent on the affairs of the center. To recall, the EDSA revolution of 1986 happened in Manila but it has affected the political situation in Mindanao. One might be reminded of Col. Alexander Noble who led a military coup in October of 1990 and declared independence of the so-called “Federal Republic of Mindanao.”  How will it affect Manileños if the separation happens? Mindanao contr

For the most part, there's a kind of thinking that says First World solutions won't work in developing countries. The issue is partly about resources but in reality, it's about attitude and the lack of foresight. Development theorists often point to the Western lifestyle as worthy to blame for climate change. You must know, however, that some foreign scholars are now beginning to look into traditional wisdom in terms of understanding the concept of sustainability. One of such work is the paper written by Dr. John Weckert of Charles Sturt University in Australia and Dr. Rogelio Bayod of Cor Jesu College in Digos City. They argue in their published work in the prestigious Nanoethics Journal that indigenous wisdom can enrich the present understanding of Technology and its advances, including the relevant approaches that can help people address lingering issues such as climate change. Ten years after Yolanda, most countries have not accomplished that much in terms of fulfilling

By Christopher Ryan Maboloc, PhD  Modern schools are like factories. Schools produce doctors, engineers, nurses, etc. The curriculum is the operating manual. The central figure is no longer that young individual who is in search of knowledge. The emphasis has been policy, rules and regulations, outcomes or measurable outputs, reducing everything into some product or tool. Students no longer wonder. They are far more concerned about their grades, or in the case of schools, rankings. . Where did all of this start? In 1979, the former secretary of education in the country talked about developing students to become productive citizens. This means that what we are fashioning out of the classroom are the future labor force of industries. But what this means for elite schools is actually more appalling. We are creating future oppressors who, as drivers of the globalized economy, will be taking advantage of the powerless. The infatuation with outcomes simply means that we have reduced the univ

By Menelito Mansueto (Mindanao State University - Iligan Institute of Technology) Department of Philosophy Looking at my own journey both as a philosophy enthusiast and as a struggling educator back then beginning as a young graduate of philosophy in early 2000, I have some significant points of reflection to offer for the present generation of graduates or students in Philosophy – the so-called millennials. In my case, the primary reason why I took Philosophy as a baccalaureate course was because I was under seminary formation in which case a four-year degree in Philosophy is mandatory. During my first semester as a freshman, honestly, I had no idea at all what Philosophy was, and why I was taking it at all. As a student in a university run by our own congregation, we had the privilege to simply attend classes without having to worry about enrollment concerns. Thanks to the SVD missionaries who formerly have a college seminary formation in Cebu back in the day which granted us the pri