Philippine Democracy Online

By Dr. Romulo Bautista The induction by birth into a family means exposure to the ideas and ideals, traditions, cultural values and practices, and standards of that family. The family is the initial school of moral education and it is recognized as such by Article II, Section 12 of our Constitution which declares that the State shall protect and strengthen the family as a basic autonomous social institution and the natural and primary duty of parents in the rearing of the youth for the development of moral character. The moral education in the family is mostly grounded in the informal structures of cultural values and practices, such as but not limited to, nepotism, padrino system, palusot, manana habit, ningas cogon, hard-work and loyalty, resourcefulness and adaptability, pakikiramay, utang na loob, and palabra de honor Many of these values and practices remain rooted in the students, which they carry later in their professional, political, entrepreneurial, or business practices.

By Dr. Romulo Bautista This paper is about war in general and in particular war in Muslim Mindanao, from the standpoint of the Philippine Constitution. Human history until the end of World War II is replete with armed conflicts which did not effectively threaten the existence of planet Earth or the continuity of the human race because there were survivors on both sides of the warring people. But contemporary war with weapons of mass destruction is qualitatively a new phenomenon. We could no longer use the conventional terms homicide or genocide to describe a nuclear war which is .capable of wiping out not only the existing human values, but the very possibility of creating any further human values. We must, therefore, invent the term biocide to describe the killing off, at one stroke, of all forms of life – plant, animal, and human. Such is the technical possibility which has now emerged in the development of nuclear weaponry. We must confront this threat of war in democracy.

By Dr. Romulo Bautista The Philippine Constitution is a Social Contract which embodies the fundamental principles and policies, according to which the Filipino people are governed by the State. The fundamental principles are abstract and as such they cover every aspect of the life of the Filipino people; while the fundamental policies cover specific areas of application of those principles. The fundamental principles remain fixed and permanent, but the policies built upon those principles can be modified or repealed by legislation to suit the needs of the times.

By Dr. Romulo Bautista No theory of social ethics can operate in a vacuum in the real world. Every abstract theory has to be always verified and/or practiced in concrete situations in the real world. Likewise, we could not pursue a philosophical vision, mission, and goal in a vacuum beyond the classroom, but always in given situations in the real world. What some teachers do inside the pedagogically do not matter if untested in the real world. The problem, in fact, is thr egocentric attitude of some who use their students to experiment on teaching methodologies that have nothing to do with true learning.