Philippine Democracy Online

By Menelito Mansueto Dr. Jose Veloso Abueva – the past President of the University of the Philippines System and Chancellor of University of the Philippines-Diliman, had fought a lifetime struggle to campaign and advocate for a federal type of government in the Philippines. He is the elder brother of nationally awarded sculptor, Napoleon V. Abueva. These men, along with physicist Dr. Christopher C. Bernido, are among a few true-blue educators and public intellectuals who were born and raised in Bohol. Dr. Jose V. Abueva died last year at the old age of 93 after a lifelong advocacy for the federal form of government. He was one of the most seasoned intellectuals in UP Diliman, a seasoned political scientist in his case. But his advocacy for federalism was heard too little, even within his own circle in UP Diliman. Recalling back sometime around 2013-2014, nobody had believed in him even within his own core group, the best of his friends, that he could seek the changes that he had wanted...

By Dr. Christopher Ryan Maboloc  There are different levels of influence in the world of academia. This helps us understand how knowledge and tradition are established in systematic thought and analytic thinking. For instance, Fr. Michael Moga has not published his works in scholarly journals, but his books have been the standard readings for over 50 years in many Mindanao schools, especially the three Ateneos. The same can be said for Luzon and Visayas scholars. Universities are actually protective of the legacy of their own intellectual giants.  This has changed as more young academics went abroad to study, especially when the European Commission offered the Erasmus Mundus scholarship program. It would be tough to measure the value of an academic output if the concept of tradition is employed today. It will take time and the same honor can only be reserved for very few people, who we young academics consider as 'gods'. But for mortals like us, we can only rely on peer evalua...