Philippine Democracy Online

By Atty. Jamil Matalam Ateneo de Davao University The ideal of a civil society—a society of rational exchanges of thoughts about social welfare and a government under the rule of law— is thought by many to have much of its origins in the Western civilization. It presupposes two intrinsically related things: “free citizens”, those that are not in bondage of slavery; and a democratic regime. They have to be citizens because the idea of a right is involved, i.e., as a member of the society they have loyalty and have concern about the life of the community and society. They have to be free because they do not represent the interests of their “masters” but the welfare of all, a sense of neutrality and retreat.

Dr. Romulo Bautista DEVSTRAT Consultant                                  The questions I raise are how to liberate the individuals from the pressures of an organizational university and how to provide some measure of participatory democracy within such organization. These questions are basic for humanistic ethics that claim to be responsive to human needs. This essay seeks the ground of the ‘rejection of the value of academic freedom’ in those universities. It proceeds from the premise that the university is an organization, and as such, it has “organization personality”, in other word, an “organiza-lity” (a synergy of “organization” and “personality”).

Dr. Romulo Bautista DEVSTRAT Consultant                                      Humankind’s essential nature entails its relation to God, the infinite. Its existential condition is a consequence of its alienation from God. This is why it is not of any help to lose oneself in a crowd or collectivity of whatever nature. Being in a crowd unmakes one’s nature as an individual by diluting the self; it renders the individual irresponsible.

Mr. Joefer Maninang University of Mindanao                                             Rorty’s pragmatic stance on human rights, on the other hand, conceives the human being as “a centreless web of historically conditioned beliefs and desires” and from this conception we follow Rorty’s assumption of the existence of the human rights culture. Historically conditioned by the Holocaust, the human rights culture expresses the common ‘beliefs and desires’ of some of us which is basically the respect for human rights. But beside this culture are other cultures that have their own beliefs and desires that do not respect human rights. People who belong in these cultures are the human rights violators. For Rorty, violators have to be integrated in the human rights culture and the efficient way to do it is through sentimentalism.

Mr. Joefer Maninang University of Mindanao                                 In his celebrated essay Human Rights, Rationality, and Sentimentality American philosopher Richard Mckay Rorty (1931-2007) uses a pragmatic approach to the subject of human rights. He claims that what really make people respect or deny human rights are their life circumstances . In attempting to elucidate this claim, I wish to accomplish three (3) things in this article: firstly, I will present a hopefully fair Rortian conception of human rights to introduce the culture of impunity as our indifferent, apathetic, and passive sort of response to the culture of the death squad. Secondly, I will try to demonstrate sentimentalism through the definite meaning of sympathy vis-à-vis security or the life circumstances which make us respect or deny human rights. Thirdly and finally, I will conclude by stressing sentimentalism as the practi...

By Romulo Bautista, Ph.D Devstrat Consultant                                    Given the premise that the child of pre-school age has the basic right to “quality education” as tool toward his eventual “total human liberation and development” which is his insurance to self-preservation, the fundamental questions are raised “Where does education begin and where does it end?”

Mr. Joefer Maninang University of Mindanao                                The advent of mass media, the rapid development of the means of communication coupled with the advances of information technology, led to the growing awareness of its message, the reality of human struggle and suffering. It began a cultural transformation of the society as people identity themselves towards this alienating reality. It has converted many a people’s stance from being passive into being responsive citizens of the world towards this reality. It unifies men beyond borders.