|
Why the Youth Should Oust Gloria |
Claudio graduated magna cum laude and was Ateneo de Manila University’s class 2007 valedictorian. Parmanand, also of class 2007, graduated cum laude. Borromeo, class 2008, graduated summa cum laude. They are members of the Ateneo Debate Society. This article was published in the April 7, 2008 edition of the
BusinessWorld, pages S1/4 to S1/5.
In recent months, we have been involved in various anti-administration efforts. In March, our organization came out with a statement entitled, “Why We Should Call for Arroyo’s Resignation” (available at ateneodebatesociety.multiply.com). We are also doing work for the Green Ribbon Project (grnribbon.multiply.com), where we ask graduates to pin green ribbons on their togas as a sign of opposition to GMA.
As expected, we’ve received all sorts of feedback regarding our efforts, both positive and negative. As much as the negative feedback has dismayed us, we’ve also found it instructive. In university message boards and online forums, we’ve received vitriolic responses from people who felt it naïve to call for an Arroyo ouster. We take these responses to reflect the opinions of those among the youth who believe it is futile and unproductive to oppose the administration.  Be first to comment this article
|
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Response to the Jesuits' Guidelines |
I. On “Under non-negotiable principles.”
The analysis and prescription in section d. “Build and strengthen democratic institutions” is a snake swallowing its tail and tale.
“The country needs to establish and fortify democratic institutions, which provide consistent, organized and self-regulating procedures, applied to all citizens equally. Among these institutions are due process, civilian supremacy, rule of law, checks and balances.” (Analysis.)
“Strong democratic institutions can likewise help address the present conditions of real divisions among Filipinos. By providing agreed-upon rules and mechanisms which are accepted as credible and fair, institutions facilitate the peaceful resolution of conflicts among dissenting positions and approaches” (Prescription.)
Section f (“Champion active nonviolence and protect human rights….”) shackles the opposition more than it does the administration. It allows the “State” to defend itself through whatever legitimate means necessary. But if you believe the administration is illegitimate then no self-defensive action other than preventing wanton vandalism and violence is permissible.
Be first to comment this article |
|
Read more...
|
|
Sta. Ana coordinates for Action for Economic Reforms. This article was published in the Opinion Section, Yellow Pad Column of BusinessWorld, March 31,2008 edition, pages S1/4 - S1/5.
When the Jesuits speak, they command attention. An indication of their influence and reputation is that their elected head is described as the black pope. We can thus call the soldiers of Ignatius the black priests.
It doesn’t matter that what they utter is unconvincing or even contemptible. What matters is that they have something different to say.
My Jesuit-educated friends—especially the renegades of Ateneo, the hippies who dropped out and the student activists who were expelled by Father Joe Cruz)—find delight in reading or listening to the Society of Jesus (S.J.) statements. Actually, the real pleasure is in annotating the Jesuits’ statements.
The Jesuits have a penchant for being clever or disingenuous. The derisive term “jesuitic” or switik obviously stems from this Jesuit stereotype. It is amusing to annotate a Jesuit statement in search of the switik part.
On Easter Sunday, the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus Commission on the Social Apostolate released a document titled “Provincial Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis.”
Be first to comment this article |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis |
Re: Endorsement of GUIDELINES FOR COMMUNAL DISCERNMENT AND ACTION TO ADDRESS THE NATIONAL CRISIS to Jesuits and Jesuit Institutions of the Philippine Province.
With this letter, I wish to endorse to all Jesuits, Jesuit communities and Jesuit apostolic institutions of the Philippine Province, the attached Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis, produced by our Province Commission on the Social Apostolate.
The following Guidelines are not a “statement” or a “manifesto” of a “Province position or stand.” Rather, this document fills an important need in our emotionally charged and often confusing context: it provides a substantive analysis, based on Catholic moral and social doctrine, of our present national situation and the various options and courses of actions taken or advocated in response to that situation. It is hoped that the carefully reasoned assessments presented here will aid communal discernment and action.
Be first to comment this article |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
To a Fellow Economist and Former Colleague, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo |
A statement from economists of the Ateneo de Manila University.
We are outraged by the revelations made by Engr. Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. at the Philippine Senate Blue Ribbon hearings last 8 February 2008 about the overpriced Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment Company-National Broadband Network (ZTE-NBN) project. The project has no clear public rationale in the first place. We are dismayed by the revelations of Mr. Lozada that former Commission on Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., with the alleged involvement of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, ordered the inclusion in the proposed project a large amount of kickbacks, amounting to as much as 130 million US dollars (or more than 5.2 billion pesos), enough money to remove the yearly public school classroom backlog, or purchase 5.8 million sacks of NFA rice, or alternatively secure the basic needs of about 29,000 poor families for a year. Simply put, a lot is being sacrificed for the greed of the few.
We are angered by the continuing attempt to cover up the anomalous circumstances surrounding the project, including the supposed kidnapping of Mr. Lozada to keep him from testifying in the Senate. We demand that government remove the cloak of Executive Order 464 and the invocation of executive privilege to allow public officials that have knowledge on the transaction to publicly testify on the circumstances of the deal. We demand the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to release records of the meetings that allowed the contract to be processed. Because of the nature of the work of the NEDA in national economic planning to promote national development and public welfare (and not for private or individual interests), these minutes are public records. We want Secretary Romulo Neri, an Ateneo high school alumnus and supposed staunch advocate of reforms to eradicate transactional politics and oligarchic dominance in the country, to reveal all that he knows about the matter. Efficiency and equity demand no less.Be first to comment this article |
|
Read more...
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 1 2 3 4 5 Next > End >>
|
| Results 16 - 20 of 22 |
Articles