Lenten Gory Rituals, A Cultural Tradition or a Sign of Arrogance and Ignorance?

By Gilbert M. Forbes

Through the years, the highly secular and the non-practicing Catholic Christians or Catholic Christians as an appropriate tag for them (other Christian fundamentalists and denominations don’t consider Catholics Christians) draw themselves on a holiday sprees instead of Holy Day reflections, retreats and family spiritual bonding, others poised themselves on Lenten gory rituals as yahoonews has described.

Photo by Romeo Ranoco of Reuters from yahoo news.

The church has consistently reminded the faithful that these kinds of acts are not necessary.  Monsignor Pedro Quitorio, spokesman for the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said the Church has discouraged the practices, describing them as "inappropriate".  Inappropriate for in the church perspective, it is not in accordance with the Holy Scriptures.

"What happens here is that we want God to grant us what we wish for," Quitorio told Reuters, saying it is enough for true Catholics to pray, fast and give alms during the Lenten season.

Melvin Pangilinan, an organiser of the annual Lenten ritual who carriede cross in his younger days, told Reuters. "But, it has been our tradition for decades and we have to honour it."  Carlito Santos, a pastor at a local Methodist Church, said the practice cannot be easily relinquished as it has already been embedded in the local culture.

But should we continuously follow a cultural tradition when the higher spiritual authorities has consistently been reminding us that it is no longer necessary?  When even the Hoy Scriptures say it other wise?  Or our difficulty of following emanates from our being hard headed  or arrogant and total ignorance of the Holy Scriptures—a result of our folk Christianity.

These practices actually is damaging to faithful and practicing Catholics for they are often accused of being pagans by their fundamental Christian counterparts.  Much on the part of the Church who has been consistently losing their members in favor of their separated brethrens.  This only strengthens division instead of healing.  At the outset, these separated brethren whom since separation has not listened to Catholic teachings many thought that the church encourages and support these practices.

The sad thing about it is that it is also creating a bad impression among the youth that it is alright to disobey our religious leaders as long as it is done in our own free will without the understanding that doing ones free will has its limitations.

You may also like reading:

Lessons of the Dead 

Christmas: Why It Could Doesn't Make Sense Anymore 

Holiday Sickness: When Fun Turns Into a Disease 

From Stardom and Glamor to Her Downfall: Singer Whitney Houston Dies at 48

By Gilbert M. Forbes

Just seem to be after some time that the king of pop, Michael Jackson passed away, here is another sad news about the passing of the record superstar Whitney Houston.

Photo from ABCnews.com

One may now predict and estimate how old I am for songs of Whitney Houston were part of my childhood life.  For music lovers, regardless of generation, who will not forget some of her popular songs in the late eighties like "The Greatest Love of All," "All at Once," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "Where Do Broken Hearts Go," "One Moment In Time," " You're Still My Man," and the seemingly classic dance music of "I Wanna Dance With Somebody."

In the early nineties, who will not forget the movie "The Body Guard" she starred herself in  and with its sound track, she herself sings.

No other than our international youtube sensation, Charice Pempimco is amazed by her wonderful voice together with other big time international record superstar as Cristina Aguilera and Maria Carey as evidenced by the way they sing when they were just starting.

Charice in fact was brought to fame with her rendition of the popular songs of Whitney which include sound tracks from the movie "The Body Guard" to wit "I Will Always Love You,"  "Run To You," and "I Have Nothing."

The sad thing for Whitney is that although, millions were inspired and transformed by her classic songs, on her part, its the opposite.  Her popularity and glamor just brought her later to nowhere and emptiness until her tragic death.  She is too young to die at 48 which is supposedly should still be at her prime.

At her peak, Houston the golden girl of the music industry. From the middle 1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world's best-selling artists. She wowed audiences with effortless, powerful, and peerless vocals that were rooted in the black church but made palatable to the masses with a pop sheen.

She had the he perfect voice, and the perfect image: a gorgeous singer who had sex appeal but was never overtly sexual, who maintained perfect poise.

But by the end of her career, Houston became a stunning cautionary tale of the toll of drug use. Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming; her once serene image was shattered by a wild demeanor and bizarre public appearances. She confessed to abusing cocaine, marijuana and pills, and her once pristine voice became raspy and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she had during her prime.

It was a tragic fall for a superstar who was one of the top-selling artists in pop music history, with more than 55 million records sold in the United States alone.

Certainly, to all of us who desire success, and for some who wants to be famous, there are lots to learn from her tragedy.  Something that could be a good point for discussion in Character Education with her biography as a starting point.

Based on the Breaking News;  Singer Whitney Houston Has Died at 48 and Whitney Houston, superstar of records, films, dies  

RH Bill: Rejecting Dangerous Proposal, Restoring Values

Jose C. Sison 
The Philippine Star, February 3, 2012 

For the supporters of RH Bill, it will do more positive and actually do more help than what the antis are saying.  However, if one will just analyze some of its provisions hiding on the many good provisions, one will realize how destructive it would be particularly to the moral fiber of our society which has essentially deteriorated through the years.

To mention a few is the proposed mandatory sex education among our children, the availability of free artificial birth control drugs which will only support the promiscuous behavior and free martial sex.  One couldn't imagine its blow to the already deteriorating moral caliber of our people as a result of materialism.

Here is the take of Jose C. Sison on his article entitled Rejecting dangerous proposal, restoring values.

This has something to do with some harmful and dangerous provisions of the RH Bill now being considered in both houses These provisions specifically refer to the proposed mandatory classroom based sex education in private and public schools where classroom teachers who may not be competent at all are tasked to teach their pupils as young as ten years old, lessons in sexuality, sexual rights, and reproductive health. While the bill also mentions lessons in values, more emphasis is given to contraceptive methods and services thus giving a clear impression that sexual behavior or activity even among minors is acceptable for as long as the risk of teenage pregnancy or early marriage are addressed.

The mandatory classroom based sex education provisions in the bill comes to mind once more because last Tuesday, I was privileged to listen to the lecture of Dr. Judith A. Reisman, Ph.D., one of the most sought after speakers and consultants of parliaments, legislatures and courts worldwide regarding a) fraudulent sex science, sex education and b) the power and effect of images and media monopoly to alter human brain, mind, memory and conduct.

Apparently, and as usual we have again copied and patterned the proposed sex education program in classrooms after the sex education programs for young Americans which Dr. Reisman was discussing. Dr. Reisman clearly and convincingly traced the origin of this human sexuality education to Alfred Kinsey, the man who instigated the sexual revolution in the US way back in 1948 with his dubious scientific research on human sexual behavior that has since been referred to as the “Kinsey Reports”.

These reports had such a tremendous impact on the morals of American society such that the era before 1948 has been known as the “pre-Kinsey Reports” while the era thereafter and up to now, is called the “post Kinsey Reports”. As Dr. Reisman explained, after these reports came out, the field of American education had acquired a new dimension in the form of sexual education based on the sexual research of Alfred Kinsey who claimed that sexual activity began much earlier in life (from birth), so there is nothing wrong in teaching young people that sex can be fun.

In her book, “Sexual Sabotage”, Dr. Reisman demolished the foundations of these two reports by showing that in his sexual research Kinsey merely “questioned an unrepresentative proportion of prison inmates and sexual offenders in a survey of ‘normal’ sexual behavior”. She also pointed out that at least some of these offenders who are “the sources of information on stimulation to orgasm in young children” are pedophiles. “Sexual Sabotage” also tells the story of how Kinsey and his cohorts in Indiana University “sabotage our nation during World War II and the decades that followed by entering our libraries and schools as sex educators — ridiculing marriage, fidelity and chastity. They preached widespread sexual experimentation, succeeded in nationwide fraud campaigns, and gutted the tough laws that kept pornography and predators at bay.”

Dr. Reisman likewise relates in her book “how and why the children of the Greatest Generation traded their parents’ traditional morality for Kinsey’s sexual immorality believing that sexual freedom was their own idea” and “how billions made by the “Sex Industrial Complex’ propelled pornography and the spread of Sexually Transmissible Diseases (STDs). And she backed this up with shocking statistics on the substantial increase in the number of teenage pregnancies, child sexual abuse, abortion and STDs in the United States. Then she mentioned that these “deviant fraud campaigns are vetted by the Rockefeller Foundation, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation (IPPF) which is the foremost advocate of abortion and later the Playboy Magazine.

Our legislators should therefore consider all these findings that have devastating effects on the social and moral fabric of a nation like the US which has sex education programs for young Americans that we are now substantially adopting in the proposed in the RH bill. And if only for this reason, they should scrap the bill right away. Instead they should think of how we can return to and restore the traditional sexual morality of Filipinos in the ’50s and earlier which have somehow been also eroded by this fraudulent Kinsey Reports.

Holiday Sickness: When Fun Turns Into a Disease

By Gilbert M. Forbes

We surely are fun and jolly people.  There is no doubt about it.  Even if our country and its people are poor, we made it to be one among the happiest people in the world alongside the rich and powerful countries.

This could be seen as both a boon and bane.  A boon because even when there are lots of challenges, problems usually besetting us, we could still manage to laugh and live.  A bane because, we tend to be escapists of some important realities of life.  We simply manage to let go of problems and not look for solutions.

A fiesta celebration in Eastern Samar.
http://wn.com/Philippine_Fiesta

Among other things, because of love of fun, we love long holidays too much and has become sick of it.  Our country could be considered to have the longest holiday celebration in the world as such, we have the longest Christmas.  

Whenever there is holiday, even when how long or short it is, we always tend to extend.  It’s holiday sickness which is affecting much productivity.  While it could have positive impact on the economy as some holiday economist believe, it would be limited until the people celebrating the holiday has the money to spend which is of course limited.  It too has an economic downside more than experts may think.

Aside from legal, non-working and special holidays, we still have town, provincial, and other forms of family holidays such as birth days, baptismal, barangay and town fiestas, etc!  If holiday sickness is affecting productivity, how much more education of our youth? 

Out of the 203 school days, it was already slashed by holiday extensions of their families.  For instance, how many have returned last January 3, 2012 when classes resumed?   This is not limited to new year but every holiday.  For instance just after the semestral break, many have not returned at once also when classes started. Whenever it rains, even when there is no report of typhoon, parents usually prevent their children from coming to school for so many reasons.  The same way after typhoon subsided and classes goes back to normal.

Holiday sickness has already infected both the old and new generation particularly the most vulnerable segment of the society.  With already limited source of living, holiday celebrations further compounded their inadequacies.

This is not only evident in celebrating holidays but also with our presence in social networking sites.  Currently, According to the article by Dennis Clemente entitled The Good or Bad of PH as World Social Networking Capital, our country is regarded as the Social Networking Capital of the World.  It purportedly leads Facebook usage (ranked first in usage, sixth in terms of number of users) and to some degree, Twitter (ranked sixth and sometimes eighth) and Youtube (ranked first in uploads) aside from Skype calling, and texting (more than any country in the world; average user sends 600 text messages a month).    

The article further explained that people may wonder how a tiny country can manage to lead the way in social networking.  "Filipinos don't perceive this medium as a waste of time but on the contrary, a vital part of the daily interaction of Filipinos.  More important perhaps is the fact that Filipinos have time."  An available time which could have been used to more important and productive things.

How will the government, the church, knowledgeable authorities and education respond to this issue which is further damaging our already damaged culture is a major challenge? 

Disorder and Chaos During the Holiday Season

Just like last Christmas, I have gone to the wet market here in our city to buy some food stuff for the new year only to be disgusted by the chaos and dirt.  Plastics and all sorts of garbage are just scattered everywhere while vendors who are responsible for all those mess do nothing.  What make the matter worst is that these vendors are occupying almost all the spaces they can creating traffic jams of both people and the public and private transport.  Undisciplined consumers however just throw there garbage.

This is better for a public market but not in the place mentioned here.

I don’t know but the authorities are unmindful of the matter. While everybody just keep the heck out of it.  The vendors and the consumers responsible and the authorities who are all accountable don't care.  Yet some of these individuals are even promoting tourism?

I just cant help but to ask myself, is it the worth of the Holiday Season?  Of Christmas and New Year in this part of the country and the world?  That it tend to downplay discipline and order just because it is so? What has happened now to the supposed spiritual maturity and enlightenment that Christmas should have been brought.  Or what about the challenge of constinuously striving for changes for the better that every new year gives?  An ordinary visitor like me was disgusted and highly irritated, what more for visitors or new comers.

This is only the tip of the iceberg in this city.  Not to include undisciplined commuters and drivers who are contributors to traffic jams.  And the garbage too in almost every corner.  Really irritating! 

For over a hundred years, our country has been celebrating New Year and Christmas as a colonized nation, later an independent state.  For centuries too, we are taught that Christmas brought with us God and New Year is the time to forget the bad old and retain the good even improve it for the new.

However, these have fallen on deaf ears and what matters now is self satisfaction.  Political leaders in the city however seem to be unmindful or totally ignorant of the matter.  What have we different from the things we consider evil?  For example, many are willing to spend money on dangerous fire crackers but are unwilling to support their churches and schools.

I feel aggravated because these are all what the youngsters are always seeing.  What is more irritating is these people want lots from the government and the state yet instead of being part of the solution, they are part of the problem.  The local government however is soft on the matter-- the downside of popular and patronage politics.

Still, I have high hopes and faith in the power of prayer.  And that somewhere, out there, there are also individuals who feel the same shame as I do who happens to have connections or contacts to responsible individuals- disregarding the evils of popular patronage politics for the common good.

I hope that this new year will make evil doers and unrighteousness become new as this season expects them to be. I wish too that leaders in the area may come to see it for themselves so that they could implement what is necessary.  God Speed!

(This blogger writes in the suburb of Lucena City.  He is irritated and stressed that order seems to be deteriorating partly because of lack of discipline and certain level of humanity viz animalistic behavior and apathy of the many.)

Tired of Corruption? We Can Do Something About It

By Gilbert M. Forbes

As I was reminded of the corrupt practices I just noted for the past few days, I stumbled on a forwarded email from TEDPloop containing the text of the column in Manila Bulletin written by Emmanuel Bagual, a former UP Diliman freshman taking up Community Development:

He starts by saying that "Filipinos have become very tired of hearing about corruption. How to eradicate corruption has become a very big question to all of us in the past decades, under different sets of leaders."

Well, I am also tired like him but I am just wondering why it is happening and why so many of our countrymen just allow it to happen.  Like for instance, I just can’t imagine why policemen in their patrol cars have to hide under the bush along the national high way and wait for unlucky truckers or ‘biyaheros’ who they could ask for ‘pangkape’ though they are already receiving salaries bigger than ordinary soldiers, teachers and government employees.

I can’t also imagine why some Municipal Agricultural officers can’t leave their airconditioned offices while their higher officers are working to the bones particularly their secretary and their regional directors.  Most of all, how are they able to submit relevant data to the national level and worst of all make the power of their offices their milking cows.  Sad to say, that is only at the municipal level.  If agriculture offices at the local level will only function as their counterparts do, food security could have not been a serious problem.

And what about of seeing our high way not yet finish for repair and the portion initially repaired has already cracked but motorists do nothing to report it to the authorities.  Where do these people proclaiming themselves as believer of God learn all these crazy evil things?

But what about other stories of the roots of corruption which come from simple adults whom the young ones converge with?  The immediate family members and acquaintances.

"Corruption does not always merely  refer to money and finances; it may also be moral and emotional, some starting on small scale and grows bigger and bigger because of our unhealthy habits and culture," Emmanuel Bagual explained in his column.

He furthered that he was able to interview four young students who told him about their specific experiences in their schools which were clear indicators that corruption indeed proliferated and was practiced by even those whom they looked up to as models- their teachers and some persons in authority in school.

Some examples given as evidences of corruption in school:

- "Minsan po napapansin, late na darating ang teacher tapos hindi pa po agad siya magtuturo, minsan pupunta sa kabilang room at makikipag-usap sa ibang teacher."

- "Pag po may field trip, dapat po educational ang field trip.  Kaso po, minsan sa Star City or minsan sa Enchanted Kingdom.  Parang sayang lang po ang pera."

-" May pagkakataon po na ang project na pinapagawa sa amin, nalalaman namin eh pareho ng project ng anak ng teacher.  Pipiliin nya ang pinakamaganda sa sinubmit namin at iyon na rin ang magiging project ng anak niya.  At yung ibang gamit sa school, anak ng teacher ang personal na nakikinabang at gumagamit."

The writer-interviewer goes on to ask the students-- "usually what do you do to survive?"

Answers:

- " Hindi na lang kami sumasama sa field trip. Nagtatanong na lang kami kung pwedeng special project na lang kasi nag-aaral lang ako through scholarship. "

-" Sa amin naman, may mga ilang estudyante naman po na gumagawa ng paraan para magkapera, minsan lolokohin ang magulang nila para makakupit pambayad, minsan nga po pag may mga group project, parang nangungurakot na nga rin sila, tapos yung iba nag-vovolunteer na sila ang magpa-photo cop , tapos mas mahal ng konti ang singil. "

"Anong epekto nito sa mga students or sa mga kabataang katulad natin?"

- "Kapag naging habit na po nilaang pagiging corrupt, dadalhin na po nila yun hanggang pagtanda.  Kaya tuloy parang nagkakaroon lang ng cycle."

- "Ganun din pag naging professionals na, halimbawa yung mga magiging teachers din, yun din tuloy yung makikita sa kanila dahil ito ang nakita nila, at pwede rin nilang maituro."

Conclusion:  The young students' exposure to corruption early in life --especially with the wrong actions and examples seen from their teachers, will adversely affect the students' character.

This is only in school.  The writer no longer mentioned of other important events happening at home and the communities.  The values and upbringing, a strong and positive one which could have counteract those experiences outside the home.

I myself was not exempted from expriencing deficiencies in our school system which Emmanuel just mentioned.   But the wrong values and moral foundation we had from our parents and from the majority of our good teachers and good companies helped us to learn to separate what we know is not right versus what is wrong.

But this is not true to many particularly now that many families are not functioning normally.  If there are and there could still be majority of them, there is that ‘monster box’ whose influence is beyond what we can imagine.  It is further strengthened by the internet.

Taking this situation further down the road as Emmanuel puts it, “we may be able to conclude that the next generation will most likely be corrupt leaders too considering that they will become the next leaders of our country.”

He further explained- " We don't need just to have a change of leaders but mostly for people to have a change of heart."

Conscious citizens and teachers play an important role in developing honesty and doing the right thing even if all people around are stealing, lying or cheating.  If started as a habit at an early age, this is a good character trait that we as teachers can instill in our students.  And that is a mighty good "brick" towards nation-building.

See also:  

Beginnings of Corruption: Basis for Preventive Measures in the Future

We Are a Family Remember?

The Philippines, Our Only Home

Education as a Way of Correcting the Errors of the Past

DepEd calls schools to strengthen environmental education

In  view  of  the  pressing  global  concerns and  issues  on  the  environment,  the Department  of  Education  (DepEd) urges all public and private schools to lead the role on environmental  awareness  by  enhancing  environmental education  and  by  pursuing effective school-based activities that seek to preserve and protect the environment through a DepEd Order No. 52. s, 2011.

This is  in pursuant to Republic Act  (R.A.) No.  9512, entitled "An Act to Promote Environmental Education and  for Other Purposes."

Towards  this end,  all  public  and  private schools  are called to undertake  the  following activities:

• Intensifying  lessons  regarding environment  on all  science  subjects. Environmental concerns shall also be used as  tools for classroom drills, discussions and activities and shall be  taught and  be integrated in the related learning areas; 
• Encouraging  the  school  administrators,  officials  and  teachers  to  use various instructional materials  such  as   books, visual  aids,  teaching guides and materials in making the students aware of  the concerns and issues on  the  environment which  shall  promote students' participation in environmental activities and advocacies and instill in their minds the need to preserve and protect the environment;
• Encouraging  the  teachers  to  attend  lecture-seminars, workshops, conferences  and  other forums relating  to  environmental education which may be considered in their application for promotion;
• Establishing the Youth for  Environment in  School Organizations  (YES- 0) pursuant  to DepEd Order  No.  72, s. 2003  by  all  public and  private elementary  (Grades IV-VI) and secondary schools; and
• Establishing,  registering,  monitoring  and  evaluating  the YES-0  and other  related  organizations, which  shall  be  under the  administration and supervision  of  the DepEd7s Center  for  Students and Co-Curricular Affairs (CSCA); hence, regular reports shall be submitted by the CSCA to the Undersecretary  for  Programs  and  Projects, Undersecretary for Regional  Operations  and Undersecretary  for  Legal  and  Legislative Affairs. 

Aside from the formal public-private schools, the Bureau  of  Elementary Education (BEE), Bureau  of  Secondary Education (BSE) and Bureau  of  Alternative Learning System  (BALS) shall integrate environmental education including issues and concerns in their review of  existing curricula.