PEPE seeking PILAR

10/1/2022

This is not a dating ad as in male seeking female, man seeking woman, or boy seeking girl.

This is a partnership in the making, an active and innovative community and civic engagement.

This is a truth-seeking enterprise.

Google the phrase truth seeking and you’ll find the concept we are looking for in understanding and comprehending the current situation or the context we are in.

Take this one: Truthseeking is the habit of always desiring the best possible understanding of any given situation; it is following reasons and evidence wherever they may lead, even if they lead one to question cherished beliefs. (Note: it is a one-word noun, not two words or hyphenated). (Source: Truthseeking - Insight Assessment)

How about this one from Wikipedia: Truth-seeking processes allow societies to examine and come to grips with past crimes and atrocities and prevent their future repetition. Truth-seeking often occurs in societies emerging from a period of prolonged conflict or authoritarian rule.[1] The most famous example to date is the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, although many other examples also exist. Most commonly these are carried out by official truth and reconciliation commissions as a form of restorative justice, but there are other mechanisms as well.

Similarly, Truth seeking measures aim to encourage societies to develop and agree upon a shared history or collective memory of a period of widespread conflict or violence. They may also provide an opportunity for victims to tell their stories and to be heard in an official forum. These processes may help societies understand the scale and impact of what has occurred.

The best is this one: Truth-seeking is the process of finding and evaluating information that deepens our understanding of the world around us. It includes identifying information and distinguishing what is fact from what is fiction or opinion and critically assessing the quality of our data, and also using and applying that information in a way that prioritizes fairness, honesty and inclusivity.

Seeking truth means being willing to do the hard work—hard work in time, energy, or emotion—to critically assess our preconceptions and select the most reliable sources of data to inform our beliefs. (Source: Truth-seeking - Principled Innovation™ (asu.edu)

My “Pilar seeking Pepe” is about Popular Initiative in Learning and Accessing Resources, which I named PILAR. PEPE was inspired by the People Power Revolution of 1986. His name PEPE - Popular Education for People’s Empowerment - was a result of two national conferences of community and progressive educators who survived and grew even under a Marcos Martial Law and repressive regime but nevertheless foresaw the challenges under a restored elite democracy but with the remnants and turncoats of the deposed regime.

Looking back, PEPE grew leaps and bounds among civil society (i.e NGOs and POs) but it was not sustained and expanded to most of the Filipino people. The fact that our people are easy prey to fake news and historical fallacies and revisionism, and are seduced by the so-called “golden age” under Marcos SR, which factored in the return of Marcos JR to Malacañang.

PEPE without PILAR will not thrive and prosper. In order for PEPE to realize its fullest potential and development, PILAR should be first and foremost, and always be there.

What is in our fate (as a nation) that women have succeeded and continue to challenge despotic and corrupt men?

I dedicate my homepage to PILAR. It is a repository of my published and unpublished works. It also serves as my portfolio, and a gateway to my consultancy and services on demand.

My homepage is my home and homebase in cyberspace, internet communities and social media.

Popular in PILAR and PEPE does not only mean people, but in “appealing to the general public,” “suited to or within the means of ordinary people” and “appealing to or comprehensible to the layman.”

Let us welcome PILAR in our life.

ML@40 at ML@50, isang pananaw sa pagtanaw

Ngayon taon ating ginugunita ang ika-50 anibersaryo ng pagpataw ng Martial Law o Batas Militar sa Pilipinas. Nitong taon rin nahalal sa pagka-presidente ang bunsong anak ni Ferdinand Marcos at Imelda. Sa madaling salita, ang "Kahariang Malacanang" ay nasa pamilyang Marcos na naman. Naibalik sila sa poder sa pamagitan ng eleksyon; ika nga, masasabing sa pagtangkilik ng mga Pilipino sa pamagitan ng boto sa isang pambansang halalan. Bakit nagkagayon? Hindi ba nuong 1986 napatalsik ang mga Marcos at rehimeng batas militar at diktadura sa pamagitan ng lakas-sambayanan o people power?

Sa darating na mga taon, siguro ako, magiging matindi ang usap-usapan at diskurso sa kasaysayan ng Pilipinas nitong nakaraang anim na dekada, at maaari ring sasagad ang diskurso sa mga naganap at pangyayari nuong panganganak ng bansang Pilipinas, ang Himagsikan 1896, tungo sa pagsamsam ng liderato Katipunan ni Emilio Aguinaldo at pagpaslang kay Andres Bonifacio. Ang sumunod na kabanata, ang paglawak ng papel ng mga elit (clan) sa rebolusyon at republika, at ang papel ng bansang Amerika sa kanilang pananakop sa bansa. Ang sabwatang ito (elit at mananakop) isang bagay na sa aking palagay ang tunguhin ng panawagang "Never Again, Never Forget."

Yayamang ang tuon natin sa kasalukuyan ang Martial Law @ 50, nais kong i-share ang aking sinulat nuong 2012 sa paggunita mg Martial Law @ 40. Ito ang aking pananaw sa ating pagtanaw at paggunita ng mahalagang dahon sa ating kasaysayan.

9/24/2012

Bakit nga ba…‘Never Again’ ang panawagan sa Martial Law?

Sayang wala ako sa Pilipinas sa paggunita ng ika-40 taong pagpataw ng Martial Law sa Pilipinas. Marami sana akong maririnig, makikita, at mararamdamang salaysay, pagmuni-muni at kuru-kuro sa ngalan ng pagbabalik-tanaw sa isang matinding kabanata ng kasaysayan ng Inang-Bayan.

Mabuti na lamang mayroon ng Facebook at kahit papaano nababalitaan at nababasa ko ang mga nagaganap na paggunita.

“Martial Law @40 NEVER AGAIN!” ang isa sa ilang nakita kong banner sa may U.P. at posting sa FB. Maaaring nasusundan ko ang ibig ipakahulugan ng salitang “NEVER AGAIN” tulad ng “Huwag pabayaang maulit ang rehimeng batas militar,” o maaari ring “Huwag pabayaang makabalik sa poder ang mga Marcos o tulad ni Marcos.” Maraming pupwedeng ikawing sa “Never Again.”

Nagtataka lamang ako kung bakit sa wikang Ingles ang piniling islogan. Dahil ba ang Martial Law ay sa Ingles din. Mas malakas ba ang dating kung Ingles ang islogan?

Naalala ko nuong bago pa mag-Martial Law ang matingkad at malaganap na panawagan “Digmaang-Bayan Ang Sagot sa Martial Law.” At napausong chanting o sagutang-pagsigaw sa mga rali at demonstrasyon nuon ay “Ano’ng Sagot sa Martial Law!” … “Digmaaan…Digmaan…Digmaang-Bayan.”

At nuong ng kalagitnaan ng 1977 sa OP-OD (Operation Pinta at Operation Dikit) ng mga aktibista, naglabasan ang mga mapupulang islogan sa pader tulad ng “Dismantle Martial Law” at “Lansagin ang Martial Law.”

Pero nuong 1977, na-inspire ang ilang aktibista, laluna yun mga nasa propaganda yunit, na gamitin ang marketing scheme ng mga ads agency tulad sa paggamit ng Campus Crusade for Christ na “Target 80.” Matingkad na nakapaskel lamang ang mga ito sa maraming pader, mga billboards sa kanto, eskwela, palengke at sa maraming sulok. Walang ibang sinasaad kundi “Target 80.” Pinupukaw ang curiosity ng nakabasa o nakuha ang atensiyon at magtatanong ng “Ano iyon?”

Gayun din ang madalas na patalastas o komersiyal na nagsasabi lang “I need one third of your life.” Paulit-ulit lamang ang itong maririnig sa radio at tv, mababasa sa dyaryo, at makikita sa mga pader, at wala ng ibang sinasabi o pinahayag. Mga ilan buwan din ito ginawa, nagpupukaw ng curiosity.

Ang nilikha ng mga OD-OP ay tatlong letrang B M I. Nagkalap sa mga pader sa Metromanila ang BMI ng ilang buwan, pagkatapos naglabasan ang “Batas Militar Ibagsak!”

Marahil ang “Martial Law @ 40 Never Again!” ay sadyang inilapat sa mga aktibistang kumilos nuong pagpataw na Martial Law. Sa pagbabalik-tanaw at sa pagsasalaysay ng mapapait na karanasan at sa malulupit na kalagayan, sa paggunita sa mga buhay na inialay ng mga kasama at sa mga biktima ng karahasan, at sa pagyurak ng karapatang pantao at karapatang-sibil, ang pagtatapos ay hindi na pababayaan maulit pang muli o bumalik uli ang sinapit kaya’t “Never Again.”

Hindi ko lamang alam kung papaano ang dating o pagtanggap ng kabataan sa kasalukuyan, maging ang henerasyon na hindi nakaranas mamuhay sa ilalim ng Martial Law? Nauunawan kaya ang ibig iparating ng Never Again sa Martial Law?

Ang layunin ba ng “Never Again” ay paghahanda ng sarili at ng bayan na labanan ang pagpataw muli ng Martial Law? Isang komitment, ika nga.

Why PILAR?

9/25/2022

Introducing ‘Pilar en Pepe.'

A week ago, on September 17, 2022, Senior Citi Kwentuhan weekly webinar hosted by my friend Ed Dela Torr and Girlie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzWEk0b9Ukc&t=3319s introduced “Tsoktok ni MC” to the cyberspace. “This is a global debut,” as Ed proclaims to their webinar followers in the Philippines as well those Filipinos who are living abroad.

Hosts Ed and Girlie and I have agreed that an hour webinar is not enough. There are many things to talk about Philippine education and history. The challenges are enormous. That there are many Filipinos, including the teachers, who are in dire need and looking for approaches to understand the situation.

In me Tsok Tok module on Education, Tradition and Culture, I mentioned that the home, the school, the church, and the neighborhood/ surrounding environment are the principal sources of a child’s education, tradition, and culture (ETC). In my metaphor (drawing) of bulaklak or the flower of growing up or in raising a child, the fifth petal is the media.

Unlike the first four where three elements provide directly and indirectly the ETC of a child, which are the person, the spaces and structures, and the dynamics and rituals, the media, at this point in time in our history with the advancement in the information and communication technology, is undeniably the most dominant and overtaking the four carriers and generators of education, tradition, and culture.

It was in 1980, six years after the imposition of Martial Law regime, when Education Forum came up with national conference on teaching teachers, mostly from Catholic schools, on how to teach history and socio-economics. A wholistic approach in teaching was introduced and promoted. Later this approach was developed into a pedagogical tool, a variation of group process and inductive method, among community educators. It was named ADIDAS for Activity-Discussion-Input-Discussion-Analysis-Synthesis.

In 1986 after the ousting of the Marcos regime, two national conferences of people’s movement and community educators were held and came up with the term popular education with the framework of Context-Content-Method (CCM). A project was also established under the banner of, aptly named, PEPE for Popular Education for People’s Empowerment.

Why PEPE? Although the EDSA uprising that ousted Marcos and his authoritarian and a repressive martial law regime brought about the restoration of elite democracy and freedom, the people’s initiative also blossomed into non-government and people’s organizations, which later on, flourished as civil society to differentiate to the State (government) and Market (business). There was then a momentum of translating the political gain of people’s power in EDSA into people’s empowerment, not only for the elite and traditional pollical and economic clan, through popular education. Hence, PEPE, Popular Education for People’s Empowerment.

One of the programs of PEPE as an NGO is named PILAR for Popular Initiative in Learning and Accessing Resources. Among the many accomplishments of PEPE and its mother agency the Institute for Popular Democracy (IPD) in the 1990s, including the formation of the Education for Life Foundation, the project PILAR was the most challenging that did not thrive. And me, reading the situation from a far (US), there are many reasons why PILAR failed to grow.

From my point of view, language is a battle ground in people’s empowerment and nation building.

How do you promote PILAR – Popular Initiative in Learning and Accessing Resources – if English is still the most dominant language of communication.

As historian Vicente Rafael on his book Mother Tongues (2016) puts it with quotes from Renato Constantino’s Miseducation of Filipinos:

As the “master stroke” of colonial education, the use of English as the sole medium of instruction has had the effect of “separat(ing) the Filipinos from their past” while dividing the educated Filipinos from their countrymen.” Thanks to English, native students were turned into “carbon copies” of (their) conqueror.” Rather than unify native societies by providing a common language, English intensified social divisions while promoting historical amnesia. An alien language, it could produce only alienating effects.”

How do Filipinos learn their Sikolohiyang Pilipino, Pantayong Pananaw, and Pagkataong Pilipino in English? How do you pursue the understanding of Sarili, Kapwa, at Bayan, and Sarili (Pilipinas), Kapwa (Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian), and iba (Western, Chinese)?

The Constantino’s essay miseducation of the Filipinos was written in 1959, got only published in 1966, and became a required reading and popular among the 1970s activists.

Sad to say, the mainstream media is still predominantly in English, English is still the medium instruction, discouraging the use of the national language, regional languages, and vernaculars, and in College and Universities the teaching of history and liberal education. I have just read that for 16 years now the LGUs were not allowed to build community libraries in the Philippines.

Now there is more. The Internet. Is it a tool a tool to promote democracy as in access to information and sharing of information or a weapon of authoritarianism as in the use of trolls, fake news, historical fallacies, and the so-called “big brother watching over you” by those in power.

In 2022, the Marcos returned to power. The campaign “Never Again, Never Forget,” on the one hand, it may be seen as effective with proliferation of martial law information and educational materials, from films, books, essays, documents, testimonies, and memoirs, that are made accessible through the internet. The aim fore mostly is to debunk that Martial Law is “a golden age.” Perhaps, it was for the Marcoses and cronies but not to the majority of the Filipino people.

On the other hand, “Never Again, Never Forget” is limiting if the focus is only the Marcos and Martial Law regime. How about the Philippine revolution of 1896 and the Philippine-American War and annexation of the Philippines, where the elite (economic and educated) took advantage of the critical period in our nation’s history to keep themselves above the rest in terms of economic and political power, privileges, and benefits.

“Never Again, Never Forget” is not forward looking. The campaign “Tama Na, Sobra Na, Palitan Na” in the mid-1980s is more powerful and effective during that time. The people from all walks of life can relate to it. It is in their own language and vernaculars.

Why PILAR? Popular Initiative in Learning and Accessing Resources requires the investigation on how Filipinos learns (ETC), and how they access resources, and which resources are accessible to them and which are not.

The trend in the Philippines, the females are leading the way to challenge and change the status quo, and the bulok na sistema.

I invite you to support PILAR.