http://guita.tigblog.org/ What's on the minds of young leaders from around the globe? en-us http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545069 My experience is limited to Catholic institutions but I do not think it would be unwarranted to claim that all schools are formative. Echoing Foucault, schools, like prisons are disciplinary institutions which operate to constitute identity. Obvious parallels can be drawn on the constitution of the school and the prison in terms of observation, scheduling, calculability… Teachers are chosen and retained because they provide essential formative experiences to students with the goal of producing individuals according to a specific set of ideals, morals, identities. Everything from the subject matter to the students’ uniforms is designed towards that end. Everything is a mechanism for formation (for conditioning).

In the schools I have attended the goal of formation is to constitute the individual as a believer-a follower of Christ or a child of God – and as such to be a force of change in the world (so as to make real on Earth the Kingdom of God). I believe that I have striven towards realizing to some extent such an identity. As a president of the Ateneo Glee Club, I found myself executing mechanisms of disciplinarity: the use of schedules, uniforms, observations, examinations, and the like. All the while I knew why I was doing this. It was because the organization had an idea of the perfect organization member to which everyone was compared with. On my part as president, the school also drilled in me an idea of a good organization. As a result all the actions of my organization was directed at realizing that identity.

It is only now, after my term as president that I realize and regret that I was an unwitting took part in the system of formation. It is not as if the goals were not good, it was-the ideal Ateneo Glee Club member is a good identity to work toward. What I am uneasy about is the fact that I was so embedded in the system that I did not even bother to stop and ask myself if this is a good thing or not. That moment of hesitation matters because it signifies that I am empowered to choose, that I am free to choose.

We can argue that one always has a choice and this is a fact. However it is also a fact that being embedded in these social systems which create us, so are our choices also embedded. When faced with decisions, we make them instantly because we have been programmed to choose in that manner. Of course such programming is functional, making life more efficient. Without it we might spend a day trying to decide whether it is appropriate to have ice cream as an entrée or dessert. The danger is getting trapped in the comfort of the system which made us into what we are. Reality is many of us are trapped by our own comfort. We do not want to entertain the uneasiness that silently nudges us.

As president of the Ateneo Glee Club, I found myself doing the job of an operations manager-someone who ensured that the systems were functioning as it should be. This is off the mark from what I have been constituted by the Assumption and Ateneo. Supposedly, I am a force of change in the world, and I am a person in a position of leadership which can improve the lives of many. I actually took that identity to heart but found that in application I perpetuated the systems.

I am on my last semester of college and it is now that I find myself very skeptical of everything that I have unwittingly allowed to constitute me over the years of study. I highlight the phrase unwittingly allowed because although it was always chosen, its inevitability did not make it seem like a choice and thus something to refuse. After being constructed, I find myself deconstructing my reality and seeking the sense of each component as I reconstruct myself again.

In last Tuesday’s class, a point was made about empowerment being something always in the aftermath. I find myself in the aftermath uneasy but empowered. Its as if I have learned all the rules and now am transforming, breaking, bending, crafting them accordingly. It is a terrifying prospect because truthfully I could coast along comfortably. However, to not take advantage of this empowerment is to be stuck in an illusion that I already am what the system has designed me to be which I too have accepted. It is to say that there is nothing more beyond what is. In that case the system, the mechanism will never reach its nexus, it shall always fall short of its goals. It was also mentioned in class that systems are designed to self-destruct. It is the empowerment which allows that to happen. Throughout human history we find that it is innovators, empowered leaders that produce new ideas, inventions and realities. These are the people that are able to transform what is into what can and will be.

Jean Piaget says, “the principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done.” To be able to do that one must be empowered. Truly the challenge of an individual pursuing an education is to reach that stage of empowerment. Because there are so many that don’t get empowered, many educated people (those who are empowered) have been heard to utter clever quips critiquing education (see attached sheet of quotations about education). It is these people that are often the successful ones in their field. While I highly doubt that they would rather that they did not have an education at all, I surmise that their statements are rooted in their malaise for the education they received: because it boxed them in until they found their way out. The key therefore is to find your way out.

My opinion on education is that in any of its form and along with its disciplinary systems, education is vital because it structures our free form world and makes it easier for us to constitute ourselves. This is especially valuable in our younger years when our consciousness is simplistic. Education at the onset is a means of developing and training our consciousness according to the norms of society. At the same time, education puts ideas into our minds-nagging at our curiosity making us unsettled. It is in indulging in our unsettlement that we discover what is new and begin to participate in the adventure of life.

Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance.
Will Durant (1885-1981)

Education … has produced a vast population able to read but unable to distinguish what is worth reading.
G. M. Trevelyan (1876-1962)

They say that we are better educated than our parents' generation. What they mean is that we go to school longer. They are not the same thing.
Douglas Yates

Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education.
Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

You can lade a man up to th' university, but ye can't make him think.
Finley Peter Dunne

Real education must ultimately be limited to men who insist on knowing–the rest is mere sheep-herding.
Ezra Loomis Pound (1885-1972)

Education is the process of casting false pearls before real swine.
Prof. Irwin Edman

Education is what remains when we have forgotten all that we have been taught.
George Savile (1633-1695)

[Education] consists mainly in what we have unlearned.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

No man who worships education has got the best out of education... Without a gentle contempt for education no man's education is complete.
G. K. Chesterton (1874-1936)

Colleges are places where pebbles are polished and diamonds are dimmed.
Robert G. Ingersoll, Abraham Lincoln.

Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not; it is the first lesson that ought to be learned; and however early a man's training begins, it is probably the last lesson that he learns thoroughly.
Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-95)

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.
Mark Twain (1835-1910)

[Education is] A form of self-delusion.
Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915)

In England … education produces no effect whatsoever. If it did, it would prove a serious danger to the upper classes, and would probably lead to acts of violence in Grosvenor Square.
Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught.
Oscar Wilde (1856-1900)

Nothing in education is so astonishing as the amount of ignorance it accumulates in the form of inert facts.
Henry Brooks Adams (1828-1918)

[Education is] One of the chief obstacles to intelligence and freedom of thought.
Bertrand A. Russell (1872-1970)

One must search diligently to find laudatory comments on education (other than those pious platitudes which are fodder for commencement speeches). It appears that most persons who have achieved fame and success in the world of ideas are cynical about formal education. These people are a select few, who often achieved success in spite of their education, or even without it. As has been said, the clever largely educate themselves, those less able aren't sufficiently clever or imaginative to benefit much from education.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794)

Essay submitted to Fr. Luis David July 2008
]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:25:00 EST http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545069 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545065
“God and the devil. These things either exist or they do not exist. Are we all alone in this life or are we not alone? Either thought is astonishing. Do I really believe that this tragedy is the work of the devil? To be honest, I don’t know. But I cannot deny that it’s possible.”
- Erin Bruner’s Closing Statement, The Exorcism of Emily Rose

I think therefore I am. For Descartes, it was not a possibility that he existed. It was real. However the reverse: I think… does not mean I am, can also be argued. I may just happen to be a character in a writer’s novel. My reality may also just be an extended dream I have yet to wake up from. I could also be a figment of someone else’s imagination. “I” am possibly something else than what I think I am. The same goes for God and the devil. Over the course of the semester, we’ve gone through discussions on the existence and essence of God and we have delved into the various problematic arising from it: Does God exist? It’s possible. Does the devil exist? It’s possible. Are these two beings equally powerful? It’s possible. Is it possible that these are actually not two beings but only one? It’s possible. Do angels and demons exist to assist God and the devil respectively? It’s possible. Do these beings really interact with humans in a direct way, such as possession or visions? It’s possible. Do we experience bad things because of the devil and his work? It’s possible. Do we experience both the good and the bad by God’s leave? It’s possible. Will good will triumph in the end? It’s possible. Maybe we’ve got everything right? It’s possible. But maybe we’ve got everything-our conceptions of God’s existence and nature and the devil’s evilness wrong as well. It’s possible. The one thing we can be certain in is that we do not know for sure. The truth is we don’t know. We think it is possible. We hope it is possible.

Uncertainty however doesn’t sit well with man. We naturally desire to know…to explain, to bring that which is outside into ourselves. We do so by making sense of the world. In the recent centuries we have been seeking rational and logical explanations to everything. In the film, we saw how two perspectives: a scientific-medical and a religious-spiritual shed light on one event. Both are possible explanations. In high school Christian Living class, I was taught that miracles follow the laws of nature. We were discussing the Seven Plagues from the Old Testament. A scientific and rational explanation was given for each. For the River Nile turning into blood, it was because above the mouth of the river is a mountain with mineral rich red soil. It rained and washed down to the river making it red and killing the living creatures in it. It is miraculous in that the timing was perfect. The conclusion from that lesson was that God works with nature in all he does. So is it not possible that the devil too, works with what is ‘natural’ in our world-epilepsy and psychosis-to further his end? But this argument is in itself an appropriation of the external unto the self. It can also be said that such explanations trivialize the majesty of God’s miracles or minimize the entrenchment of the world in evil. Apparently the rational approach can be used to make sound arguments both towards possibility and impossibility. Maybe our constant insistence on rationality and logic leaves us impaired and unable to recognize the truths born from non-rational and non-logical means. It’s possible.

This understanding of what is reality, whether it is borne from rational or non-rational means is essential. Our conceptions of the spiritual directly relate to our conceptions on existence. If these are not accurate then what is the real story of reality? So far, everything we have discussed both helps entrench our conceptions of God and leaves room for doubt and uncertainty. All rational arguments for the existence and agency of God rest on an a priori statement: God is good – loving and benevolent. This is true at least for the Christian perspective. Without this a priori notion the whole argument would not hold. There is no way to be rationally certain that the a priori definition of God is correct. This is so because the Numinous is Mysterium, in that sense so is the devil. In fact we are so uncertain that in juxtaposing the devil and God, a glance at the characteristics of the Numinous could in fact be that of the devil as well. Although the experience is supposedly negative, the devil is also awful, overpowering, tremor-causing, etc. I’m sure R. Otto would have a discussion which refutes this train of thought, but truly who’s to say it isn’t possible.

But maybe we should look at Otto and the experience of God and the devil in a non-rational way. Otto talks about ‘creature-feeling.’ Maybe this is the way to go. Somehow it is known that there is a being outside of ourselves whose very essence is beyond our own and whose existence cannot be appropriated. It makes sense even if it cannot be articulated. This notion of a greater being resonates with our own being. But since we are obsessed with rationality and scientific explanation we have become blind to reality. Maybe reality can only be understood using both rationality and non-rationality. We have constructed our reality to reinforce rationality and to break down non-rationality.
We have romanticized depictions of what is non-rational. In the film, Fr. Richard Moore is found guilty but allowed to walk free. But this outcome was borne from the artistic license of Hollywood. In the true story of Anneliese Michel from which the film is based on, there were four people on trial. Anneliese’s parents, and the two priests who performed the exorcism. All were found guilty and served prison sentences. We have a society that cannot deal with such phenomena except through the suspension of disbelief afforded by literature, films, shows, etc. The only time we consider non-rationality is when it is romanticized and dressed up to be palatable. We don’t like to be disturbed by what we cannot understand at the onset. And since we have been brought up under the dome of rationality understanding is in that way as well.

Just because we can’t grasp it immediately doesn’t mean its not real. When we first learn of atoms in elementary, we can’t see atoms and yet we accept them as real. At least we hope that its real because that is what is being taught to us and because it actually makes sense. For those that eventually become scientists, they might actually have the opportunity to observe the atom as it is. When it comes to spirituality it becomes more complicated, because what we can grasp is often not rational even within the frame of religion (organized, institutionalized, coded). And yet we can argue that given our non-rational understanding of the spiritual, it is possible that we are selectively choosing the parts which are palatable to us and reinforces our conceptions and throw away what is contrary. Do we see what we see because it is confirmation of our own conceptions or do we see what is actually there to see?

It appears that as society progresses, people loose their sensitivity to the non-rational way of making sense of the world. Before modernity, these miracles and demonic activity were commonly accepted? Did we get tired of the religious explanation for such phenomena that we sought for scientific explanations? Even with scientific explanations who’s to say that it still isn’t spiritual phenomena. Still I think, each one still has the non-rational sense at work – setting us at ease at the presence of God or alerting us at the presence of the devil. Herein lies our hope that amidst the false certainty afforded by rationality regarding the spiritual realm, there is still a way to discover the truth. It may take much more work and effort to explore the spaces of possibility even when framed by religion. It is possible that all conceptions are possible? There are so many things in this world that cannot be explained. While ‘just believing’ would save us all the inner anguish, it would not sit well with us? The only recourse is to seek answers to our questions, dismissing nothing? And hoping that the one we subscribe to is that which is true.

References:
Derrickson, Scott. The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Sony Pictures Digital Inc. 2005.
Soh, Andrew K.L. Class Lecture. Philosophy of Religion. Ateneo de Manila University, Quezon City, Philippines. Jun-Sept 2008.


Submitted to Mr. Andrew KL Soh September 2008]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:21:00 EST http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545065 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545063
The gold chastity covers were triangular in shape although it was inverted. The top of the triangle had the facility for it to be placed on a string. It had beautiful repousse design. The design was mainly of swirls and circles. Had the item not been identifies as a chastity cover, I would have thought it was the center of an amulet. It was obviously not created or worn to be hidden. What interests me however is that, there is already this concept of protecting chastity in pre-Christian times, and that this value warranted such importance that a gold ornament would be created to announce a woman’s purity. I say this because the chastity cover did not look like it could in fact protect a woman from a man’s misplaced advances. It was more for show or ceremony rather than practical use. It is intriguing to me, who was born at a time where clothes are supposed to protect our modesty that maybe this concept of purity associated with the west may not have been foreign at all. It may have in fact already been present albeit in a different form.

Unlike the chastity covers which were supposedly used by the living, the diadems were ornamentation buried with the dead. Diadems were headbands of sorts. Those in the collection were simple and did not have much repousse detail, Instead the design was of woven gold as in a basket and of bent gold. According to our guide, it depicted the status of the dead person. While I knew our ancestors probably had some sort of head ornamentation, I could not have imagined it to be something crown-like. The diadems on display reminded me of drawings of Queen Guinevere of Camelot normally wearing a diadem. Unfortunately we have nothing to lead us to believe that diadems were used in everyday life. I was still struck by its similarity.

The Embroidered Multiples Exhibit is also part of the Crossroads of Civilization Tripartite Exhibit. The item which caught my attention was the embroidered Chinese silk men’s drawstring trousers called sayasaya on loan from the Netherlands. The trousers shown were dark blue with light blue or white embroidery at the legs hem and at the opening of its pockets. It depicted leaves, flowers and dragons reminiscent of Chinese designs. It wasn’t a very highly constructed piece of clothing in the sense that it is like the modern form fitting men’s pants. This type of clothing is not something I see being sold as traditional Filipino costume in stores. It seems our traditional clothing for men is either the barong paired with slacks or the camisa paired with rolled up pants (suggestive of a farmer’s costume). These silk trousers show that there is a wealth of divergence in traditional Filipino male fashion which will probably never go mainstream.

It is fantastic that the Ayala Museum has continued in its work over the past 50 years. It appears that with the support of various private entities it will continue to do so. The Embroidered Multiples exhibit for example was embarked with support from companies Unilever, Shell and Philips. I am sure that the Ayala Museum has other corporate supporters. Monique Perrot-Lanaud’s article “Heritage: Everyone’s Business” identifies businesses and the individuals behind it as prime movers in the heritage scene. In the Philippines, these same heads of business are the private owners of many heritage pieces. Much of the gold pieces in the Gold of Ancestors collection have been with the family of the now-deceased National Artist and architect Leonardo Locsin who have been waiting for 25 years for the right conditions to unveil this treasure. Half of the items on display in the Embroidered Multiples collection is privately owned by Rina Ortiz. Heritage belongs to everyone, hopefully with the example of these private collectors more will be motivated to share their collections and on the flip side those who appreciate such heritage will be motivated to demand access to heritage which has been kept hidden.


This was a paper for my Cultural Heritage class with Dr. Zialcita submitted last July 2008.]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:18:00 EST http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545063 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545059
The gold chastity covers were triangular in shape although it was inverted. The top of the triangle had the facility for it to be placed on a string. It had beautiful repousse design. The design was mainly of swirls and circles. Had the item not been identifies as a chastity cover, I would have thought it was the center of an amulet. It was obviously not created or worn to be hidden. What interests me however is that, there is already this concept of protecting chastity in pre-Christian times, and that this value warranted such importance that a gold ornament would be created to announce a woman’s purity. I say this because the chastity cover did not look like it could in fact protect a woman from a man’s misplaced advances. It was more for show or ceremony rather than practical use. It is intriguing to me, who was born at a time where clothes are supposed to protect our modesty that maybe this concept of purity associated with the west may not have been foreign at all. It may have in fact already been present albeit in a different form.

Unlike the chastity covers which were supposedly used by the living, the diadems were ornamentation buried with the dead. Diadems were headbands of sorts. Those in the collection were simple and did not have much repousse detail, Instead the design was of woven gold as in a basket and of bent gold. According to our guide, it depicted the status of the dead person. While I knew our ancestors probably had some sort of head ornamentation, I could not have imagined it to be something crown-like. The diadems on display reminded me of drawings of Queen Guinevere of Camelot normally wearing a diadem. Unfortunately we have nothing to lead us to believe that diadems were used in everyday life. I was still struck by its similarity.

The Embroidered Multiples Exhibit is also part of the Crossroads of Civilization Tripartite Exhibit. The item which caught my attention was the embroidered Chinese silk men’s drawstring trousers called sayasaya on loan from the Netherlands. The trousers shown were dark blue with light blue or white embroidery at the legs hem and at the opening of its pockets. It depicted leaves, flowers and dragons reminiscent of Chinese designs. It wasn’t a very highly constructed piece of clothing in the sense that it is like the modern form fitting men’s pants. This type of clothing is not something I see being sold as traditional Filipino costume in stores. It seems our traditional clothing for men is either the barong paired with slacks or the camisa paired with rolled up pants (suggestive of a farmer’s costume). These silk trousers show that there is a wealth of divergence in traditional Filipino male fashion which will probably never go mainstream.

It is fantastic that the Ayala Museum has continued in its work over the past 50 years. It appears that with the support of various private entities it will continue to do so. The Embroidered Multiples exhibit for example was embarked with support from companies Unilever, Shell and Philips. I am sure that the Ayala Museum has other corporate supporters. Monique Perrot-Lanaud’s article “Heritage: Everyone’s Business” identifies businesses and the individuals behind it as prime movers in the heritage scene. In the Philippines, these same heads of business are the private owners of many heritage pieces. Much of the gold pieces in the Gold of Ancestors collection have been with the family of the now-deceased National Artist and architect Leonardo Locsin who have been waiting for 25 years for the right conditions to unveil this treasure. Half of the items on display in the Embroidered Multiples collection is privately owned by Rina Ortiz. Heritage belongs to everyone, hopefully with the example of these private collectors more will be motivated to share their collections and on the flip side those who appreciate such heritage will be motivated to demand access to heritage which has been kept hidden.


This was a paper for my Cultural Heritage class with Dr. Zialcita submitted last July 2008.
]]> Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:13:00 EST http://guita.tigblog.org/post/545059 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/507405 for everyone
Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia
7 B Amorsolo Street, San Lorenzo Village, Makati City, Philippines
E-Mail: programofficer@yldasia.org Website: www.yldasia.org
Tel (++632) 840 3728/29 Fax (++632) 810 3189


FREEDOM WRITERS: Young Asians’ Call to Freedom

Call for Contributions

The Young Liberals and Democrats of Asia will be celebrating its 5th
Year Anniversary in October 2008. To commemorate this occasion, YLDA will be publishing a collection of essays entitled, Freedom Writers: Young Asians’ Call to Freedom. The goals of this commemorative book are: 1) to
preserve, promote and shape the current youth’s Asian political thought, 2) to encourage greater youth involvement through writing which provokes thought and action, and 3) to stimulate critical discussion on the issues facing the youth of Asia. The book has three sub-themes:

1. Education and Freedom of Expression
Education brings about knowledge, with knowledge comes greater understanding. Education also brings forth greater desire for sharing and expression. Amidst the differing degrees of openness in the Asian region and varying degrees of educational attainment of Asian societies, this section hopes to detail the distinct struggles faced by Asian youths in acquiring education with emphasis on the claim that education is a liberating process that gives the young both the ultimate and proximate causes for development and freedom.

2. Asian Values and Human Rights
Asians have a strong sense of the importance of the family and community which, when taken to the extreme, is the antithesis of Western emphasis on the importance of individual liberty. As heirs to a cultural value that puts utmost importance on family ties and communal harmony and is either revered or disapproved as conduit of democracy, Asian youths need to speak about their culture as slowly yet continuously reshaped by the forces of globalization. The section seeks to discuss, among other things, how ideals are being reworked and how Asian youths can strike a balance between the individual and the family and community.

3. Youth Empowerment and Political Participation
Today’s world looks more and more to its young people to institute the change they want to see. Since the wave of democratic transitions in the 1990’s, the youths have played crucial role in bringing forth political changes in their country. Their role in tilting the balance of democratic power however does not always translate to expansion and deepening of political participation by the youth in governing. Sadly, Asian youths have yet to make serious dents in the political institutions manned by political vanguards belonging to previous generations. The old maybe dying, but the system refuses to admit that a new one has already been born. This final chapter seeks the opinion, musing, and voices of young Asians about this palpable but unpardonable disjuncture.

We would like to invite you to take part in this special occasion by contributing essays for this book (Please read the guidelines below to know how to submit your essay). Chosen works shall be published in the book and all successful contributors of accepted essays for publication shall receive:
1. Three complimentary copies of the book
2. Souvenirs and paraphernalia from YLDA and its partners
3. Certificate of Recognition from YLDA

From the list of successful chapter writers, YLDA select outstanding individuals that can speak about their paper and related topics during YLDA international events in 2009. YLDA shall cover all costs for this travel. YLDA is also collaborating with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for the possibility of granting nominal writing grants to chosen chapter contributors.

Guidelines for Essay Submission

1. Abstracts or essays may be submitted by a single author, a collaboration of authors, or an organization. If an abstract was submitted, the YLDA Secretariat shall notify the sender to proceed with the writing of the full featured-length essay.

2. More than one essay may be submitted.

3. Essay format guidelines
a. Font: Times New Roman, Size: 12
b. Maximum word count: 2000 to 3000
c. Save word document in rich text format (.rtf).

4. In a separate rich text format word document (save as .rtf). The Author/s must supply the following information about his/herself:
a. Full Name
b. E-mail address
c. Contact number (telephone and mobile)
d. Home Address
e. Country of Residence
f. Nationality
g. Birthdate
h. Male/Female
i. Write-up about yourself (education, involvement, affiliation, etc.)

5. Attach a picture of yourself (Format: j-peg, giff or bitmap), if selected author’s picture may be included in the book

6. Email the essay, the author/s’ information sheet and picture as attachments to programofficer@yldasia.org and ylda.secreratiat@gmail.com on or before NOVEMBER 5, 2008.
You will receive an email confirming receipt of your submission.

7. Copyright Information: Submission of an essay represents the author' s agreement to allow YLDA to publish the paper in any written or electronic format for distribution to all interested parties in perpetuity with or without compensation to YLDA and without compensation to the author. The parties understand that the author is granting a nonexclusive license and all copyrights remain the property of the author.

For More Information:

Guita T. Gopalan
Project Assistant
guita_tgs@yahoo.com
+639278042253 ]]> Fri, 24 Oct 2008 04:41:00 EDT http://guita.tigblog.org/post/507405 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/172979 Introduction

Upon creation, “‘God willed to leave man in the power of his own counsel, so that he would seek his Creator of his own accord and would freely arrive at full and blessed perfection by cleaving to God.’” God gifted human beings with counsel – freedom, conscience and choice or option with which to shape their existence towards good or evil. These three gifts are inherent within each human person. At the same time, it is the person’s responsibility to use these three gifts wisely by seeking God and becoming one with Him and His will. In reality however, using these three gifts is complicated. This paper shall look into these three gifts, their nature and how their interplay results in human action in the hopes that this knowledge will be of use in spiritual warfare.

Freedom

The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines freedom as “the power, rooted in reason and will, to act or not to act, to do this or that, and so to perform deliberate actions on one’s own responsibility.” Freedom is directly linked with action or inaction. It allows the human being to make a decision to do either, based on logic and motivation. Whether the human being chooses either action or inaction, the human being is accountable for the act and its consequences.

The nature of freedom however does not merely stop at doing anything desired for as long as the actor accepts accountability. In fact, “[a]uthentic freedom is not ‘the right to say and do anything,’ but to ‘do the good’.” Freedom gives the human being the opportunity to choose to do what is good instead of what is evil. Without freedom, human beings would be puppets of God doing whatever is willed without the desire to do so because of love. So out of the love of God, the gift of freedom was given to human beings. A better orientation towards freedom is that it “attains its perfection when directed toward God, our beatitude.” Human beings in the exercise of responsibility in freedom, reciprocate God’s love by choosing to do what is good.

Freedom also goes beyond the individual human being. It is not an “individual private possession, but a shared freedom with others in community” Since freedom is a gift enjoyed by each and every human being, an individual’s action or inaction in the name of freedom cannot infringe on the freedom of another human being. Each human being should be respected as a free creature, not only because it is intrinsic in each human being but because “freedom is exercised in relationships between human beings.” Without other human beings, the goal of freedom, God, cannot be achieved.

There are two types of freedom: ‘freedom from’ and ‘freedom for.’ ‘Freedom from’ refers to a freedom from things that impose upon us and “that opposes our true self-becoming with others in community.” Such impositions can be interior obstacles, such as “disordered passions, fears, personality defects, bad habits, prejudices or psychological disturbances. Impositions can also be in the form of exterior forces-social pressures resulting from economic, political and cultural circumstances. More significantly, the “greatest single obstacle to authentic freedom is SIN.” Freedom from can only be realized fully when one is liberated from the “radical slavery of sin,” how one can achieve this liberation will be discussed in a later section of this paper.

‘Freedom for’ on the other hand goes beyond being liberated from the things that bind. ‘Freedom for’ refers to the fullness of authentic freedom wherein there is “freedom for growing as full persons and children of God.” Freedom is both a process and task. It is the freedom of choice directed towards moral acts and it is also the fundamental freedom of the self as gifted by God. In always choosing the good which is the task, a free loving person is created. In always choosing to do evil, the opposite is created.

Total freedom from restrictions can also lead to selfishness rather than a desire to choose to do good. Despite the aspect of freedom that is directed towards the growth of the human person and towards God, human beings can act contrary to authentic freedom. There is then a need for some guidance.

Conscience

Human beings need guidance in the exercise of freedom. The difficulty is that according to John Paul II, “the power to decide what is good and what is evil does not belong to man, but to God alone.” How then can human beings decide what is good and evil and thus make appropriate actions? The answer is that human beings do not make decisions on the moral nature of an object or an act, rather, human beings make judgments on how to act based on the moral law which God provides. In accepting this moral law, human beings are brought closer to achieving authentic freedom.

God communicates His moral law in the “sacred place where God speaks to man,” in man’s conscience. In one’s conscience, “God’s voice and judgment penetrate the depths of man’s soul” thus bearing witness and illuminating a human being’s actions. It is God’s gift in each and every human being.

Theologian, Timothy O’Connell reflects on conscience and describes conscience in three levels of meaning.

The first is that conscience is a “general sense of value.” Conscience is characteristic of the human being. Each human being intrinsically knows good and evil exist and that there is a substantial difference between the two. That sense of value, results in “an awareness of personal responsibility.” Conscience implies an infallible obligation to seek to do good and avoid evil.

Secondly, conscience is composed of a perception of values. Values are acquired through the human beings relations with society. Values are conditioned, thus some values may not be universal. That is why at times, people disagree on some things due to their differing values. This is a characteristic of conscience. At the same time, values may not be morally good and people can be in error. There is therefore a need for each human being to engage in the formation of their conscience through an “ongoing process of reflection, discussion, and analysis...” The goal of this exercise is “to find and understand the concrete moral values of our situation.” It is to find the truth because conscience is accountable to the truth. For Catholics, the Church and its teachings on ethics and morality, the Magisterium is its guide in the formation of conscience along with other sources of wisdom. Sadly, despite all efforts, human beings can fail due to the presence of a moral blind spot, the “inability to see and appreciate the evil of our situation.”

Conscience despite its infallible obligation, “is not an infallible judge.” The fallibility can be a result of “invincible ignorance, an ignorance of which the subject is not aware and which he is unable to overcome himself” resulting from “little concern for seeking what is true and good.” The conscience having become accustomed to sin becomes culpably erroneous or an erroneous conscience.

The third meaning of conscience is that it is a “concrete judgment of specific persons pertaining to their own immediate action.” Conscience is a practical dictate compelling human beings to act in order to satisfy the conscience. Therefore, there is a possibility that in following the conscience, one may do what is objectively wrong. But what is more important, is the belief that one is doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong. “The fallibility of our objective judgment…in no way obviates that fundamental moral dictate. According to Bernard Haring, one must “ultimately follow his conscience… he must do right as he sees the right with desire and effort to find and do what is right.”

In totality, conscience is an infallible obligation to seek good and avoid evil. Human beings blessed with an innate sense of good and evil, need to determine in practical and concrete terms what is good and evil according to God’s moral law. To do so, one must engage in the formation of conscience – the quest for truth. It is a compulsion to do what one believes is right based on the truth, despite the fallibility of a judgment of conscience. The human being in the end is accountable to the Truth, to God.

Fundamental Option

Conscience allows the capacity to make judgments on particular actions. These judgments are within the call to authentic freedom. However more than choosing good acts freedom calls human beings to make “a decision about oneself and a setting of one’s own life for or against the Good, for or against the Truth, and ultimately for or against God.” That is human beings are called to make a fundamental choice or option. Scripture defines fundamental option as such: “It is a question of the decision of faith, of the obedience of faith ‘by which man makes a total and free self-commitment to God, offering the full submission of intellect and will to God.” Simply put, fundamental option is an all-out decision to be good or to be evil.

There is some confusion regarding the nature of the fundamental option. Some theologians have claimed that fundamental option is “brought about by that fundamental freedom whereby the person makes an overall self-determination, not through a specific and conscious decision on the level of reflection, but in a ‘transcendental’ and ‘athematic’ way.” This means that the fundamental option is more significant than individual actions. “Particular acts which flow from this option would constitute only partial and never definitive attempts to give it expression; they would only be its ‘signs’ or symptoms.” For example, a person who has fundamentally chosen to be good does not necessarily have to do good in order to attain salvation. He or she merely has to choose good as the fundamental option. A human being by virtue of the fundamental option could remain faithful to God whether or not his choices and acts are morally good or evil or in accordance or not with God’s commandments. In this view, it is fundamental option, the basic commitment to good or evil of a person’s life, which determines the basic response to God’s call, individual moral identity and the eternal destiny and not one’s free and deliberate choices in daily life.

In Veritatis Splendor, a church document authored by John Paul II, the confusion about the nature of fundamental option is clarified. A fundamental option exists, it is the orientation or direction of one’s life. It is as a fundamental commitment by which human life is organized, shaped and ordered in response to God’s call.

The difficulty with the first definition of the fundamental option is that it asserts that individual actions have no significance for as long as one has fundamentally chosen good. In Scripture, fundamental option is a choice linked profoundly to individual actions making man capable of giving his life direction and progress toward his ultimate goal – God. Individual actions “are the root of personal self-determination and responsibility.” It has a non-transitive or enduring aspect which remains in the human self and forms the bases of virtues or vices, the fabric of a good or evil life.

The fundamental option can never be just a generic intention, it must always be realized through conscious and free decisions. The morality of one’s acts is not based merely on “intention, orientation or fundamental option…with no corresponding positive effort to fulfil [sic] the different obligations of the moral life.” This highlights the essential importance of a single free choice and its ability to radically “change the fundamental orientation of a person’s life.” It makes every moment, every decision a potential turning and starting point for a good person into a life of evil and an evil person into a life of good depending on his or her decision.

In overcoming the greatest obstacle to authentic human freedom – SIN, there must be a consistent choice for the good otherwise one will “submit again to the yoke of slavery” which always threatens freedom. The consistent choice is the fundamental option realized in every single decision or action. It is a full integration of one’s intention for the good and one’s concrete good choices and actions in daily life.

Conclusion

Freedom, directed towards God, is promoted and protected by God’s moral law which human beings come to know in their conscience. The exercise of freedom entails a responsibility to make the right choices, to choose goodness. To do so human beings undergo a formation of their conscience in order to determine in a practical sense what is good and evil. This develops the capacity to make judgments for the good, to choose a fundamental option for the good and the particular acts which will support and strengthen that fundamental option for the good.
In the end, a good or virtuous person is one who has made the right choice freely and based on his or her conscience and does so in accordance with his or her fundamental option for goodness. The virtuous person has “his or her entire personality, desires, reactions, and beliefs are integrated around these good choices.”

It is through the freedom of choice that human beings are determined. Thus human beings are obliged to use that freedom well making only good choices despite difficulties and ultimately to act out of love, truth and goodness and an integrated stable commitment to the call of God.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines. Catechism for Filipino Catholics. Manila: Word Life Publications, 2000.

Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Manila: Word Life Publications, 1994.

Ioannes Paulus PP. II. Veritatis Splendor. 06 August 1993. Libreria Editrice Vaticana. 18 December 2006. .

Lawler, Boyle and May. Patterns of Thinkng in Moral Theology. From Marriage and Human Sexuality: A Collection of Readings for Th 131. Dacanay, S.J., A.N. and Micheal Asis, Ph.D. Manila: Ateneo de Manila University, 2006.

O’Connell, Timothy. Conscience. From Principles for a Catholic Morality. New York: The Seabury Press, 1978.



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Arturo Luz seems to present a city as full of opposites. The city is ordered and yet the seemingly random horizontal and oblique lines can initially suggest otherwise. It is busy and yet the choice of color suggests it is also serene. It is large and yet small at the same time-full but not without space. He achieves this through his use of the formal elements of art: line, shape, color, texture, mass, space, etc.

Lines are predominant in this artwork. Vertical lines give the feeling of massiveness as well as depth. Massiveness in the sense that they seem to make large buildings and yet in relation to the horizontal and oblique lines it shows depth in that the longer the vertical line the farther the distance the building is. The horizontal and oblique lines can also be seen as smaller buildings nearer to the audience.

The lines are thin and generally dark for the buildings making them standout from the rest of the artwork as opposed to the curving lines done in a lighter hand at the bottom of the artwork, suggestive of rocks which gives the feeling that the viewer is looking at the city from an elevated distance like a nearby mountain (i.e. Antipolo overlooking Metro Manila). The curving lines are the rocks that make the border of the look out site thus further establishing that the city is far away.

The many number of lines are also suggestive of an infinite number of buildings… for as long as there are three vertical lines and an oblique of horizontal line which runs through it, it can already be viewed as a building. Also the high number of lines as well the proximity of each line to the other make the picture look busy. However once noticed that there is a pattern repeated in the line work – such as the use of oblique lines to identify building tops – the rhythm of the painting becomes more apparent.

Since the artwork is about the city, rectangles dominate in reference to buildings. Triangles, formed by oblique lines are used to bring the 3-d rectangle forward. There are only a few circles that were drawn, this is probably used to balance out the linearity of the artwork and as well as make it more interesting and more believable. In the bottom section of the artwork we see that a definite shape is not constructed, instead an irregular curve is used to break the monotony of the linear city and to bring forward the ‘rocks.’ Moreover despite the dominance of the mass of buildings in the painting it does not overpower. It becomes quite normal or natural.

With regards to color, Arturo Luz uses a beige parchment like color in lighter and darker tones and the grey/black of the pencil to define his image. His use of a monochrome color scheme effectively brings the picture together as one whole while at the same time providing depth and contrast while giving a feeling of serenity and quiet activity to the image.

Most noticeably is the difference of the color of the ‘rocks,’ the city and the horizon. The use of color brings these forward in the picture in that order. Depth and contrast is provided by the use of a darker or deeper color in the areas where there is a concentration of lines

In an area, wherever the line density is greater – areas where the vertical, oblique and horizontal lines occur all together, there is also a darker or deeper color that is used subtly to provide depth and contrast which balance out the painting. At the first glance the city seems flat because it is one color, but when one notices the subtleties in color and the accompanying line work, the image pops out-three dimensionally.

It is also noticeable that the color bleeds from the ‘rocks” to the city and then to the horizon thus the movement created by the strong linear line work is given a flowing character that moves the eyes in a vertical path and connotes the vastness of the city.

The choice of color also seem to expand the city not making feel as full as it is or could or as dense as it should be despite the high number of the lines. The white horizon also provides the feeling that the city could still expand to an area where nothing was going on.

The ingenious manipulation of line and color give a certain balance and symmetry to the artwork. These at same time provide rhythm indicative of the crowded and cluttered-ness of a city which when viewed from afar coalesces into a whole so that even if the elements are noticeable it is still conceivable as a whole.

Maybe, he is trying to portray the city as being space-filled in his choice or color or maybe he tried to capture the city in the early morning – like just after sunrise when a crowded city doesn’t seem drab and dark but light and airy. In this light my perception is that Arturo Luz captures the characteristics of a city. His ingenious use of line and color provide the basis for the two faced nature of his city.





Note:
Arturo Luz is an exceptional Filipino Artist. His work "City" (as well as some of his other artworks) can be viewed at the Ateneo Art Gallery, Ateneo de Manila University Campus, Katipunan, Loyola Heights, Quezon City]]> Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:20:00 EDT http://guita.tigblog.org/post/172977 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/172975
Each state is composed of majority and minority ethnic groups. For some states the proportion is easy to work with and mold into a nation. The larger the majority and the smaller the minority makes it easier to persuade the smaller group to conform to the majority. For others with a nation of minorities or a nation of significant majorities it is more challenging. The groups’ interests and conflicts arising from such are much more difficult to manage.

Singapore is an example of a state with several major players. Its people are made up of significant chunks of Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnicities and other smaller groups. The small nation-state in the Malaysia-Indonesia region, is situated in a region where Malays dominate and ensure their ascendancy. Singapore, however espoused the principle of multiracialism.

Although a difficult task, the Singaporean government has taken measures to incorporate the various ethnicities into a nation. One of the first things the government had to settle was the language of government and with that the official language of the nation. By 1965, it had a pick of Chinese and its many dialects, Malay and Tamil representing the three largest ethnic groups, and English a remnant from the British and bazaar malay a common language used in the market place. Chinese, Malay and Tamil were all declared official languages so as not to create conflict although made second to the common language which could either be English or bazaar malay.

English was introduced to Singapore during British colonization in the 1800’s. Although it was the language of government, only a minority were English speaking at the onset of its independence in 1965. A lot of work would have to go into English training if it were going to become the lingua franca. In pre-independence Singapore however, there already existed due to its long history of trade, a lingua franca. Singapore along with the rest of Malaysia and Indonesia had a similar language called bazaar melayu or pasar melayu which was used in marketplaces to facilitate trade. By the 1970’s however English would replace bazaar melayu. Why did English become the lingua franca of independent Singapore, whereas bazaar melayu lost its status as lingua franca of pre-independence Singapore?

What is Bazaar Melayu? Bazaar melayu is a Malay pidgin also known as pasar malay or market Malay. The name comes from the fact that bazaar melayu was the common way of communicating in the market place. Just to clarfy, a pidgin is a “simplified form of speech that is usually a mixture of two or more languages, has a rudimentary grammar and vocabulary, is used for communication between groups speaking different languages, and is not spoken as a first or native language” (American Heritage Dictionary). Bazaar melayu is basically Malay which incorporates words from Chinese (and its various dialects), Tamil, and other languages.

Bazaar melayu was a common trading language in Malaysia and Indonesia. In the early 1900’s when migrants came to Singapore, they brought with them their experience with other Malays, trading centers, fellow traders of both same and different ethnicities. They would always be bilingual-having facility in their ‘ethnic’ language and in bazaar melayu. Even British children in English schools were reported to speak bazaar melayu. Anyone who had anything to do in the market, either as a trader, retailer or consumer had to know bazaar melayu to conduct his/her business. It facilitated transactions among the traders of various ethnicities for various of centuries not only in Singapore but in the rest of the region-Malaysia and Indonesia. By 1965, it was undoubtedly a lingua franca known by all ethnicities in all social classes (Lim 2006).

Bazaar melayu was useful in pre-independence Singapore. It permitted inter-ethnic trade. However, despite its potential to bring about unity through the incorporation of varying cultural elements into a whole, bazaar melayu lost its status as lingua franca to English because of three reasons: it was ethnically charged whereas English was neutral, it was not established in the academic world whereas English already had curricula and teachers, and lastly it could not support and boost international trade the way that English could. These provided the motivation for the government to advocate English above other languages and bazaar melayu.

The first reason is that, Bazaar melayu was predominantly Malay-based rather than a fair aggregate of the various languages. This is problematic because in Singapore the non-Malay people were a majority. To have adopted an obvious offshoot of the Malay language would not ease the animosity between the major ethnic groups. Lee Kuan Yew mentions that deciding on the official national language was a precarious situation. Each of the delegates were deeply attached to their language not merely because it was a means of communication but more importantly it was a vessel for the transmission of their culture and values. Under such an atmosphere, any one official language would not be well received. Bazaar melayu, in particular, was not looked upon well because of its Malay roots (Lee Kuan Yew 2000).

There were many heated debates in the early years of the Singaporean state each putting forward his/her language as the official language. But English precisely because it was a foreign language, was neutral. It prevented conflicts because it did not subscribe to either of ethnic groups. So despite opposition to English as the common language, it was the only workable solution for smooth inter-ethnic communication. English was declared an official language alongside Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay as well as the medium for government transactions. The bottom line is in Singapore’s “multiracial and multilingual society, English was the only acceptable neutral language” (Lee Kuan Yew 2000)

The second reason is because bazaar melayu was not the same all throughout the region. The bazaar melayu in Johor, Malaysia could be very different from its counterpart in Singapore. Bazaar melayu and its rudimentary grammar and vocabulary were not standard. Grammar and vocabulary was highly dependent on the people using it. Therefore if a community was more Tamil speaking than Mandarin Chinese-speaking, more Tamil words would be incorporated in the Bazaar melayu of that area. However, the differences in localized bazaar melayu were not as significant as the fact that it was not standard nor was it standardized by academic study.

Bazaar Melayu was in a liminal state in pre-independence Singapore. True, it was a lingua franca however it had yet to develop its own linguistic formalities such as grammar, sentence structure, etc. codified in a book for further academic study. It was recognized as a language in its own right because of its long history of usage however because it had not seeped into the academic arena it could not be considered a serious language. It was for lack of a better term a popular language. This was essential because without a grammar, bazaar melayu could not be taught as a subject in the classrooms. The government, if it chose to make bazaar melayu an official language and envisioned it as the common lingua franca, it would have to develop it as an academic discipline. This would take time and Singapore in 1965 was in a predicament. Bazaar melayu would have been a set back.

English on the other hand was already an established language. Teaching material had already existed. In Singapore, there were remnants from the British colonization and it could easily be obtained from overseas (Turnbull 1981). Not only that, but English teachers as well already existed. The only thing that was missing was students to be instructed in English.

Under the British, individuals were responsible for the education of their child and they had freedom to choose where and what medium of instruction. For most, if one was a Chinese, one’s children would be sent to Chinese schools. The Singaporean government headed by Lee Kuan Yew would espouse a policy of bilingualism. He promoted the establishment of English instruction schools teaching Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay, and the instruction of English in non-English instruction schools. He encouraged parents to send their children to English schools and eventually people did (2000).

The third reason is that bazaar melayu did not complement the government’s goal of rapid accumulation of wealth. Prior to its independence, Singapore was supplied food and water from the mainland easily. After independence however, Singapore found itself in crisis-cut off from these necessities. It was poor in all senses of the word. It did not have the most basic requirements to sustain itself: food and water. It had few natural resources it could tap to generate money. Some of their trade ties with Malaysia had been severed. The situation was bleak. They needed to find a solution to this problem (Turnbull 1981).

The government decided to build the Singaporean state around trade-more specifically international trade. English was already established and widely spoken in the international arena. An English-speaking Singapore was seen as the best way to facilitate international trade and support the rapid modernization of Singapore (Kingsbury 2001). Ultimately to formalize and propagate bazaar melayu which was useful only in local and regional trade, deviated from the government’s goal of amassing economic wealth as quickly as possible. For this purpose, English was more convenient and more advantageous. It would make Singapore relevant to the world (Lee Kuan Yew 2000).

In time, English displaced bazaar melayu as the lingua franca in the 1970s-1980s.
Government policies on education and encouragement of English coupled with the economic gains resulting from facility with English made English more and more acceptable as the main language especially among the younger and more educated. Of course during this time the use of bazaar melayu declined (Lim 2006)

It is important to note that as early as the 1970s, deculturalization and apathy were already being observed from students who had been educated in purely English systems. Lee Kuan Yew understood the importance of ethnic languages in transmitting traditional values and attitudes which is why through his efforts Mandarin Chinese, Tamil and Malay became a second language in schools. In his book He mentions that “we had to transmit these same values to students in the new bilingual schools or we would deculturalize them” as he had been early in his career having come from a purely English education (2000). Even so, Singapore today is in search of their identity or creating its own identity. English because it is foreign has left many Singaporeans culturally unrooted despite their bilingualism. Had they adopted bazaar melayu would they still have this problem? Probably so. Singapore is a polygot community which in 1965 had never had a common language. Now that English is established, enculturation is taking place. A new pidgin has emerged called Singlish, English and Singaporean (which is a collection of Malay, Tamil, and Mandarin Chinese words and expressions).

To sum up, it was practicality that motivated the government to promote English. It became institutionalized through government policy and efforts until it became the lingua franca of Singapore. Bazaar melayu on the other hand could not continue to be the lingua franca because it no longer contributed to the goals of society at that point in time, particularly for a peaceful multiracial and prosperous society. With the continuing evolution of language as evidenced by the advent of Singlish, the determining factor on whether it will become a lingua franca is its ability to contribute to the goals of society whatever they may be.



BIBLIOGRAPHY

American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 4th Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company. 2000. 11 Mar 2007. dictionary/entry/pidgin>.

Kingsbury, Damien. “Singapore: The Corporate State.” South-East Asia A Political Profile. Australia: Oxford University Press, 2001.

Lee Kuan Yew. “Many Tongues, One Language.” From Third World to First World The Singapore Story: 1965-2000. USA: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 2000.

Lim, Lisa. June 2006. Mergers and acquisitions: On the ages and origins of Singapore English particles. Unpublished paper: University of Amsterdam. 13 Mar 2007. .

Turnbull, C. Mary. A Short History of Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei. Singapore: Graham Brash Singapore, 1981.
]]> Wed, 28 Mar 2007 01:13:00 EDT http://guita.tigblog.org/post/172975 14.4502778 120.967222214.4502778120.9672222 http://guita.tigblog.org/post/172973
Angono, a small town near the eastern border of Metro Manila in the province of Rizal, is unknown to many but greatly celebrated among the foremost musicians of the Philippines as not only the “art capital” of the nation but the prime spot to find the best brass musicians in the country. The national artist, Lucio D. San Pedro, himself a brass musician and world-renowned Filipino composer, lived his whole life in Angono and, indeed, found much of his inspiration from the locality. It is in this context that our interest in the town was born. Why, out of all the many towns throughout the Philippines, is Angono distinguished as an exceptionally artistic town? In particular, why do the best symphonic band performers come from this area? How did it start? There are a number of theories about Angono’s distinct history that all say something about the culture that surrounds symphonic band in the town, and these are the focus of this essay.

First Theory: Angono simply has a good reputation because of its two National Artists. One of the first things people think of when they hear about Angono is the fact that, not one, but two National Artists came from this place: Carlos Francisco in 1973, painter, and Lucio San Pedro in 1991, composer. No other place in the Philippines has produced two national artists. Undoubtedly, such a distinct honor for such a small town does not go unnoticed. The reputation that comes with having two National Artists from the same town would surely lead others to conclude that if two exceptionally talented masters, influenced and affected by the same environment in which they grew up in and lived their lives, came from the same town, there must be others in that town, equally influenced by their surroundings, just waiting to be discovered. Two prominent people in the locality hold this theory, though in a slightly different way. Agripino Diestro, one of the foremost conductors/composers in the country, Music Director and Conductor of the UP Chamber Orchestra, and also the nephew of Lucio San Pedro, and Armando Villamayor, president of the League of Barangays in the Province of Rizal, both believe that the only thing that makes Angono special, in terms of art, is its fame, which is simply rooted in the reputation that comes from having two National Artists from the town. Basically, they believe that it is only because of these two National Artists that Angono has become famous. Humbly, they say that there are other towns throughout the country that have just as much talent as Angono does. However, the problem with this explanation is that the National Artist recognitions came post-1970. A brief look at Angono’s history or even a simple peek at the life story of Lucio San Pedro reveals how the artistic nature of Angono’s culture existed generations before the first National Artist distinction was placed on Carlos Francisco in 1971. In fact, as research can show, Angono had a culture of art dating back prior to the 20th century that was widely known. This brings us to another theory – one that deals with Angono’s geographical location.

Second Theory: Angono has a good reputation for the arts, especially symphonic band, because of its proximity to Manila. Somewhat connected to the previous theory is one that looks at the location of Angono, just a stone’s throw away from Metro Manila (see map), as the reason for Angono’s reputation of being a prime source of excellent musicians, particularly brass performers. Like the first theory, it treats Angono as a town that is no different, in terms of artistic giftedness, than any other town. The only difference lies in its proximity to Manila, which creates wider publicity for the town’s local artists. Being so close to Manila, the bands of Angono get more attention than bands, say, in Nueva Ecija. The history of Angono at the turn of the last century supports this theory. During the colonial period, Intramuros (Manila), the capital of the Philippines, and Pasig, the largest city nearest to Angono, were “centers” that significantly contributed to the development of music in Angono and were, thus, places familiar with the talent to be found there. Intramuros, home to many of the musical institutions and individuals of the day, would be where one would go to for musical training. San Pedro, himself, studied music at the University of the Philippines Conservatory of Music, which was in Manila during that time. Pasig, on the other hand, would be the source of the first Angono Band’s instruments and even its first conductor. Historically, the symphonic bands in Pasig have been notable for their contributions to Philippine band music, especially during the height of the nationalist movements against the Spanish and also during the American period. With the introduction of bands from the Guardia Civil to the influence of American band music as seen with the establishment of the Philippine Constabulary Band in 1902, which wowed Americans all the way to President Taft himself, Angono, by way of Pasig, was quietly becoming more and more influenced by Western music. One cannot overlook how the proximity to Manila has enabled a great deal of foreign influence to channel its way into the Angono locality, bringing musical styles from the West to the quaint fisherman’s village. However, this explanation is also problematic. If all it takes is geographic proximity to Manila for a town to be appreciated for its artistic abilities, then what is there to say of the other towns on the outskirts of Manila, like in Cavite, in Laguna, Caloocan, and Valenzuela? They, too, are near Manila, but none are known for any musical talent in the way that Angono is, much less their bands. So, what is so special about Angono? Even if one considers how both Carlos Francisco and Lucio San Pedro never left Angono, thus attracting attention to the locality during their heyday, the proximity to Manila theory does not explain how Angono, unlike any other town around Manila, can be the source of exceptional talent. If all the best artists settled in Angono, as a town near to Manila, what made Angono different than all the other suburbs of Manila?

Third Theory: Angono’s exceptional artistic quality is due to the uniqueness of its physical environment and cultural practices. Perhaps a more plausible theory would be one that considers Angono’s unique physical characteristics and cultural practices that make this town an environment conducive to an amazingly vibrant art culture. Angono is a beautiful town rich in natural resources. Fields, many of which were once used for agriculture, surround Angono’s town proper. There is a river that cuts through the town. Up a nearby mountain, the spring that feeds the river can also be found, along with the caves housing the petroglyphs, otherwise known as the “oldest known work of art in the Philippines.” The town’s main road, which passes through Barangays Poblacion-Itaas and -Ibaba, leads to Laguna de Bay and its covering of water lilies. At the edge of the town proper, where the line of houses ends, one finds a beautiful view of the surrounding fields, mountains, river and reflection of the lake (see picture of Agripino Diestro during our interview with him at the coastline of Laguna de Bay). Moreover, beyond the visual aesthetics of the town are found the matchless fragrances, ubiquitous throughout: lake, river, fish, seafood, water lilies, pinipig, ginataan, and the fresh breeze from the mountaintops. This environment, teeming with so many different kinds of natural ingredients, forms a concoction of lakeside beauty in a tropical climate. It is no wonder that the town was a source of inspiration for Lucio San Pedro’s Buwan sa Kabundukan (Moon on the Mountains), which, according to one of his daughters, was inspired by San Pedro’s view of the moon and the mountains, visible from his backyard. Because of his love for Angono, the Maestro kept his home in the town instead of transferring to Manila, even during the height of his career.

Like its physical characteristics, Angono’s religious activities, are also intrinsic to the identity of its inhabitants. All of Angono’s religious activities, particularly the fiestas, have been at the core of the local art culture throughout its history. Just as in many other parts of the country, the town band was primarily at the service of the Roman Catholic liturgy. The women of the San Pedro and Diestro families always sang for Sunday Mass, accompanied by Grandfather Diestro and later on by Lucio, himself. Even before he had formal music training, Lucio would compose beautiful music for the church of San Clemente. In most cases the parish priest initiated the formation of the town band that would, then, be responsible for accompanying religious processions. Band music was even employed within the celebration of the Mass and in other religious celebrations. One example is when Angono celebrates the feast of its patron, St. Clement, on every November 23. Aside from the Mass held in honor of the saint, other activities are prepared to mark the special event, like the serenata. In the past, a day or several days before the actual feast day, a serenata would be held. This event would consist of a performance by at least two competing bands that would try to outdo each other through the technical difficulty of their pieces, their varied repertoire, and their physical stamina. During the serenata, the bands would play alternately not repeating any of the music they or any other band had performed. This would continue until only one band was remaining with the ability to keep on playing. For some, this was seen as an impediment to the development of proper musicianship. So, because of the efforts of the Pambansang Samahan ng mga Banda sa Pilipinas, founded by Felipe de Leon, a new version of the serenata is held on the eve of the town feast. This more formal sort of serenata has at least two bands participate by preparing a “set,” which consists of four numbers: a concert march, an overture, a solo instrument, and a modern piece. Although still with an air of competition, it is no longer as competitive as before, and judges choose the best band. Since the local community pays for the bands, the musicians are able to focus on their music rather than on their ability to memorize and physical stamina, which were needed for the old style serenata. Agripino Diestro, in an article written about him, recounts how, as a young child, he would stay out late to watch and listen to the bands performing the serenata throughout the night. Lucio San Pedro’s band would always be among those competing in addition to many others from Manila who would come at the invitation of the Maestro. Certainly, many others of Angono’s youth, like Diestro, would have the same experience and be encouraged to learn music from these performances.

Other religious activities, during the feast day itself and throughout the year, show how essential the band is to the celebration like the procession toward Laguna de Bay. In it, the townspeople surround a large float made of three or four boats strung together. Upon arriving at the lake, they would get into the water and smear mud on themselves in order to cure ailments and acquire good luck for the coming year. The band would be playing music in the background the whole time. During May, the month of Mary, Angono has the Pag-aalay (offering) to the Virgin Mary. It is a joyful procession accompanied by the music of the band. A dalit, a traditional poem put to music is sung as children and young men and women offer baskets of flowers for the altar. One also cannot forget the celebration Angono is most famous for: the Salubong, held at dawn on Easter Sunday. It consists of a procession based on the traditional story of the Risen Christ making “public” His resurrection by first appearing to His Mother, Mary, in secret. Before the actual Salubong, there is something called the Bati, wherein a young lady dances to solemn music provided by the band. During the Salubong, a stage is set up to be the venue for the meeting of Christ and Mary. Above the stage is called the puso (heart). It is like an inverted flower bud. Inside sits a little girl waiting till the heart opens like a blossomed flower and will remove the mourning veil of the Virgin Mary. At this point the band livens the mood with music exuding majesty and glory. For the parish of San Clemente, and thus for Angono as a whole, the Salubong has become the best showcase of the town’s creativity and community spirit.

Beyond the religious aspect of Angono’s cultural heritage is a family practice that seems to be very unique to Angono, but further research would have to be done on the subject. Namely, it is the practice of passing down artistic skills to one’s progeny. In generations past, Angono was a small town with only three main roads. It was so small that only a few families inhabited the area, which means that they most likely intermarried amongst each other. Today, a visitor would be surprised to see how a considerable number of townspeople are related to each other. For example, Lucio D. (Diestro) San Pedro is related to Agripino V. (Villamayor) Diestro, one of our interviewees. The grandfather of Agripino is the brother of Lucio San Pedro’s mother, Ude Diestro. On the other hand Agripino is also related to Carlos V. (Villamayor) Francisco, the famous painter. His uncle is Armando Villamayor, another one of our interviewees and an in-law of Carlos Francisco. Armando Villamayor’s relationship with art can be seen in a project he recently completed: the immortalization of Carlos Francisco’s paintings by remaking them into murals along the main road of the barangay turning the whole area into a free and public art gallery. Other examples include the Blanco, Miranda, and Nemiranda families. The Blanco family is a very interesting example: every single one of the seven children in the family learned how to paint, with excellent quality and detail, from their father. After some encouragement, even the mother was taught how to paint; however, she was taught by one of the children. Every single one of them exhibits exquisite skill in their pieces. This strong tradition of generational inheritance of a family talent/skill in Angono is very rare and hard to come across in the world. Unlike other places where the means of livelihood are passed on (e.g. fishermen’s sons becoming fishermen and carpenters’ sons becoming carpenters), here in Angono, it is art that is passed on – a means of expression, not a means of livelihood.
From the members of Lucio San Pedro’s family to the faculty at UP’s College of Music , when asked what the underlying reason was for Angono’s wide appreciation for art and remarkable talent for it, the resounding answer was, “It’s in the blood!” Unfortunately, science cannot give us a substantive basis for this kind of reasoning, but it is more likely that the proximity of family members in a small town and the close relations among those same family members facilitated the inheritance of passions and skills unique to Angono. Often, several if not all the members of the family were skilled, gifted or at the very least interested about music and art, given its importance in the local culture. However, naturally it may not always have been practical for everyone to pursue art as a career, but the local appreciation for it was enough to create a devotion to it.

Something interesting about this phenomenon is its seeming connection to the Chinese Mestizo culture prevalent in the Philippines at the end of the 19th century. This culture was found in people who had mixed Chinese and indigenous ancestry and made up the influential middle class just below the Spanish stratosphere during the lead up to independence. Prominent Chinese Mestizos include national heroes like Jose Rizal, Marcelo del Pilar, Andres Bonifacio, and Emilio Aguinaldo to name a few. Their culture could be basically summed up in the following way: they had rejected their Chinese past, looked down upon the indigenous indio culture and lifestyle, and had embraced wholeheartedly the culture of the Spaniards. In fact, they wanted to be like the Spaniards in every way (which explains for why they chose to be called “Filipinos” following independence, which was how Spaniards living in the Philippines during the colonial period had been called). The linkages between this culture and the observations we made in Angono are manifold. First of all, all of the artists of Angono (i.e. Lucio San Pedro, Carlos Francisco, the Blancos, etc.) are Chinese Mestizos. Second, the artists of Angono all exhibited a sense of nationalism and a strong devotion to Catholicism, both pillars of Tagalog Chinese Mestizo culture. According to Gabriel Rojas, “Daddy Lucio,” as they fondly called him, had a strong love for his bayan (town) and bansa (country). San Pedro even coined the term, creative nationalism, to describe the very purpose of his work. His love for the Philippines can best be seen in his compositions, the most notable of which is Lahing Kayumanggi, which showcases “creative nationalism”. According to San Pedro, when Filipino artists create, they must strive to showcase their Filipino-ness. Using a technique in composition he learned in Julliard, the composer began Lahing Kayumanggi with the first few notes of the folk song Bahay Kubo. Third, the practice of generational inheritance of a family skill, as explained above, is something that could be linked to the strong family relationships that marked the culture of the Chinese Mestizo. Nevertheless, how this is specifically connected to the art and music culture of Angono still remains to be seen. The fact that Angono’s culture is unique in many ways relative to other Tagalog towns also does weaken any potential connection with the Chinese Mestizo culture.

Undoubtedly, the physical character of the locality has had an enormous influence on the artistic nature of Angono’s culture. As seen from the inspiration wrought from it by Lucio San Pedro, all of the artists from Angono have in one way or another been touched by their surroundings. The beauty of their renditions of Angono life is found in the way they are able to echo much of the inner sentiments of Filipinos all over the world. However, the mountain views and lake vistas are not enough to explain for the uniqueness of Angono. What is there to say of the many other towns either built along the lake or on a hillside that do not have the strong artistic presence that Angono has? Perhaps such an argument exhibits a lack of appreciation for the uniqueness of Angono’s physical surroundings; however, there are other beautiful town throughout the country, but none seem to merit the title “Art Capital of the Philippines” the way Angono does. Moreover, the religious and cultural practices of the locality, though full of excellent artistry and undoubtedly a great source of inspiration for artists of the town, cannot be credited as the source of Angono’s unique artistic character. Such fiestas and celebrations exist in other towns as well. Additionally, the family practices of the townsfolk, although unique, cannot explain for the talented brass musicians who do not belong to any particularly artistic family. At the annual celebrations commemorating the establishment of the University of the Philippines this past February, leading conductor Professor Leopoldo Lopez asked all of the members of the symphonic band to stand if they were from the Angono locality. Over half of them stood up, and none of them were part of the same family. Although there are problems with a theory that looks solely at the unique characteristics of Angono’s physical and cultural traits, that is not to say that it should be totally ruled out. Nonetheless, these aforementioned issues lead us to yet another theory that, interestingly enough, in its simplicity, holds a grain of truth to it.

Fourth Theory: Because of the economic incentives that came with educational opportunities for those who studied symphonic band, many people were encouraged to learn music. Professor Leopoldo Lopez, who actually comes from Tanay was himself a beneficiary of a local government initiative that promised a free college education if he studied band throughout his high school career. College scholarships in any field were, and continue to be, offered to members of the symphonic band. Thus the chance to receive a complete education for free gave people the incentive to learn music while they were still in primary and secondary school. A young boy who hoped to eventually become an engineer could earn a college education by simply learning how to play a brass instrument for the local symphonic band. In the reality of things, many of those young students grew to love and appreciate the music they were playing so much so that they chose to devote their lives to music.

At the turn of the last century, more tertiary educational institutions had been set up, and during the 1900-1930’s, tertiary schools began offering music classes, as was done by the University of the Philippines (Manila), St. Paul’s College, St. Scholastica’s College, Colegio de Santa Isabel and the University of Santo Tomas. Prior to this, music education had been limited to one-on-one lessons from Spanish musicians or the native-born members of the Military Bands and Church Musicians. The rise in the number of schools led to an increase in the need for musicians to be a part of the school band to play for school activities. Even then, musicians were a rare commodity. In order to entice musicians to their school, scholarships were given to the members of the band. Members of the band could therefore pursue their chosen course of higher education for free. The number of members in community bands, thus, increased. The young would join the band to master an instrument in the hopes that he or she would get into the band of his chosen school. It is important to remember that because towns were usually occupied with fishing and agricultural activities, more often than not, the income generated by these occupations was not sufficient for higher education for the young.

With the opportunities that came with a college education, many would take advantage of the free education by participating in the local symphonic band. This explanation, however, is insufficient when it comes to the fact that the same opportunities were given to young people in other towns such as those in Cavite. So, what is Angono’s “X-Factor”?

Fifth theory: Angono’s inhabitants simply have an innate love for music. The argument is plausible but not so easily provable. From the history of the town, it can be surmised that prior to the emergence of the band there existed a culture of music, perhaps a remaining trait from pre-colonial times. During the early Spanish period, for example, bamboo instruments already existed. By the mid to late Spanish period, Bamboo musicians were already performing as an ensemble for the community especially because there was a time that bands were not permitted to organize in the localities. This was especially true in Angono, from where the Musikong Bumbong group began. This group was established in reaction to the heavy importation of Western influence and was aimed at developing a completely native form of musical expression out of a nationalist sentiment. Lucio San Pedro, himself, had such a love for music, that he generously shared his knowledge by coaching the young and aspiring musicians of Angono for free. Even in his old age, he continued to conduct the town band for the local celebrations such as the Serenata, Salubong and Bati. Though the theory is definitely plausible, the truth most likely lies in a string of combinations between all of these theories put together.

Conclusion
All these theories have some traction but no one theory is sufficient by itself. Reputation and proximity to Manila surely are factors that have contributed to the persisting idea that Angono is the “art capital of the Philippines” in spite of the boom of art and entertainment that is taking place right next door in Metro Manila. Those who are influential and “in the know” who live in Manila still look to Angono for great musicians/artists. The physical attributes could very well have played an enormous role in the formation of an art culture given the beautiful views of Laguna de Bay and the temperate climate that seems to make this locality seem so distant from the hustle and bustle of Manila. Moreover, the cultural practices, as in other places, have been the biggest reason people wanted to learn art. That, plus an educational opportunity surely made not a few people seriously consider learning music. Taking the experience as a whole, one can come to the conclusion that, like many “art capitals” in the world, like Paris, New York City, Hollywood, and now even Bollywood, art can simply become the way of life for the members of a community. When people through particular circumstances and experiences in their lives are pushed to a limit that inspires them to express themselves in ways beyond words, their ability to use their senses to convey a much deeper message is transformed into a new language. For Angono, this new language has helped form a national consciousness that continues to develop over 100 years after our nation gained her independence. We must continue to learn from the lessons of the past about how to use the artistic talent of a people for the strengthening of a society. The recipes for such a crusade can be found in the little fishing village beyond the hills of Antipolo on the shores of Laguna de Bay.





BIBLIOGRAPHY

Internet:

“Musikong Bumbong” http://www.imagesphilippines.com/viewmage.php?id=976

Books:

Bañas, Raymundo Castillo. Pilipino Music and Theatre. Quezon City: Manlapaz, 1969.

Roces, Alfredo R. Filipino Heritage: the making of a nation. Vol 6. Quezon City: Lahing Pilipino Publishing. 1977

Tiongson, Nicanor, Ed. CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. Vol. 8: Music. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines, 1994

Tiamson-Rubin, Ligaya G., Ed. Angono Rizal Book 2: Bukal ng Sining. Manila: UST Publishing House, 2003.

Mag-atas, Rosario V. “Agripino ‘Nonoy’ V. Diestro: Conductor, Composer, Arranger.” pp. 47-50

Tiamson-Rubin, Ligaya G., “Prof. Fulgencio U. Gragera: Ang Militar na Musiko.” pp. 81-88.

San Pedro-Guevarra, Joanna Fel. “Ang Angono Sa Paglipas ng Panahon.” pp. 186-196.

Tiamson, Judge Paterno G. Botong at Lucio: Dalawang Higante sa Larangan ng Sining at Kultura: Dangal ng Lahi, Taga-Angono, Rizal, Pilipino. pp. 219-223.

Tiamson-Rubin, Ligaya G. Sining at Kultura sa Bayan ng Angono. Quezon City: Rex Printing Company, Inc., 1992.

Tiamson-Rubin, Ligaya G. Angono Rizal Book 1: Art Capital ng Pilipinas. Manila: UST Publishing House, 2003.

Interviews:

Prof. Leopoldo Lopez, Head of the Winds and Percussions Department, UP College of Music, 1 February 2007, 6.00-7.00pm, UP College of Music

Prof. Agripino Diestro, UP College of Music, Conductor of the Angono National Symphonic Band, Inc., Nephew of Lucio San Pedro, 3 February 2007, Angono, Rizal

Gabby San Pedro Rojas, Lucio San Pedro’s Grandson, Conductor of the Angono National Symphonic Band, Inc., 2 February 2007, San Pedro House, Angono, Rizal

Brgy. Cap. Armando Villamayor, Sr., President, Liga ng mga Barangay, Province of Rizal, Far relative of Carlos Francisco and Lucio San Pedro, 3 February 2007, Brgy. Hall Poblacion Ibaba, Angono, Rizal


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