WELLNESS IN ENVIRONMENT: Proposal to Resume Peace Talks: The Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment proposes that one immediate basis for the resumption of the peace talks is for both parties to start discussing how to address pressing environmental challenges and problems in the country. - See more at: http://bulatlat.com/main/2014/06/06/for-the-sake-of-our-environment-resume-the-peace-talks. For the sake of our environment, resume the peace talks « Bulatlat

CLICK LINK TO READ MORE: For the sake of our environment, resume the peace talks « Bulatlat: "There is no reason for the peace talks between the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), representing the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), and the Government of the Philippines (GPH) not to resume. Resolving the roots of the ongoing civil war—landlessness, poverty, neo-colonial exploitation and subservience—is an aspiration of the Filipino people that will also give us time and space to rehabilitate our environment devastated by conflict and plunder."



'via Blog this'

WELLNESS IN CULTURE: APOLINARIO MABINI, THE MODEL OF INTEGRITY - Mabini was born July 23 or 24, 1864 in Barangay Talaga, Tanauan, Batangas, the second of eight children of dirt poor parents — Dionisia Maranan, a market vendor and Inocencio Mabini, an illiterate farmer. His education was often interrupted by poverty. He was brilliant and in 1881, he received a scholarship from San Juan de Letran College. From there he moved to the University of Santo Tomas which granted him his law degree in 1894. As with many of the ilustrados of that period, he joined the La Liga Filipina which asked for reforms from the Spanish rulers. It was after Rizal’s execution in 1896 that he gave the revolution his fullest support. In 1898, upon his return from exile in Hong Kong, Aguinaldo heard of Mabini’s intellectual prowess and he asked Mabini who was then crippled to be prime minister and foreign secretary of the Malolos Republic. As the second highest official of the fledgling republic, Mabini became frustrated and embittered, not so much by the threat of an American victory, but by rivalries in the hierarchy, disobedience in the Army, and most of all by Aguinaldo’s disdain for so many of his suggestions and solutions as embodied in his memos to him, to friends and cabinet members. He had enemies for sure among the ilustrados who surrounded Aguinaldo. They called him “The Black Chamber” of the President and, worse, gossiped about syphilis as the cause of his paralysis. I have already written about this, how I swallowed this gossip and included it in the first edition of Po-on — where the fictional Mabini is a major character. This is an old tactic of Filipinos inflamed by jealousy, envy or simple cussedness: demolish the critic, destroy his credibility — never mind the criticism. Unable to take the violence on his integrity, Mabini quit the Malolos government in May 1899, then hid in the towns of Balungaw and Rosales, Pagansinan where he had friends among the Aglipayans and officials there. The Americans who had occupied Manila earlier had captured Malolos and Aguinaldo had moved to Tarlac. Although no longer in government, he continued writing articles and letters to friends and officials who asked for his advice. His pain, his loneliness and frustrations stain all those letters and memos. He signed them “Ap Mabini.” The Spaniards underestimated Mabini primarily because he was a cripple. Had they known of his intellectual perspicacity, they would have killed him earlier. The Americans did not. They were aware of his superior intelligence, his tenacity when he faced them in negotiations for autonomy and ceasefire. The Malolos Republic had fallen, the revolutionary Army in disarray and Aguinaldo fled to the North with the Americans at his heels. Mabini stayed in Rosales for a few weeks, then he hid in the town of Cuyapo south of Rosales, a few kilometers away. It was there where he was finally captured in December 1899. As the story goes, the Americans went up to the house where Mabini was. They told everyone to stand up, and being a cripple, Mabini did not rise — that is how he was identified. Mabini was brought to Manila where he was asked to sign the oath of allegiance to the Untied States. Like Artemio Ricarte and the others, he refused. He was exiled to Guam for two years and lived in what was once the quarters for lepers. That irony was not lost on him. By then, together with Spanish and Latin, he had mastered English well enough to write in it. His health declined so he finally decided to sign the oath and return to the Philippines, primarily “to die” in his native land as he himself said in his last will and testament. He did not leave anything to his heirs. He never got rich. In Manila as in the past, he continued lawyering for the very poor, the destitute. In 1903, frail of health, he died of cholera. He was 39. Newspaper accounts of his funeral describe the thousands who lined the streets — the biggest ever, illustrating his tremendous impact on the common man. In his book, A Short History of the Philippine Revolution, Mabini condemned the Bonifacio assassination as “the first triumph of personal ambition upon true patriotism.” In hindsight, he concluded that “the revolution failed because it was badly directed, because its director gained his place not by meritorious, but by irresponsible actions; because instead of sustaining the most useful men for the country, he rendered them useless by jealousy. Believing that the aggrandizement of the people was but his own aggrandizement, he did not appreciate the merit of men by their capacity, character and patriotism but by the degree of friendship and kindred that tied them to him; and wanting to have his favorites ready to sacrifice themselves for him, he became indulgent even with their faults. May we not forget so terrible a lesson, learned at the expense of unspeakable sufferings.” - Ap Mabini, the Filipino Everyman | Arts and Culture, Lifestyle Features, The Philippine Star | philstar.com

CLICK LINK TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE HINDSIGHT By F. Sionil Jose (The Philippine Star) | Updated May 26, 2014 - 12:00am : Ap Mabini, the Filipino Everyman | Arts and Culture, Lifestyle Features, The Philippine Star | philstar.com:

WELLNESS IN EDUCATION: Cebu leaders recall heroes of revolution. Public high school students performed a seven-minute play on the Filipinos’ struggle against the Spanish colonial rule. Local government officials in Cebu led the celebration of the 116th Independence Day by raising the Philippine flag and laying wreaths at the monuments of heroes. Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide urged Cebuanos to remember those who gave their lives for the country’s freedom. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama used the occasion to talk about other forms of bondage: indifference and corruption. He then led other officials in releasing doves and butterflies to symbolize independence. Before holding a short program at the Rizal-Bonifacio stage across the City Hall, City employees and officials in Mandaue heard mass at the St. Joseph National Shrine. Officials and employees of 27 barangays also participated in the celebration.| Sun.Star.

Cebu leaders recall heroes of revolution | Sun.Star: "During his speech, Davide said his administration recognizes the importance of protecting civil liberties, citing Capitol’s openness to the media and the public.

“It is our duty and obligation to preserve this freedom,” he said.

Newly installed Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Prudencio Bañas and Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) Director Noel Gillamac joined the Capitol’s celebration of Independence Day.

At Cebu City Hall, Rama urged local government officials and employees to help in the fight against corruption.

“We should be emancipated from the bondage of arrogance of corruption,” he said in his speech. He said that it is time for Cebuanos to stop being indifferent and help fight corruption."



'via Blog this'