Morality Check

      I am really disappointed with the issue involving Laguna Representative Benjamin Agarao. That was such a lame act by Mr. Agarao. And what really disappointed me more is Mr. Agarao’s statement saying “Walang malisya..” and “Depende yan sa appreciation..” I mean, seriously? H E L L O! Go get a morality check, Mr.! And with regards to your “depende yan sa appreciation” principle. Well I don’t think it’s applicable to everyone, because not everyone can appreciate that kind of act.
      Moreover, while those dancers were doing that act, weren’t you aware that you guys were in public and that there were young and innocent minds watching that act? You should have been considerate! We do not care whoever that Poncio Pilato gave you that so-called “gift”. We don’t care! It’s yours! However, that is a kind of gift that is not supposed to be in public and should have been in a private room, where you can practice your “depende yan sa appreciation” principle.

      And with regards to your statement “Kami dito (sa Laguna), iba ang kultura namin…” By saying this, you are simply implying that people of Laguna do appreciate this kind of act, as you claim that this is something “cultural” in Laguna. I am not from Laguna but I don’t think that people of Laguna can appreciate that kind of act.

      As a politician, you must set good examples for your constituents to follow. You must be the one to take care of your constituents – in every aspect and in any possible way.

      I couldn’t help but to get annoyed of the fact that you considered those women as gift, and that you had fun watching women depicting such lewd acts. Ugh! Where are your values? Your respect for women? Are these the values you want your constituents to learn from you?

      Personally, I think that this must fall under the Obscenity Law. According to the Section 3 of the Anti-Obscenity and Pornography Act of 2008, "Obscene" refers to anything that is indecent or offensive or contrary to good customs or religious beliefs, principles or doctrines, or tends to corrupt or deprave the human mind, or is calculated to excite impure thoughts or arouse prurient interest, or violates the proprieties of language and human behavior, regardless of the motive of the producer, printer, publisher, writer, importer, seller, distributor or exhibitor such as, but not limited to:

(1) Showing, depicting or describing sexual acts;

(2) Showing, depicting or describing human sexual organs or the

(3) Showing, depicting or describing completely nude human

(4) Describing erotic reactions, feelings or experiences on sexual female breasts; bodies; acts; or

(5) Performing live sexual acts of whatever form.

Hey! It's something CULTURAL!

An open letter to Mr. KC Montero:

           First and foremost, I have nothing against your opinion about breastfeeding in public. Everything you’ve said solely reflected your own opinion, and I can do nothing about it. But let me lay down my points about this matter:

                I am pretty sure that you are aware that breastfeeding in public is very Filipino culture. In fact, it has been practiced by many Filipino moms for a very long time to the extent that we find it “usual”. This is what I meant about “very Filipino culture”.

            Scientifically speaking, breastfeeding is best for babies (nothing beats breast milk, right?). Of course, mothers only want what’s best for their babies – whenever, wherever.

               

      Now, if breastfeeding in public gives some sort of “awkward” feeling to anybody, it their hitch, not the mothers. They are just doing what they are supposed to do, and that is to feed their babies with their healthy milk, regardless of time and place. In addition, no mother wants to be harassed or to be some sort of ‘’object of desire” to the public, right? And what really amuses me more is that others still find it awkward considering the fact that they are Filipinos themselves; and I am pretty sure that this is not new to them since this is something so cultural to us! In fact, they may be breastfed before by their own mothers. So for those who feel awkward in breastfeeding in public, you might want to ask your mother if you, for once, has been breastfed in public.

          And to conclude this opinion, I just want to express that I am very proud to those breastfeeding moms, and I know they feel the same way too, because nothing beats the feeling of being able to provide what your child deserves and to provide it without thinking twice.

Salute to all breastfeeding moms out there!

What Lies Underneath

     August 28, 2015 – thousands of Iglesia Ni Cristo members formed in front of the Department of Justice for their so-called “Prayer Vigil” The root cause of this massive formation of INC members was the belief that the DOJ is interfering on their religion, particularly with their internal issues. Prior to this scenario, Isaias Samson, former member of INC, accused higher officials of INC of illegally detaining him and his family. According to Samson’s statement, his family was prohibited to leave their house, or even call anybody, which according to him, was harassment. Samson also said on his statement that the INC officials did such act for they believe that he created a blog exposing alleged anomalies within their religion, although the article was named after the author Antonio Ebanghelista. Samson was the former Editor-in-Chief of the INC’s official publication.

      Samson and his family filed charges of harassment, illegal detention, threats, and coercion against members of the Sanggunian, the INC’s administrative council. After the filing of the charges, members of INC believe that the Justice Department was giving “extraordinary attention” to the cases, and for them, this is an apparent intervention of the DOJ on their religion. Moreover, they also emphasized on their prayer vigil the so-called Separation of Church and State – which they believe being violated by the Justice Department.

Was the action of the INC members appropriate in terms of exercising their rights for freedom of expression?

     

       - Definitely yes! They were able to express their stand regarding the issue. In fact, I really adore their unity. This is one of the many religious groups out there where you can really see unity. However, I don’t think they are fighting for the right reason. I mean, they immediately formed a massive crowd without even scrutinizing the real issue here. Speaking of the massive crowd, I really feel awful for the commuters (students, workers, etc.) and other commoners for experiencing delay, hassle and inconvenience. I’ve read a lot of posts on social media expressing their dismay about the inconvenience they’ve been through caused by this massive crowd. I definitely have nothing against their formation. I respect it. It’s how they express their faith. However, as they utilize this freedom of expression, they must also take into considerations, some possible effects of their act (heavy traffic, inconvenience, garbages, noise etc.), that would certainly affect members or non-members of INC.

Do you think the “Separation of Church and State” was violated in this case?

      

      - The 1987 Philippine Constitution declares: The Separation of Church and State is Inviolable. Under this policy, the state shall not interfere with the affairs of the church and vice-versa. And in this case, I don’t think that this Separation of Church and State was violated in any way. According to the Ateneo Professor and Religion Sociologist Jayeel Cornello, the DOJ is just merely doing its usual function as a government agency. There were charges filed and the Justice Department doesn’t have a choice but to act upon these cases. “They can protest if they want to, but the issue is not religious”, said Cornello. In fact, these cases (harassment, illegal detention, threats, and coercion) are not religious matters at all. So I don’t think DOJ is intervening their doctrine, faith or religion in general. The Department of Justice can confidently say: Trabaho lang po, walang personalan.

As a member or non-member of any religious group, do you believe that this issue is about the religion?

      - No. There was no religious matter being violated at all, this is all about human rights. Hence, the issue itself doesn’t have to do with religion. There was just misinterpretation and misconception of the real issues here.

References:

Imbong J. (2015). Separation of Church and State. www.cbcpnews.com

Punay et., al. (2015). DOJ probe of INC continues. www.philstar.com

Rex R. (2015). DOJ not violating INC’s Religious Freedom – sociologist. www.cnnphilippines.com

Freedom as Power

      As a citizen of a democratic country, we are all bestowed our freedom – and this is something that all of us must be thankful for. We have the freedom to choose the religion that suits perfectly to our beliefs, freedom to dress the way we want, freedom to vote, freedom to articulate or express anything and a lot of things where we can exercise our freedom. However, as we are entitled to have this freedom, we are also expected to exercise it responsibly – and that is not to go beyond our boundaries.

      “With great power comes great responsibility.” This famous line from the movie Spiderman sounds very cliché, but it does make sense. Personally, I think of freedom as POWER – power that gives you courage to speak what’s on your mind and to act what you think would satisfy you. SO IF FREEDOM IS POWER, THEREFORE, WE ARE ALL POWERFUL! Sounds great, isn’t it? However, there is no such thing as ABSOLUTE. Everything has limitations, and this is what all of us should know.

                                                                                              

      Let’s try to imagine if every single individual in the society exercises freedom, EXCESSIVELY! Can you imagine what could possibly happen? CHAOS! An individual using freedom irresponsibly could eventually halt somebody else’s freedom. An individual who does not think of anyone else as long as he says and does anything he wants, is someone who evidently abuses the use of freedom. Let’s just think of this: you have the freedom to express anything, particularly on social media. You have expressed your stand regarding an issue, but you did offend certain individuals. No doubt, this is still freedom as you were able to state your side FREELY, however, that is such FREEDOM USED IRRESPONSIBLY. And this is exactly what I mean that excessive and irresponsible use of freedom can lead to chaos.

      At the end of the day, we just have to keep in mind that THERE IS NO ABSOLUTE FREEDOM, it has certain boundaries that as much as we can, let’s try not to go beyond. Let’s try to comprehend how freedom really works and as to what extent. And yes, it is true that freedom is such a GLORIOUS POWER when used sensibly, but at the same time, it can also be a DESTRUCTIVE POWER to the society when used irresponsibly.

Newbie here!

Hey everyone! I'm Jonas, and I am a newbie here :) I am sooo excited to try this out! Hope to find my right place here in blogging. By the way, I am so much open to your suggestions, comments, reactions, and criticisms as well. These are all part of our learning experience :')

Bye for now! :) <3