Fear Factor Tactics of Bishops

On Monday, 26^th, the Philippine Star had a screaming front page headline “CBCP Warns Pro-RH Bets of Catholic Vote.”  The news story cited Lipa Archbishop Ramon Argueles as the one who made the warning.  Such comment of the Archbishop didn’t sit well with media, some politicians, and even with some bishops themselves.  On TV news in the evening, another bishop, also a member of the CBCP, issued a statement that Archbishop Argueles was simply expressing his own personal feelings and beliefs about the issue.  Clearly, this was a case of damage control on the part of the CBCP.  Also, clearly, this line of argument is one of the most common lines of argumentation of politicians who have made very significant mistakes in their pronouncements.  Are the bishops politicians, then?  Looks like they are!

The damage control statement from the CBCP pointed out that the RH Bill was only one of the issues that the CBCP was making statements about, mentioning, among others, corruption, poverty, and the like.  The CBCP has always adopted this approach to damage control, the process of diverting the issue at hand.  If it gets entangled with myriads of issues it shouldn’t be involved in, it refocuses on other side issues.  Madaya nga, e.

The fact is, Archbishop Argueles made a categorical call to voters to  junk politicians who support the RH Bill, calling upon voters to vote as Catholics.  History tells us that in this country there has never been a “Catholic Vote” to speak of, as pointed out by some Congressmen in their privilege speeches in the House of Representatives during the day.  Congressman Edcel Lagman, main author of the RH Bill, claimed that the CBCP is employing again the fear factor in trying to block passage of the bill.

Personally, I am absolutely disgusted by the statement of Archbishop Argueles, in particular, and the Catholic Church, in general.  This is not only interfering in the political processes of this country but a continuation of the tactics of the Catholic Church in this country to subject believers to fear when said believers pursue issues that the bishops claim are anti-Church (when in reality said issues are more anti-bishop statements than otherwise).

The RH Bill, as far as I know, is trying to remedy the problems of this country resulting from too large population, but the bishops are reading into the bill points that are not written there.  They have even warned pro-RH Bill supporters of excommunication (P-Noy was a victim of this tactic of the Catholic church in the Philippines)  if they continued their support for such bill.  The bishops are bringing us back to the era of the Crusades, when Christian knights were commanded by the pope to kill all non-believers of Christianity.  Are the bishops not already fed up with their blood-thirst?

Left and right, we Filipinos are fed by media with information about poverty in this country due (on top of what we observe and already know) mainly because of too many mouths to feed.  Yet, the bishops refuse to look closely.  Of course they can afford to do so in their air conditioned palaces as they feed themselves sumptuously out of first class food they have purchased using blood money (Sunday collections) paid by the extremely poor people of this country. (I know for a fact that in many churches around the country, collections happen even up to three times each day and up to five times each Sunday.) 

I am a disgruntled Catholic practitioner.  When I was younger, I served as a muchacho ng pari in my hometown.  Too, I was an altar boy.  In my hometown, families were assigned days to bring free food items to the Convent for the consumption of the priest.  Normally, this constituted of rice, chicken, and fresh vegetables.  You know what?  People in my hometown do not eat rice or chicken just so they would have something to bring to the Convent to feed the priest.  When I was growing up, my family never ate rice or chicken, just kamote roots and kamote tops, everyday, three times a day.  How did my mother rationalize this?  “We are giving to the priest so that we can be assured of a seat in heaven.”  That remains the main focus of the Church today in the remote villages of this country, through the teaching of doctrina Christiana and katekismo.  Do the bishops know this?  I won’t believe them if they say they don’t because all of them came from that kind of on-the-job training situation.  And don’t you realize, too, that all of the bishops have much bigger bellies compared to most Filipinos in the rural areas (the same people providing free food to priests)?  Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Bishops in this our beloved Philippines are threatening all of us Filipinos with excommunication (and of losing in the elections for politicians)  if we as much as reason out why the Catholic Church must help improve the lives of the poor.  To be frank about it, the Catholic Church in this country has lost its relevance and its bishops are fueling that process by their immoral actions and statements.  My trust in the Catholic Church in this country is gone, but will probably be restored when the church has cleansed itself of the sins its leaders  have committed all these years that they have tried to keep all of us in the dark.

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Congratulations, Marvic

P-Noy has appointed Chief Government Peace Negotiator Mario Victor “Marvic” Leonen Associate Justice of the Supreme Court.  Today, he should be addressed Justice Leonen. At 49, Leonen may be the youngest ever appointed to the Supreme Court (I have always perceived the SC to be exclusive to Seniors).  This means also that he will be with the Supreme Court for 21 years since the retirement age for justices of the Supreme Court is 70.  That’s a long stint with the SC, but I know that Justice Leonen is up to it.

I had the opportunity to work with Justice Leonen when I was Chancellor of the U.P. Open University and he was Vice President for Legal Affairs of the University of the Philippines.  He helped me greatly regarding the legal requirements of the U.P. Open University, which had somewhat different legal requirements being an open university.  I finished my second term as Chancellor on February 28, 2007 and from January to December 2008 I was a member of the UP Board of Regents having been elected Faculty Regent in November 2007.  By 2008, too, Justice Leonen ran for the Deanship of the U.P. College of Law.   Before the BOR elected the Dean of the College of Law, I was asked about my thoughts regarding the selection of Dean.

I believe I made quite a lengthy statement about the nature of the deanship and why it is important to select one who has very high concern for the welfare of both the faculty and studentry.  I didn’t say who my candidate was, but I knew the other members of the BOR were completely aware of who I was pushing to be Dean of the College of Law.  Yes, it was Atty. Marvic Leonen.  My punch line was, “we in the faculty put very high priority to how accessible the Dean is to the students and the faculty.”  Then I added, “please help me select the best dean we could have now for the College of Law.”  And we did.

Justice Leonen is one who studies very carefully an issue before he makes any pronouncement on it, more so if such pronouncement carries with it decisions that would affect people and institutions.  He is a good negotiator, which he initially demonstrated at UP when he negotiated with UP employees about benefits, with informal settlers in the holdings of UP in Diliman, as well as with students regarding significant issues affecting not only the studentry but UP as an institution and the society within which the institution is part of.     (Picture release published by the Philippine Start.)                                        

Congratulations, again, Marvic.  At a very young age, you’ve achieved what all lawyers want to achieve in their lifetime, becoming Justice of the Supreme Court.

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Two Issues in Devcom: A Brief Commentary

Let’s Clarify The Points

During the CDCEPP Conference at ISU-Cabagan, Isabela last Friday, November 9^th, two major issues that were raised dealt with what appeared to be the orientation of many current development  communication researchers and academics in the Philippines.  The questions raised were: “what scientific paradigm are we supposed to follow, positivism or critical theory?”  and “in devcom are we supposed to deal only with non-formal education and not include formal education in our work?”  Frankly, I was caught by surprise by these questions because these have never been issues for me. 

I didn’t have time to think through the questions well during the open forum after my keynote address.  Let me try to deal with these issues here.  I’d like to expound on my personal position on these issues a little bit more lest I be taken out of context.  I’m not going to begin lecturing on the philosophical foundations of communication research or the bases for establishing academic disciplines, though. 

To begin with, let me emphasize that I’m not infallible in this discussion.  And this discussion is based basically on my own synthesis and interpretation of the available literature on devcom, and it is entirely possible that I differ substantially with many (both experts and students of devcom) regarding the points that I shall highlight.  Consequently, too, I shall not be citing my sources as I’m talking from the point of view of personal synthesis and interpretation of the literature as I see it.  Therefore, take my arguments based on their premises.

The Issue of Research Orientation

As far as the area of research is concerned, let me just point out that in doing development communication research all these years, I have seen colleagues doing studies of various orientations and intentions.   To interconnect with the terminologies that are quite current among younger researchers and academics, let’s look at some dichotomies of the research methodologies employed.

 There are those who talk about the research spectrum from positivism to post modernism, or from empiricism to critical analysis, or from scientistic inquiry to naturalistic inquiry, or from quantitative to qualitative methods.  Me, I started from positivism or empiricism, or quantitative analysis as my background is in agriculture.  Migrating to the social sciences, however, necessitated that I embrace other methodological approaches when this became necessary.  I have learned, however, that what is important is the rigor, not the label.  As a researcher, I may be classified as a positivist or empiricist rather than post modernist but that doesn’t mean I can’t interpret accurately qualitative data and information.  I must point out, however, that many times I need as much quantitative information as I can lay my hands on in order to arrive at a good qualitative interpretation of a phenomenon.

Let me point out that from my personal viewpoint one doesn’t really shift permanently from one methodology to another.  In this respect, you don’t burn your bridges after crossing them because you’ll need them quite frequently again and again as you navigate through the required analytical framework you have decided to employ in dealing with your data.  Too, you must look at or mentally  analyze your data first before determining what analytical technique would be most appropriate.  It’s not the case where you first determine you’d do quantitative or qualitative analysis prior to gathering your data and limit yourself to such methodological approach in spite of your data.  That could really be potentially disastrous.  You could make inappropriate conclusions  based on erroneous  analysis and interpretation of your data.

There are data that make much more sense when quantified, but numerous data or pieces of information provide more significant meaning when analyzed qualitatively. 

For example, I’ve always made this argument:  suppose you’re deciding to purchase a kilo of seedless atis and you didn’t know how sweet this particular variety on sale is.  Would you rather subject the fruit to fructose content analysis?  Of course, you can do that, but most would simply take a sample fruit and taste it.

Anyway, let’s say your test indicated that one fruit showed this value, 0.5472 mg fructose and another indicated 0.5474 mg fructose.  Naturally, you’d conclude that the fruit that has 0.5474 mg fructose would be sweeter.  And the individual who simply tasted the fruit selected a piece of fruit, which indicated upon testing that it had only 0.3567 mg fructose.  Question is, which is really sweeter?  The values (figures) in this particular situation don’t mean much.  What matters is how the fruits tasted according to the taste buds of the individual who is going to make the purchase.

What’s the point?   We need to  be certain that our data dictate the mode of analysis we should employ.  It is not as if we set out to do quantitative research and stick by that in spite of the presence of significant data (that could actually influence your conclusions) that may not be explainable through quantified techniques.   You can’t say in final terms that in development communication we are post modernists, not positivists, or the other way around.   In trying to understand the development issues that we deal with, we employ multiple methodologies in order to arrive at the best interpretation of issues so we can arrive at the most appropriate approaches to resolve the issues.  That could either be positivist orientation or post modern orientation.  We move back and forth.  I guess what I’m also trying to say is that we can’t do well in qualitative research unless we as well have mastered the techniques of quantitative analysis.

Perhaps a mistake that many commit is that they pigeon-hole themselves into one single methodological orientation.  To say the least, this could easily lead to serious miscalculations in the application of communication principles and theories to the resolution of development issues.

The Function of Devcom in Education

During the CDCEPP Conference, another issue raised was, “should we in devcom now focus on formal education or remain in nonformal education?”  I must admit that the point is not clear to me.  Still, let me endeavor to clarify my own personal position on what I believe is the issue at hand.

In the past, it wasn’t difficult for us to say that when it comes to education we in the field of development communication were operating within the parameters of nonformal education.  Formal education is the area of educationists.  I think that a possible source of confusion would be the sources of influences in the development of the idea of devcom in its early beginnings.  In my discussion of the devcom-corporate communication-masscom contagion, I pointed out that devcom was basically influenced by agricultural journalism, educational communication technology, and advertising. 

To be sure, devcom principles and techniques are, indeed, applicable in both formal and nonformal education processes.  After all, like I have said in the conference, communication is, all other things being equal, the catalyst of all human activities.   How can devcom apply in formal education?  We can employ devcom principles and techniques in making content better understood by the learner.  And that’s it.  We can’t change content.   We can only facilitate learning by facilitating the communication process that goes on in formal education (as in classroom instruction).  In formal education, communication becomes a tool of the learner, not content to be learned, except in the case of communication being curriculum content.

Is the confusion found in the area of educational communication?  By definition, educational communication refers to the application of communication in facilitating the educational process.  This is very clear in the literature of educational communication and technology.   If, on the other hand, our point of discussion is the function of development communication in education, then clearly we deal with the application of development communication as a tool to facilitate the educational process.  In fact, over all, that’s what we do, to facilitate. 

That word is loaded, indeed.

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Sites in the Last Month

Let's Go See Some Ordinary Places 

The places Jegs and I have visited the last month are certainly not out of this world.  They’re as ordinary as anything one can see.  Perhaps the only difference is that I looked at them from another point of view.

Let me begin with a few more details found in Panyesanan, the Garden-in-the-Farm place of my brother, retired UPLB-CHE Dean Flor Librero in Bgy. Rizal, Lipa City.  Among others, this dwarf pomelo is quite productive.  

It didn’t come from a real dwarf variety, but it has been bearing fruits in spite of its size.  The fruit is sweet considering it comes from Bangkok, courtesy of Dean Flor’s old friend, Dr. Pot of Kasetsart University, who brought with him an entire pomelo fruit when he visited Panyesanan many years ago.  Dean Flor and Dr. Pot were classmates in their PhD years at Louisiana State University in the USA.  Dr. Pot passed away about fifteen years ago.

At Panyesanan, one can also enjoy a small population (just about 40 heads) of noisy geese (specially when strangers keep on coming closer), and sheep (about 140 heads) grazing in the open grassland or under the shades.  If you go anywhere in the pasture area, holding leaves of banana, you can be sure they’ll come surrounding you until you give them their share of the banana leaves.  Those that do not get their share would simply leave with the others probably thinking, “oh, well, maybe it’s not our day yet.”  Unlike, people, they’ll not make a fuss.

Also, during the last couple of weeks, Jegs and I visited one resto in Sta. Rosa City and saw this …  Symbol of the resto's clients, perhaps?

Back at UPLB, whenever Jegs and I go jogging, Waku, our Shi Tzu pet, always comes along.  In one of those jogging sessions, he looked very interested, although a bit tired.

On November 8^th, Jegs accompanied me to Cabagan, Isabela, where I gave the Keynote Address before the 2^nd national conference of the Consortium of Development Communication Educators and Practitioners in the Philippines (CDEPP). 

Along the way, we saw quite a few sceneries that caught our attention.  For example, here’s a couple harvesting snails from a pool of water on the rice land near PhilRice in Muños, Nueva Ecija.  Interesting that there is still water in this paddy after sometime of dry season.

Farther up north, I didn’t take pictures of the road construction going on at Dalton Pass, but the work simply stalled traffic for hours.  

When we got to the Sta. Fe (Nueva Viscaya) side and on to the interior of Nueva Viscaya, we saw the hills completely denuded.  Of course, this has been there for many, many years now, but with this scenery do you still really wonder why the river bed is dry?  Or why there are frequent floods?

When we got to Cordon, Isabela, we stopped by this new facility that boasts it has the best restrooms.  Indeed, the restrooms were beautiful and clean.  They’re probably very new, too.  Travelers do take their meals here, but the things you can buy from this facility are available in most convenient stores in the Metropolis.  They should be selling more native products from Isabela and Nueva Viscaya in this place.  But, of course, that's my opinion only.

When we got to ISU Cabagan Campus, some 14 hours drive from Los Baños, we were billeted at the Ranch-Residential house of Isbela Vice Governor Rodito Albano (we were, after all, in Albano country) on a hill in a 1,000 hectare ranch at the outskirts of Cabagan.  We were billeted (two nights) in this Ranch House with a Mexican-oriented architecture courtesy of the Vice Governor’s old friend and a former student of mine, Prof. Toni Bacullug of ISU Cabagan.  We had the Ranch House all to ourselves because the Vice Governor, we were informed, was on vacation in Europe.  We moved around the area, enjoying the exterior scenery, but kept out of other interior areas except in the guest room assigned to us.  We were treated very well by the courteous staff.  We learned the Vice Governor is well-loved in Isabela.  In fact, we learned he's running for Congressman unopposed.

 

I don’t know how many heads of cattle there were in the ranch, but we saw a small herd roaming around near the house.  From this hilltop ranch rest house, we could see the province of Cagayan and part of the Cagayan River winding through the plains.  Jegs and I enjoyed the outdoor patio of the rest house.

In the morning we woke to appreciate the thick fog, which does happen only now and then, according to the caretaker. 

The opening of the conference had the following guests: (L-R) Dr. Edwin Macabullog, ISU-Cabagan Campus Executive Director; Hon. Christopher Mamauag, Mayor of Cabagan; Dr. Serlie Jamias, President of CDCEPP, and Dr. Lex Librero, Keynote Speaker, all listening to the Executive Assistant of the Governor of Isabela delivering the welcome message of Gov. Faustino Dy III, who was unable to attend.

After the opening program and the keynote address, the participants of the conference were very busy with the photo-ops. 

Smaller groups had their pictures taken with us after the main photo-ops.

My message to the participants of the conference was: Devcom as Mindset, is it Possible?  After my speech, there was a lengthy open forum where participants asked me to respond to specific issues about contemporary issues on development communication, to which I gamely responded.  I think that the participants understood me when I said that when we communicate we do not intend to be a pure development communicator, or mass communicator, or corporate communicator, but our act of communicating is so labeled according to the context in which we communicate so that some may call us as development communicators, or mass communicators, or corporate communicators, or some other classification.  What makes your communication different is the context in which you are communicating.