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| Commentary: Is the ‘compromise agreement’ compromised? |
By Perry Diaz
The recent “compromise agreement” signed by the Hacienda Luisita, Inc., owners and farm workers is now awaiting approval — or rejection — by the Supreme Court. The so-called compromise agreement, submitted to the High Court for approval on Aug. 12, would allow the farmer-beneficiaries to choose ownership of HLI stocks or a parcel of 1,400 hectares of the 6,453-hectare Hacienda Luisita. The remaining undistributed portion — 5,053 hectares — of the plantation would be retained by the Cojuangcos.
According to HLI, 70 percent or 7,441 of the 10,502 farmer-beneficiaries signed the agreement during a referendum conducted from Aug. 6-10. Of those, 98.13 percent or 7,302 voted for the stock distribution option while only 1.88 percent or 139 voted for land distribution. In addition, a financial assistance worth P150 million will be distributed to the farmer-beneficiaries on a staggered basis once the agreement is approved by the Supreme Court.
But while the High Court is reviewing the compromise agreement, several groups —including the powerful Catholic Church — are divided over the terms of the agreement, a situation that could ignite a firestorm of controversy and compromise the agreement itself.
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| Commentary: The Fall of Bataan and the Death March |
By Rudy M. Viernes
The names Normandy, Dunkirk, Bastogne, Iwo Jima, Bataan and Corregidor are hallowed names of places where epic battles of World War II were fought.
Those fought in Bataan and Corregidor became the watershed of the war of attrition in the Philipines, where the Filipinos, trained during the Commonwealth period, had proved their mettle in combat alongside their GI comrades-in-arms.
The remaining forces of the United States Armed Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) composed of Filipinos and Americans then commanded by Gen. Douglas MacArthur were withdrawn to the Bataan Peninsula where they made their last stand against the Japanese banzai attack. The defending army was renamed United States Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) and placed under Gen. Jonathan Wainwright. Gen. MacArthur then retreated to Australia upon order of then President Roosevelt, to plan the liberation of the Philippines which started in October 1944 in the Leyte landing when he announced his return. Before that he made his famous "I Shall Return" vow that resounded around the world.
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| Commentary: The Twenty-First Century and Beyond |
| By John Buckland Jules Verne is credited with originating that wonderful genre of literature we have all come to know and love as science fiction. In his various works about fantastic journeys, made possible by the invention of some extraordinary machine that amazes and delights, the reader is often swept up in Verne’s optimism about scientific development, and how it might enable mankind. Indeed, Verne’s uncanny ability to predict inventions and mechanisms, decades before they came into existence, air conditioning, televisions, and gasoline powered automobiles, just to name a few, have continued to entertain and amaze readers for generations. Verne’s optimism about science has often been interpreted as hope that science would one day save mankind, and much was made of that theme as science fiction matured into its own. The fast pace of technological development in the second half of the twentieth century fueled a Verne-esque optimism where science was widely regarded as the great hope of mankind. Growing up in the 70’s and 80’s, I can’t tell you how many times we were promised that all of our problems would be solved “by the year 2000”. The year 2000 has come and gone, and we find ourselves in as big a mess, economically, socially, and spiritually, as ever. Not for lack of technological progress: science has enabled us, but clearly has not saved us. The splitting of the atom was one of the greatest scientific breakthroughs of all time; it’s right up there with fire, the wheel, and mapping the human genome. It has enabled us to explore the very fabric of time and space. It has also enabled us to utterly destroy ourselves. To place our hope in science would be to take ourselves for granted; for good and for bad. Enabled without proper guidance, we become agents of our own destruction. One of Verne’s early works, censored because of its pessimism, came to light in 1994, Paris in the Twentieth Century, depicts a very different view of the future. His hero, Michel, is a poet, not a scientist. Society has become dominated by business and technology. The only entertainment is government sponsored, and instead of enlightening and inspiring, it simply appeals to the lowest common denominator. Verne makes startling societal predictions about the culturally sterilizing effect of technology, infidelity and dysfunctional families. In the end, Michel, a “poet born too late”, dies alone and unappreciated in a society that has solved most of the world’s technological problems, but has forgotten its soul. |
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| Commentary: On meditation |
By Soly Paraiso
As one of my favorite hobbies, I read books by self-development gurus like Dr. Wayne W. Dyer, Dr. Deepak Chopra, Anthony Robbins, Bob Foster, Jack Canfield and many more. These great thinkers have one thing in common which they suggest to their readers: They practice meditation. Find time to meditate. Spend at least 20 or 30 minutes a day in silence. Be aware of your self. By practicing meditation you will discover who you really are. It piqued my interest that I started researching about meditation. And here’s what I found out:
Meditation is the practice of focusing your attention to help you feel calm and give you a clear awareness about your life. It is a holistic discipline by which the practitioner attempts to get beyond the reflex one “thinking” mind into a deeper state of relaxation or awareness.
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