Panorama

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Part of Panorama

Title: Panorama
Issue Date: Volume XX (Issue No. 3) March 1968
Year: 1968
Language: English
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extracted text: 'SumiA Mi lelloai JtylMi: PANORAMA needs intelligent readers of: 1. Informative materials 2. Interesting ideas 3. Enlightening opinions 4. Broadening views 5. Controversial thoughts 6. Critical comments 7. Idealistic suggestions 8. Humorous remarks 9. Serious statements 10. Meditations on life and work. All these are either original productions or selective adap tions and condensations from Philippine and foreign publica tions. Usually brief and compact, lasting from two to ten minutes to read, each article offers a rewarding experience in one’s moments of leisure. Relax with Panorama. We say this to the busy student and the .teacher, the lawyer and the physician, the dentist and the engineer, the executive and the farmer, the politician and the preacher, the employer and the employee. PANORAMA is specially designed for Filipinos — young, middle-aged, and old, male and female, housekeeper and houselizard. Special rates on November 1, for new and renewal 1966: subscriptions to begin 1 copy ..................................... 1 year ..................................... 2 years .................................... Foreign rate: .......................... 50 centavos P5.00 P9.00 $3.00 (U. S.) For one year’s subscription of 5 pesos, a person receives the equivalent of 12 compact pocketbooks of lasting value and and varied interest. COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC. Inverness, (M. Carreon) St., Sta. Ana, Manila, Philippines TNI PNIUPPINt MAGAZINE Of OOOO HIAOING Entered as second class mail matter at the Manila Post Office on Dec. 7, 1955 Vol. XX MANILA, PHILIPPINES No. 3 EDUCATION TO SAVE HUMAN RESOURCES One of the most important consequences of the intro duction of a continuing education system is that failure ceases to matter or, at any rate, matters much less. We have seen that as things are organized and run at present, many of those who start schooling either fail to complete their studies or are eliminated by the harsh workings of selection. Without going into the unfortunate and sometimes inhuman consequences of this wastage, it is economic non sense. Enormous quantities of material and intellectual capital, skill, time and financial resources are invested in undertakings where it is known in advance that a high pro portion doomed from the outset to total or partial failure. In point of fact, the knowledge acquired at school, whatever it may be, is a positive factor on the basis of which and with the help of which all men, no matter what level they may have reached, have to build their lives and fulfill a cultural destiny. This is obviously possible only within a global system where adults, having regard to their age and educational background, can continue educational activities appropriate to their intellectual level, their curiosity and the collective needs of society. Continuing education is there fore the only means of making educational processes as a whole fully effective from the economic point of view no less than from the intellectual and spiritual points of view. — Prom Unesco Papers, Nov. 26, 1965. ■ Dr. Conant gives us his views on how to make a good teacher. HOW TO TRAIN TEACHERS James Bryant Conant, for mer president of Harvard University, has written an other book which was pub lished a few months ag® and entitled “The Education of American Teachers.” Dr. Conant tells us nothing new when the states that “vast numbers of youth are being taught by inadequately pre pared teachers.” But his fame as a great educator is sure to make his book the subject of talk, newspaper editorials, and faculty-club discussions. According to a magazine review, this book represents two years of work, hundreds of interviews, and thousand of miles of travel to college campuses and state capitals by Dr. Conant and his nine assistants. The sub jects \yhich are discussed in it include the problem of how to teach, train, and cer tify the nation’s teachers. Dr. Conant, as many others before him, is convinced, on the basis of his actual find ings that the present system of certifying teachers on the basis of course credits and licensing exams does not gua rantee that they will know either how to teach or what to teach. He condemned the so-called survey courses in education which have been boring to students in many teachers colleges. “I have found little evidence that these courses stimulate a student to read either deeply or widely,” says Conant. He recommends the elimination of courses in “The Founda tions of Education” because “not only are they usually worthless, but they give edu cation departments a bad name.” He is completely convinced of the uselessness of the “methods’ courses and Au dio-Visual Techniques.” The best place to learn how to teach, says Conant unequi 2 Panorama vocally, is in the classroom. The most dependable test of a teacher’s qualifications, he asserts, “should be how he actually performs in a class room.” To make certain that teachers really can teach, he suggests overhaul ing the present “slip-shod” and “apalling” system of practice teaching. Instead of filling out forms and help ing children put on their shoes, a student teacher should be trained gradually “to assume full responsibility for an extended period of instruction, which he plans, executes, and evaluates.” So he suggests the establish ment of an efficient practice teaching program, and urges the abolition of the system of course-counting and licens ing exams. In his key recom mendation Conant proposes that any graduate of a re cognized college be permit ted to teach provided he has successfully functioned as a practice teacher and that his college or university endorses his teaching qualifications. — V.G.S„ Philippine Weekly Review, Sept. 27, 1963. NOBEL PRIZE The fact that the Nobel Prize was not accorded to me was doubly pleasant: first, because it saved me from the painful necessity of dealing in some way with money — generality regarded as very neces sary and useful, but which I regard as the source of every kind of evil; and secondly, because it has af forded to people whom I respect the opportunity of expressing their sympathy with me, for which I thank you all from my heart. — Leo Tolstoy March 19C8 ■ Preview of a book that tells how to spot the young criminal before he gets started. WHAT MAKES A JUVENILE DELINQUENT? If potential lawbreakers could be spotted on their first day in school — before they have ever thrown stones at train windows, set fire to houses, slugged, stolen or murdered — we could save lives, careers, untold heart aches and literally billions of dollars every year. This old dream of psycho logists and churchmen comes much nearer to reality-in a re port just , issued on to scien tific study of the problem by Sheldon Glueck, professor of crirninal law and criminology, and his wife, Dr. Eleanor Touroff Glueck, research as sociate, of the Harvard Law School. Their survey throws a hopeful light on the riddle of hostile character and in corrigible behavior. In a New York tenement two brothers were born a year or so apart. They play ed in the same alleys, were neglected by the same mo ther, abused by the same father. One became a gang ster and a killer. The other became a detective whose grim job it was to bring his own brother to justice. What made the brothers different? The overwhelming majority of boys born in wrong streets and reared in wrong families turn out all right. What is the basic difference between the majority who turn out good and the few who, turn out bad? It was the purpose of the Gluecks’ inquiry to find all the factors which are common to child offenders. The Gluecks began their ten-year exploration by care fully selecting 1000 young sters. Five hundred were normal boys doing well in home and school. The othei 500 had all been in police trouble — most of them sen tenced to reformatories after Panorama judges, doctors, social agen cies and church workers had tried in vain to help them. The investigators decided to match, as nearly as possible, bad boys with good boys of equal age, background, intel ligence and disposition. But twos and twos of 1000 lads were laboriously paired. The troublemaker from a family paying $26 a month rent must have his opposite number from a similar low-rent fami ly; Greeks to match Greeks; a stepson for a stepson. The boys were weighed, measured and photographed. A med ical examination was follow ed by tests of intelligence and achievement, a study of traits and a psychiatric inter view. Family backgrounds and personal histories were explored. Out of a maze of facts and statistics there emerges an astounding creature a compo site juvenile delinquent. Not in body, mind or spirit is he what you might expect would make for dynamic manhood if drawn into dif ferent channels! Far from being the under privileged runt of sentimental legend,- the delinquent is likely to have the form of an athlete. There is nothing un dernourished about him; in height and weight he is supe rior to most of the good boys. He is more masculine, a fel low of bone and muscle, with broad shoulders and chest, tapering torso and narrow hips. This portrait of an ath letic, masculine delinquent does not, in the words of the authors, “in any sense repre sent merely random vari ations. It is a meaningful anatomical pattern.” More surprises appear in the health examination. The delinquent is not at all the product of bodily disease or weakness. There is “little if any difference in the general health of the two groups.” Except for one thing, the handgrip of the delinquent is stronger, reflecting greater vitality. “There is” the re port recalls, “a popular no tion that juvenile delinquents are on the whole a less healthy group of youngsters. The facts by no means bear out this belief.” Another surprise, “There is a significant difference in the proportion of delinquents and March 1968 5 non-delinquents evidencing neurological handicaps of one sore or another.” What difference? More good boys have neurological or psychoneurotic troubles than do bad boys! How intelligent is this men tally and physically healthy delinquent? The survey de monstrated that low mentality is not a characteristic of ju venile delinquency. While in certain tests the delinquent is a little inferior, he is in other somewhat superior. Out of thousands of tests in “handmindedness.” for example, he emerges to convince the •Gluecks that delinquents “evidently have a little more sort of creative ability.” But it is in temperamental make-up that more positive factors of delinquency ap pear. Our feelings have more to do with shaping character and behavior than our brains have. These deep er aspects are explored by use of the Rorschack test, which psychologists regard as a powerful instrument in diagnosis. With ten ink blots on cards, examiners draw from a child the darkest secrets of his mind. What does the shapeless blotch make him think of? Telling what thoughts it evokes in him, the boy begins to reveal himself. The inquirers learn that from earliest childhood the delinquent has found it hard to “think and act in the ways of the community,” which means that he lacks what we call common sense. He seems constitutionally unable to fol low a methodical approach to any problem; his “social as sertion” gets in the way. This “social assertion” is his deter mination to assert not his rights or his opinions but his will. He wants what he wants when he wants it, never mind what anybody else says or thinks. To his nature all submissiveness is odious. As if by instinct, he refuses to respect any rules. Here is a major symptom. In this dan gerous difference lies the boy’s defiance of decent and natural restraints. Far from having feelings of insecurity or anxiety, the boy suffers from neither frustra tion nor inferiority. He does not worry about losing his job, his home or his liberty. He is loftily sure he is smart enough to take care of him self. He is a superior being 6 Panorama who is not appreciated. With grandiose notions about his destiny, he has no normal fear of failure or defeat. In curable optimist, when the law catches up with him he is always sure that the next time he will “get away with it.” He is the most self-re liant of lads; the good boy, whom he scorns, is more of ten the one who looks to others for help and encour agement. The delinquent feels no need to live up to the expectations of others; basically he does not wish to cooperate. But he is forever making blunders. He acts on impulse, with little self-control. One can never tell what he will do next. Yet in all his head strong ways he .shows a cer tain charming vivacity, a liveliness ‘ of manner which makes him outshine many a solid and dependable young citizen. Psychologists call him extrovert, because he is likely to get rid of his ten sions through emotional tant rums or rugged action. He doesn’t brood; he explodes. Perhaps his most signifi cant trait is identified in the psychiatric tests when some of his hopes and dreams be gin to appear. Far more than most boys do the incorrigible lad yearns for adventure. All youngsters have such day dreams, but the delinquent believes in them; with him the need for danger is a compul sion, an unsatisfied thirst. In olden times boys could run away to sea and struggle with man and nature. Or they could join a train of co vered wagons and, standing with their elders, shoot it out with redskins and bandits. Finding excitement, they ul timately matured, if they sur vived, and finished their lives as more or less ordinary citi zens. Not so today. Too often boys think that excite ment can come only in vio lating the law. “This definite preference of the delinquents for adventu rous activities, for exciting forms of recreation,” the re port declares, “is one of the more striking findings of this study.” To satisfy the craving, a boy will steal rides, hop trucks, keep late hours roam ing the streets; he exults in destructive mischief, begins to drink in his early teens. His haunts are those of his gang — waterfront, railroad March 1968 7 yards, poolrooms, cheap dance halls and amusement parks. One half of all the 500 delinquents were active members of gangs, organized for a definite antisocial pur pose and having vigorous leadership. The survey shatters the il lusion that the delinquent is led into crime by bad com panions. From earliest child hood he shows a preference for other boys as unmanage able as himself. He avoids good boys because he despises them. In a study of the delin quent’s home and family, other immediate signs and tokens appear. Most of the good boys live with father and mother; delinquents come from broken homes — parents separated, divorced, or parted 'by imprisonment or death. The delinquent’s fami ly is more likely to be de pendent on relief agencies and doles. His home is not as clean, has fewer sanitary facilities. There is crowding and no privacy. “The underthe-roof situation,” the report states, “is significantly worse among the delinquents.” So we see that even when matching boys are drawn from the same slums there are differences in family selfrespect and integrity which count heavily. When one boy is good and another bad in the same family, however, the differences narrow down to individual temperament, and these sytnptoms need to be discovered at the earliest moment. There is a certain cohesion in the families of good boys, a “we” feeling of strong emo tional ties. Here we come close to the heart of the whole matter. The most significant factor in any boy’s life is his relationship with his parents and especially with his father. When it is disturbed — as it is so often in sordid sur roundings — the child is in danger. If the father shows hostility or contempt, some thing is dammed up in the son. He has a deep, passion ate need for “emotional iden tification” with his father; he needs an ideal image, a pater nal, older, wiser friend. That deep human hunger for emu lation will be turned else where — and perhaps the disappointed boy begins to worship the strongest, boldest, toughest ne’er-do-well in the district. 8 Panorama The survey shows that the delinquent has long been at odds with his father, while most of the good boys on the block remain close to their fathers. Moreover, the incorrigible has suffered from erratic and conflicting discipline, which has encouraged him to defy all authority. He has taken many beatings for his sins and learned nothing from them except how to endure pain, which may be of grisly use to him in a criminal career. But not all of the character istics which Glueck investi gators revealed would appear in the young child; many de velop only with the years. Would enough storm signals show up in a six-year-old to make a forecast .possible? This question was answered by setting up a series of “pre dictive tables” listing out standing signs of delinquency which manifest themselves at an early age. Was the boy markedly adventurous? Extroverted? Stubborn? Emotionally asser tive? Did he exhibit the ag gressive infliction of his will on others? Was he defiant? Suspicious? Destructive? It was also important to know whether the discipline of the father was lax, overstrict, erratic — or firm and kindly. In cases where disci pline by the father was lax, 59.8 percent were in the de linquent group; of those who fatherly discipline was firm and kindly, only 9.3 percent were delinquent. The same questions must be asked about the mother. Was the family held together by ties of sym pathy and warmth of feeling? These are major factors from which a character diag nosis can be made. No child could be expected to show all the symptoms. Any child might have several of them and still not be a potential delinquent. But it is beyond argument a danger signal when most of such factors appear in a six-year-old. Social scientists work in the realm of probabilities, and there are reliable laws in pro babilities. By applying them to young children, its is as serted that from 65 to 70 per cent of the delinquents can be isolated at six years of age, when there is still a chance to help them. — By Fulton Oursler. March 1968 ■ This Spanish movement is here described as the organ of the anti-liberal Catholics against progressive ideas and healthy social changes. "CURSILLO" AND ITS TRUE NATURE There was a very fetching sports-page picture the other day that showed the highestranking Knights of Columbus and Masons in the country playing golf together. Occa sion was the first K of CFreemasons golf tournament ever. This took place, not coincidentally, after the Va tican had announced that it was no longer a sin for Ca tholics to apply for admission to Masonry lodges. In the past, any Catholic who be came a Mason was automa tically excommunicated from {he Church. This meant, from the Catholic viewpoint, that he was thereby doomed to eternal hell and damna tion. Now it is no longer so. Now Catholics may be come Masons and still save their souls. * * * This is only one, to be sure, of radical and fundamental changes that have overtaken Catholic dogma since Pope John XXIII, that incompar able innovator, “opened win dows” and invited the winds of modernization and ecu menism to sweep fresh air in to the ancient institution. Not all Catholics have accept ed the changes gracefully and uncomplainingly. Some have been affected so traumatically with their faith shaken to its roots as a result of the reversal of “truths” they had always considered deathless and immutable, that they have left the Church in anger and disgust. Others have taken it upon them selves to try to rein back and curb the pace and extent of change, to fight a holding, rear-guard action against the innovators and inconoclasts. * * * The “cursillo” movement is in the latter category. It is a systematic campaign by the conservative segment of the Church to nail down the faithful to the traditional or 10 Panohama thodoxies and doctrinal ri gidities. It emphasizes, to this end, such aspects of the faith as sexual morality and fear of eternal damnation. It is not a meaningless coin cidence that the “cursillo” originated in Spain. That country has always been a stronghold of conservative Catholicism — although, na turally, its repressiveness has produced its own counter reaction, as spearheaded by a militant young clergy that has involved itself in labor unionism and in efforts to expand the scope of academic freedom in the country’s schools and universities. Nor is it surprising that the move ment has taken such firm hold and become so spectacularly popular in the Philippines. Philippine Catholicism is just as reactionary and bigoted as its Spanish counterpart. * * * In Europe, on the other hand, the Dutch Catholics (5.2 million Dutchmen out of a total population of 12.5 mil lion) are working their reli gion over with a zest and — if this word may be properly used — irreverence that threatens to rattle the rest of the Catholic world. A Dutch cathecism — “A New Cathecism: Catholic Faith For Adults” — is selling strongly in the United States although or perhaps because, as one American magazine specu lated, it has been banned by the American bishops from American Catholic schools. It has no imprimatur, mean ing the Church’s official au thorization. The cathecism teaches — and where it does not teach outright it proposes — unorthodox and far-out in terpretations of such longestablished doctrines as the virgin birth, sin, papal infal libility, heaven and hell, ori ginal sin, etc. * * * An American magazine’s recent survey of the Nether lands’ avant-garde Catholic.-? ism gave some indication of the extent and depth of its “heresy.” The survey consist ed of interviews with priests and other religious, lay theo logians and professors, and ex-priests. On the question of birth control, for example, three priests and one lay au thority were unanimous in agreeing that the Church could no longer legitimately March 1968 11 prohibit it. “Birth control is an absolute necessity,” the layman said. The priests’ comments were: “The Church has nothing to de cree here, although people can be served by criteria, in formation discussion. The best pill is the right pill.” Another: “Aproval of birth control is the Church’s duty toward individuals as well as toward a sane population po licy.” And the third: “The issue is no longer within the competence of the Church.” * * * On the Church’s obsession with sexual morality (which is the mainstay of the “cur sillo” program), all four Dutch priests who spoke out on the subject spoke scorn fully. The Rev. A. J. Duindam, an Amsterdam pastor, said: “This overemphasis is a tragic folly. The Church has hardly reflected on social ethics, and even there, it is still in its infancy.” The Rev. Prior Robert Adolfs, au thor of a book on Catholic ism that barely escaped sup pression by the Vatican, said: “A real fixation in which the role of the celibate obsessions has been very important. The priestly bed experts!” The Rev. Leo Alting von Geusau, general director of IDO-C in Rome: “It is impossible to denounce this too much! Here are the products of the frustrated thinking of celi bates.” And the Rev. Ed ward Schillebeeckx, a re nowned Dominican theolo gian: “Only since Piux XI, that is in the recent past, has the Church been so specially reactionary in this respect. But do not forget that the entire culture was dominated by this sexual anxiety.” * * * All of this undoubtedly is strong medicine for Filipino Catholics., Inevitably and ul timately, however, these winds of “heresy” and chal lenge sweeping out of Hol land will ruffle and agitate the Church in this country. Perhaps it is in anticipation of, and preparation for, such a siege that the “cursillo” is being feverishly propagated. Will the defenses hold? Will the “invasion” be repelled? These are the questions that will determine the future of the Church in this country. — J. V. Cruz, Manila Times, March 17, 1968. 12 Panorama ■ Light industry on firm basis — widening variety of consumer goods. RED CHINA'S ECONOMIC PROGRESS Stretching from the tropical south through the north Temperature Zone, with fer tile land favourable for the growth of a variety of indus trial crops, China is rich in natural resources for the de velopment of both heavy and light industries. Until 1947, virtually all in dustrial equipment and a considerable portion of raw materials had to be imported, with the result that produc tion techniques remained backward. Today, the light industry sector (not including the textile industry, which is an independent branch in China) is overcoming the shortage of raw materials by making full use of farm pro duce and constantly tapping new sources of industrial materials. Canned-foods industry is one that has developed ra pidly, with many canneries operating throughout the country. This has resulted in demands for a corresponding increase in the supply of raw materials. The planned eco nomy of the country ensures this supply. Each year the State Com mercial Departments sign purchase contracts with the people’s communes, supply ing them with fertilizer, in secticide, and fodder. The communes in turn provide the industry with crops and live stock. The paper-making industry, 15 years ago, produced oniy about 30 different types of paper, because of the lack of raw materials and industrial equipment, and the dumping of foreign paper. To meet the demands of schools, publishing and other enterprises, the industry is now making use of the coun try’s inexhaustible sources of reeds, bamboo, esparto grass, rice and wheat stalks, and bagasse (crushed sugar-cane paper and special paper for refuse). High-quality writing March 1968 13 paper and special paper for industrial and agricultural use is now being produced. Newly-developed metallur gical, petroleum, chemical, coal, and mining industries have .provided abundant materials in greater variety and high quality for the grow ing light industry. Geographical location is another factor in the deve lopment of light industry. Formerly concentrated in cities and provinces along the coasts, many factories were far from both raw-materials centers and markets. Under a ‘simultaneous development’ policy, however, many new factories have been built in the interior. Inner Mongolia, which had virtually no industry before, is now China’s largest leather, meat-packing, and dairy-pro cessing center. Its light-jndustrial factories also produce a widening range of consu mer goods ,including shoes, rubber, plastic goods, ceramic articles, enamelware, glass ware, cigarettes, and sugar. Output of enamelware in other provinces in the inte rior constitutes a considerable 14 proportion of the nation’s to tal production. Availability of machine tools and plant is essential for the growth of a country’s light industry. With the ad vance of science and techno logy, and the building up of a powerful heavy industry, China is now able to make most of the key equipment needed for its various light industries. Training of technical per sonnel is carefully planned. There are light-industrial re search institutes, schools, and colleges that specialize in various fields. Every effort is made no ensure that this sector is basically self-suffi cient in resources and tech nology, which contributes to both meeting the people’s needs and accumulating capi tal for the country’s economy. For instance, there is an ever-increasing demand for bicycles. Large, modern plants and factories now manufacture a range of bicy cles from standard to road sters and racers. Although China’s clock making industry can be traced back to the 17th cen tury, production methods had Panorama not improved greatly up to 1949. Today, mass-produc tion techniques turn out a variety of clocks able to keep pace with growing demand. Chinas traditional pro ducts, especially those famous through the centuries, are be ing given equal attention. Producers of famous wines, pottery, and porcelain are given every encouragement. In recent years, light-in dustrial departments have carried out the policies of ‘quality first’ and ‘variety must meet specific needs’. To meet rural and urban needs, officials of the light industrial departments, in co-operation with commercial agencies, visit consumers and salesmen to solicit opinions on consumer products. Factory, directors and man agers are encouraged to serve as shop assistants so as to learn at first hand the needs of the people. Exhibi tions too are held throughout the country in order to intro duce new products and to note customers’ reactions. Needs of the peasants ac count for 80 per cent of the population of over 700m. Rubber shoes, low-priced fountain-pens, heavy-duty bi cycles, films, plastic water pipes, and plastic fish-nets are among the most popular goods specially designed and made for farms and fisheries. Behind the achievements in the light-industry sector, is the general policy to make agriculture the foundation, and industry the leading fac tor, in the development of the national economy. — Yen Chi. Far East Trade, Ja nuary, 1968. SPORT The temperament which inclines men to sports is essentially a boyish temperament. The addiction to sports, therefore, in a peculiar degree marks an arrested development of the man’s moral nature. — Thorstein Veblen March 1968 15 ■ The Professional opportunists now stand in fatuous splendor on the Philippine stage. THE ERA OF THE TURNCOAT In a society in which mate rialistic values predominate, the voice of the genuine in tellectual seldom carries a commanding force. The rea son is quite obvious: Its pos sessor usually dislikes brag ging or exaggeration. He is averse to using his speech or his pen as a vehicle for either adulation or senseless con demnation. Whatever mes sage he means to give out, it is intended to serve the cause of truth. It expresses its appeal in tones of mode ration and modesty. A social atmosphere in whi^h political influence and material wealth are of prime importance, modesty is often mistaken for an admission of defeat or a silent confession of error. The job of the pub lic relations man receives high recognition. It is the business of the publicity agent to offer his services to the man who craves reputa tion through popularity. In most cases, he is a man of inordinate ambition but me diocre ability. By describing his petty accomplishments in glowing terms, he becomes a celebrity in the uncultivated minds of the populace. By securing the assistance of the organs of public communica tion, he often succeeds in making himself prominent in some field of his choice. Thus the newspaper is his most valuable friend; and so he has to pay court to the publisher, the editor, the re porters, the columnists. He is capable of doing this at all cost, publicity being his prin cipal asset. He is well aware that the general public do not analyze, criticize, or weigh the contents of the printed page. Of course, they do not have the ability to do this work. And so more often than not, the reading public accept as true ninety-nine percent of the matters ap pearing in print. Hence, the lying individual and clever opportunist, who could get lb Panorama the support of a tolerant and an unsuspecting press, man ages to appear before the public as a prominent person and dedicated nationalist who could boast of having walked with heroes and of being a hero himself. In recent Philippine society, the term turncoat has become quite popular from the oc currence of many cases of public men transferring their allegiance from one party to another for a consideration. This consideration could be the reward of a desired po sition, the avoidance of a threatened disgrace, the pro mise of non-exposure of a cri minal act, or an outright payment of money. These men who readily shed their old party garments in order to put on. new party clothes, in many instances without as much as a plausible excuse, are branded as turncoats. This is, of course, a.term of opprobium. One with some real sense of honor and dig nity would have nothing to do with a turncoat. But turncoats are not the particular products of the last two or three years. We have had in this country a few well-known persons whoKhave made it a habitual practice over the years to follow the profession of the turncoat. We have called them oppor tunists, a term which seems to be less harsh and less vio lent than turncoat. But in reality they are substantially the same. They have identi cal connotations of evil and moral filth. An opportunist is a turncoat, and vice-versa. He is a fraud, a phoney. To be is to an opportunist a concept of no importance at all as compared with to have. Character to him has less value than reputation. He banks on fame produced by wide and frequent pub licity, which he uses to blow up the tiny drops of his abi lity into large and luminous bubbles of phoney compet ence. The innocent onlooker is transfixed with amazement. The charm of his language and the rhythm of his voice as he delivers a speech, which for all we know may have been a plagiarized ver sion of another man’s address, impress the uninformed and uncritical listener. The true image of the opportunist is carefully concealed behind March 1968 17 the glamour of empty elo quence. How could men of honor and character trust a person of that mind, manner, and spirit? He could be for one party in the morning, for another party at noon time, and for a third party at din ner time. And tomorrow when the last party to which he attached himself last night has lost its prestige, he would offer his services to the new power with all sorts of blan dishments and protestations of friendship. This poor country of ours has been made the victim of wily opportunists. Some of them are crude and artless. But a few have the finesse of sharp diplomats whose in sincerity, duplicity, and su perficiality have been tole rated or ignored through the subtle use of extensive and intensive self-publicity. Those who should know better could render invaluable service to Philippine society by refusing to be blinded by the antics of the opportunist. It is not hard to expose him and his ilk. All that the edu cated observer need to do is to look up the actual record of fickleness, unreliability, and egotistical behavior in the private and public life of such man. They are convinc ing evidence of an unprinci pled spirit and an unscrupu lous character, which are the tell-tale marks of the oppor tunist. The difficulties which the people of our country have been experiencing for the last 15 or more years could be largely traced to the active participation we have permitted the turncoat, the opportunist, to play in the management of national af fairs. The turncoat has made Philippine politics disgusting to men of principle and inte grity. He has treated mem bership in our political par ties merely as a means for promoting his personal com fort, convenience, material prosperity, and financial secu rity. Hence, he is a Nacionalista today, a Liberal to morrow, • and a Nacionalista again the next day. He was pro-Garcia yesterday when Garcia was in power, and pro-Macapagal today as Ma capagal is now in power. The tragedy is that he still manages to have a herd of admirers who see, hear, and 18 Panorama smell nothing evil in him as long as he retains the privi leges, the prerequisites, and the prestige of office. The turncoat in a purely political office smells bad enough. But when somehow he succeeds in occupying a position in an educational, a civic, or a religious organiza tion for which strength and firmness of character are in dispensable qualifications, he becomes a veritable skunk. He infects the youth who take him for a model. As they may discover his record of mendacity and opportunism, their sense of values is apt to be distorted; and they are likely to become turncoats themselves. — V.G.S., Philip pine Weekly Review, Dec. 3, 1963. OBSERVATION Before turning to those moral or mental aspects of the matter which present the greatest difficulties, let the inquirer begin by mastering more elementary problems. Let him, on meeting a fellow-mortal, learn at a glance to distinguish the history of the man, and the trade or profession to which he belongs. Puerile as such an exercise may seem, it sharpens the faculties of observation and teaches one where to look and what to look for. By a man’s fingernails, by his coat-sleeve, by his boots, by his trouser-knees, by the callosities of his forefinger and thumb, by his expression, by his shirt-cuffs — by each of these things a man’s calling is plainly revealed. That all united should fail to enlighten the competent inquirer in any case is almost inconceivable. — Arthur Conan Doyle. March 1968 19 ■ A tradition which gives hope to childless couples. DANCING IN OBANDO To have a child, or a sweetheart, or spouse, dance and pray before the three patron saints of Obando. The three patron saints “San Pascual,” “Virgin of the Salambao,” and “Santa Cla ra” — are known for their miraculous power of granting requests for those without sweetheart or child. Tourists flock to Obando on the feast day of the patron saints, which is held in May every year. The town fiesta is a threeday affair, beginning May 17 and ending May 20. The first day is devoted to “San Paspual.” Suitors pray to him for a wife. The second day is in honor of the “Virgin of the Salam bao.” The virgin is media trix for childless couples. On the third day, luckless girls turn to “Santa Clara” for a beau. A procession of the three saints is held, during which devotees pray, dance, and kiss the images’ carriages. Prayers are sung, while pilgrims swing and sway. The prayer song goes: “Mahal na poong San Pas cual, bigyan po ninyo ako nang asawa... (Beloved St. Pascual, please give me a spouse), “Santa Clara, pinong pino, bigyan po ninyo ako ng nobiyo... (Saint Clara so fine, please give me a fiance), and “Mahal naming Nuestra-. Senora, anak po ako’y bigyan na... ” (Our beloved Lady, please bless me with a child). Successful supplicants of ten name their child “Clara,” if it turns out to be a girl, and “Pascual” if it is a boy. “Maria Clara,” the heroine in Jose Rizal’s “Noli me Tangere,” was named after “Ma ry” (Virgin of the Salambao) and “Santa Clara.” She was reportedly con ceived after her mother, Don Pia, made a pilgrimage to Obando. According to records, the 20 Panorama dance follows no definite pat tern. It is not really dancing in the strict sense of the world. Devotees simply sway, skip or hop in the church, on the church plaza or on the streets, during the procession. This custom of dancing be fore the saints is believed to have originated with San Pascual Bayion, who belong ed to the order of barefooted Franciscans, called Soccolans. It is said that he used to commune with holy spirits and danced with joy while doing so . Nobody knows however, when and how the custom of dancing before the saints of Obando started. It was said that the church frowned on the practice but the zeal of devotees has kept church authorities from out right banning of the custom. Records said that the town earlier had two patron saints — “San Pascual” and “Santa Clara”. The “Virgin of the Salambao” reportedly was en shrined in the town church only after a “miraculous event.” In 1855, Fr. Felix de Huer ta, a Franciscan historian who recorded the legend, said that two brothers — “Juan” and “Julian,” both surnamed de la Cruz, of Malabon, Rizal — went fishing in the waters of Obando. Thinking that they caught a big fish, “Juan” and “Ju lian” reportedly raised the net. To their surprise the catch turned out to be an image of the Virgin Mother, standing upright in the net. Their first impulse was to return to Malabon but the boat reportedly refused to move, no matter how hard they rowed. When they tried to row to wards Obando, the boat glid ed forward, and required al most no effort on their part. The brothers brought the image to Obando church where it has, since then, been venerated as the “Virgin of the Salambao.” “Santa Clara” is the first and oldest patron saint. The image was first enshrined in Mevcauayan. In 1923, it was transferred to Polo where it remained until it was moved to the new town of Obando. — I. C. Santos, Manila Bulletin, Mar. 1968. March 1968 21 THE AIMS OF SUPERVISION AND REGULATION OF SCHOOLS There is a provision in our Constitution which states that “all educational institu tions shall be under the su pervision of and subject to regulation by the State.” The meaning and purpose of this provision should be obvious: The government is vested with the power to see that the schools of the country perform their educational work. It cannot refer to the power to prescribe specific curricula, or one particular method, or one definite way of teaching. If that were so, then the initiative of an insti tution and its heads would be usurped by the govern ment, and their freedom to think and to act would there by be suppressed. It is an ad mitted fact that there is more than one way of teach ing, more than one way of discovering the truth, more than one way of improving the mind, more than one way of stimulating the intelligence, more than one way of dis covering new ideas. For these reasons freedom of edu cation is indispensable. Our 'Constitution recognizes this right when in another place it provides that the natural right and duty of parents to rear their children for civic efficiency should receive the aid and support of the gov ernment. Civic efficiency is positively produced by edu cation which is largely ac quired in the school and only to some extent in the home. Government supervi sion and regulation, there fore, must of necessity be so exercised as to respect this freedom. It should go even farther. The government should encourage the use of this freedom. By so doing the government would be aiding parents in the exercise of their natural right and duty 22 Panorama to rear their children for civic efficiency. This is the posi tive side of supervision and regulation. The negative side of this function is preventive in nature and purpose. Its aim is to correct and restrain the acts of an educational institution which defeat the basic purpose of the freedom of education itself. Among such acts are the following: 1. The non-observance of order and discipline in the school caused by its teachers not appearing regularly at scheduled hours and days. 2. Failure to give courses of study for which students have been led to enroll and pay. 3. Employment of teachers who are obviously ignorant of the subject matter they are assigned to teach. 4. ‘ Teaching students to violate the laws of the coun try, to conduct a propaganda campaign against the author ities, to promote causes patently immoral or illegal. 5. Granting diplomas and degrees to persons who mere ly paid for them. 6. Immorality ,or gross neg ligence on the part of the school administrators or teachers. Supervision and regulation should be confined to the prevention of these and simi lar acts of deception, mis representation, negligence, immorality, and obvious in competence to perform the function of giving education to those enrolled as students. Supervision and regulation by definition refer to the act of overseeing what is being done, how a right is being exercised, and whether posi tive or negative regulations are faithfully carried out. This power presupposes the existence of acts and condi tions created by others, not by those who exercise super vision and regulation. In education this means that the initiative should not be as sumed to any considerable extent by the supervisor and the regulatory authority. Otherwise, education would cease to be free but straightjacketed and regimented. That would be not only con trary to a democratic way of life but detrimental to a wholesome educational dev elopment. That could also expose education to another and even more serious dan ger — the danger of being March 1968 23 used as an instrument for vi cious, corrupt, or one-sided, though subtle, propaganda. A judge in a court of law need to understand the na ture and purpose of educa tion and to realize the evils of dictation to educational institutions as a policy of the government. He need to be reminded of the constitution al provision on freedom of education. Unless he is fully aware of these matters, he could not intelligently decide a complaint against misuse or abuse of the governmental power of supervision and re gulation of schools. The very idea of control over col leges and universities is ab horrent in a democratic country. Its implications could easily include such practices as brainwashing and1 thought control. A bureaucratic approach on the question of education, which implies rigidity and uniformity of rules to their minutest details, is bound to distort the concept of educa tion. Instead of improving the work of schools and ad vancing educational progress, it could prevent the gradual growth of sound educational programs. It could hinder experimentation in new ideas, practices, or procedures. The development of college and university education in the United States has been the result of the absencq of restrictive uniformity im posed upon the higher insti tutions of learning. Variety and free enterprise are the main factors which charac terize the life and condition of American education in much the same way that free enterprise has characterized its economic system. The provision in our Cons titution on government super vision and regulation over schools is by no means the basis of the right of private persons to organize and main tain schools. This is a consti tutional right distinctly pro tected by other parts of our fundamental law. Govern ment supervision over it need not be rigid, and regulation should not require uniform ity of content and method, disregarding differences of conditions, practices, and methods. These functions, properly exercised could en courage variety of education al methods and curricula so ^4 Panorama that out of the resulting com petition, which would take place, stronger institutions would rise and weaker ones may be forced to improve themselves. The present statutes on private secondary and higher education are not sufficiently adequate. They should be improved by amendments. But even as they are, they provide enough room for the administrators of the Depart ment of Education to adopt regulations which could give encouragement to the initia tive and imaginative faculty of Filipino educational lead ers in the development of the colleges and universities of our country. The provision in our Cons titution on the supervision and. regulation of school should not be divorced from the provision on freedom of education. The later is a fundamental principle. If our courts cannot see the ab solute necessity of reading these two provisions of our Constitution together and to give to one a meaning which does not cancel but rather support the other, then it is high time that our Congress be requested to set the cor rect constitutional? their right and duty to protect the basic principle of freedom of edu cation in positive terms. But in the meantime our officials in the Department of Education could exercise the discretionary authority they now possess to introduce more flexible rules intended to foster variety among our institutions of learning. One way to accomplish thjs would be to adopt general, instead of particular, re quirements on curriculum matters and to reduce to the basic essentials the subjects or fields of study within the scope of the required curri culum. The result would be a wider opportunity for every enlightened and com petent institution of learning to devise its own particular method of imparting educa tion and its own system of attaining its educational or academic objectives. The required variety for whole some growth may thus be es tablished in our educational system. — V.G.S., Philippine Weekly Review, Dec. 27, 1963. M.vrch 1968 25 ■ The advantages of a secular as against a sectarian school. RELIGIOUS OR SECULAR SCHOOL SYSTEM? The question of religious versus secular education has beeTi discussed quite often in our country. One side claims that the answer was given long ago during the Spanish regime when the Catholic Church had control over the education of the Filipinos. The results were far from be ing satisfactory. The other side could cite the United States as an example to prove the success of secular author ities in the maintenance of a national system of education as a medium for the develop ment of democratic ideas and practices. Our public schools and state universities have been accused as godless centers of education. This kind of ac cusation is, however, mean ingless. For whether they are so or not has nothing to do with the question as to whether they give effective instruction to the Filipino youth or not. The public schools have produced pre sumably the same propor tion of law-abiding citizens and criminals as the private schools which are. run by nuns, sisters, priests, brothers, and preachers. The former president of Antioch College, Dr. Arthur E. Morgan, who later became head of the Tennessee Valley Authority, has pointed out to us the case of Newfoundland; a nation which has failed miserably to maintain its status as a free member of the British Commonwealth after its government had placed under religious con trol its entire school system. After discussing the advan tages of the secular nature and administration of Ame rican state universities and land-grant colleges as instru ments for promoting demo .26 Panorama cracy, he admitted that while they have not been complete ly satisfactory, at the same time they have not failed. He then went on to say: “What are the alternatives to this democratic, secular educational system which is so frequently and so drasti cally decried by representa tives of authoritarian reli gion in our country? One of the British dominions took a strikingly different course. Newfoundland escaped secu lar education. Tax money collected by the govern ment was distributed to the churches in proportion to their population; about 40 per cent each to the Church of England and to the Bo man Catholic Church, and the rest mostly to the Method ists. These church authorities were left to provide the edu cational system from bottom to top. Nowhere in all the English-speaking world was there such sorry failure in education or in citizenship as in this dominion, populated almost exclusively by hardy English-speaking people from the British Isles. Finally, af ter a century of inefficiency, graft, wide-scale smuggling, mismanagement, financial fa voritism, and lack of educa tional advance, the whole do minion went bankrupt and surrendered its status — the only such failure, as I recall, of an English-speaking popu lation in the British Empire.” —Philippine Weekly Review. POWER Human nature is much the same in government as in the dry-goods trade. Power and strict account ability for its use are the essential constituents of good government. — Woodrow Wilson March 1968 ■ Another idea advocated by a prominent Filipino educator is here presented for the advancement of national education. WHY BARRIO HIGH SCHOOLS? According to the latest census figures, the average educational attainment of the Filipino is the equivalent of Grade Five, by Philippine standards. Compared with American or European stand ards, this is Grade Three. This is far below the require ments of functional literacy. The reasons for this low at tainment are simple enough. Most of our people — that is 80% of them — live in the barrios where the highest educational level is Grade Six. Furthermore, for various reasons, a large percentage of the children who start in the first grade stop before completing the elementary course. Only 5 out of 40 graduating from a barrio elementary school can conti nue to high school, leaving 35 with only Grade VI educa tion. Efforts have been made to raise the level of compulsory schooling to the completion of the elementary course, but without result. The fact is that the Government cannot even provide the necessary textbooks for the four grades of compulsory schooling. Similar efforts have been made to restore the seventh grade, but again, for financial reasons, the sixth grade re mains as the upper limit of the elementary course. There is no prospect of any change in the foreseeable future, which means that the child ren in the barrios are doomed to ignorance and illiteracy and (for many of them) to lawlessness. The Karachi Plan, of which the Philippines is a signatory power, envisages that, within a short time, compulsory schooling be raised to the completion of tfre eighth grade. But again, how can the Philippines carry out the plan, considering that it can not even enforce the present constitutional requirement of 28 Panorama four grades of schooling for every child? The question is not whether we should have barrio high schools, but whether we can do without them, now that it has been shown that they work even better than ex pected. Who could have ex pected 450 of them this year, the third year after the movement started? The fact is that quite frankly I myself wonder why there are that many now, enrolling 36,000 students in 43 of the 54 provinces and in half a dozen cities. On second thought, one should not really wonder why there are that many, but why no one had thought of the idea earlier than 1962 — for that was the time the idea occurred to us. It took two years to cbnvince the powersthat-be, meaning Drs. Miguel B. Gaffud* and Vitaliano Ber nardino, to give it a try “for one year, as an experiment.” Now that it is an accom plished fact, barrio high schools remain a fantastic dream to many people, in cluding educators, who can not quite get over the idea that this year there are 7 complete barrio high schools which have since the begin ning been supported by the barrio people themselves. Al ways the first question asked of me is: “But where do the salaries of teachers come from? What about buildings, grounds, not to mention equipment?” But why are the barrio high schools wanted by the barrio people? Well, why not? You will recall your experience in 1945 after having been de prived of our freedom and good food for nearly four years. I will never forget the first doughnut made of real flour and the “genuine” cof fee served by the PCAU in my town in 1945. I do not know where I put them, but I ate 20 doughnuts and drank ten cups of coffee, in one sit ting! That was only four years of deprivation. What about our barrio folk having been deprived of high school, not to mention college, education all their lives, who all of a sudden are told they can have it if they are willing to pay for it? But, their real joy was their discovering that they can pay for it. Is it any March 1968 29 wonder why now the barrios that do not have it this year want it next year? Further more, try and close one of the high schools now, and you will have trouble in your hands. Unless the Govern ment can put up a similar one, which would be impos sible, we should allow the opening of barrio high schools provided that the people are willing and able to support them. The fact is that one mem ber of the Davao Provincial Board wrote me a letter which I have just received saying: first, there will be twice or more barrio high schools in Davao next year— there are 35 now; second, the barrio high schools are more stable financially than the provincial high schools; and third, the. students are more Serious in their studies than their counterparts in the regu lar provincial high schools. In my second trip to La Union, I interviewed nine of the fourteen district super visors, and asked them what the prospects were for new barrio high schools next year. The unanimous answer was that every barrio wants one, no matter how small they are. In their opinion, there will be 33 more high schools in their districts, more than double the present number of 16. I would not be surprised if the number will reach near 100. At this rate, it will not sur prise anyone if there will be one thousand new barrio high schools next school year. Why not? The reasoning is perfectly simple and logical. “If they can have a high school in San Gregorio, we should have it in San Anto nio, or there is something the matter with us.” This enthusiasm is con tagious indeed, and there should be no effort made to stop it. The barrio people, of whom I am one, have been ridiculed and accused of be ing utterly dependent upon the Government for all their needs. Now, they discover all of a sudden that they need not be in matters pertaining to the establishment and maintenance of high schools for themselves and their children. If they are allowed to continue doing this, the time will not be far distant when they will feel different30 Panorama ly — that they need no longer depend upon the Government to meet their needs for higher education. Now that it has been shown it can be done, who would dare put any obstacle to pre vent the barrio people from establishing new high schools and from continuing the ones that are now operating? To do so would be committing a crime of the first magnitude, for it will be equivalent to depriving the youth of this country who pumber 2.5 mil lion — of tbeir inherent right for as high education as their powers permit, a right which is as important as right to life and food. Two years ago, it would have been pardon able for anyone to stop any move in this direction, but now, it is different after it has been shown it can be done by the people themselves. I would be. the last one to claim that barrio high schools are the best of all possible high schools. Of course, they are not, and even the best ones lack much to be desired. But, which is better a high school that is not the best or no high school at all? Who would not want to have the best high school, but wishing one and getting one are as faBifipart as the poles?. It is good to have quality education, but provided it does not mean that only a few could have it. In Europe, where education is reputed to be of very high quality, the goal is elementary education for the masses and secondary and higher education for the elite. In the Philippines edu cational quality is meaning less without equality of edu cational opportunity. To as pire for quality is good and should be commended, but not if it means denying others the right to the same thing. The morale of this is that we must give everybody an equal chance to have school education, which may not be the best, but we should strive to improve its quality. This means that we should have the kind and quality of high school education that we can afford and make every effort thereafter to improve it. In answer to the question “Why barrio high schools?”, one should ask another ques tion: “Why not?” Or, put it this way, we cannot afford not to, meaning we cannot March 1968 31 afford to remain illiterate any longer. And since it costs the Gov ernment nothing to have them, we can well repeat the radio advertisement for a food recipe which ends in the following words: . madaling lutuin, at mura pa!” After two years, we have more than doubled the num ber of public high schools in the Philippines — 250 — at little or no cost to the Govern ment. Having said all this, I do not wish to leave the impres sion that all is well with the existing barrio high schools and that we can just wait for them to multiply some more. There are a hundred or more problems, two of which are basic, namely: a) to help the barrio people earn and save what they need to support and maintain their high school; and b) to provide helpful supervision so that the standards will be reason ably high. For the first, there are many plans, among which is the establishment of credit unions in all barrio schools — this plan is now in operation in Urdaneta, starting last month (with P2,000 saved already by the pupils in the 25 barrio schools of that town, including those without barrio high schools). The credit union work, as all other work connected with it, earning more to save more, will be curricularized. It will be a part of the teachers’ work to promote credit union activities not only among the pupils (from the first grade to the fourth year) but among the parents as well. The edu cational formula is: Teach the children and their parents in order to earn more, to save more, and to continue learn ing together. For the second, depart ment heads of the mother high school are given time and transportation expenses to supervise the barrio high schools and the periodical tests given in the various subjects. But, more should be done. We cannot let the barrio high schools sink or swim. We must help them swim. One plan is to have a work shop to improve scientific equipment. We have now a plan on foot to compile a Directory of barrio high 32 Panorama schools and to send the list to different States of the U.S., to Japan, to Australia, to England, to enlist the help of high schools in these coun tries. If a high school in Ca lifornia will help a high school in Davao, this ar rangement^ may well result in the students there sending books and magazines to their counterparts in the Philip pines. We may be able to get inexpensive microscopes from Japan and transistor radios from Australia. We graduated the first batch of 78 elementary teach ers who will be teacher libra rians of the community libra ries to be established in each barrio high school in Pangasinan. Library rooms are be ing put up, and each library will be made a branch of the National Library, and it will be opened to the general pub lic as well as to the elemen tary pupils and high school students. We are offering in the UP Center of External Studies in Urdaneta a course in curricu lum development which will be geared to the barrio high schools. The Philippine Nor mal College is now planning a course which will train teachers to serve both the elementary and secondary levels. This summer, we plan to encourage assistant princi pals of barrio high schools to take up advanced courses in the teaching of high school subjects so that they can su pervise their high school teachers as well. In the meanwhile the Peace Corps is interested in working with us by offering courses in the teaching of secondary mathe matics, science and English to elementary teachers who may teach high school sub jects on part-time basis. Through the Barrio High Schools Bulletin, now subsi dized by the Asia Foundation, having issued three numbers, we gather information from different places about better ways of financing and operat ing barrio high schools. We make the information avail able as quickly as possible to all barrio high schools K the country. The Asia Foundation is interested in helping us fur ther by making an additional grant to enable our six assist ants to put in additional tra vel to be able to visit more March 1968 33 barrio high schools. In the seminar on problems of bar rio high schools held recent ly in the Bureau of Public Schools, it was decided: first, to strengthen supervision of barrio high schools; and second, to give achievement tests in all high school sub jects before the end of the school year. — Pedro T. Orata, From Freemasons’ Educa tional Bulletin. ADVANTAGES OF OLD AGE There is nothing more remarkable in the life of Socrates than that he found time in his old age to learn to dance and play on instruments, and thought it was time well spent. — Montaigne What they tell of Cato, among other things, that in his extreme old age he began to learn Greek with a greedy appetite, as if to quench a long-standing thirst, does not appear to me very greatly to his honor. It is properly speaking what we should call falling into second childhood. — Montaigne Old men delight in giving good advice as a con solation for the fact that they can no longer set bad examples. — La Rochefoucauld 3-1 Panorama ■ A great thinker’s ideas on military and war service through compulsion. OBJECTION TO MILITARY SERVICE A few days ago, the teen age son of actor Sterling Hayden burned his draft card and focussed attention on the fact that in the United States more and more people are refusing the draft to fight in Viet Nam. On this score we would like to publish a letter written by Leo Tolstoy to a young Russian who was up for conscription. The let ter was written way back in 1899 but we believe that it has even more meaning in the United States today. “What should a man do who has been called upon for military service — that is, called upon to kill or to pre pare himself to kill? “For a person who under stands the true meaning of military service and who wants to be moral, there is only one clear and incontro vertible answer: such a per son must refuse to take part in military service no matter what consequences this refu sal may have. It may seem to us that this refusal could be futile or even harmful, and that it would be a far more useful thing, after serving one’s time, to become a good village teacher. But in the same way, Christ could have judged it more useful for himself to be a good carpen ter and submit to all the prin ciples of the Pharisees than to die in obscurity as he did, repudiated and forgotten by everyone. “Moral acts are distin guished from all other acts by the fact that they- operate independently of any predict able advantage to ourselves or to others. No matter how dangerous the situation may be of a man who finds him self in the power of robbers who demand that he take part in plundering, murder, rape, a moral person cannot take part.. Is not military service the same thing? Is one not required to agree to the deaths of all those one is commanded to kill? March 1968 35 “But how can one refuse to do what everyone does, what everyone finds unavoid able and necessary? Or, must one do what no one does and what everyone con siders unnecessary or even stupid and bad? No matter how strange it sounds, this strange argument is the main one offered against those mo ral acts which in our times face you and every other per son called up for military service. But this argument is even more incorrect than the one which would make a mo ral action dependent upon considerations of advantage. “If I, finding myself in a crowd of running people, run with the crowd without know ing where, it is obvious that I have given myself up to mass hysteria; but if by chance I should push my wav to the front, or be gifted with sharper sight than the others, or receive information that this crowd was racing to attack human beings and toward its own corruption, would I really not stop and tell the people what might rescue them? Would I go on running and do these things which I knew to be bad and corrupt? This is the situation of every individual called up for military service, if he knows what military service means. “I can well understand that you, a young man full of life, loving and loved by your mother, friends, perhaps a young woman, think with a natural terror about what awaits you if you will refuse conscription; and perhaps you will not feel strong enough to bear the conse quences of refusal, and know ing your weakness, will sub mit and become a soldier. I understand completely, and I do not for a moment allow myself to blame you, know ing very well that in your place I might perhaps do the same thing. Only do not say that you did it because it was useful or because everyone does it. If vou did it, know that you did wrong... For under no circumstances can we inflict violence on peo ple, torture or kill them be cause we think such acts could be of use to us or to others. “In every person’s life there are moments in which he can know himself, tell himself 36 Panorama who he is, whether he is a man who values his human dignity above his life or a weak creature who does not know his dignity and is con cerned merely with being useful (chiefly to himself)... And in our times, it is the situation of a man called to military service.” The Viet Nam war is caus ing a lot of soul-searching in the United States. — Alejan dro R. Roces, The Manila Chronicle, March 12, 1968. SECT When we come to believe that we are in pos session of our God because we belong to some par ticular sect it gives us such a complete sense of com fort, that God is needed no longer except for quar reling, with others whose idea of God differs from ours in theoretical details. — Rabindranath Tagore, Thought Relics, 1909 March 1968 37 ■ Officials need to remember and rules of ethics. NATURAL The warning of Senator Laurel that there is erosion of faith in duly constituted authority is an understate ment. It is more accurate to say that the people have practically lost all faith in government and that there now exists a tide of cynicism. The proposed solution, a code of ethics, is so dependent on good faith among our legis lators that the obvious im potence of such a code need not be dwelt upon. The dis cussion among the senators regarding this proposal which touched on lack of personal example from the President while well taken,--also misses the real significance of our present state of affairs. The public has lost much, if not all, faith in our existing gov ernment not because some legislators are crooks or that there is corruption in the bureaucracy, but because these practices are being practice the basic HAZARD institutionalized by our poli ticians. Our public officials have made it a practice to protect one another, to act as a solid body, or more ac curately, as a distinct and pri vileged class, to the detriment of the common welfare. It is this that has killed faith in government. People are inclined to re gard lack of scruples among a few rotten eggs in both houses of Congress or in the executive branch as a natural hazard of all societies. But it is another thing when laws are made or enforced de liberately and unequivocally to build and feed a certain group for no other reason than that this group is com prised of elected officials. One begins to imagine that election time has become, not the means for choosing offi cials after hearing diverse ideas, it is a war between the electorate and the candidate 38 Panorama who is harassed and squeezed for all he is worth on the theory that once in of fice he will be a different, privileged, being. Election is a rite de passage, an initiation phase wherein an ordinary citizen metamor phoses into a different creature if elected. The allowances of con gressmen, their increasing wealth and vested interests, are just symptoms of the basic disease that has caused the death of faith in govern ment. It is actually the fact that politicians act as a body to protect their own mem bers. This is why justice be comes so horribly delayed. This is why even the anti graft law is never enforced, why in the recent plebiscite our legislators not only wanted to increase their num ber they also wanted to have a large representation in an assembly that would restudy our Constitution. In other words, elected officials have a bond of loyalty, a sense of obligation, to their fellow politicians and not to the people they represent. This is why so many can get away with murder when we have enough laws without a code of ethics to nail a sizable population of our elected of ficials. Alfredo R. Roces, The Manila Times, March 6, 1968. PERSUASION We are more easily persuaded, in general, by the reasons we ourselves discover than by those which are given to us by others. — Blaise Pascal, Pensees, 1670 Mauch 1968 39 ■ Diplomas awarded by colleges the world over could have some significance if given some stand ard of equivalence. EQUIVALENCE IN ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS If there is one sphere in which there should be no na tional rivalries it is that of education, and yet it must be said that it is here that one often finds the most unpro gressive nationalism. Many states are convinced that their university system is the best; hence their reluctance to recognize the diplomas of others. But besides these poor reasons there are more valid ones which make the problem hard to solve. Stu dies in preparation for a de finite profession are organ ized as part of a whole; they are adapted to local needs. One country puts the empha sis on one subject rather than another; one country attaches more importance to practical work while its neighbor con ceives studies in a more theo retical light. Finally, some studies can only be appro priate to a particular country — law, for example. The “European Conven tion on the Equivalence of Diplomas Leading to Ad mission to Universities” was signed in Paris in 1953. Ac cording to Article 1, para graph 1, each contracting party recognises the others’ university entrance qualifica tions. However, Article 1, paragraph 3, shows clear signs of the nationalism alluded to above. It provides that each contracting party shall reserve the right not to apply the provision contained in paragraph 1 to its own nationals. A second Conven tion was signed in Paris in 1956, again under the auspices of the Council of Europe: the European Con vention on the Equivalence of periods of University Study. This Convention has a much more limited scope than its title suggests. Ac cording to Article 1, the con 40 Panorama trading States agree to re cognise any period of stu dies passed in the university of another Member State of the Council of Europe, but only in the field of modern languages. It must also be added that only the period of studies is recognised, and not the examinations. In 1962 this Convention only received nine ratifications. In 1959 the Council of Europe was to take a step forward in the equivalence of diplomas when, under its auspices, the European Con vention on the Academic Re cognition of University Qua lifications was signed in Paris by the majority of Member States. It provides that the contracting parties shall grant academic recogni tion to university qualifica tions bestowed by a univer sity established in the terri tory of another contracting party. This recognition is to permit the holder to pursue supplementary university stu dies and to hold the acade mic qualification. Does this include the possibility of practising the profession to which a qualification applies? The Convention is not very clear on this point. It ap pears that the solution should be sought above all by com petent university bodies ra ther than at full governmental level. Some countries have made efforts to solve the question by bilateral agreement, on a subject by subject basis. Thus conferences were held in 1960, 1961, 1962 and in January 1963 by heads of French and German univer sities. Their efforts were directed more towards the recognition of periods of study completed abroad than towards the full recognition of the equivalence of diplo mas. As regards subjects, they covered chemistry, clas sical philology, Romance phi lology and Germanic studies. To take languages alone, the conference of French and German heads of universities met with considerable diffi culties arising out of the dif ferent methods of organising studies in the two countries. In France studies work to wards a licenciate’s degree and a doctorate. Examina tions are held each year. Germany only knows the doc torate, for which the exam inations tend to be grouped together at the end of the Mahch 1968 41 period of studies. Further more, the German student has more freedom than the French in the choice of syllabus, and seminars or practical work play a consi derable role in Germany, while in France they are practically non-existent. Con sequently, in France, attend ance at such courses is not compulsory, while in Germa ny it is controlled and ab sences are punished. The conference of heads of universities made a very thorough comparative study to see what in the French syllabus could be made to correspond to the German syllabus. The result is that their plan, now completed and awaiting the approval of the government authorities, proposes a whole series of partial equivalences. In seek ing equivalence in subject matter the conference of heads of universities has done useful work. Similarly it may be noted that, as part of the studies on this ques tion made by the European Economic Community, a Committee has examined the problem of equivalence in pharmacy and has made a painstaking comparison not only of the number of years of study but also the number of hours devoted to each sub ject. Each member was re quested to furnish details of every subject taught and to submit examples of questions set in examinations. This system has definite advantages. By comparing subject matter for study in two countries, one arrives at real equivalences and avoids anything artificial. Thus, while the attempts have been relatively numer ous, the results to date are disappointing. Yet the equi valence of diplomas in Europe will become in creasingly necessary. Provided that countries want it, the provision of a system of equivalence in European university diplo mas is not an insurmountable task. If nationalism were abandoned in the sphere of education, it would facilitate the association or unity of 42 Panorama Europe as an element of Graduate Institute of Inter peace and stability in the in- national Studies, Geneva. ternational community as a An abstract. whole.—Dr. Philippe Cahier, NICE PERSON A nice person is neither too tall nor too short, looks clean and cheerful, has no prominent feature, makes no difficulties, is never misplaced, is never* foolishly affronted, and is void of affectation. There is something in the very air of a nice person which inspires you with confidence, makes you talk, and talk without fear of malicious misre presentation. A nice person is clear of little, trumpery passions, acknowledges superiority, delights in talent, shelters humility, pardons adversity, forgives deficiency, re spects' all men’s rights, never stops the bottle, is never long and never wrong, always knows the day of the month, the name of everybody at table, and never gives pain to any human being. A nice person never knocks over wine or melted butter, does not tread upon the dog’s foot, or molest the family cat, eats soup without noise, laughs in the right place, and has a watchful and attentive eye. — Sydney Smith March 1968 43 CRITERIA OF GOOD GOVERNMENT What is the best form of government is a question which no responsible person who has made a careful stu dy of history and political thought would pretend to give a correct answer. But as to what the test of a good government is, there seems to be acceptable replies. The philosopher Spinoza writes that there is a good govern ment when under it people Dass their lives in unity and laws are uniformly observed. Some writers (See Michael Stewart in Modern Forms of Government) tell us that to •judge the success of the work of a government we need to be guided by the fol lowing test: safety, prosper ity, and dignity. Political ac tivity which comprises the nature and purpose of gov ernment work has to estab lish effectively peace and or der for the protection of life and property. It is not enough, however, that We should be protected against dangers and violence pro ceeding from individuals or gangs dedicated to crime and lawlessness. It is also absolutely necessary that we receive proper safeguards and defenses against abusive acts and oppressive measures of public officials and the government itself. The gov ernment should make it possible for people to im prove their material standard of living, to reduce and eli minate pauperism, sickness, and ignorance. Then it should encourage people to raise their level of culture and to elevate their sense of appreciation of ethical and artistic values; and all these lead to the cultivation and acquisition of the spirit of human dignity. All these functions, how ever, presuppose a certain general criterion applicable to the government itself. It is a criterion by which the nature, the vitality, the com petency, and the integrity of the government are deter mined. The objectives of political activity cannot be achieved if these essential 44 Panorama qualities are not found in all the governmental organs. The value of any government would be purely illusory without them. In fact, its very existence could be per nicious to the interests of the individual and the nation. Stewart puts the matter in these terms: “If a man is told that his government protects him from bandits, he expects the government’s behavior towards him to be better than that of a bandit. If he is taxed for no social purpose, but to provide his rulers with luxuries, or if the police expect him to give bribes, arrest him on bogus charges or interrogate him with brutality, he might as well pay ransom to a bandit. If he is told that the govern ment’s policy enables him to get a proper standard of life, he asks what a proper standard of life is.” To answer this question, he may compare the present and the past conditions or life, those in his own community with those in other communities more or less similarly situated. As he pursues this series of questioning he and his fel lows are likely to arrive at such conclusions as may pro vide the justification of a government’s existence. — V. G. S. PRAISE When I was young I had an elderly friend who used often to ask me to stay with him in the country. He was a religious man and he read prayers to the assembled household every morning. But he had crossed out in pencil all the passages in the Book of Common Prayer that praised God. He said that there was nothing so vulgar as to praise people to their faces and, himself a gentleman, he could not believe that God was so ungentlemanly as to like it. — W. Somerset Maugham March 1968 45 ■ A stern and objective warning to the three branches of the Philippine Government by a Senator of the Philippines. WHAT AILS OUR GOVERNMENT Severe as it may seem to some people, Senator Salva dor H. Laurel’s indictment of what ails our government (delivered on the floor of the Philippine Senate) is being considered by knowledgeable quarters as but a reflection of the contemporary scene and an exposition of the w’hy’s and the wherefore’s of the people’s disenchantment with our government. Senator Laurel, in his maiden speech on the Senate floor Monday, made these points: 1. Excessive congressional allowances grown to mon strous figures. 2. Self-centeredness, rather than concern for the public weal; more politics than work; more self-interest than national interest. 3. Chronic and gross viola tion of the over-spending law, “implying that only the rich can now run and win in the elections.” 4. Shameless abuse of the franking privileges by mem bers of Congress. 5. So many rich men in public office “that now, they (the people) are not sure whether one has to be a mil lionaire to run for Congress or whether one has to run for Congress to be a mil lionaire.” 6. Leakage and anomalies in tax collection. 7. Civil service rules in tended to protect the com petent, and the conscientious being used to protect the in competent, inept and corrupt. 8. Poor law enforecement that is not the kind that engenders the people’s con fidence, as evidenced by the report of the Police Commis sion and the Philippine Constabulary that some 70 per cent of policemen “are either crooks, criminals or unfit for the important duty of enforcing the, law and pro tecting the people.” 46 Panorama 9. Scandalous delay of just ice such that the constitu tional guarantees of due pro cess, equal protection, pre sumption of innocence, bail, speedy trial and free access to the courts are meaningless myths to the poor who consti tute 90 per cent of our popu lation. 10. Incompetence and cor ruption in many inferior and trial courts; “some judges can be bought and fiscals can be fixed.” Each of these ten points is an indictment in itself that should demand prompt cor rective measures. All together they stand a gauge of the ex tent of erosion of the moral fiber that is a disgrace to our nation. It is perhaps a peculiarity of our times that Senator Laurel, in his quest for our moral regeneration, should think of a code of ethics for public officials and, in the same breath, voice his real ization that such would be a mere scrap of paper for lack of response from those it should serve as guidelines. There are many people who have been set to think ing on Senator Laurel’s points and to wondering if his ominous warning that un less public officials amend themselves we would reap the gathering whirlwind of the people’s wrath. — Edi torial, Manila Bulletin, March 6, 1968. STATESMAN A constitutional statesman is in general a man of common opinions and uncommon abilities. — Walter Bagehot March 1968 47 THE CREATIVE AND THE POSSESSIVE IMPULSES The greater part of human impulses may be divided into two classes, those which are possessive and those which are constructive or creative. Social institutions are the garments or embodiments of impulses, and may be classi fied roughly according to the impulses which they embody. Property is the direct expres sion of possessiveness; science and art are among the most direct expressions of creative ness. Possessiveness is either defensive or aggressive; it seeks either to retain against a robber, or to acquire from a present, holder. In either case, an attitude of hostility toward others is of its essence. It would be a mistake to sup pose that defensive posses siveness is always justifiable, while the aggressive kind is always blame-worthy; where there is great injustice in the status quo, the exact opposite may be the case, and ordi narily neither is justifiable. . . The creative impulses, un like those that ar^ possessive, are directed to ends in which one man’s gain is not another man’s loss. The man who makes a scientific discovery or writes a poem is enrich ing others at the same time as himself. Any increase in knowledge or good-will is a gain to all who are affected by it, not only to the actual possessor. Those who feel the joy of life are a happiness to others as well as to them selves. Force canjiot create such things, though it can destroy them; no principle of distributive justice applies to them, since the gain of each is the gain of all. For these reasons, the creative part of a man’s activity ought to be as free as possible from all public control, in order that it may remain spontaneous and full of vigour. The only function of the state in regard to this part of the individual life should be to do every thing possible toward provid ing outlets and opportunities. — Bertrand Russell in Politi cal Ideals. Panorama Reading Association PANORAMA invites the educated public to join its Association of Readers. PANORAMA READING ASSOCIATION is dedicated to men and women who appreciate the variety and quality of its articles as sources of liberal ideas. PANORAMA READING ASSOCIATION includes stu dents, businessmen, professionals, proprietors, employers, and employees. It is also open to clubs, schools, and other ac credited organizations. PANORAMA has been in existence for over Thirty Years. PANORAMA provides excellent material for classes in history, government, economics, political and social studies, lite rature, and science. It may be adopted for secondary and college use. PANORAMA is not a fly-by-night publication. It was bom in March, 1936. COMMUNITY PUBLISHERS, INC. Inverness, (M. Carreon) St., Sta. Ana, Manila, Philippines Contents Education to Save Human Resources ................................. 1 How to Train Teachers ............................................................ 2 What Makes a Juvenile Delinquent? 4 “Cursillo” and its True Nature ............................................... 10 Red China’s Economic Progress ............................................... 13 The Era of the Turncoat 16 Dancing in Obando ..................................................................... 20 The Aims of Supervision and Regulation of Schools .... 22 Religious or Secular School System? ................................. 26 Why Barrio High Schools? ....................................................... 28 Objection to Military Service ................................................. 35 Natural Hazard .............................................................................. 38 Equivalence in Academic Qualifications ............................. 40 Criteria of Good Government ................................................ . 44 What Ails Our Government ..................................................... 46 The Creative and the Possesive Impulses ........................... 48