The Fourth Perspective

The pursuit of material gain had preoccupied the human mind since the emergence of industry. It diverted man away from the real source of satisfaction and the true meaning of contentment. It blurred his mind on matters of real importance and genuine values. It had robbed him of the time for independent thoughts beyond what the mass media and his corporate masters had led him to think. Gain has become his purpose, the rationale for his existence and the end which he wishes to reach at all cost. But there is no omega in the pursuit of material gain. It will always be beyond grasp, like time it moves constantly and farther, like space it changes to become wider, and like the sun   it shines even brighter to lure him to exert more, to sacrifice more and to want more. It was instilled in his spirit that material gain is the key to happiness, and to persist towards its acquisition is a worthy purpose. It has become a habit and obsession and therefore, not necessarily in his nature a...

Altercating without end on legal trivialities and processes, even in the way it was express and punctuated; Defending personalities instead of the act; Convicting less of the strong, and more of the weak; Reckless prosecution and defending at all expense, while disinterested on the prospect of guilt or innocence, more so to its outcome which at worse, could result to institutionalizing perilous precedence; The open-ended arguments over technicalities, that bears no meaning when contrasted with what is just and equitable; Prime in value is to be recognize as a bona-fide champion of acquittal or conviction, but not so much of justice. Such are the realities that bears on legal representations of which has become impersonal, even remorseless on the prolongation of anguish and pain, while capitalizing on the same. Thus, as in dead winter, legal advocacy turned cold and predatory. Gone is the human side even before it was acquired. Men are punished even before they are co...

Political parties, supposedly are embodiments of two or more collective ideas to achieve common goals through the use of political power. Such goals are essentially impersonal and necessarily must be pursued with the general welfare in mind. Political parties, putatively are personification of conflicting or unparallel thoughts on the ways and means of achieving, oftentimes a similar objective. But how effective are the political parties in furthering the aspiration/s of the state and its people, when dissonance via party segregation becomes the norm and conduct to gain political power. Isn’t it illogical for a government of men to lead in discordant fashion even before they gain political authority? Men who among themselves have failed to resolve their discommonalities on how to handle the affairs of the state. How can homogeneity that necessarily must entail cooperation would come into being? How can it be possible to blend these men into one purpose, of managing and governing the s...

Without over simplifying, despotism is total control, and applying it in a corporate sense and landscape is to achieve total dominance of the market. Corporate despotism is not as of yet unlawful, but it poses more than just a challenge to ethical and moral standards. It arrest entrepreneurial dynamism, diverse economic growth, innovation, free market play and consequently, healthy competition. Growing and promising medium sized enterprises that turned out to be formidable competitor were assimilated by corporate giants through buyouts, mergers and consolidations. Take the case of Jollibee Corporation, the largest fast-food chain in the Philippines , which over the years was able to acquire Chowking, Greenwich Pizza, Red Ribbon Bakeshop, Mang Inasal, and Burger King. Imagine the consumer market that these well known food companies were serving that is now under Jollibee's domain. Consequently, just like other corporate despot such as the Philippine Long Distance Company (PLDT) who...

We feel old when we ride with time, it wearies the body and the spirit. Time is constantly altering itself in relation to the expanse other than terrestrial space;    it deceives, it controls; more than ever it runs faster and shorter to the point that we can no longer see what is there to see; it leads us to the blindest of spot; always, it renders us into the realm of false urgency; to the fiat of constant inadequacy. Time is a unit of measure, and to measure is to divide and limit, and to limit is to restrict creativity and to set in definition the human possibility. Hence, I find time to be an inconsistency to that vastness and infinity called the universe. After all, what is time?  Is it a means to assign man his own little space? Like in a cage, he is confined to the make believe, that he cannot achieve functionality beyond that space called time. I have discovered that time does not serve man but to his constriction. It leads him to a constant state of chaotic...

The introduction of cruelty to be compassionate is a paradox because cruelty can never be associated with brotherly compassion. The use of pain and suffering as a path to acceptance is a paradox because brotherhood is about making you whole. To initiate through unlawful means like hazing is to corrupt at the onset, and hence a paradox, since the essence of brotherhood is guidance. To promote hierarchy between initiates, observers and masters is a paradox since brotherhood is about equality. To be a member of a fraternal association is in itself a paradox since true brotherhood is universal. It does not discriminate. It is founded on truth and not on color, creed or belief. Moreso, not on the body’s ability to endure pain. Leaving a dead initiate to be found is a paradox since a brother does not abandon a brother. Come hell or high water they will be one. They are responsible for each other. Here, then and now, comes the never ending stories of dead neophytes wh...

It was reported at the CTV news website, that a Liberian by the name of Salome Karwah was diagnosed in August, along with six other members of her family. She was treated at Doctors without Borders/MSF clinic in Monrovia and survived, although her mother and father died. Karwah says she was left completely weakened by the illness and remembers experiencing "overpowering" pain that lasted several days. "Ebola is like a sickness from a different planet. It comes with so much pain. It causes so much pain that you can feel it in your bones. I’d never felt pain like this in my lifetime," she writes. CTV narrated that, “Ebola begins much like the flu, with fever and fatigue. It then becomes more like a gastrointestinal infection or food poisoning, causing severe vomiting and diarrhea. The infection eventually affects every organ in the body and patients typically die from septic shock or organ failure. The virus attacks immune cells which send out protei...

Drooling. The wolves are now girding the presidential seat. Their hearts are thumping in excitement on the smell and flavor of power; their gazes are filled with conspicuous lust on the prospect of great abundance. They tried to be calm, deliberate and restrained, but nonetheless their obsession and voracity are far from being hidden. The incumbent president has seen and felt their presence. They are not too far; even so… some are too close for comfort. He looked around and all he saw are his flock. He is a shepherd looking for a sheep dog to guard the flock he nurtured for years. There seems to be none,  not even evident is an alter-ego that genuinely shares his ways, his values and priorities. He thinks of staying on but there are rules to be followed. It was the rule of his forebears intentionally designed to cut the perpetuation of the bad shepherds, an assumption that contravenes regularity brought forth by the painful experience of the past. But it has a negative side, i...

A proposal in the Philippine senate to prohibit motorcycles drivers from riding in tandem with nonkin passengers is in the offing. Exceptions are relatives up to the first degree of consanguinity which will be allowed to back ride. But in all cases, children won't be allowed to back ride for safety reason. Aside from the latter which by the way is non-objectionable and in fact laudable, the proposal is said to be aimed at checking the rising tide of killings and criminal activities using motorcycles as a tool of escape. In Quezon City, a similar move was enacted requiring motorcycle riders to wear vest with the plate number printed on it. Of course the numbers should match. Otherwise, it will be a cause to stop the rider as a suspect for possible robbery and other criminal offenses. These proposals and enacted ordinance are manifestation of the quality of the minds that populates the Philippine government. Not exactly the kind of action we should expect from the elected and...

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS was signed in 1982 and formally it took effect in 1994 with over 160 countries joining to date along with members of the European Union and the United Nations Security Council, including China sans the United States. The UNCLOS defined the parameters governing sea boundaries and demarcations, the rights on the use of the sea for commerce, research, environment protection, mining, extraction of marine life and exploration of the seabed among others. The philosophical basis of the convention, in the words of the preamble, is to “contribute to the realization of a just and equitable international economic order which takes into account the interests and needs of mankind as a whole and, in particular, the special interests and needs of developing countries.” The convention declares that the deep seabed and its resources are the “common heritage of mankind” and may be mined only “for the benefit of mankind as a whole, irresp...

Manila Bulletin  – Thu, Jun 5, 2014 The government is crafting contingency measures should tension between China and the Philippines ratchet up in the West Philippine Sea………… A friend almost blurt into laughter when he saw this headline, then slowly it faded... and he shook his head in disbelief. His face turned a shallow but a painful smile, presumably triggered by aghast and frustration. The Chinese invasion is characterized by threat and intimidation, occasions of direct assault on Philippine marine resources and nationals is becoming a norm, and it has been going on for years. The Chinese utilization of resources from the sovereign territory is continuing and becoming larger day by day. Now after all the years of Chinese occupation and rape of Philippine resources, here comes this  government pronouncement that finally, they are “eyeing” and about to craft a contingency plan if things get sour with China. It is much easier to dismiss the st...

BVR or Beyond Visual Range, Stealth, Over the Horizon, GPS, Countermeasures, Fire and Forget, Radar Homing are just but some of the prevalent characteristics of advance weaponry and its delivery system that could render dogfights obsolete, and less viable to be a part of primary strategy and may be viewed as a secondary tactical option. Accordingly, it may relegate to be the least as a priority for consideration when procuring weapon’s delivery system like fighter jets.  An aerial platform that has the aforementioned mode and characteristics of operation regardless of speed and size can pose as a serious threat even against late generation fighters. If procurement budget is a major constraint, e mphasis need be placed primarily not on the fighter jets capability to fly at supersonic or hypersonic speed, but rather on its ability to detect threat at far distances; to launch and employ its weapons at supersonic speed or at far distances; and to sustain utilization without break...

It is unclear where the word “Tong” had originated, but in the Philippines it is a slang adapted as part of the vernacular referring to fee, commission or share in terms of money for favor, service or the tolerance of activities that crisscrossed the borders of legality and morality. It may equate to protection money, grease money or kickbacks. The recent Philippine "pork barrel" scam that allegedly involves hordes of elected and appointed government officials had resurrected the usage of the slang “tong” in mass media and the public at large as an  expression of abomination. Senators were called “Senatong” while Congressmen were labeled as Tongressman. Except for the few high profiled members of the legislative body, majority choose to keep silent amid the scandal. Their silence resonates not only on the issue of the kickbacks but also on the current situation of great national importance, the invasion of the Philippines. Generally, there is noth...

The following is an adaptation of an excerpt from the series of lectures delivered by Mao Tse Tung in 1938 at the Yenan Association for the Study of War of Resistance Against Japan at the height of the second Sino-Japanese War from 1937-1945 at a city in North Eastern China. The lecture seemed to have included a question and answer segment where Mao Tse Tung had laid out his strategy to counter the Japanese occupation of China until the former’s defeat at the end of the 2 nd world war. It was a war fought by China as an underdog against the Japanese atrocious expansionism. The irony of that event in history is that China has now assumed the role of the Japanese conquistadors which it had fought during that war.  The semi-literal translation presumably from Chinese into English is maintained in this adaptation; the word China is replaced by the word Philippines; while Japan is referred to as China instead. Some places and events deemed inapplicable were excluded, and in some...

If the physical is a manifestation of consciousness that originated from a greater source, then parents being physical and a manifestation of that greater consciousness are one conduits of that consciousness. Since a child is an extension of a parent’s consciousness, through pure love and genuine affection, their positive consciousness is borne by the child in his existence while in the propagation and projection of his own.  But if a child will reject and rebel against the parents which are the source of positive consciousness, if he will stand firm in youthful arrogance and misconceived pride, when he shut the flow of that positive consciousness, he will erase its protective mantle; he will create an imbalance and inflict upon himself a curse. What shall prevail and dominate is the negative consciousness existing in his midst. His vision will be blurred and confusion will cloud his mind; his life will be in disarray, misfortunes will befall him, his str...

The Philippine legislature is besieged with allegations of corruption both in the upper and the lower house. As the sun set and rise, new names would shine into implication in the web of conspiracy that defrauded the republic and the people for nearly a decade. Maybe some of those implicated who vehemently denied participation are truly innocent and maybe most of them do indeed deserved indictment. The absence or deficiency in evidence does not prove innocence, rather it only abates prosecution. While the legal requirement accepts nothing less than preponderance to beyond doubt, the moral dictum demands beyond reproach. There are one... two... and many in the chamber's population who invoked innocence and belied knowledge but that would constitute ignorance and incompetence which is supposed to be preferable over guilt. In all ways, the chambers membership were composed and now are consisting of varied characters, some are guilty, some are ignorant, some are incompetent and mo...

The Philippine national anthem was originally composed as an incidental music for the proclamation of the first Philippine Independence from Spain in 1898. Subsequently, in 1899 a poem written in Spanish called “Filipinas” was incorporated as its lyrics. During the first half of the American colonial occupation, it was banned from being played until the appertaining colonial law was rescinded in 1919. On that same year it was translated into English by an American subject named Mary Lane together with Camilo Osias. In 1956, after some minor revisions under the administration of then President Ramon Magsaysay, it was since officially adapted and titled “Lupang Hinirang” or “Chosen Land”. The Philippine National anthem is an acclamation of the Philippine’s innate beauty. Painted in its lyrics and melody are the patriots passion and their pledge of loyalty. It is filled with inner delight and a promise to choose damnation when wronged. Here in the latter is where the tragedy ...