Kartilya: Pacquiao's victory over Cotto gives yet another respite for the Filipino nation

CARP vs. GARB

Posted by Ronnie Clarion On February - 2009

Land distribution to landless Filipino farmers is a preset of provision under Art. XIII Sec.4 of the 1987 Constitution. Prior to this provision, former Pres. Corazon Aquino mounted the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which was later enacted through the passage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) or RA 6657 on June 10, 1988. However, the program had been excoriated for its failure to completely distribute lands to the beneficiaries within its target completion timeframe of 10 years. It was later extended for another 10 years yet the struggle for genuine agrarian reform continues.

Ang Kartilya ng Katipunan

Posted by Christian Espinoza On June - 12 - 2010

The Revolution of the Katipunan may well have been thwarted by American imperialism at the turn of the 20th century, but it is noteworthy to declare that our people, who at that time were only beginning to form the concept of nationhood, were more than able to organize a revolutionary force that would liberate the entire islands from their Spanish colonizers.

Noynoy Aquino Inaugural Speech

Posted by Kartilya On June - 30 - 2010

Ang pagtayo ko rito ngayon ay patunay na kayo ang aking tunay na lakas. Hindi ko inakala na darating tayo sa puntong ito, na ako’y manunumpa sa harap ninyo bilang inyong Pangulo. Hindi ko pinangarap maging tagapagtaguyod ng pag-asa at tagapagmana ng mga suliranin ng ating bayan.

Subjugating the Philippine System of Education

Posted by Christian Lloyd Espinoza On Oct - 2009

The transformation and reorientation of the current rotten system of education in the country is not possible without the development of a critical consciousness that reflects and acts upon the existing social (dis)order. Any meaningful change in our basic curriculum must be liberative of the docility that has long infringed our mentality, dissolving what little nationalist ideal there is left in the heart of every Filipino youth.

Pacquiao's victory over Cotto gives yet another respite for the Filipino nation

Posted by Kartilya On 10:48 AM

It is of no doubt that the entire Filipino nation momentarily took a pause to witness the anticipated fight of Manny Pacquiao against Miguel Cotto. The most revered "pambansang kamao" sent Cotto staggering down to the twelfth round of their match prompting referee Kenny Bayless to halt the fight :55 into the round, stripping Miguel Cotto of his WBO welterweight championship belt and granting the Pacman his 7th world title. Once again, Manny emerged as a victor and the Filipino nation rose in galactic fervor, feeling a sense of national pride.

Indeed it is amazing to see how a single person's victory (and a sportsman at that) can send an entire nation in a state of euphoria. There is, however, something that is amiss in the middle of what seems to be a national celebration.

To have a hero is something worthwhile especially for a country that has constantly been placed in the worst of conditions—politically and economically. But in our country's case, the need for a hero stems from a deeply-rooted insecurity of the past and present, and the uncertainty of the future. As Galileo says in Bertolt Brecht's "Life of Galileo," unhappy is the land that needs a hero. Surely the Philippines needs a hero as sure as it is an unhappy country.

Pacquiao's victory is one respite for the Filipino nation, a momentary halt to the everyday struggles against political and economic odds. The Filipino people needs more than a victory in the sporting arena, much less in the boxing event. We need to find our strength to move the nation forward in attaining the elusive genuine comprehensive progress, not by relegating it to a single person, but by working for it as a people.