Sunday, November 30, 2008
Usurped, Stupid, TreacherousIt's hard to believe that a major school's publication would have editorial policy to misinform and deceive its readers. One cannot help but be appalled by the ignorance and prejudice exhibited in the article.
That the ADMU professors openly declared their support for the Reproductive Health Bill represents a major milestone for freedom-of-speech in our major colleges and it is heartening, that despite religious edict, that right is respected by our Jesuit fathers.
This is in total contrast to another school where a student was administratively punished for posting his opinion on a 'freedom board" and that opinion was against that of the administration.
I am also proud to be a part ADMU, which ranked highly in the THES university rankings, rather than another school where the officials that run the school were fired over an expansion scandal.
The Confused
Being pro-choice has a lot of meanings. A lot of pro-choice people like Dr. Marife Yap, associate dean of ASMPH, are clearly not for abortion. Being pro-choice means that we advocate choices for couples who want to plan their family, whether through natural or artificial means. The bill does not in anyway include abortion in the list of choices.
The bill does not also compel couples to use contraceptives. It gives them the option to use one if they want to since it will be available for all. And it certainly does not compel couples to have only two children.
The article reads as though these are elements of the bill. For such learned and educated people to be so factually wrong, one can only assume they didn't read it or read something entirely different and are confused.
The Moron
For people’s information, the population explosion is not a hoax. Countless researches have pointed out the lowered population growth correlated to economic growth. In fact, the UN accounts the lowered population growth as 1/5 of reasons for the development of Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan into developed nations.
Even the publications mentioned like Asiaweek and New York Times published articles saying how disastrous overpopulation is, not only to developing countries but also to the environment.
Also countless researches have showed that effective sex education in schools reduces pre-marital sex, risky sexual behaviors and unwanted pregnancies.
And one cannot believe that such people still believes that the number of HIV cases in the Philippines is still 3,000. Even the most conservative estimates admit that the number is far higher than 10,000 estimated years back.
Attacking international aid agencies and NGO’s? How hypocritical. The truth of the matter is, without them, health care in the country would have totally collapsed. And even if they give all their money, it will never be enough to feed, educate and care for the health of a population that is exploding.
The Deceitful
The Ateneo Graduate School of Business established a business management course a few years back. Its aim was to teach human resource management skills and to 'manage' a 'population' to realize more its potential. They called it "Population Management." It's a business course befitting a business school and the implication and blatant and seemingly deliberate lie that it was about contraception or dealing with unwanted pregnancies does nothing more than to discredit the writer.
The curriculum does not in any way teach students how to abort pregnancies nor does it tackle anything about contraceptives. And how perfidious for them to imply that the ASMPH would be pro-abortion or would be teaching abortion to its students!
The ASMPH seeks to mold the doctors of the future, doctors who would be critical thinkers rather than mindless board passers, spiritual rather than religious, dynamic rather than mediocre.
Enlightenment
I do not even need to enumerate the countless advantages and importance of a comprehensive reproductive health law in a developing country. Educated people, in touch with reality, who work for the good of others (cura personalis) and do more than what is expected of them (magis) would know how important the bill is.
These Ateneo professors are courageous intellectuals who stand up for our people and defend their health rights even if they are called “grim reapers” by those who blindly follow the church.
To quote my favorite tour guide Carlos Celdran, “I have faith that things will work out in the end. I truly believe that many Filipinos see through the lies being given by the old and out of touch men who run this institution called the Philippine Catholic Church. I mean, c’mon. This is the very same institution that wanted Jose Rizal dead, and that wanted the Noli Me Tangere banned from all schools. I think it’s been proven rather well that the Catholic Church isn’t always correct when it comes to many matters. And this one is definitely one of them.”
I call on my fellow Ateneans to be modern day heroes. Stand up for our people like Jose Rizal and our mentors. Be real Ateneans―always enlightened, never mediocre.
1 Comment/s
written at : 4:19 PM
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
There's this girl/guy who's posting gossips in multiply about people in our class. She anonymously posts it through her blog there and, oh boy, are they nasty. Would you believe that I am even there?
I won't say the site but this terribly confused person looks like he/she really needs some help. She calls her blog the Gossip Lounge. It was fun for others but definitely not for me. I believe it is a cowardly act gossiping about other people while hiding your identity.
She even bitches to people who care to comment about how inappropriate her blog is. I wonder who this person is? She could be anyone in our class.
So any tips on how we could uncover who this coward is?
5 Comment/s
written at : 12:21 PM
Sunday, November 16, 2008
The palarong med is over and so do the sem break. My, my, how time flies..
About the games, we lost all of our matches. Hihi. Well, we weren't really expecting anything since the other med schools were doing these for decades now and this is the first time we joined. But we are really happy to compete. We did it for fun. And we almost won the last two matches. Hihi.
Hmm... Well I don't know if I'll still join next year. The whole event is so low-budgeted. And I really hate these kinds of events.
By the way, maybe you should go to Philippine Sports Complex and see the ugly and run down structures there. No wonder we never win anything in the Olympics.
I would be embarrassed if we would host the SEA games and the structures are like that.
0 Comment/s
written at : 5:20 PM
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Just a quick post. I'm not feeling well.
Last Monday and Tuesday, we practiced volleyball for the upcoming tournament between med schools. Stupid me and neglected warming up. Now, the muscles all over my body are aching.
A doctor-friend of mine told me that it's body malaise due to over fatigue. Ugh. I wasn't able to attend the practice today. Hopefully, I'll be well enough to practice tomorrow or it would be really embarrassing to miss more practice since I sorely need some. And the tournament is on Saturday already!
Need bed rest. Lot's of it. And water water water.
1 Comment/s
written at : 7:20 PM
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
I've never been prouder for America than today. They voted for change today.
Although I am not really an Obama supporter, I am still a Democrat. I was bitter when Hillary lost both I just can't take more of the same. We cannot let that old man run the strongest nation in the world.
I hope America would be a role model in liberalism to the world now that the Democrats are in-charge.
I wonder when will the Philippines change? I remember my professor asking us, why should we give up on our country and compare it US? Our country is less than a century old. And it took the US more than a century to become a developed country.
I don't know about that argument. So many countries within our neighborhood have already achieved that status within a shorter span of time even overtaking us. It seems to me that the country is heading towards the wrong direction.
And now that I have been campaigning so hard for the Reproductive Health Bill to be passed into law, I cannot imagine it being shot down. It might really destroy my faith in this country which I love and fought so hard for.
I hope the politicians would come to their senses and pass the bill. I always pray that God will guide them to give the people their RH rights. Vox populi, Vox dei. The voice of the people is the voice of God.
1 Comment/s
written at : 9:11 PM
