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Digital Citizenship as a Bridge for Collective Emancipation

Utilizing the wide expanse of technology that we have now, there is a necessity for the interlinking of our advocacies to maximize all avenues within reach in advancing our pursuit for social justice. Making it possible to connect with people from different contexts, the resources at our disposal make it more possible for us to attain the progressive future that can be won through communal resistance.

According to Digital Technologies Hub, digital citizenship refers to an individual’s positive engagement with their digital technologies. Furthermore, this gives the opportunity to open the discourse on different competencies such as information literacy, internet safety, privacy, digital etiquette, and digital footprint. By effectively inculcating these values, a safer space will be nurtured, creating the conditions necessary for healthy exchange of ideas.

As we campaign for causes such as environmental justice, women’s rights, educational access, and many more, our current situation amid the pandemic highlights a glaring reality: we are mostly confined in our digital spaces, so we must make the most out of it in pushing forward with our struggles. Met with polarizing insights, there is a general tendency to build antagonisms rather than forge unities. Because of this, the gap between individuals become a convenient scapegoat to disregard their humanity.

To combat this, there is a need to remember what Paulo Freire has always emphasized in the pedagogy he has developed. An emancipating dialogue can only transpire if there is a genuine communion between the people involved in this discourse. Clashing ideas not for the sake of merely winning, but having an emergence of consciousness rooted in the desire to liberate. There is a necessity to dialectically see these people as humans, beyond our screens, whose ideas are molded by their different material situations and socialization.

Digital citizenship paves the way for the flourishing of a truly transformative dialogical action, allowing us to integrate in a manner that creates sincere connection to unite in our humanistic task of collectively breaking free from the chains of oppression. Through this responsibility, we are one step closer to our goal in building a world centered in love, understanding, and mutual benefit.

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MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS

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END THE STIGMA: Be Someone’s Light

Let me ask you something. What comes to your mind when you think of a person with a heart disease or someone fighting cancer? You may say “fighter”, “fearless”, “strong”, and many more. How about when you think of a person with a mental illness? In this society, people will commonly say “looking for attention”, “fake”, “weak”. That, everyone, is stigma. Stigma is when someone views you in a negative way because you have a mental illness. A lot of people still see mental illness as a weakness but it is a condition that affects a person's thinking, feeling, behavior or mood. It’s the same as having cancer or any other serious diseases because they also fight with their illness every day.

Depression is more than being sad. Anxiety is more than worrying. People with mental health disorders are more than looking for attention. They are way more than just that. We need to be aware that these affect one’s well-being and can be felt by any age. We need to be more open. As a society, we should help people feel supported and validated. Reach out to them and have a conversation. Let them open-up and talk about what they really feel. Sometimes, we don’t really have to say anything. They need us to listen and be there for them. Don’t tell them that they are just making things up. Instead, reassure them and say “I am here for you”, “you are brave and it’s okay to ask for help sometimes”, “it’s okay to rest because you deserve it.”

Each and every one of us can do something to break this kind of culture. We, the Divergent, believe that we can all help each other reach the end of the tunnel. Be the light to someone’s darkness. Come, and join us end the stigma.

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The flaws in the Judicial System of the Philippines

"90% of cases dismissed due to police negligence"

President Rodrigo Duterte shrugged off the phenomenal rise of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, saying it's the result of criminals killing off other criminals. "You add more intrigues and then they kill each other, better. Criminals kill criminals, that is not my worry," said Duterte on Friday, September 2, 2016 during a press conference in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.

However, there have been incidents that appear to be drug-related where individuals, like a 5-year-old girl and college students, with no criminal record die.

While we abhor crime and drug use in the country, and we recognize the slow procedures that afflict our criminal justice system, these should NOT be an excuse for reckless killings. While we denounce the corrupt practices of the prosecutors, defense lawyers, and judges, and the failure of the legal profession in the Philippines, these frailties should NOT be an excuse to undermine our already fragile laws and weak constitution.

"Drug cases rarely prosper due to lack of police budget, training"

We only give policing power to the government, because it comes with certain rules and conduct. The blatant disregard for due process should be everyone's cause for concern; we shouldn't wait for the same abuse of power to happen to us or to our loved ones. Because the Duterte administration has labeled drugs as the ultimate enemy when drugs aren't the only dangers present in our society.

Laws and policies to counter national security threats and illegal drugs have been crafted and implemented in ways that severely impact human rights. This has resulted in thousands of killings, arbitrary detention and vilification of those who challenge these severe human right violations

And the fact that he has authorized people to kill other people on sight is a dangerous idea in itself. He may close the door on drugs, but open the floodgates for murderers. This is why due process is being sought after really hard by people. There doesn't seem to be anything being done to solve MURDERS now. We're extremely hard on drugs, but what about straight up homicide? What do we do about those? Label them as drug related, that's what we do now.

That's what scares people. Murder is ignored now.

"A ‘rotten’ criminal justice system"

How many “rich” criminals are walking free right now? How many poor people are dying in the hands of the rich? How many people have taken up the prison time for most wanted criminals known in the Philippines?

The conviction rate of the Department of Justice is only 30%. This means only 3 out of 10 are convicted by public prosecutors. Of the 3, there is no assurance they will even serve their sentence with the country’s inefficient system, paving the way for criminals, including drug offenders, to keep returning to their illegal activities. On top of that, cases take “forever.”

Citations:

https://www.rappler.com/nation/duterte-extrajudicial-killings-criminals https://www.ohchr.org/en/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=26016&LangID= https://www.rappler.com/nation/decaying-justice-system-crime-corruption-philippines-forum

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Turtles are kind creatures.

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SAVE THE TURTLES!

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FREE THE DEEP BLUE: SAVE THE TURTLES

Imagine you’re by the ocean, you look at the vastness of the wide blue horizon and think of how beautiful the scenery is. You soon realize that what you’re only seeing is the surface and not what’s lying underneath the landscape. So let me tell you what you can find in the deep blue. You have the classic idea of coral reefs, marine life, and aquatic plants, but what you can also unfortunately find is trash, plastic, chemicals, and other pollutants that cost the lives of various marine organisms. These pollutants don’t just float around either on the surface or by the seafloor, in fact, they negatively affect one of the most endangered species found on the planet to the point that the number of deaths of these creatures continue to increase up to this day, and those are the sea turtles.

How these sea creatures are affected by the waste mass produced by humans daily is huge from direct contact due to ingestion of these waste products to the buildup of infected tissue that can cause diseases and immediate death. The continuous degradation of sea turtles’ habitats can also be traced back to widespread oil spills wherein these discharges can be washed up on beaches which are optimum nesting habitats. Materials made from plastic pose an equal threat to dangerous instances wherein these materials can be ingested and continue to block the airways of various turtles which lead to a slow death for them. Toxic metals that also mix in with the water build up in their livers and kidneys which can cause poisoning of the internal body systems. Overall, the exposure of these turtles to pollutants makes it so that they are more susceptible to diseases and illnesses that ultimately lead to death.

So, the next time you look at the ocean and think of how beautiful it is, think of what lies beneath the surface and how the marine biosystems continue to suffer because of our actions. Let’s decrease our plastic waste usage, let’s use more eco-friendly materials, and let’s not be ignorant of how these creatures are suffering because of our seemingly “innocent” actions. Help in the advocacy to protect these endangered species and continue for the preservation and hopeful chance that their populations rise again. Let’s do our part in keeping the deep blue safe and clean for the creatures living there. We must protect the deep blue and keep it so that our turtles can continue to live.

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PROTECT INDIGENOUS PEOPLE!

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Indigenous People

Indigenous Peoples worldwide range approximately 300 and 500 million people, represent and sustain 80 percent of the world's genetic and biological complexity, and inhabit 20 percent of the world's land surface. The world's indigenous people are incredibly diverse. They live in nearly every sector on every continent and represent a continuum of society, ranging from conventional hunter-gatherers to subsistence farmers to scholars. They are associated with the preservation of habitat, the conservation of literature, and the promotion of culture. Some of them works to protect ancestral cultural practices, while others pursue greater inclusion in modern state systems.

Considering the enormous differences between Indigenous cultures around the world, all of them have one commonality: they all have an imprint of oppression. They have been slaughtered, abused, and enslaved. They have been the victims of hate crimes in many ways. They have been denied the authority to partake in the new state structures' governing structures. Moreover, countless indigenous peoples summarize their understanding "in the context of legends and folk traditions such as 'sacred groves," sacred ponds,' and 'sacred animals,' which forbid the depletion of certain resource species and their ecosystems." Common activities include re-planting trees after they have been toppled and prohibiting flooding of waterways upstream.

Cultural Survival's Advocacy Program facilitates Indigenous Peoples around the world by reinforcing advocacy campaigns to add recognition and international pressure to their plight, while also strengthening Indigenous communities' ability, often at the request of community groups, to demand and defend their privileges stated in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Ten years since the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples was ratified, numerous nations have made strides in officially acknowledging indigenous peoples, however they continue to suffer inequality, marginalization, and significant obstacles in exercising their basic human rights. The Declaration, which was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on September 13, 2007, provides a fundamental system of basic subsistence principles for the world's indigenous population' sovereignty and well-being. It is the most detailed diplomatic instrument on the collective interests of aboriginal peoples, along with the rights of self-determination, tribal territories, and heritage.

Numerous Indigenous people cannot establish their own style of living, manage their own schooling, welfare, and other services until their territories are protected. It is the ultimate goal. Anything else is just secondary. Their closeness to the land has enabled their communities to live sustainably. Tribal communities prosper as their land rights are acknowledged. If they are not, the future looks grim. Thus, ensuring their land rights is a necessity. Building public awareness, and catalyze actions on issues of importance to them. Indigenous Peoples, like all cultures and societies, are constantly adjusting and responding to changes in the environment.

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ANIMAL RIGHTS

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ANIMAL RIGHTS: BE THEIR VOICE

Ever since when I was a little, my family likes having pets inside the house. We already had multiple dogs, cats, fishes, and hamsters. Some of them died and currently, we have two dogs named KitKat and max. so far, KitKat and max are the longest pets we have had. We have KitKat for 8 years already while max is 7 years. Having them for years, I realized that dogs or animals are just like humans. They eat, drink, play, sleep, and other activities that humans also do. They also have feelings like us. They also feel excited, sad, and happy. They sometimes get mad and bark because we haven’t fed them. But what I also realized with animals is that unlike us, we have voices while animals don’t.

We, humans, can say whatever we need and want. While animals, can’t tell us if what they want, need, and what they feel. There are a lot of times that KitKat and max got hurt but they just bark and bark but we sometimes misunderstood it as they’re just hungry but actually, they’re getting hurt already. Then I suddenly thought that there are a lot of animals all around the world that are getting abuse by their owners. And they have no choice because they treat and love their owners like a family. They also can’t get help from other people because they don’t have a voice and they don’t know anyone but just their owners.

If you own a pet, make sure to take care of them, treat and love them like a family because they’re just like us, they also have feelings. Even simple things can make them happy. Having playtime with them, cuddling with them, giving them food are some of the simple things that we can do to make them feel special and belonged. And if you love animals and appreciate them, join organizations that protect their rights and be their voice. If they don’t have a voice, well we, humans, can be their voices.

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THE TRUE PURPOSE OF EDUCATION

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Perturbing the Comforted: On the Philippine Education System

Carrying the brandished hope of an unassailable force, the circle continues in its mindless cycle — traversing the same path, and leading to the same point from where it started: an imprisonment within the system that only seeks to continuously perpetuate itself rather than pave way for the birth of a new resolution. The chains that persist in their regressive purpose of molding dilemmas within the Philippine educational system converges in three grips — colonization, commercialization, and fascism.

Back when I was in primary school, I remember loving the color orange in a strange manner I could not comprehend. It would always be my go-to whenever we were made to pick our crayons to paint our coloring books with our desired touches. Even when the alphabet was first taught to us, the example used for words starting with letter “o” was the word orange. Growing up, the realization slowly starts to dawn on me: through the process of being socialized in my first years of education, there is always something foreign with how examples and lenses are taught to us. Something out of touch.

The enslavement of the Filipino people, ever since time immemorial, is reproduced in the way the culture they are a part of creates a machinery of impunity by molding itself to justify superficial ideals imposed by those who hold our economy, ensuring that it will be maintained through their ceaseless hold in our social conditions. As Renato Constantino put it, the most effective means of subjugating a people is to capture their minds.

After all, what better way is there to capture the people’s mind than controlling the very institution tasked with the responsibility of indoctrinating the people in the society they operate from, taking form in education?

The system of education that exists within the Philippines could not be analyzed without properly tracing its roots. Myopic analysis devoid of its own historical context is one of the major setbacks that hinder the progression of a refined discourse in this topic. It is only through dissecting the material conditions of the society will the understanding of the educational system’s orientation come in its true essence.

The domination of the English language as the medium of instruction, as well as the implementation of Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Memorandum 20 which eliminates Filipino at Panitikan as one of the core subjects in college, is one of the many proofs that the colonial orientation of education persists in its stronghold upon the system.

Philippine education was once shaped in the purpose of preserving American control. In order to attain this, it was of paramount importance that any separatist ideas are decimated. This goes hand-in-hand with the colonizers’ interest of maintaining their control on the nation’s mode of production. The ideological apparatus they have consolidated, taking root in education, ensures that they will mold generations of Filipinos who shall view themselves as obedient little colonials, free of any genuine nationalistic notions of liberating themselves, and putting American culture in superior heights in order to turn back on their identity.

According to Joseph Hayden in his study, it has been the English language and the very struggles necessary to acquire it that molded American culture to be instilled in the country, to which its usage brought the Filipinos to Americans and their culture. In 1925, the Monroe Survery Report criticized the system of education that the colonial administration imposed on their first decade of colonization. They said that the very curriculum instills American culture through organized and systemic means.

The English language as the medium of instruction is the strongest grip, in our time, of colonial chain in our educational system. The machinery of power in this society is held by the people who believe that it is only through English shall the Filipinos acquire real education.

Alienation presents yet another peril brought by the colonization of education. It ensures that bourgeois-liberal tendencies will be championed to nurture individualism within the students, separating them from the society they are a part of. It glorifies suffering and masks them as necessary pain from where their consciousness must be submerged in instead of troubles that require transformation — it encourages the submission to the status quo, a defeatist approach, in order to quell any attempt of transforming it which is against the interest of those whose power lie on the succession of the inequality within the system.

It glamorizes the Philippines as an agricultural country, but it pries away from awakening the students from the fact that the backbones of the sector that makes this country agricultural are suffering and are subjected to inhumane societal conditions. It vilifies any hope for national industrialization, ensuring that our economy will remain dependent on foreign hold. The preservation of backward culture is systematic, creating ideological conditions that promotes colonial assimilation.

The struggle of the Filipino people, however, does not stop there — the chains only continue to expand, clawing even deeper upon their already decaying flesh.

The K-12 program has embarked as yet another weapon of colonial spite. The issue here isn’t as simplistic as whether the Philippines is ready for this change, but its core orientation that urged its implementation. Its design conformed to the Bologna Accords of European Union and Washington Accord of USA. It mentioned how those who shall work in other countries must finish 12 years in accordance to the needs of foreign multinational companies.

In short, it is another path for foreign interests to use our education as breeding grounds for a bulk of cheap laborers. According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the number of Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who worked abroad at any time during the period April to September 2018 was estimated at 2.3 million. This accounts to more than 6,000 Filipinos migrating every day to work outside the country. The objective of the K-12 centering on readying its completers for jobs entails the underlying consequence of further satisfying foreign avarice at the expense of the Filipinos.

The dilemma of colonization in education brings forth the second ordeal — commercialization. It lies on the principle of marketization that the capitalist foreign forces have shaped in the educational system. A principle that equips the students to be coerced in submerging themselves within market demands, rather than studying as means of changing the social conditions that make it unbearable to begin with.

According to a Department of Education report back in 2012, in every 100 students that enroll in elementary, only less than 14 of those are able to finish college. The significant amount of the youth who have been incapable of finishing their education can’t be isolated cases — they are manifestations of the ills within the system.

Once brought upon the slums, would one really still have the opportunity to persist in their studies when their churning stomachs are already driving them on the edge?

It is, yet again, social conditions that hinder the progression of the majority of those driven out of their schools to settle in clamoring for jobs. This is strengthened with commercializing education, treating it as means of gaining profit rather than a right for the people.

In present times, public institutions are seen as inferior compared to their private counterparts. Only those who can’t afford private schools send their children to public schools. Those who can afford it, however, send their children to private institutions. Its outcome led to over-glorification of private education which has unfortunately resulted to the proliferation of diploma mills.

This dilemma is further exacerbated with the education’s deregulation. This is when the government frees themselves from tenets of their responsibility to ensure free education for all, and allow power for private sectors to enter the educational realms. The MTHEDIP mentioned a case study that illustrates the collaboration of transnational corporations like IBM with the Far Eastern University (FEU) in setting up the East-Asia College.

The government argues that the educational system ought to be internationalized in the case of our curriculum in order to attract as many foreign enrollees as possible as in the case of the Asian Institute of Management (AIM). In order to further justify decreased budgetary allocation for education, the MTHEDIP makes no pretense at advocating the commercialization and corporatization of the tertiary public school system.

Finally, it comes at a full circle — the form of fascism is instilled within the educational system, functioning in their earnest objective of preserving the structures mentioned earlier.

Constantino described how nationalism is taught at schools in a very narrow-sighted way. It merely raises patriotism in the sense that it could be fully achieved through its symbolic means of respect in the flag, appreciation for our national symbols, and obeying to authorities without question. It creates a culture of compulsory subservience — one that is needed in maintaining power structures.

True nationalism, however, lies on the desire to cultivate national survival, which is what education should be made for in the first place. Fascism derails this — it simply generates a nonscientific culture of imposing ‘discipline’ by having powers remaining unquestioned, shunning criticality, and alienating the students from the broad masses where they can channel their true nationalism to. After all, it is the people who make up the nation.

It is only warranted that these three rots be vanquished, for as history itself has shown, nothing is subject for permanence. The call for a genuine nationalistic, scientific, and mass-oriented education waits to be heeded. It is only through that should education finally come in its full terms of providing an avenue for the people to mold a society that leans on itself, liberated from ideas that only oppress the people, and addresses the struggles that have long been untapped in the community.

Given these, what’s left for the Filipino youth is their collective will to stand for their democratic rights. History already proved how their united action could bring upon societal change. The youth of tomorrow leave their hope on the youth of today to topple regressive forms and destroy whatever illusion the people still cling into as means of justifying the exploitation of the Filipinos — the path to liberation is never comforting, for the comforted ought to be disturbed, and from there on, the disturbed will rise to spring comfort upon everyone.

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Women Empowering Women

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FEMINISM

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WOMEN EMPOWERMENT

Women's empowerment is described as fostering women's self-esteem, freedom to make their own decisions, and right to affect social change for themselves and others. Promotion of women's rights have been part of a larger global trend that has been breaking new ground in recent years. Even so, despite significant change, women and girls continue to face sexism and violence in every country.

The UN Global Compact and UN Women collaborated to develop the Women's Empowerment Principles, which are used to empower women in the marketplace, workplace, and culture. These principles are to create high-level executive leadership for gender equity, according to these values. At work, treat all equally, upholding and promoting nondiscrimination and civil rights. Ensure the fitness, well-being, and welfare of all employees, both men and women. Women's schooling, preparation, and career advancement should be encouraged. Advocate for inclusion in the world through community programs and activism. Progress toward gender equality should be measured and reported publicly.

Gender equity is a fundamental human right as well as a necessity for a stable and prosperous society. Girls and women, on the other hand, continue to face serious challenges all over the world. Women are traditionally underestimated in positions of authority and decision-making. They are paid unequally for fair jobs, and they often face legal and other obstacles that limit their employment opportunities. Girls and women are often seen as less important than boys in developed countries. Instead of going to school, they are often forced to do household chores or are married off for a dowry before they reach adulthood. Per year, as many as 12 million teenage girls marry.

Women empowerment is vital for the wellbeing and prosperity of families, cultures, and nations. Women will achieve their full potential when they live in a healthy, satisfied, and prosperous environment. They will contribute their abilities to the community while also raising happy and healthy kids. They may also contribute to the development of sustainable economies, as well as profit communities and society as a whole. It's a good start to stand for and believe in women. Women are seen in all aspects of life, from the workplace to the classroom to the home and community. All of World Vision's work is based on gender empowerment, and there are many wonderful events you can participate in to promote women's rights in developed countries.

Good, trained, and inspired women and children, in my belief, are change agents. Women and girls develop chances to stand up for their rights and fight for their families when they are empowered. They will also improve their social status, which they can pass on to future generations. This ensures that women's organizations, initiatives, and charities will gather momentum and lead to a more powerful society.

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We Are Divergent: Narratives of Resistance.

From the students of Marikina Science High School, we share our perspectives. Divergent is an advocacy-based formation comprising of individuals committed to different humanitarian causes, weaving them together through this platform to reach a wider audience. Through this, we hope to amplify causes, advance calls, and inspire people to partake in collective action.

Imitating that of the rainbow, we intend to exemplify the diversity and intersectionality of advocacies we champion as individuals. Featuring the topics of women empowerment, genuine agrarian reform, animals’ rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, saving the turtles, mental health, and judicial system.

With this all-encompassing spectrum, each entry of every individual will represent a certain color of the rainbow. Unity in diversity and struggles, we are emboldened to show that there is a collective convergence in our individual divergence.