USC Celebrates World Philosophy Day
The Department of Philosophy and Religious Studies of the University of San Carlos organized a program to celebrate the World Philosophy Day with the theme “Social Transformations and Intercultural Dialogue” in the afternoon of November 21, 2014 at the Rigney Hall. SOPHIA, the organization of the Philosophy Section of the Department, the Philosophical Association of the Visayas and Mindanao- USC Philosophy Section (PHAVISMINDA), Centrist Democracy Political Institute and the Centrist Democratic Youth Association of the Philippines worked together to make the event possible.
Mr. Ruby Suazo, Ph.D., the section head of the Philosophy division opened the event by giving the rationale and the welcome remarks where he emphasized the role of philosophy in the changes and transformations on our society today. Cong. Rufus Rodriquez, representative of the second district of Cagayan de Oro and also the president of the Centrist Democratic Party of the Philippines (CDP) then lectured the audience on the perils of our current form of government. Cong. Rodriguez said that the centralized government that the Philippines has now is inappropriate for an archipelagic country comprised of diverse people. He suggests that for our country to progress, the presidential system should be trashed and replaced with the parliamentary system. The 1987 Philippine Constitution should then be amended.
Ms. Cristita Marie Giangan, MPMD, program manager for Partnerships for Integrity and Jobs for Integrity and Jobs of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, shared about the situation of the Bangsamoro where they are setting up their own institution. The Bangsamoro aims to change their community from being “fighters to political people” and they plan to do this by establishing their own government which will be in a ministerial form which aims to “have democratic participation, accountability of public officers to their constituents and the formation of genuinely principled political parties.” They believe in the Parliamentary system since this has been the political system in most of the successful countries in the world.
A talk on “Multiculturalism and Nation Building” given by Mr. Christopher Ryan Mabolob, M.Phil., M. Applied Ethics, from the Philosophy Division of Ateneo de Davao University ended the series of discussions. He talked about different topics concerning the improvement of our nation like democracy, liberalism, and communism. On the topic of freedom versus equality, he shared that “we cannot have an equal society because what might be beneficial for one might not be for the other. We are all free to do what we want but in the end, we should be able to do something that will contribute to our society.” Also, on the subject of recognition and redistribution, he said that most of our resources are distributed in the urban areas of the country because there is no proper recognition of the needs of the rural areas. He discussed the different problems faced by Philippines while injecting humor that left the listeners thinking and laughing.
Much have been imparted and much have been learned but there is still much to be done before a transformation for a better nation could be ensured.
