Good day everyone, what a tiring week, it has been, and now to top it all up, I am going to discuss to you the good and the bad side of BUHAY party list.

To start things off, I would first discuss what I believe is the bad side of the BUHAY party list. First I am a supporter of the RH bill, which they staunchly oppose, I believe there us nothing wrong with this bill, I don’t think our country would disintegrate to total immorality if we legalize abortion. Think about it, there is a thousand ways for anyone in this country to get an abortion, and not one of those thousand ways is legal, therefore they are not safe. If we actually legalize abortion we could curb the black market for abortion pills, doctors, and such. Also, even Spain, a close friend of the Vatican, allows abortion. Let us not be withheld by conservative beliefs.

Second, I think there is something wrong when they told us that they do not have plans for the upcoming election, when they answered the previous question (would you want to be a dominant party?) with a negative answer then further elaborate that they would want to remain as the top party list. Kind of confusing isn’t it? You don’t have plans, but you want to remain as the top party?

Now for the good things about this party, well all I can say is that they have a very efficient set of representatives, and that their bills reflects their advocacies of Pro-life, Productivity and Good governance.

The second thing I like about this party is that once the decision of the COMELEC on their problems of representation was given, both factions respected it. A good sign of maturity.

P.S

I still support the RH bill on the merits of choice and safety, I too do not believe that we are over populated, rather we are not distributed properly.

“In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty. “
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

In the simplest sense of LIBERALISM, which is always correlated with “freedom from slavery of any form”, it is a broad class of political philosophies that consider individual liberty to be the most important political goal. Further, humans are naturally in ‘a State of perfect Freedom to order their Actions…as they think fit…without asking leave, or depending on the Will of any other Man’ (Locke).

With the given definition, let us examine whether it fits to the Philippine set up.

On the question of being free and not of slave, we could say that it fits to our set-up. However, if we look closely to it, are we really individually free? Are we on the state of perfect freedom to put into actions what we think are fitted?

We see the rampant poverty here in the country. If the Filipino people wanted to eat three times a day with sufficient nutrition, could we? The answer is sadly no. We are indeed enslaved with the poverty we are facing today. Not only poverty, we are also enslaved with justice, truth and freedom.

These virtual slaveries are not mere abstract of reality. These are the situations we are facing everyday, these are hardships we bear on our shoulders time to time.

Why?

Due to the policies and succumbs mind of our people who do want more than what they need. In turn, they have more, and we have less.

But chill! There’s always been a lighter side...

You know what’s the most fitted liberalism we could opt to describe the Philippines?

It is the liberal way of dressing up, courting, relationships, etc.

Without this notion, we will never have the tubes, spaghettis, micro-mini skirts, and the so-called “pekpek shorts” (more commonly known in English as short shorts,, ok?), which are very “in” today…

We will not be that open and have these same-sex relationships...

We will not have a minute of “Wag ka nang manligaw, tayo na.”…

Ergo, we shall not accept the title of this article, Liberal mind won’t maketh a liberal man without an action.

It shall be, “Liberal mind without action, won’t makes us a liberal man.”

“The struggle for freedom is the next best thing to actually being free.”

- Leandro L. Alejandro

Submitted by:

Bitang, Maria Lucila d.R.

Calugay, Sam Terence

Mapanao, Joan Michelle B.

Sapallo, Careen L.

The world thought that the famously and chronically corrupt Italian government couldn’t get any more controversial, what with it being overrun by thieves, convicted criminals and mafia-sympathizers. But Anna Ilona Staller, a porn star who moved from Hungary to Italy, showed the world how to use sexuality as a political tool. Cicciolina, as she is widely known, was elected to represent the district of Rome in 1987. Twenty-thousand people hand-wrote her name on their ballots, preferring her over forty-seven other Radical Party nominees. In that election, she received the second highest number of votes among Radical Party candidates--only party leader Marco Pannella received more. Cicciolina's political campaign included striptease, live snakes as props, and her signature flashing of breasts.

Blond hair, red lips and emphasized eyebrows were Cicciolina's trademark. Even as a Member of Italian Parliament, she refused to trade her signature look for a more conservative appearance.

Her political career is characterized by advocating a safe future without nuclear energy and with absolute sexual freedom, including the right to sex in prisons. She is against all forms of violence, the death penalty, and the use of animals for fur or scientific experimentation. She is for the decriminalisation of drugs, against censorship of any kind, in favor of sex education in schools, and for objective information about AIDS. She has proposed a tax on automobiles to reduce the damages of smog and fund the defence of nature.

Many saw Cicciolina's exhibitionism, promiscuous persona and victory at the polls as a national embarrassment. Although she is unofficially credited with establishing one of Europe's first green parties, she had little political experience when she got elected to the Italian parliament. And lest anyone forget that sexuality was her claim to power, she acted in an adult movie while serving her term.

But many others recognized that she was using sexuality not only to get elected, but also to poke fun at the hypocrisy she saw in the Italian government.

As member of parliament, Cicciolina critiqued the oligarchy of Italian patriarchs who lorded over Italian politics. She irreverently called male members of parliament cicciolini, an Italian term of endearment that does not have a single-word English equivalent but can be loosely translated as "cute little tubby boys." The Prime Minister was a cicciolino. The all-powerful head of the Italian Socialist Party was just another cicciolino. By calling them cicciolini instead of prefixing their name with "Your Honor," Cicciolina insisted that they were just "cute little tubby boys," some woman's naughty little children. And indeed, three years into Cicciolina's term, a bribery scandal brought down two major Italian political parties.

Historically, Italian women have held only 10 percent of total parliament seats and were not allowed full political participation until after World War II. As one of the few women in parliament, Cicciolina's victory was significant. Furthermore, she was unafraid to chastise the male parliament members, calling attention to a political system that forbade new faces: "The rules of government change," she said, "but your faces always remain the same ... and the bigger issue is that our problems are always the same, but you just pretend nothing is wrong and continue asking for votes and continue to make your governments fall only to revive them again. The years go by, but your faces remain."

On two occasions, Cicciolina is reported to have attempted to end the buildup to the Gulf War by offering her own body. "I am available to make love to Saddam Hussein to achieve peace in the Middle East," she said.

For all her attempts at challenging the status quo, Cicciolina was not re-elected after her five-year term. But she did stir things up: she was an outsider and a woman--an over-sexed woman by some standards--who forced her way into the boys' club upsetting their sense of comfort and entitlement over politics. Cicciolina unapologetically used her sexuality: she was both positioned because of it and used it to position herself politically. Perhaps her legacy can best be summed up by her own self-assessment: "I am a combative woman." Her sexuality, along with her outspokenness, was a powerful tool in her political arsenal.

By:

Rachael Seso

Perez, Vrieloukarl

Perdiguerra, May Ann

Bautista, Eddelaine

The African National Congress, the strongest political block in South Africa was born six years earlier than the first beacon of hope of the South Africans. Rolihlahla Dalibhunga Mandela who eventually became known as Nelson Mandela was born in a small village in the Transkei province in the Eastern Cape of South Africa on July 18, 1918. At that time, ANC which was formed to end white domination and create a multi-racial South Africa campaigned against anti-black policies of the government. That era was marked by fast changes in South Africa, many new laws and taxes for blacks implied by government (one of the most powerful – Land Act, 1913) were implemented. Blacks were forced to work and they couldn’t move freely.

ANC’S campaign in the 1920’s was still careful and their appeals were ignored by the government. During those years, Mandela was receiving a good education at local boarding schools. Mandela entered Fort Hare University and completed two years before deciding to leave for Johannesburg to avoid a marriage arranged for him by his guardian, chief Jongintaba. Mandela met Walter Sisulu, who became a mentor and lifelong friend. Sisulu introduced Mandela to the law firm Witkin, Sidelsky and Eidelman, where he obtained a position. Mandela earned his B.A. degree, enrolls in law school and joins the ANC.

Government policies became harsher and more racist. The National Party passed the Suppression of Communism Act, the Population and Registration Act, and the Group Areas act, which strictly enforce apartheid policies and are intended to crush any mass movement. Increased attacks on the rights of black people created a need for a military response from the ANC marking the beginning of greater cooperation between Africans, colored people and Indians.

Believing that the ANC leadership is too staid, Mandela, Oliver Tambo and Walter Sisulu formed the ANC Youth League. They planned to organize mass support for the ANC Their ideas were based on African nationalism and they utilized this idea to involve masses into military struggles. They gathered support among the new population. Their program of action called for strikes, boycotts and defiance. The organization was adopted by the ANC in 1949. After Dr. Daniel Malan, leader of the dominant National Party rejected the ANC's calls for legitimate rights for blacks, the ANC launched the Defiance Campaign, a nonviolent mass resistance. Mandela was its volunteer-in-chief. In the next five months, over 8,500 took part in the campaign.

The Defiance Campaign led by ANC was a mass movement of resistance to apartheid. The government tried to stop them by banning party leaders; however it was too late as the movement had acquired too much power. Mandela was arrested and charged for violating the Suppression of Communism Act. He and other ANC members were found guilty, but the sentence of nine months imprisonment was suspended for two years. Mandela was also banned from attending meetings or gatherings for the next two years. These bans continue on and off for the next nine years.

At the annual ANC conference, Mandela became its deputy president. He made a plan for the ANC to work underground--the M-Plan. The ANC created the Congress of the People, representing members of all races, to develop a set of principles for a new South Africa. They also established the Freedom Charter, which supports the abolition of racial discrimination and oppression but the government claimed that this was a communist's document. Mandela was arrested along with over 150 other people and tried for high treason. The "Treason Trial" took up most of Mandela's time over the next few years.

The government of South Africa resorted to many acts of sabotage and more violent methods of repression In September 1958, Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd became prime minister and strictly enforced apartheid policies. As former minister of native affairs, Verwoerd had been responsible for much of the apartheid legislation. Parliament passed the Promotion of Bantu Self-Government Act, which forced the resettlement of blacks into eight separate "tribal homelands." The ANC vigorously opposed the act. However, some tribal leaders adopted the Bantu policy and worked with the government. A former ANC Youth League member, Robert Sobukwe, launched the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), a new political group that opposed including whites and Indians in the anti-apartheid struggle. Then the Sharpeville Massacre of the 1960’s happened wherein anti-apartheid protesters gathered to challenge South Africa's pass laws that prescribed where blacks can go. The police opened fire and 69 people died--most of them from bullet wounds in the back. The government declared a State of Emergency and banned the ANC and other opposition groups. Mandela was arrested. Oliver Tambo left the country under orders to work for the ANC cause from exile.

After which Mandela and the other defendants in the Treason Trial were found not guilty. It was a big victory for the ANC. The ANC responded to government's banning by endorsing an "armed struggle." Mandela went underground and launched the armed struggle by forming Umkhonto we Sizwe (The Spear of the Nation)--or MK. MK's policy is to target only government offices and symbols of apartheid, not people. Mandela escaped the country and traveled in Africa and Europe, studying guerrilla warfare and building support for the ANC.

Returning to South Africa, Mandela was arrested, convicted and sentenced to five years. He was held on Robben Island. Although already serving a sentence, Mandela was brought to trial again along with other ANC leaders, and charged with sabotage and attempting to violently overthrow the government. Known as the Rivonia Trial, the accused escape execution, but the judge sentenced them to life in prison. In the winter of 1964, Mandela and his comrades were sent to Robben Island.

During the 1980’s Oliver Tambo and the ANC launch the "Release Mandela" campaign. In the following years, numerous countries and international groups sign petitions, pass resolutions and hold rallies for Mandela's release in exile. After 18 years on Robben Island, Mandela was transferred to Pollsmoor Prison on the mainland.

These events caught the attention of the world which eventually led to campaigns by different sectors of the international community calling for the release of Nelson Mandela. After 27 years of imprisonment, Mandela was released. The ANC and the National Party began negotiations on forming a new multi-racial democracy for South Africa. These talks continued off and on for months, with delays due to the ANC's anger over the violence in the black townships. The ANC and the government signed the Pretoria Minute, in which both parties agreed to end the armed struggle. For the first time, the ANC held its annual conference in South Africa in July 1991. Mandela was elected ANC president.

Violence continued in townships with frequent clashes between police and residents. Frustrated over the unsuccessful negotiations, the ANC decided on a policy of "rolling mass action" consisting of strikes, protests and boycotts, to show the government the support the ANC has across the country. Meanwhile, the violence continued with an Inkatha raid on ANC members that left 46 dead in Boipatong township. The rolling mass action culminated in a general strike protesting the violence.

The increasing death toll forced Mandela and South African president de Klerk to restart negotiations. They signed the Record of Understanding, which promises to establish formal investigations into the violence and police actions. It also established an elected constitutional assembly that will develop a new constitution for the country.

For the first time in South Africa's history all races voted in democratic elections in April 1994. Mandela was elected president and the ANC won 252 of the 400 seats in the national assembly.

ANC although often under an onslaught of criticism still maintains a strong hold on South African politics due to the vital role it played in the fight against apartheid. Nelson Mandela, its previous leader was able to inspire and catch the attention of the world and bring its focus on the plight of blacks not only in his country but for the whole continent. Up to this day, and even with Jacob Zuma as its leader, ANC still holds Mandela with great respect for the role he played in its dominance and forwarding of goals.

By:

Rachael Seso

Perez, Vrieloukarl

Perdiguerra, May Ann

Bautista, Eddelaine