cogito La Liga Philosophia by tristan baliuag

cogito La Liga Philosophia

Editorial Board

Editor-in-Chief Associate Editors

Marquin Mabazza John Mark Paracad

Managing Editors

Vicka Tamayao Don Paguirigan

Filipino Editor

Silvina Tomines

Circulation Managers

Adviser

cogito

Joana Pagurayan

Jaybee Battad Francis Torrado Rambo Tambauan Atty. Ronald Brillantes

La Liga Philosophia

About the Cover

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The meaning of life comes from defiance of fateâ&#x20AC;? - Albert Camus

editorial

like the idealistic-turned-beastly politicians who measure everything and anything in money while giving callous disregard to the real essentials of good government. Verily, balance is important. Only when one applies this concept on education, that he can be esteemed as a learned person. It is studying not only to be a shark on your field, but also to learn everything there is to learn about lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pleasures and miseries. To be learned is to be a well-rounded individual. Students should not put premium on mundane things more than spiritual and intellectual growth. Courses should not make us more modern but less human. Whoso calls himself a â&#x20AC;&#x153;rationalâ&#x20AC;? being should not allow his reason be ruled by anything that is just superficial and momentary. Let not our wealth exceed our grasp about the world; let not our knowledge in science be broader than our outlook in life---because that is when the real substance of our humanness ends. C

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aterialism permeates our society at present. This fact is vividly illustrated by the choice of course that the youth are making these days. Many major in Nursing with the hope of receiving handsome salaries abroad. A number of youth attempt to distinguish themselves in Accountancy because of its high pecuniary reward. Some take up Information Technology to be at the forefront of technological advancements. We have a situation where the essence of education is no longer to afford one a good life, but only a good living. Today, it appears that the sole purpose of education lies on what is gripping and lucrative. Man has reached a time where practicality, instead of profound reason, is the yardstick of every decision. Education now is merely geared towards economic security rather than an intellectual pursuit. Expectedly, graduates turn out only as depressing caricatures of all that are written on books, but having shallow understanding about life. To say that there is danger in specializing in science or numbers is of course not the point. The danger only arises when we overdevelop an appetite for facts to the extent that they already control our system, just like the fate of many scientists who ended up disbelieving God just because of their small discoveries about the world. The danger begins when we become so engrossed with figures that it already annihilates our human personality, just

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I Do

By John Mark Paracad

Marriage is one of the most anticipated moments in one’s life. One may describe it as a bit frightening for it is a lifetime commitment which entails a lot of sacrifice and hard work.

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rticle 1 of the Family Code defines “marriage as a special contract between a man and a woman entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal and family life. It is the foundation of the family and an inviolable institution whose nature, consequences and incidents are governed by law and not subject to stipulation, except that marriage settlements may fix the property relations during the marriage within the limits provided by this Code.” This definition of law on marriage manifests that a man and a woman who bind themselves to be in permanent union have the duty to establish and maintain conjugal and family life. And these could only be realized through the performance of marital obligations. The Family Code also specifically provided what these marital obligations are. Article 68 states that “the husband and wife are obliged to live together, to observe mutual love, respect and fidelity, and to render mutual help and support.” As partners for life, the law requires no other thing than the continuous mutual performance of these obligations in realizing the essence of marriage. But what happens if one of the spouses does not perform these obligations? The Family Code provides that inability or non-performance of marital obligations constitutes psychological incapacity. The lawmakers set this as one of the grounds for the nullification of marriage. Article 36 of the same Code states that “a marriage contracted by an any party who, at the time of celebration was

lawmakers did not make any prohibition for such persons to marry again despite the fact that their condition is a hindrance in realizing the essence of marriage. Whatever the reason, the whole concept of the law boils down to a single reminder: that we should be more than careful in choosing a lifetime partner. Avoiding the tragic situation of marrying the wrong person can only be done before getting married. College students should be aware of this fact. This makes marriage as one of the most crucial decisions in one’s life. It requires the use of reason more than of emotion so as to meet the essential considerations. A hasty decision in choosing a partner in life is extremely risky. Ideally, the basis of choosing a future partner is his/her goodness inside and outside. Often, people rely much on what is on the outside of a person (looks, status, etc.) rather than considering what is not seen with the naked eye. Values and attitudes are rarely considered. One should be fully knowledgeable of the overall personality of a partner before marriage. Although it is very difficult to determine if a person really loves the other, it is now the duty of lovers to carefully know and investigate each other’s personality first. As Plato says, what is seen physically tends to be deceptive and illusory most of the time. So before saying that “I do”, one must think more than twice. Marriage should not be a leap into the dark. It should be a leap of faith tempered by reason and reflection. C

Marriage is one of the most crucial decisions in one’s life. It requires the use of reason more than of emotion so as to meet the essential considerations.

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psychologically incapacitated to comply with the essential marital obligations of marriage , shall likewise be void if such incapacity becomes manifest only after its solemnization.” Thus, psychological incapacity paves the way for the nullification of marriage by the aggrieved spouse. Although the law recognizes the sanctity of marriage, it also considers the pain of unreciprocated love. In one of the cases brought before the Supreme Court, it was ruled that the husband’s senseless refusal for sexual cooperation is a clear manifestation of psychological incapacity. From the marriage of the couple in May 22, 1988 up to March 15, 1989, or for almost a year, there was no sexual intercourse between the parties. Based on the universal principle that the procreation of children through sexual cooperation is one of the basic ends of marriage, the non-fulfillment of the husband of the obligation destroys the integrity or wholeness of the marriage. (Chi Ming Tsoi versus Court of Appeals and Gina LaTsoi, GR No.119190, Jan. 16 1997). Ironically, the Family Code does not bar incapacitated persons to remarry. I find no meritorious ground why our

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By Vicka Tamayao

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One great dilemma that snags our chiefly heterosexual society today is the increasing number of homosexuals. Homosexuality is considered by many as a perversion: repugnant, aberrant and nasty. I even happened to read a pamphlet stating that homosexuals, together with criminals and all other persons of the same kind, are doomed to the scorching flames of hell after death. This made me wonder, what is it that made homosexuality a sin as grave as killing, a transgression as serious as adultery?

omosexuality is basically defined as the sexual attraction or love of a man to a man, or of a woman to another woman. Love has been conceived as the complementation of the contraries, of man and woman. Sexual relationship is to be performed purposively for reproduction. These therefore regard same-sex desire as a â&#x20AC;&#x153;monstrosity of sexâ&#x20AC;? (as Karl Wilhelm Friedrich Schlegel, a German poet, critic and scholar, puts it). But what brings about homosexuality in the first

es. In this stage, a child tries to find his role towards the people around him and his genuine identity. It is likely that one who is under this stage would end up in role confusion, where one is unsure of what kind of person he/she is, what he/she can do, or what kind of person he/she can become. One highly possible consequence of this is for someone to end up a homosexual. Erickson also contends that other factors such as peer pressure may cause the same. Like Freud’s study, it can be deduced from Erickson’s theory that homosexuality is but a happenstance which is not governed by choice. It is not, reasonably speaking, a sin because it does not involve a deliberate violation of what is normal. There was no “evil intent” involved. To get a more factual answer, I personally asked a friend who himself is a homosexual. According to him, he never intended to be a homosexual and if only he had a choice, he would not choose the kind of person he is now. But it already happened. He felt the great need of acting on what he feels from within. Consequently, he had been experiencing the piercing pain of being discriminated against. He said that coming out from his shell and living according to the dictates of his heart had been the greatest regret of his life. His only consolation is the peace of finally accepting his greatest adversary---the person that he was. Homosexuality can happen to anyone. In as much as a human being cannot change his being mortal, so is the biting fact of one’s homosexuality. It is a facticity---something beyond choice. C

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place? In what way does it run counter to right reason? Was there ever a choice not to become one? I am not, to clear things out, a homosexual and neither do I perceive myself with any possibility of becoming one. However, one does not need to be a homosexual to realize that a person who discovers himself to be such is torn between the tormenting decisions of being true to what one feels or to force oneself to accept the judgment of the majority: of what is morally, ethically, naturally, and socially acceptable. Certain studies show, however, that such situation is not governed by choice. One cannot, in any way, just opt to become a homosexual or a heterosexual. According to Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist and the founder of Psychoanalysis, child development is described as a series of psychosexual stages in which a child’s sexual gratification becomes focused on a particular body part. Under the pre-school or phallic stage, a child learns his sexual identity basically through the awareness of his genital area. Masturbation and exhibitionism are common during this stage. It is of great importance that parents are able to manage this stage properly. Otherwise, there would be a probability that the child’s character would be molded along the opposite sex. It can be concluded then that one factor accountable for homosexuality is default parenting. Erik Erikson, an influential and pioneering psychologist, psychoanalyst, and author, opines, however, that it is under the adolescence stage where new interpersonal dimension (known as identity) versus role confusion emerg-

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Arts & Decorations: a picture of one’s culture By Don Keithley Paguirigan

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Don’t you find it odd how we, Filipinos, considered as one people, still differ in practices, preferences, and judgment?

ur country is composed of different “societies” brought about by the variations on our geographical environment, technological development, history, and ideological orientation. That is why a Filipino from Luzon still differs from a Filipino in Mindanao. At first, it could be said that it is but utterly difficult to identify the culture of a certain group of people. But such is not the case as there are man’s vehicles

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of thought that make it easy to identity one’s culture. A person’s culture can be seen in arts, philosophy, and language. As Ludwig Wittgenstein, one of the most influential philosophers of the 20th century, stated, these fields correlate with the object they attempt to portray. Thus, these serve as vehicles for man to express his inner nature. For instance, the different arts and decorations that are printed or engraved on a vehicle represent the character of the person who owns it. Just like here in Tuguegarao, it’s very amusing how the owners of the tricycles, and even kalesas, beautify their vehicles. Other than beautification, if only one cares to delve deeper, he would realize that this simple practice actually discloses a wide range of the owner’s values. Often would you see a tricycle with a surname printed on its rear

Arts and symbols serve as man’s bearer to the external world. Even without the use of words, one is able to show his true nature through the simple use of decorations. Even the simplest of things like riding in a tricycle, one can actually philosophize and find profound meaning.

part. This only shows how much the owner values his family. You would also see a rosary hanging freely inside a tricycle. This, on one hand, shows the piety of the owner. It shows how the owner feels the need of an Almighty Being who would guide him in his everyday “pasada”. Also, though not wholly intended by the owner, this is one factor that induces passengers to trust the driver especially that these past years, drivers have been found to be aiding in the commission of certain crimes such as robbery and rape. Indeed, arts and symbols serve as man’s bearer to the external world. Even without the use of words, one is able to show his true nature through the simple use of decorations. So you see, even the simplest of things like riding in a tricycle, one can actually philosophize and find profound meaning. C

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Yosi

Rєэvaluated By Francis Torrado

Recent surveys on smoking indicate that 60% of men smoke; 99% of those said that advertisement is one of the factors that had induced them to smoke. Half of Filipino households are not cigarette-free. About 200,000 have developed smoking-related diseases in their productive years of age. The government estimates a total of 43 billion pesos which is spent for the healthcare of these smokers for the past years. And yearly, there are about 20,000 smoking-related deaths in the country.”

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yan ang nahanap kong mga kabataan upang manigarilyo. statistics sa Internet. Inilahad na Ang reyalidad kasi’y malayong mas lahat ang mga sakit at problemang malakas pa rin ang impluwensya dulot ng paninigarilyo, pero ng mga barkada kaysa sa simpleng nakapagtataka pa rin kung bakit sa pagtanggal lamang ng mga ilang dami ng naidudulot na sakit nito beses naman nang nasaksihang ay marami pa ring naeengganyong advertisement. magyosi. Masama ba talaga ang yosi? Sa kabilang banda, may mga Kung sadya kayong mapanuri, mabubuti rin namang naidudulot sa ngayon ay napansin na ninyo ang paninigarilyo. Una, hindi siguro na ipinagbawal na ang mga natin pwedeng ipagkaila na advertisement ng sigarilyo sa mga nakawiwili talaga ang paninigarilyo. telebisyon at radyo dito sa Pilipinas. Isa ito sa pangunahing rason ng Sinisimulan na ng pamahalaan ang mga nagyoyosi. Pamatay ito ng mga hakbang upang limitahan ang pagkabagot. Hindi maiiwasang masamang epektong dulot nito lalo dumating ang mga sandali na na sa mga kabataan. Gayunpaman, walang kasama, tipong nakakabingi masasabing malabo pa ring maabot na ang katahimikan at matinding and layunin ng programa hangga’t pag-iisa. Ang yosi rin ay wala pa ring batas na nagbabawal sa panandaliang solusyon sa init ng

ulo. May mga inilahad ang siyensya na ang nicotine na taglay ng yosi ay nagsisilbing “anti-anxiety” at “antidepressant”. Pinapakalma ng nga kemikal na ito ang utak. Nagsisilbi tuloy ang yosi na panandaliang lunas sa pagod o pangangamba. Tumutulong din ang yosi sa pagpapababa ng timbang natin. Nakawawala kasi ito ng appetite at pinapatagal nito ang pagkain sa ating mga sikmura. Pinapabilis din nito ang metabolismo ng katawan. Ito na marahil ang mga dahilan kung bakit marami pa ring Pilipino ang naninigarilyo. Ngunit ano pa man, ang mga masasamang dulot ng yosi ay di hamak na mas mabigat pa rin kaysa sa mga magagandang dulot nito. Ayos lang ang magyosi, ngunit mali na magpaalipin tayo sa bisyong ito. Huwag nating abusuhin ang ating katawan sa paninigarilyo at lalong huwag nating hayaang abusuhin tayo ng sigarilyo. Sana huwag tayong humantong sa puntong kinokontrol na tayo ng yosi. Tipong kinakain na ng yosi ang kalahati sa weekly allowance mo, at mas marami nang carbon monoxide kaysa oxygen sa baga mo…

short story 11 COGITO

Understanding

FREEWILL

By Silvina Tomines

I don’t know if it was all sort of a dream. But what I just do know is that I was sitting right between God and Mr. Satan. They were discussing something that I could barely understand.

umans are stupid!” exclaimed Mr. Satan. “What made you say that?” asked God without even looking at him. “Because you always claim that they are made according to your image and likeness yet they still behave like monsters”, replied Mr. Satan. Upon hearing this, God just looked at him intently and smiled. “That is an unintelligent opinion of you, Satan. If I make

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them act the way I am, then I won’t be standing here in front of you discussing on this anymore”, God replied. ou’ll see, one day you’ll be very sorry for creating those dumb creatures”, said Mr. Satan. “Well then don’t be sorry too when things won’t happen the way you want it to be, my dearest Satan”, God replied. Upon hearing all these, Mr. Satan suddenly disappeared. Months had passed and no one ever heard of Mr. Satan’s whereabouts. Some angels were thinking that maybe he was up to something again. Some even went on guarding the earth just to make sure everything will be fine. But one day, all the angels were alarmed when from a distant, from the gates of heaven, Mr. Satan appeared. He was in his all black suit holding a bouquet of red flowers on his left hand. “Where is your boss?” he asked in his loudest voice. One of the angels rushed to God’s room and told him about Mr. Satan’s arrival. “What are you afraid of? Let him get inside”, God said. The angels rushed back to the gates and opened it. “What took you so long to come up here?” greeted God to Mr. Satan. “You must be forgetting something, my dear Satan.” “You seem unsurprised with my visit.” answered Satan. “Yeah! Yeah! Anyway, I just came here for something I wish to request from you. But before that I want to give you these flowers. I

picked it up just this morning. I was reminded of a beautiful lady the last time I went down there. But I believe it would be better for me giving this to you than to her. She might not like it. Take it”, replied Mr. Satan and handed the flowers to God. “Do you think I’ll accept those flowers just to grant your unpardonable request?” asked God. “Now tell me, what have you found out down there?” asked God again. “Well nothing extraordinary. I just had this little idea of you giving me an extra power to control your most magnificent creatures on earth”, suggested Mr. Satan. “Satan, Satan, Satan, you never learned your lesson. You must be out of your senses again. Do you think I would allow you to do that when it came from your own mouth already that they are my masterpieces?” said God. “I don’t understand. If you really love them then why do you allow them to do bad things? If you really love Adam and Eve then why did you allow them to eat the forbidden fruit?” asked Satan. “Have you ever heard of free will Satan?” asked God. Satan didn’t answer. “I love my children so much that I gave them the privilege to decide. I want them to have options in life. Without evil, man will not have the standard of what is good; without suffering, man will not truly appreciate the little pleasures in life. All I want is for my children to be responsible of their own actions. I want them to learn. That would help them grow

as a person.” Satan gave Him a blank look. Then he spoke again. “Must I also conclude how boring it is to be in our position? You gave them that freedom to realize their own end yet you yourself cannot practice that kind of freedom. You still ought to watch over them day and night. I guess surprises are not part of your vocabulary. You control everything that it all seems to settle into stagnation on your part”, he said. “It has always been the case my dearest Satan. I have allowed things to happen because I choose to let it happen. The freedom that I have is something you’ll never understand. I am not bound by time and space unlike human beings for all you know. I created the earth. And you must not forget that. Long before things have transpired in the lives of men, I already planned them. I watch over them day and night not because I needed to but because I want to. While I gave them the free will, I still want to take care of them. I don’t control everything yet I know how things will happen. The minds of human beings are not totally in my control. Because when that happens they loose their humanness”, argued God politely. “Well I guess I’ll never win an argument with you. So long, Mr. Almighty”, replied Satan, and then disappeared. Suddenly, God looked at me and whispered, “You already learned a lot my child. Go back to sleep now”. And I woke up a changed man…C

short story

By Marquin Mabazza

The world is in shambles and the apocalypse is nearing. The annihilation of the human race was made gradual and now, there are only two persons left to enjoy what has remained of the decrepit world and of their last breath slipping out of their lives. They are Adam and Eve---trapped in a hall-in-thewall room, some sort of a doomed place like what one usually sees in a horror film thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s really not horrifying.

hey could have been naked except for pieces of cloth of what are left of their tattered clothes. Picture them wearing virtually nothing but pieces of cloth that lamely attempt to cover things that should be covered. In a normal world, where two persons, a male and a female, are caught in a situation and are trapped in a place, they have no clothing to speak of, then the natural phenomenon would be the libidinal raging of the hormones and the spiritual

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And there was doom

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exchange of body fluids. There should be the sensual meeting of the scorched up flesh. In Adam and Eve’s present world, however, none of those happened. They are put in a maddening situation that the last thing they’d probably think of is getting laid. ow long have they been there? They are not aware of it. It is as if time has escaped from the spaces between their fingers bringing with it the consciousness and the sensibilities of people. Time evaporated with the gradual dissipation of humanity and that’s the reason why they seem to be trapped in a vacuum, no scratch that, in a black hole that seems to suck all that there is to suck. They have been there since God-knowswhen or since Satan-knows-when or since Brahman-knows-when or since Allah-knowswhen or whatever. That’s something funny about the world. People, for some less practical reasons, created imaginary entities, metaphysical entities in philosophical parlance. They call them Gods, deities, or whatever that suits their taste. Come to think of it, if Marsians landed on earth they’d certainly think that people of this world are a bunch of loonies going bananas all the time. They have not spoken with each other and they find that okay, even comforting, so to speak, to sublimate the fear of reality that when they’d converse, things that they wouldn’t want to hear would be blurted out without warning. Probably their blood-shot eyes communicated all there is to tell, that it renders speaking useless, to say the least. They caught each other’s eyes for a couple of times and those moments explain the waft of confusion they feel. The silence that cuts through them is arctic, even makes the corners of the room suffer from frostbites. “I’m tired of this! This…everything about this is as crazy as crap”, Adam broke the silence still stolid and even unconvinced of what he has just said. He covertly eyed the girl across her and saw the void expression in her face. She’s pretty, he thought, okay, but not jaw-dropping. He closely examined her while she’s not looking, every corner of her feature, he rests his eyes upon, and for the first time, beneath all the grime glued all over her body, she’s stunning, he thought. “Hey!” Another shot at conversation but the same is welcomed by a blank stare, a stare so empty you’d think she’s shut in a parallel void universe. Adam is starting to feel that she’s getting on his nerves by the passiveness she exudes which is of course unwanted in a rather uncanny situation. Darn it! Could somebody please have this girl replaced as my associate in this business? He asks under his

breath. He committed conversational gambits to memory but dropped it all off for these will surely be rendered trivial if you’re in the company of mannequin. “Are you daft or something? I’m talking to you! I am, unfortunately or otherwise, with you and you are with me. There’s no damn possible way we can change that, can we? I’m trying to make things lighter here and all you do is shut yourself in your own sick world!” He isn’t aware that he’s already yelling. “I’m sorry”, he said after his temper has already ebbed. Their eyes met and saw in their very eyes the crippling fear and confusion that rigidly grip them. After holding the words tight in her chest for so long, Eve shudders into motion and this surprised Adam to a great extent, with the realization that he’s still with the company of a breathing organism. With that thought hanging, he started wandering whether cockroaches are still creeping on the face of the earth given the fact that they are said to have the capacity to withstand any nuclear war or whatever it is that may erase the earth’s crust from its place.. “You think this is crazy, don’t you?” Her voice trails off and jerks imperceptibly. By the way she spoke, one can immediately spot the arctic fear crawling all over her. Girls, really, are transparent glasses; you easily see what’s inside them and you easily see how they gradually shatter into pieces when the situation leaves no room for complacency. Men, on the other hand, are too hard to build a wall around their emotional state. That is what sets man apart from woman. No! This is just the way it is, he wanted to say but it never makes its way out loud. He clears his throat and tried to act calmly. “I’d like to believe that this is just some sort of a weird dream that we, by a crooked twist of fate, coincidentally and simultaneously share. I’m in my room, deep in sleep and dreaming about all this crap. And you, you’ve hit the sack, slumbering while trapped in this dream”. There was silence that stretched across the cosmos. “I’d like to convince myself that I’m just having my schizophrenic attack, that all these are but products of my demented imagination. I think, I’m failing on two counts. Sorry, I am not much of a help here”. “Look here! Out there is a whole lot different world, far crazier than you can imagine…and who knows someone’s just playing a nutty game on us”. Eve could practically taste the smell of death in her mouth. Death, she sensed, is impending. But she doesn’t want to believe her baser instincts. Suddenly, her life came rushing through like an animated montage clipped in a single creased post-it

paper. Everything was rapid and hazy. For a split second, she became pensive. She thought of the life she would soon have to drop. Her life is an anthology of bolts-and-nuts, ill-fated events---poor career, fizzled relationship(s), dreadful childhood, traumatic adulthood, estrangement from family, pending estafa case all gobbled up into an ugly circle, that is, her life. If there is one perfect surname for the name Eve, it would be Suffering. Ms. Eve Suffering. Funny and ironic, why she would even fear death now given the life she lived and the life she would have to return to if she wouldn’t die now. Death could be the end of it all, but why am I afraid of it? “Yeah right and the world is flat!” Adam snapped Eve back to reality. It was a sharp retort, its sarcasm darted with the sharpness of a knife. “You think this is just a joke. But this is perfectly and apparently not. Ten billion people are dead for reasons we don’t exactly know and you still think this is a joke? We’ll be dead any minute now for the most unfathomable of reasons. Hope is virtually nil. Wake up, wonderwoman!” The world is topsy-turvy indeed. A minute ago Adam seems to be the hero and Eve the damsel in distress. Now, they’ve switched roles. “Don’t be such an asshole! Everthing’s gonna be fine.” She’s trying hard to believe the ideas (ideal at most) she’s blabbering. “Think of the possibility that God is still here!” No, I must be kidding! Adam laughed the guffaw of a hyena. He’s getting madder and madder and there’s no stopping him. He embraced his tummy tightly in an attempt to control his wild boisterous laughter. “You’re impossible. I can’t believe you can still drop that God-is-here-we’ll be finebullshit.” He stopped snickering. His countenance shifted into the Marcosian sternness. His eyes now razor-sharp. “There’s no God. And stop bullshitting me with that. Can’t believe you still have that in mind. Look, God is not here, neither is he there and he can never be everywhere because he does not…NOT…exist. Nietzsche is right. God is Dead! He’s dead long before man has even existed. Man came here like mushrooms. He just popped out of nowhere and yes, the biblical crap is nothing but crap, phony stories fabricated by people whose messianic delusions are all derivative of their fetid brains.” The air surrounding them is now suffocating. The weight of the atmosphere became grave and severe, bloating their reason and vitality to smithereens. There was a strange silence that enveloped Adam and Eve, what followed was a huge bang, and that was the last memory Eve and Adam had. End of story-telling-a-lie.C

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Ang wikang

“half-half”

Ang bawat klase ng nilalang ay may natatanging uri, tunog at paraan ng pakikipagkomunikasyon sa isa’t-isa. Dahil na rin sa angking talino at pagkamalikhain nating mga tao, ang wikang ating ginagamit ay di hamak na mas mataas ang uri at sistema kumpara sa mga hayop. Biniyayaan tayo ng Panginoon ng napakataas na kalibre ng pag-iisip, kakaibang lambot ng dila, at mga bungangang may built-in amplifier na minsa’y nagagamit sa kasinungalingan at tsismisan.

a ngayon, marami nang nagsisulputang mga kakaiba at kakatuwang mga salita. Ang mga katutubong wika na gaya ng Ilocano, Ibanag, Itawes at Gaddang at marami pang iba ay may bahid na ng tinatawag na Gay Lingo o ang sariling wika ng mga half-half. Ayon sa aking sariling pananaliksik, sumulpot daw ang Gay Lingo dito sa Pilipinas dahil sa ating tradisyonal at malamig na pakikitungo at pagtanggap sa ating mga kapatid na half-half. Sa loob ng mahabang panahon, naging sarado ang pag-iisip nating mga Pilipino sa homosekswalidad. Likas kasi sa ating lahi at kultura ang pagiging matapang at matatag ng mga kalalakihan. Ang ating mga ninuno ay may tibay ng katawan at lakas ng loob na napatunayan sa panahon ng digmaan. Ibinuhos nila ang lahat ng kanilang kakayanan para hindi masakop ang ating bayan ng mga dayuhan. Bagama’t nabigo,

ito’y hindi dahil sa karuwagan. Sadyang mas epektibo lamang ang baril at kanyon kumpara sa sibat, pana at itak na tanging sandata nila noon. Ang naging solusyon ng ating mga kapatid na half-half ay ang ilihim ang kanilang tunay na kulay at lumikha ng mga secret code sa pagsasalita nang hindi malaman ng sinuman maliban ng kanilang kauri ang kanilang nais ipahayag. Lumipas ang panahon at nagsilaglagan ang mga dahon ng Melina. Unti-unting naging mainit ang pagtanggap natin sa ating mga kapatid na half-half. Lumawak ang ating pananaw. Ang secret codes na wikang sila lamang ang nakaiintindi ay sumikat hanggang sa maging ang iba na hindi naman half-half ay gumamit na rin nito. Kung ating susuriing mabuti, ang mga ginagamit ng mga kapatid nating half-half sa kanilang pakikipag-usap ay halos walang ipinagkaiba sa mga salitang

ginagamit din natin. Binabago o binibigyan lamang nila ng bagong kahulugan ang dating salita at binabawasan o dinadagdagan lamang ng letra ang iba upang makabuo ng bagong salita. Kung iisipin, napakamalikhain ng mga half-half. Ang kanilang wika ang nagpapatunay ng bagay na ito. Nakatutuwa dahil sa mga naging pagputok at malaking pagbabagong naidulot ng mga bagong sibol na kaisipan at pilosopiya sa ating bilog na mundo, isinilang ang lahing halfhalf. Nakaaaliw isipin na kung may instant coffee na 5-in-1 at 3-in-1, mayroon ding taong 2-in-1 na nagpakilala pa ng bagong uri ng pananalita. Para sa akin, ito’y isang bagay na dapat nating yakapin nang patanggap. Kaya mo bang isipin kung anong buhay meron tayo kung wala sila? C

COGITO

By Jaybee Battad

Why do we

EAT? By Roderick Bautista

COGITO

stake. My instinctive desire to know, as everyone has, needs to be satisfied. Every inquiry deserves an answer. I know this reflection will never be enough to satisfy my longing for the “perfect” answer but will however give me the chance to evaluate my daily experiences. An art which nobody else would have been able to undertake in my place or on my behalf. The body has enormous wisdom: it circulates blood, digests food, and performs thousands of necessary functions every second---without you ever having to “think”about them. The body keeps its self from getting ill, and heals itself when it does. It sees, hears, feels, tastes, smells-

Reflection is never exercised on the things that are not worth the trouble of reflecting about. The question “Why do we eat?” at first sounds ridiculous. Where and why on earth would one ask such silly a question? Is this question really worth the trouble of reflecting? Nevertheless, I have made my mental efforts because something valuable is at

--and has the sense to do those without being taught how. And it performs the amazing feat of balancing itself with two legs---something, considering its size, proportions, and center of gravity, it has no business doing. I couldn’t remember when I had my first intake of food. Neither could I remember what was the first solid food that I have eaten. Eating for me was never a question; it was not a burden. To eat is the act of consuming food for the body. The food I ate or am eating varied---from vegetables to meat, seafood, fruits, and others. Aside from the three-meals-a-day activity, I indulge in eating also during breaks. Practically, I eat because I need it. This enables me to survive. Food is one of the basic needs of man. Eating can be

a social function. When somebody offers me food, I take it. As they say “Huwag mong tanggihan ang grasya.” Eating can be pleasurable (Masarap kasi ang kumakain lao na ‘pag umuulan.”). Whenever we eat, especially good food, we find satisfaction, we feel pleased after we’ve finished eating such kind of food. We feel a kind of ginhawa especially if we are full, but comes a disaster or a catstrophy when we overeat, a negative effect on us. Thinking of my body, I am bound to envisage the inescapable responsibility laid upon me to provide for its subsistence and one of which is eating. Eating is a basic acitvity for the nourishment of the totality of the self and not of the body only.

THE SECRETS THAT WE KEEP Russel A. Jallorina

the ecret that we keep

By Ruselle Jallorina

Philosophers lead a lonely existence, not because they want to be alone, but because very few understand them.

This is quite expected, as very few have the ability to indulge in the pursuit of philosophical insight, and the profundity of thought is never for the weak-hearted or for the weak of mind. Lest this virtually lead to a philosophical auto da fé, it must be made clear that the following discussion would barely scratch the surface of Sartrian philosophy. It is, at most, an attempt to explain the more popular Cartesian cogito within the confines of the lesser known (although not necessarily less important) philosophy of Jean-Paul Sartre. To be able to arouse the interest of those who are not philosophically inclined is already an achievement of the purpose of this discussion.

COGITO

lot of people already know the somewhat unusual thought of Rene Descartes and his famous formula, “I think, therefore, I am.” To the uninitiated, it would seem absurd that a person would go to great lengths just to prove his own existence, but this is what Descartes set out to do using the primacy of doubt. He argued that if one is doubting, then he is thinking; and if he is thinking, then he exists, for truly, there can be no thought if nobody is thinking of those thoughts. He thinks, therefore, he is. What is interesting, however, is how Sartre objected to the Cartesian cogito by arguing that there are two kinds of doubting, spontaneous and methodological, and that Descartes confused the two. To put it simplistically, we have an awareness within us that makes us conscious of things around us. We are, therefore, the subjects of this consciousness while the things we think of are the objects of this consciousness. For instance, if we are aware of a table in front of us, that table is the object of our awareness. What Descartes

did, however, is to make that same consciousness the object of itself! This, for Sartre is not acceptable. The consciousness which says “I am” is not the same consciousness that thinks. To put it in a different light, Sartre argued that the Cartesian cogito is reflective but the object of reflection is not itself but the original awareness of doubting. It has actually become reflected on but is never itself reflective. The formula, to Sartre’s mind, should have been “I am conscious that I am doubting, therefore, I am.” Again, this may seem absurd to those who are not philosophically inclined, but the truth is that its explanation shows the genius of Sartre. He said that when we think, we are not aware that we are thinking. Once we become aware that we are thinking, that awareness becomes a secondary activity. For example, if “R” is thinking of “X”, R is not aware that he is thinking of X. Once R becomes conscious that he is thinking of X, X is no longer the object of that consciousness but the fact that he is thinking of X. What Descartes did is precisely that – to make the act of doubting the object of reflection, not the doubt itself. The Cartesian

cogito therefore is not the one with the doubting consciousness but has reflected upon it. Sartre did this without falling into the trap of infinite regression, because if we are to follow this argument, it would seem that self-consciousness is impossible. The act of thinking would require another act of consciousness for it to be reflected upon and that would need still another act, and so on. In his introduction of what he called prereflective consciousness, Sartre posited that there can be no separation of the self from our consciousness. The very nature of consciousness is such that for one to be and to know oneself are one and the same. To be conscious is to be in itself. As already mentioned, this is just on the surface of Sartre’s profound insights. However, this short discussion was presented to show how philosophers struggle with seemingly mundane thoughts with overwhelming philosophical implications. These thoughts can only come from one who sees the universe from a different and deep perspective. These are the thoughts that we think, the attitude that we cultivate. These are the secrets that we keep.

COGITO

! F C K OF

By Nestor Cabrido

Many people have lost their dignity and pride because of the annoying attitudes of others. The feeling of annoyance is very sickening. There are people who seem to care, but actually don’t. The sense of TRUST among us has lost its essence. The transcendental importance of Ethics in human relationship is becoming useless and is slowly being neglected. What is so surprising is that professionals themselves are the ones who happen to be in this case. What does it mean to be professional anyway?

eople are called professionals because their reputation acts as a model for everyone to emulate. Anyone who is called professional is expected to preserve a dignity that is within the bounds of professionalism. But we happen to do this one thing which is just so contrary to what is expected of professionals: gossiping!--the most inhumane of all attitudes. I do not understand why some people find it so pleasurable to discuss about the bad experiences of others if, in fact, such are just natural human cases. Instead of helping, we even complicate

the circumstances. When one feels empty, why can’t we not simply encourage him not to give up? When one has encountered an unfortunate experience, why can’t we just be a pillow for him to lean on? All of us have our own lives to mind, roads to take, problems to deal with, but “genuine care” is still possible if we only be sincere to our selves and to others. This, ideally, should be exemplified by “professionals”of all people. We have to act out the principles that we teach inside the classrooms. If you’re a person who seems to care but actually do not, back off! If problems occur, may we deal with them professionally. You’ll never be famous with what you’re doing. So be mature enough. Let’s just help one another in creating a one big, happy family because “there’s no place like home”---and I’m talking about the USL family. Honestly, I find myself happy in here. Being with you guys. Can we just keep ourselves known to be “professionals”?

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