UNITÈ - 2017 (1 OF 2)

Gender

Homosexual Gay Lesbian Tomboy

RaceReligion

Asian American-indian Black white

Muslim Roman Catholic Iglesia ni cristo hinduism Mormons

040506

NationalityEthnicityPoverty

Korean Indian Filipino Chinese Israelite

Ethnic groups of the philippines

Manang ferry lola marialita

Jose tiu

Tatay egay villamor Kuya michael

ONE LOVE

There are two important events in our existence, first is the moment we are born and the second is the moment we figured out why”. Through this magazine we seem to have lived our purpose. We promote a more egalitarian society by creating a magazine entitled UNITE. “Unite, understanding a diverse society” this is a guideline to understand that each one of us is different, and is entitled to have their rights and privileges as equally important as the other. This magazine is a kind of magazine which promotes equal rights and equal opportunities to the citizen of humanity regardless of their gender, religion, race, nationality, ethnical groups and social classes. People seems to find it oblivious therefore we aim to raise awareness in this relevant issue in our diverse community.

The complexity of the word gender is always a subject for discrimination. We should start seeing gender as decision and none of your opinion matters. The opposing beliefs of religious institutions are the reasons for misunderstanding. We should understand that it’s not the religion that saves us, it’s your relationship with God and your faith in him. The division between the poor and the rich which favors the privileged through social rights. We should know that we are all equal when we die and luxury doesn’t matter. The distinctiveness of nationality and race that puts boundaries to white and black. We should understand that each one of us is born differently from the other and it doesn’t matter if you’re unique because no one can change that. The superiority of those people who aren’t part of ethnical groups that sees their selves as more dominant than the ethnical tribes. We should respect their cultural behavior because it’s their tradition and you have nothing to do with it. Those are the common subjects that are relevant prior to our advocacy.

The guideline for a better society is to understand each other’s differences, respect each other’s choices and opinion and most importantly tolerate each other’s behavior. We implore for a great support for this advocacy that would change people’s perspective for this arrogance and negligence. We are the voice that shouts for unity.

Gender is a very complex term in this profound way of living. There is a complexity when explain its meaning for gender is a very subjective and delicate matter. According to dictionary.com, gender is the state of being male or female, and typically used with reference to social and cultural differences rather than biological. Gender originally meant “kind”. The English term was derived from a Latin word genus via old French. In religious haspect, human race believe that their supreme being only created a man and a woman, therefore it is a sacrilege behavior to be neither. Gender is a very profound category, but we should understand it the way exactly as how you understood your identity. Peculiarity is how we can understand gender. Humans have unique characteristics and particular preferences. We live in a

diverse world that separates people from their demographic characteristics but unite them through their unequivocal preference to be united. Some people might reprobate about your gender identity and gender preference but you have the power to eliminate their criticism. In our diverse society, we cannot determine which is morally correct and accepted from which is not. We should learn how to tolerate each other’s differences, understand each other’s point of view, and respect each other’s cultural beliefs. Furthermore, neglect the idea of superiority so that we may transform this world into a livable one. In this manner, we can raise awareness to humankind to promote a more egalitarian society, and to create a better world. Emma Watson once quoted that “It is time that we all see gender as a spectrum instead of two sets of opposing ideals”. In this manner, we can understand gender.

Homo sexual

There are some people who accept us, there some who don’t accept us. People have different perspective in life. No matter how we try to prove our love to those people who doesn’t accept us, if they believe that it is wrong then it is wrong for them and we should respect that. We should respect and accept the fact that not everyone will accept us for this is our choice. The only quality one person has to have is that they must know how to love and be loved. And by respecting their decision not to accept us is the love I can give to them I will accept all the insults as long as I have this guy besides me for this is my choice and my choice is to love him regardless of who he is. Love is not about gender. Love is blind, thus love is the eternal power that transcends even gender.

Gender

Ruffy Burlasa Reden Orellosa

Bonifacio Global City

I AM GAY

Alvinson Panaligan Bonifacio Global City

Gender

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet. Those 7 colors made up a majestic scenario -- a rainbow. Rainbow symbolizes many things, like hope, because rainbows appear after rain. But one community uses rainbow as their PRIDE symbol -- the gay community. Being gay is awesome. It is like a metamorphosis from an ugly caterpillar to a beautiful, vibrant butterfly. However, the hardest part of this transformation is the trouble of accepting oneself more than the rejection of the people and the society. Most gay people, if not all, hated themselves.

They denied when they are starting to develop attraction to fellow boys. But the more denial they say, the stronger the flame of the truth burns.The troubles and denials are all worth it if a boy finally accepted who he really is. Then there’s this “coming out”. Coming out is not an essential thing for every gay people. One may or may not come out.

It will be a totally personal decision, and if it will make that person happy.Speaking of happiness, the word “happiness” has many synonyms, and the word “gay” is one of them. Sure, most gay people are jolly in nature, and they are the jester in a peer group. Sadly, this is not the typical scenario in every gay people in this world.The stigma of being a male liking a male is the reason why most gay people are afraid to come out and stays inside their closets. Because of the judgment and discrimination they receive in a frequent dose from judgmental persons around them, closeted gays mostly felt down and they tend to develop depression over time.

Statistics shows that the rate of suicide attempts are 4 times greater in LGBT youth than of straight youth. This is an alarming scenario as LGBT youths do not deserve such treatment.Another negative scenario happening in gay people around the world is that some countries treat homosexuality as a crime and is punishable by law. Qatar, Yemen, and Sudan are just some.

The punishments range from alienation from society up to death. Imagine being a bird stolen the right to fly, that’s exactly what being gay in those country feels like.But on the good hand, the millenial generation is more accepting in gay people. The legalization of same-sex marriage is a quantum leap for the community. Even though gay people still receive negative reactions from other people, the era of acceptance in gay community is starting.

Lesbian

“You’rebothprettywhy don’tyouhaveaboyfriend and love a man instead of makingasin”

This is probably the worst comment I’ve ever read for loving a woman. Its seems like I am an evil person which the greatest sin I’ve committed is being with the person I love. Loving someone of the same gender is probably difficult but being not by her side is what I fear the most .Since we our catholic dominated country, I understand that we will have a tons of disapproval perhaps the worst thing is that our soul are not and will not be in heaven because we did not follow that the women are only for men and our relationship is a sin.

It’s really hard to be someone you really want to be when this world dictates who you are and what you need to do. But I know that showing love to a person is never a sin. It doesn’t matter whether genes, upbringing, predisposition or early behavior contributed for having a lesbian identity. I love for I am loved.

As long as I did not harm other people by means of loving this girl, I know that loving her was never a sin and loving her was the greatest thing.

Allysa Capanay

Jan Aubrey Dalde

PROUD

MARICAR NUNCIO

So, let me get this straight -- You want me to stop being a lesbian and being attracted to women because it is a ‘sin’? Last time I checked, when you lie you are sinning. Sure, I could tell you I am no longer a lesbian or that I am no longer attracted to women and am straight, or I could even tell you the moon is made of cheese.I could tell you many things, but the moon will still not be made of cheese, and I will still not be attracted to men. I could tell you a lie in order to placate you, but isn’t the truth supposed to set me free? I choose truth over lies any day of the week and i am proud that i choose to follow the truth.”

R ACE

DIVERSE YET UNIFIED

AsianAsian

Asia is not just the biggest continent, it also has the biggest population in the world, with a number of 4.5 billion, making up 60% of the total population of the world. Two countries—China and India, are the top two countries which hold the highest population in the world.

In other continent, some race hate Asians because of their kinky eyes, being good at math, eat dogs or even just being an Asian. But being hated for a this reasons are none sense. We are Asian but we are not bad people, we deserve equality. We should not draw divisions, we should embrace our diversity and redouble our commitment to racial justice.

Kim Armachuelo

UNI E UQ

BLACK

Black Americans perceive and experience racial discrimination more than white Americans. Many years ago in the United States of America, They separated white Americans in Black Americans. There are superiority between white and black Americans and here discrimination and being a racist began. White Americans embrace the thought of being superior over black Americans. They tend to see black Americans as low people and worst not human. Blacks are treated less fairly. But his isn’t a race war as it’s typically understood, Black Americans should be treated equally and we should end discrimination and racism.

Brent John Castillo

American - INdian

American Indians are mostly known as Native Americans – the indigenous people of the United States. We often imagine them as tribes who wore majestic headpiece made from feather and someone who resides on mountainous area. But there’s more to them.

The lifestyle of American Indians ranged from nomadic to static. They lived mostly as separate tribes scattered throughout the vast continent of North America. Native Americans have already occupied the America even before the Europeans arrived. It is said that although technology is absurdly growing quickly, American Indians still maintained their customs and traditions up to this day.

American Indians believe in Animism like most of the tribes in the world. It was a commonly shared belief in the tribe of North America. In this religion, they worshiped inanimate objects such as rock or other living things such

as animals and plants believing that souls also exist within those elements. In festivals, ceremonies and prayers were used to gain the favors of their gods. The Great Spirit is the one they believe to be a supreme being or creator of life. A divine entity that created the world. Apart from this, they were also influenced by shamanism. In this system, there is a religious leader called shaman that serves as a bridge between the visible world and the spirit world.

American Indians have brownish complexion. They embellish themselves with clothes made of animal skins. Their body proudly shows the tattoos and their traditional lines. They celebrated feasts and hunts through different dances such as Lakota Sioux – their war dance.

We often see them as pursuers of foreigners in the movie. Let’s not forget that they are more than that. They were one of the firsts and we should be aware of the beautiful culture of Native Americans.

Nicole Jade Claros Jan Aidon Inducta

WHITE PEOPLE ARE ALL DIFFERENT

WHITE

Race is another way as to how humans group their selves according to their ancestry. It is not surprising that this label creates division of who’s superior and inferior. Today, if there is anything between colors and race that is dominant to the other, that would be “white” and a race of “American”. Racism, White Americans propagated the disenfranchisement of people solely based on skin tone. According to Miller (2014), the social definition of “white people” has changed over the years. Studies have shown that different races, ethnicities, and nationalities have different stereotypes of white people. Ethnic groups such as the Irish and Italians

have been portrayed in popular media and culture in a negative fashion.

In such races there exist cultural norms. White Americans per se see poverty as a deviance, a moral failure among them. Sport is an important culture in their life as interest and hobbies. In our country, Family Divorce is a taboo, a deviance. But in their (White Americans) culture, it is common and accepted process. Other norms include the value of beauty and how skin color affects their social strata.To define as simply “white” would be to limit the race itself. The drive to be a part of a legitimate culture is deeply ingrained in human nature.

Ezekiel Tamayo

RELIGION

Years ago, Ahmad Tahera was refused to be given an unopened can of diet soda on her US domestic flight just because the flight attendant thought that she might use it as a weapon. In Britain, the people grab their veil, call them terrorist and want them dead.

Regardless of belief -- Muslim, Christian, Catholic, etc -- people must be treated equally and be free of expressing their own beliefs. Religious discrimination has to stop. This discrimination becomes the root of human division -- the cause of endless, and horrendous wars. Otherwise, the youth of the coming generations will continue to live with these misconceptions and worse, hatred.

Muslim

Living in a country whose predominant religion is Roman Catholicism, it is no wonder why Muslims of Philippines often face discriminations in terms of their beliefs and practices. People tend not to understand their beliefs and culture of not eating pork, wearing long clothing and their traditions like feasts and Ramadan.

Muslims are often referred to as violent because of the recent horrendous terrorist attacks by ISIS. Well, in fact, the majority of people confronting ISIS are of the Islamic faith. There is an apparent misconception that all Muslims are terrorists who harm innocent civilians, burn houses, do bomb killings and hostages.

Charles

Joseph Junio

Reannah Beatriz Clarin

“

IT’S NOT THE RELIGION THAT SAVES YOU, IT’S YOUR FAITH IN GOD “

Roman

C atholic

CCatholicism is one of the most influential religions all over the world and in our country. Majority of the population of Filipinos are Catholic. In 2015, it was estimated that 84 million Filipinos, or roughly 82.9% of the population, profess Catholicism. But like other religions, it faces numerous problems and issues surrounding their church, about the people who have superiority and who they considered divine and godly such as priests or ministers. Lots of evidences and news were leaked and posted in social media and televisions that bothered a lot of people. Pedophilia or having sexual feelings or activities that involved children and Bisexuality or having sexual desire or attraction towards both sexes are mainly comprehended as negative trending issues about Catholic Church hierarchy.

Nowadays, involvement of Catholic Church with political affairs is currently observed in our country. According to an article posted in Rappler written by Aries Rufo (2015), more than half of those surveyed said they disagree with the “involvement of the Catholic hierarchy on political issues,” while half disagree with the Church’s objection to the RH law. Most of them are young people. They might believe that there should be separation of church and state as we have that law in our 1987 Philippine Constitution that should be followed, so that both of it has freedom to do their own responsibilities and obligations. Church should not interfere with the affairs of the state and vice-versa. In our country, Filipinos are naturally religious and it is observed that the decisions of government officials are influenced by their beliefs. Thus, laws can’t be approved or implemented because of the opposition of many people especially the Catholic hierarchy.

Mary Grace Baguiwong Ignacio Pontanares Ilagan

St. Anthony Church

IGLESIA

Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) is a religious group which started on 1914 and founded by Felix Manalo. In the past decades, INC expanded throughout the world which helped the religion to increase its population greatly but INC is mostly concentrated in the Philippines, the country where its roots came from.

Being an INC member has advantages and disadvantages. INC is strict when it comes to their rules and policies. Their beliefs were based on the bible and they need to carry out all of those in their daily lives. INC’s are required to go to church twice a week and their church observes a strict policy when it comes to the attire that they wear when attending worship services. Every member has a tarjeta where their church attendance is recorded. If a member is no longer attending the services, a katiwala (overseer) will visit and check on him or her. During their worship service, the assembly hall or the place where their mass is being held is divided into two rows of chairs, the other side is for the women and the other is for the men.

INC is known here in our country as a religion who do bloc-voting. During elections, the members will receive a list of the politicians that they need to vote and in return those politicians, that will receive their votes, have to sup-

Jayson Esmane

CRISTO

port the whole INC. This thing is practiced to carry out their teaching that each member is part of the whole body working for one purpose thus, making one decision. INC is famous for its achievements. They glory over the Philippine Arena, the Guinness Records that they’ve made and the thousands of assemblies that they’ve had. All of those achievements are the members’ advantages because they all worked hard together to achieve it.

INC members are prohibited to join social mobilizations or rallies because in their policy, joining a social mobilization or union is against the unity of the church. They do not celebrate Christmas because to them, the exact date of Christ’s birth is unknown instead they commemorate the death of Christ through Holy Supper. The members cannot date, be engaged to, or marry someone who’s not a member of their church. Once couples, who are both members of the church, get married they are not allowed to file an annulment.

Iglesia ni Cristo is a religion that has fascinating and interesting background. It is a religion that shows everyone that everything is possible as long as we are united. INC may, indeed, be an epitome of unity and loyalty.

Shayne Angel Marie Matubang

HINDUISM

Ann-Jenin Zapata

Hinduism is deemed to be the world’s oldest and third largest religion. It is a blend of distinct cultures and traditions which appears to be manifested by the Hindus. Likewise, Indians predominantly occupy the majority of the followers of the religion. Prior to all religions that possesses and shows its faith through various moral standards, Hindus have their own set of beliefs to make them recognizably different in nature. The Hindu beliefs include the four proper goals or aims of human life which is called Purusartha. It comprises ethics and duties, prosperity and work, desires and passions, and freedom and salvation.

They also suppose that karma is real whether the consequence is to be good or bad adhering to the kind of act done by a person. They have an idea about the cycle of rebirth as well. On the other hand, the Hindu practices make up the rituals, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Hinduism equally runs through boundless obligations, such as honesty, refraining from causing pain and misery to living beings, patience, self-discipline, and sympathy and empathy among others. In the end, they have the so-called four major traditions namely Vaish-

navism which considers Vishnu as the Supreme Lord, Shaivism which honors Shiva as the Supreme Being, Shaktism with Devi or goddess as the superior, and Smartism which is notable for worshipping the five deities as Shiva (the destroyer), Shakti (the mother goddess), Ganesha (the lord of obstacles), Vishnu (the preserver) and Surya (the god of the sun).

Ultimately, Hinduism has been described as a tradition having a complicated organization of beliefs and religious phenomena of India. According to the Supreme Court of India, unlike other religions in the world, the Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet. It does not worship any one God. It does not believe in any one philosophic concept. It does not follow any one act of religious rites or performances. In fact, it does not satisfy the traditional features of a religion or creed. It is a way of life and nothing more.

Despite the differences, there is also a sense of unity. Most Hindu traditions think highly of a body of religious or sacred literature although there are exceptions. These texts are a reminder of the ancient cultural heritage and point of pride for Hindus, with Louis Renou stating that “even in the most orthodox domains, the reverence to the Vedas has come to be a simple raising of the hat”.

Mormonism is one of the most growing religions in the world. Mormons identify themselves as Christians, although some non-Mormons consider Mormons as non-Christian and some of their beliefs differ from the mainstream Christianity. They also believe in the Bible, as well as the other books of scripture. From its inception, the church began in 1830 with only six members of record. The Church released its first missionaries after the publishing of The Book of Mormon in 1830. The Book of Mormon is what they refer as their Bible.

During their early months, the Church focused missionary activities in places near Joseph Smith’s home. Joseph Smith is the American religious leader and founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Before the year 1830 ends, a missionary expedition was made toward Missouri to preach the Native American tribes in the certain area. Mormons practices the baptism of the deceased of their ancestors and has provoked controversy. However, the LDS church says souls in the afterlife are completely free to accept or reject such a baptism. They also open practiced plural marriage, a form of religious polygamy. They consider Jesus to be savior and the son of God, However Mormon chapels do not have crosses because the faith emphasizes the “Resurrected Christ”.

Mormons believe that all people have a pre-earthly existence with God and their mortal lives are a test to be able to rejoin him in the afterlife. Mormonism still continues to spread throughout the globe. In 1837, however, Joseph Smith sent a small contingent of missionaries to Great Britain. The expedition turned out to be successful which resulted to thousands of Britons joining the LDS Church, and most of them migrated to the LDS stronghold at Nauvoo, Illinois.

To keep up to the growth of the Church, Mormons have launched a major expansion program. Opening 32 temples across the country this year. Total membership worldwide now numbers in the millions. There are now 100 temples internationally, serving 11 million Mormons.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Enzo Penales

Nationality refers to people having a common origin, tradition, and language and capable of forming a nation-state. There is a law in each country also known as the citizenship law that defines the rights and obligations of citizenship within the jurisdiction and which citizenship is acquired as well how it may be lost. A person who is not a citizen of the country is generally regarded as a foreigner, also referred to as an alien. A person who has no recognized nationality or citizenship is regarded as stateless.

In some circumstances, an individual can have the nationality of two countries at the same time. A person born in Philippines’ soil is what we called a “native-born citizen”. Many countries have the same rule as well. Subsequently, if a child is born to a Filipino couple visiting other countries such as France, that also have the same rules as ours, the child have the nationality of that country and of the Philippines.

Dual Nationality also experiences its fair share of problems. According to Equality National Rights, the problem is that the nationality laws in 26 countries worldwide prevent the mothers from passing their nationality to their children on an equal basis with fathers. Over 50 countries deny female citizens’ equal rights with male citizens in their ability to acquire, change and retain their nationality, and to confer nationality to non-national spouses.

This discrimination results to significant human rights violations further contributing to myriad of problems in the society. Discrimination’s worst child

NATIONALITY

perhaps is the suffering it grants upon individuals and families. These laws, such as the Sex-Discriminatory Nationality Laws, are also in contradiction to international law, including state commitments to a number of international conventions.

A paper submitted by Ia DulceFajardoAtian entitled ”Racial Discrimination in the Philippines” said that Filipinos have experienced racial discrimination against foreigners, such as our colonizers who referred to Filipinos as indios or negritos, or some other derogatory term. The Filipinos have also been considered as uncivilized, half-savage and uneducated race. While we have experienced such discriminatory acts against us, discrimination of Filipinos against Filipinos has not been a highlighted issue in the country, until recently.

An article by Lu-Hai Ling entitled “Discrimination based on ethnic origin can be blunt in China” talks about the huge gap particularly against foreigners of Asian descent – can be very blunt. George Ding, a Chinese-American writer based in Beijing, says he has been discriminated against for jobs. “When I first came here looking to teach English, places wouldn’t believe I was an American,” he says. “People would say my English had an accent. Places even told me to my face that Chinese people didn’t want an Asian-looking person to teach them English.” Being ripped off because of their foreign status is a minor irritation. No one likes being treated differently, dealing with discrimination should be well reminded of.

NATIONALITY 04

KOREAn 한국

Korea, also known as Korean Hanguk or Joseon, is located in East Asia. It was a single country on the world map but political unrest resulted in a division of the region into two countries with different political ideologies. However, culture and traditional values of the region still bind these two countries with each other. The south with a democratic government continues to flourish and grow while the north stayed reserve and concealed from the world because of their communist ruled government. Both north and south use Korean language locally known as Hangul as their national language.

Long before, it was believed that King Tangun, a legendary figure born of the son of Heaven, and a woman from a bear-totem tribe, established the first kingdom named Joseon, literally mean the “Land of the Morning Calm.” While King Tan-gun’s historicity is in question, it is known that Korea was divided into tribes but eventually organized kingdoms emerged. Three major kingdoms fought for supremacy while securing its boarders from China. After many years, Silla united the three kingdoms. Korea prospered and the arts flourished.

Buddhism entered the kingdom in the 4th century and became dominant in this period. Both Goryo (9181392) and Joseon (1392-1910) Dynasties consolidated their dynastic power and flourished culturally, while repelling intruders like the Khitans, Mongols, and Manchus or Japanese. In the late 19th century, Korea became the focus of intense competition among imperialist nations such as China, Russia and Japan. In 1910, Japan annexed Korea and instituted colonial rule, bringing the Joseon Dynasty to an end and with it traditional Korea.

National liberation occurred in 1945 but was soon followed by territorial division. Traditional clothes are the pride of the Korean people. Hanbok is the name given to traditional Korean attire. It is worn in marriage ceremonies, family functions and traditional festivals. It is also the official government and national dress in Korea. People of all ages wear it with pride because it is one of the emblems of their cultural identity.

Korean food and drinks add flavor to their traditional lifestyle and rice malt served with kimchi is their specialty. Cold noodles, bibimbap, bulgogi and dakgalbi are some of the world famous Korean dishes. However, dining and eating means following a strict protocol. No indoor farewells, the removal of shoes before entering the house or dining room, waiting for the eldest person to eat before eating, and most importantly, only male hosts will serve the drinks. Korean culture is incomplete without pottery and ceramics. Pottery is Korea’s cultural emblem and it started thousands of years ago. Korea, specifically South Korea, is popular today for their cosmetic and electronic products, Kdramas, and Kpop but these things emerged only recently. Koreans are deeply anchored in their tradition and cultural practices even in these modern times. It is evident in the content and presentation of their dramas and music. This is the reason why not only Asians are in love with their work but also people all around the globe.

Arial Roderos