‘Equal Rights, Equal Opportunities: Progress For All'

“Women are a backbone of our families and play major roles in our economy, especially in rural areas. The life and health of women are of central importance to the future development of our nation.”

In order to build a great democratic, just, fair and humane society, it is of utmost  importance to arouse the broad masses of our people to join the struggle that will ensure "equal rights, equal opportunities and progress for all”        

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Genuine equality between women and men, girls and boys can only be realised in the process of a just, fair                                                                          and humane transformations of our society as a whole. There is need to educate ourselves and others to take a more correct view of women and to actively redress the injustices done to women in all our institutions , the Church, State and Family. Women must not be treated as mere passive participants in national development. But they must enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms befitting all human beings, both in domestic and public life. Women need to be treated justly in families, workplaces, public life and the Church.This being the case, the calls for the true empowering of women to enable them to participate in decision making in our society need to be heeded. Women bring special gifts to the progress of our country. If they are not listened to and are discriminated against, then we simply will not have sustainable and equitable progress and men should be more involved in promoting women's rights. Advancement will not go very far unless women and girls are enabled to enjoy the same rights and opportunities as men and boys. Politically, women have contributed a lot in all our struggles. Women have thrown their lot, alongside men, with our struggle for independence and democracy. And women, alongside men, have fallen in that struggle. Here is the most profound equality of all: equality in suffering and in hope. We must therefore move from the delay and sterile tactics of always questioning the ability of women, by embracing the realisation that we are equal partners in the development processes of our nations. Fellow men, I understand that we have held positions of power for a long time now, and it may be uncomfortable to share this power with our countrywomen. We must realise that women as citizens have just the same rights that we do in holding positions of power, participating in their national development process and most of all, to be treated with dignity and respect just as we expect to be.Today, as yesterday, there is no other formula for building our country into a prosperous, just, fair and humane nation: we must emerge from ourselves; we must devote ourselves to the cause of women - to the discriminated, very marginalized and poorest.Clearly, there is need for us to broaden our understanding of women's situation in our socio-economic, political and religio-cultural realities and articulate faith reflections on women's realities and struggles. And in this way deepen our commitment and solidarity work towards full humanity for all.The discrimination and marginalization of women is affirmed as a hard and abiding reality of life. Women have an irreplaceable role in society, yet their contribution is not acknowledged, nor are they accorded equal rights and opportunities with their male counterparts.This realisation demands a total rupture with the prevailing patriarchal system in order to build an egalitarian society. The women's struggle is deeply connected with efforts of all the poor who are struggling for their upliftment in all aspects of life.

We must for see the main important value of women in our society. They are the counterparts of men in the realization of better future.

Global Warming in the Philippines

                Global Warming is one of the most talked and campaigned about issues of the 21st century. We all know that it is an undeniable fact that while the world population is increasing, the pollution is also increasing in a larger ratio. Many countries successfully implemented “Green” policies, to protect our environment and our future. These policies are increasingly being implemented in Central Europe in countries such as Germany. Recycling garbage, plastic, and even old appliances belongs to the strict regimen. Other policies such as fines imposed on littering, burning of waste or leaves, and even the encouragement of collective transportation have been imposed.

                Unfortunately, the Philippines cannot brag about any environmental policies in any way. It is indeed true that a Waste Management Act has been implemented, yet if we look at our everyday lives; the sad reality comes crushing down on us Filipinos. We barely care for our environment. We see wrappers all over what should have been a green environment. We see people burning their garbage in their homes and on the streets. We even love to shower ourselves with the abundance of fresh water, which could have been saved. All of these things do not really imply that the Philippines is really affected by global warming (which it is in fact, but more of that later), rather it seems that Philippines plays a big role as a contributor in global warming.

                  Let us analyze the facts of outside causes of global warming. Many people believe (which is also true) that so called greenhouse gases that emit CO₂ into the atmosphere which causes the rays of the sun to be kept within the earth atmosphere for a longer time, since it bounces back. This causes an increase of temperature, which in turn causes more natural catastrophes. Although this is the main cause of global warming, there is yet another cause, which has something to do with the cycle of our Sun. Every ten to twelve years, the sun is in its peak and vice versa. The peak is the solar maximum, which means that this is when the sun is the hottest and emits more solar storms than ever. This period should be the solar maximum of the sun, since the last was in the 90s. This is also an important factor that contributes to global warming.

Let us look into what the Philippines are contributing in positive and negative ways; Our National Capital Region is clearly overpopulated and packed with vehicles. As we know, the air pollution problem is very much present in Metro Manila and the quality of our motor vehicles is far inferior than to those in first world countries. Our cars and motorcycles emit far more CO₂ than the refined ones abroad, which adds up to the worlds total in a significant way. Even though we produce far less CO₂ than USA or China, we have to acknowledge that our country is an archipelago and a developing country, and putting those two factors together, our greenhouse gas emissions do make a difference.

                         Another problem we are facing in the Philippines is not only corruption but the lack of strict implementation of the Republic Acts concerning the environment, such as RA 7586 a.k.a. NIPAS, the Waste Management Act, so on and so forth. The waste management act stated that by 2007, every City should have a waste facility, which has not been established so far in Dumaguete City. The recycling and collecting of garbage is also very problematic in the Philippines.

Finally we should ask ourselves the question if global warming is really that bad. And for the most it does not seem so, but let me remind you;

• It is because of global warming, that our Summers are getting hotter and our so-called winters are becoming more monsoon-like
• It is because of global warming that Dengue fever is spreading much farther and faster around the country due to increased humidity
• It is because of global warming that our shores will soon move closer by a meter or more each year (melting of the icecaps)
• It is because of global warming that more and more floods are affecting the Philippine islands and surrounding regions
• It is because of global warming that people hunger because their crops were destroyed in natural disasters such as storms, floods, or heat/dryness

The Philippines could even cease to exist because of global warming, because once the sea level has risen a couple of meters, even our highest mountains may not be high enough anymore to sustain a whole country.