Peace Amid Diversity: Kinaadman Journal Explores Conflict Resolution

Kinaadman
(wisdom) A Journal of the Southern Philippines
VOLUME XXXVI
2014
Editorial Introduction
Southern Philippines has been a melting pot of various ethnic

cultures even before colonial times. Through all these decades, the
Mindanaoans have tried to live peaceably with their neighbors, rising
above their differences in order to maintain peace and goodwill.
Peace amid diversity is the theme that weaves together the four
major articles in this issue.
Our Guest Editor for this volume, Dr Al Fuertes, comes up
with a research article titled Peacebuilders in Mindanao Describe
Consciousness and Reconciliation wherein he shows how a select
group of private citizens morph to become peacebuilders in different
communities as they straddle through the tri-people communities of
Mindanao, namely: Christian settlers, Muslims and indigenous peoples.
Through ethnographic and archival data, Shiela Tampos from
the University of the Philippines Mindanao, tackles the non-killing
framework espoused by Glenn Paige and examines how this paradigm
can be applied to the revenge killing practices of the Muslims, called rido
and of the Manobos, referred to as pangayaw. In the article, Peace is not
Elusive, Peter Paul Elicor from Ateneo de Davao University, elucidates
Gandhis Satyagraha, a concept geared towards the achievement of
peace and unity in restoring social harmony.
In the fourth article, Dr Mary Rachelle Wapao, gives a synopsis
of the services rendered by Xavier University to the survivors of
the tropical storm Sendong that devastated Cagayan de Oro City
in 2011. The survivors, which represent various ethnic groups in
locations primarily hit by the flood, were given psychosocial and
mental health care assistance by XU as well as Ateneo de Manila
University practitioners and other entities.
Under the Literary Section of this issue, Dr Maria Luisa
Saministrado, explores discourses on spirituality using Gaudium et
Spes of Vatican II as framework on issues on marriage, family, human
dignity and self-preservation raised in four Naturalist novels. In The
Flattery of Fates, Aimee Faunillan analyzes the character of Macbeth
and King Lear and ascribes flattery to be the cause of these two kings
downfall.
iii
Arlene Yandug creatively depicts conflict resolved in a battle in
the poem, Like souls meeting. In February in many voices, the same
poet beautifully captures the age-long issue of colonizer exploitation
of the indigenous peoples ancestral domain; and, tackling what
seems to be a light and mundane topic, Yandug, takes up a relevant
socio-economic issue as Filipino women resolve financial dilemmas
in Hummingbird and Skylark.
Also touching on the theme, peace amid diversity, seven book
reviews are included in this volume. Dr Al Fuertes reviews Paulo
Frieres Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Fuertes adds his own take of the
book by applying Frieres concept to the Philippine context. Dr Linda
Burton reviews Costly Wars, Elusive Peace by Miriam Coronel Ferrer.
This is a collection of materials that document the peace processes
which have all taken place in Mindanao.
Christine Gumalal reviews State of Fear, A Reportage on human
rights in Mindanao during the Arroyo and Aquino regimes. The book
is a compilation taken from Davao Today. Dr Maria Luisa Saministrado
reviews Nur Misuari: An Authorized Biography written by Tom Stern.
Tackling some more on the diversity of cultures in Mindanao,
Arlene Yandug reviews an illustrated book on Gugud Mindanao:
Tales of Mindanao, Volume 1 of Museo de Oro. Also an illustrated
book, Historical Folktales by Fr Francisco Demetrio, is reviewed by
Aimee Faunillan.
Finally, Stories, the only creative work among the seven books
reviewed, is a delightful collection of stories depicting the peculiarity
of Filipino life, written by Jose V Ayala and reviewed by Abigail
James.
We wish to thank all our contributors for putting in their best
effort to refine their articles through the rigorous review process.
Likewise, we thank our pool of reviewers who have, through these
years, selflessly supported this journal. Special expression of gratitude
is given to Dr Al Fuertes, who, in spite of his heavy work load at
George Mason University, painstakingly saw through the process
of putting together the articles for this issue. We thank the entire
Xavier University community, friends and relatives of the late Father
Miguel A Bernad, who have continually assisted us in ensuring that
his legacy is carried on from one volume to the next.
iv Kinaadman Vol.XXXVIII
Contributors
Erlinda M Burton, Ph D. is presently the Curator-Director of

Museo de Oro and professor of Anthropology at Xavier University.
She holds a doctorate degree in Anthropology from Brigham Young
University in Pittsburg, USA. She has read papers at national and
international conferences.
Peter Paul E Elicor, M.A. is a Philosophy Instructor at the Ateneo
de Davao University. He is currently the Secretary of the Social
Ethics Society (SES) and also the Managing Editor of SES Applied
Journal of Philosophy.
Al Fuertes, Ph D., guest editor of this present volume, is an associate
professor at the School of Integrative Studies, George Mason
University, Fairfax, Virginia. He obtained his Ph D in Conflict and
Resolution from the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution
at GMU. He is a field practitioner and international consultant in
conflict transformation and psychosocial trauma healing. He teaches
Human Trafficking, Refugee/Internal Displacement, Psychosocial
Trauma Healing, Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Divided
Communities, Spirituality and Conflict Transformation at GMU.
Aimee C Faunillan teaches full-time with the English Department
of XU. She has a rich experience as an article writer for various
websites and has recently successfully defended her thesis on
historiographic metafiction for her MA English degree also in XU.
She has presented a paper at the 10th Singapore Graduate Forum
on Southeast Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore
(NUS) in 2015.
Christine Faith V Gumalal teaches literature at XU where she is
finishing her Master of Arts in English. She earned her Bachelor of
Arts at Mindanao State University Iligan Institue of Technology
in Iligan City. She has recently been accepted as a fellow for the 55th
Silliman University National Writers 2016 Workshop in Dumaguete
City.
v
Abigail C James is a full time English instructor at XU where she is
also taking her MA in English Language. She writes fiction, essays,
and poetry and her works have appeared in Sun Star and Dagmay
Literary Journal. She is presently the Director of Logistics of Ang
Nagkahiusang Magsusulat sa Cagayan de Oro City, a group of local
writers who foster the creative writing and literary scene in the city.
Maria Luisa S Saministrado, Ph D is a professor of English at
XU. She holds a doctorate degree in English from the University
of Newcastle, Australia. She also holds a doctorate degree in
Educational Management from XU, and a Masters degree in
English from the same university. She is a former chair of the XU
English Department.
Sheila G Tampos is an Assistant Professor at the Department of
Social Sciences, University of the Philippines Mindanao. She has
recently returned to the country as a Fulbright fellow from North
Carolina State University where she studied cultural anthropology
and cognitive science. Her key research interests include cultural
categories among different Lumad groups as well as their conflict
and resolution mechanisms.
Mary Rachelle R Wapano, Ph D currently serves as the Assistant
for Faculty Development at the XU-AVP office. She was Chair
of the Psychology Department when tropical storm Sendong hit
Cagayan de Oro in December 2011. She earned an MA degree
in Guidance and Counselling from XU and a Ph D in Clinical
Psychology from Ateneo de Manila University.
Arlene J Yandug teaches English language and literature at Xavier
University where she also first served as assistant to the late Fr
Miguel A Bernad, SJ, the founding editor of the Kinaadman
Journal, before taking over as editor. She holds a bachelors and
masters degree in English and is finishing her Ph D in Creative
Writing at UP-Diliman. A poet and a short story writer, she has
been published in local and national publications.
vi Kinaadman Vol.XXXVIII
Contents
Editorial Introduction............................................................................ iii
Contributors..............................................................................................v
Peacebuilders in Mindanao Describe Consciousness and

Transformation Towards Effective Practice..........................................1
Rido and Pangayaw:

Evaluating the Non-killing Paradigm in
Mindanao Revenge Killings..................................................................17
Peace is not Elusive: Mahatama Gandhis Satyagraha.................. 30
Actions, Reflections and Lessons Learned:

Psychosocial Response and Mental
Health Care Services of XU for
Sendong Survivors in Cagayan de Oro in 2011 to 2012....................43
Reconciling Literary Naturalism and

Guadium et Spes.....................................................................................54
Like souls meeting..................................................................................80
February in many voices........................................................................83
Hummingbird and skylark....................................................................87
The Flattery of the Fates: A Sketch on the

Three Witches in Macbeth and
the Two Evil Sisters, Goneril and Regan, in King Lear.....................89
BOOK REVIEW:
Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Freire...........................................93
Book Review:
Costly Wars, Elusive Peace, Miriam Coronel Ferrer, 2013...............98
vii
BOOK REVIEW:
State of Fear: Reportage on human rights in
Mindanao during the Arroyo and Aquino regimes
Davao Today. Davao Today Webworks &
Multimedia Ventures Inc., Davao City., 2014, 329 pages................103
book review:
Nur Misuari: An Authorized Biography
Tom Stern. Anvil Publishing Inc.,
Manila., 2012, 229 pages......................................................................106
book review:
Illustrated Historical Folktales.
Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J.,
Illustrations by Albert San Juan Vamenta and
Pennesencio Estarte.............................................................................109
Book Review:
Gugud Mindanaw: Tales of Mindanao. Vol. 1.,
Museo de Oro, Xavier University.......................................................112
Book Review:
Stories, Jose V. Ayala,
University of the Philippines Press 1999, 162 pages........................115
viii Kinaadman Vol.XXXVIII

ix
Peacebuilders in Mindanao Describe
Consciousness and Transformation Towards
Effective Practice
Al Fuertes, PhD
Abstract
What can peacebuilders in Mindanao, Philippines teach us about
the dynamic interplay between consciousness and transformation
towards effective practice? In this article, nineteen peacebuilders
from Mindanao share personal narratives about their peacebuilding
initiatives. They describe and discuss how consciousness of self
and phenomenological realities facilitates personal and social
transformation, which results in a much deeper level of consciousness
towards a more informed and integrative field practice. In this
context, consciousness and transformation become a never-ending
process, each reinforcing and enhancing the other towards effective
practice.
KEYWORDS: Peace, Mindanao, peace building, consciousness and

transformation
1
A strong interdisciplinary literature draws on psychological,
sociological, philosophical, anthropological, legal communications,
religious studies, and political science approaches to explain what
goes wrong in individual and group consciousness when regions
are torn apart by war. We know about the trauma of armed
conflict and its aftermath, the development of enemy images, the
development of historical conflict narratives, social-psychological
processes of conflict escalation, the trans-generational transmission
of trauma, and more. But we know little about the consciousness
and transformation of the people who dedicate themselves to
peacebuilding in their home community. How do they develop in
war-torn contexts, and how do they sustain their work in war zones?
While research has documented the development stories of Gandhi,
Martin Luther King, and Nelson Mandela, for example, we have
failed thus far to learn from the many everyday heroes working out
of the limelight in their home communities. What can peacebuilders
in local communities, for example, teach us about consciousness and
transformation, and how can that knowledge help us support the
development of more and more of them? (Fuertes 2010, p.1).
For this article, nine local peacebuilders from Mindanao, Philippines
were interviewed, and ten others participated in a Consciousness and
Transformation workshop which I facilitated in 2010 in Davao City,
Philippines. The study was made possible through a grant from the
Center for the Advancement of Wellbeing at George Mason University.
Participants were all Filipino peacebuilders representing the tri-people
communities of Mindanao, namely: Christian settlers, Muslim, and the
Lumad or indigenous peoples two are connected with the Catholic
Relief Services (CRS) Mindanao, and the rest work with grassroots
organizations focusing on peace, social justice and human rights,
environmental issues, mass media, and community organizing and
education. The average number of years spent by participants doing
peacebuilding, that is, during the conduct of the study, was seven years.
Two documenters helped facilitate the gathering and the transcription
of data for this study. I will be using terms such as peacebuilders and
participants interchangeably throughout the article.
The first section of this article explores what peacebuilding means
from the perspectives of the participants, followed by descriptions
2 Kinaadman Vol.XXXVIII
of consciousness and its implications in peacebuilding. The third
section talks about transformation as described and experienced by
the peacebuilders. Here, they used metaphors to bring home their
message. The article concludes with a discussion about the dynamic
interplay between consciousness and transformation towards
effective practice as articulated by the peacebuilders.
Findings of the study suggest that consciousness of self and
phenomenological realities inform self and social transformation.
At the same time, such transformation leads to a deeper level of
consciousness towards the deepening of commitment in terms
of peacebuilding practice. Questions during both interviews and
workshop asked the participants to describe their peacebuilding
work and the shifts in their consciousness, including its implications
in peacebuilding. As participants shared their narratives, they
were further asked to define, if not describe consciousness and
transformation in relation to self and community.
The Setting
The Philippines is a home to thousands of internally displaced
persons, ongoing violence, and potential further wars in the near
future. The country has endured armed struggle, ethnic conflict,
including conflicts generated by movements toward sovereignty,
independence, and autonomy. They are rooted in the general
underdevelopment of the region, the unequal distribution of wealth,
and the lack of sufficient effort by the central Philippine government
to integrate the Muslim population into the political and institutional
fabric of the country (Global IDP Database 2005, p.5). The ethno-
religious dynamics of the tri-people, particularly the migration of
Christian settlers to the region, in light of the rich reserves of untapped
natural resources and raw materials of Mindanao, particularly in the
Muslim or Moro areas, add to the governments fight against Muslim
secessionist movements in the island since the 1970s (Quitoriano, et
al. 2004, p.11, Global IDP Database 2005, p.5). However, Mindanao is
also home to remarkable local peacebuilders who continue to endure
in their peacebuilding efforts despite conflicts raging around them.
In the midst of risks and challenges, they continue to dedicate their
lives to peace and justice in their home communities and beyond.
3
Dugan (1996) best describes the conflicts affecting Mindanao
as system-level structural conflicts that emerged from inequities
built into the social (and political) system. These conflicts are
institutionalized in a structured way within the social (and political)
system, she said. People knew that the conflicts affecting their local
communities were a national level phenomenon, involving their
respective central governments, including a plethora of armed
opposition groups existing in their respective countries. Yet, within
this context, local peacebuilders chose to work on the seemingly
impossible task of building peace (Fuertes, 2010, p.3).
Peacebuilding in Their Own Words

What do participants meant by peacebuilding, and how do they
describe their peacebuilding efforts?
Peacebuilding for the participants is a comprehensive multi-
faceted undertaking. It aims, to quote Rychler (2001), to transform
conflicts constructively and create a sustainable peace environment.
This includes not just fixing the problems, which threatened the core
interests of the conflicting organizations or communities involved
nor simply changing the strategic thinking, and the opportunity
structure and the ways of interacting, but also the creation of a
sustainable peace, such as the establishment of peace zone, which
includes imagining a peaceful future, conducting an overall needs
assessment, developing a coherent peace plan, and designing an
effective implementation of the plan (p.12). The implementation of
peacebuilding initiatives involves peace education and dialogues,
capacity-building and empowerment trainings, community
organizing and consciousness raising in hopes to increase peoples
sense of socio-political awareness, initiate socio-cultural solidarity
programs and environmental advocacy, as well as work with policy
makers to effect social change. Participants believed that establishing
a good relationship among residents in local communities founded
on trust, justice, respect, and equity is vital to building peace. As
peacebuilders, they considered themselves agents of change, giving
voice to the people (Fuertes 2010, p.3).
While participants were already doing community organizing,
peace advocacy, at the same time initiating interreligious dialogues
among conflicting members of the community, back then many
did not label such initiatives as peacebuilding until they made a
conscious decision which provided a shift in their consciousness. Joy
Zabala of Basilan, for example, indicated that long before she started
working on community peace initiatives, she was already involved
in humanitarian services through her parish in reaching out local
residents displaced by armed conflict. Until she made a conscious
effort to continue doing her job, she did not consider herself a
peacebuilder back then. Myla Leguro has been conducting justice
and peace education before joining the Catholic Relief Services in
Mindanao. She described her work as empowering people in local
communities who were often victims of human rights violations. For
people like Zabala and Leguro, their early community involvement
was based on a felt need of wanting to do something right, given the
socio-economic and political situation that they were in. However,
calling themselves peacebuilders only happened when they
made a (conscious) commitment and expanded their community
engagement further, complemented by peace trainings and seminars
that they had attended (Fuertes 2010, p.3).
The phenomenological realities that peacebuilders mentioned
serve as turning points in their consciousness of self and
peacebuilding initiatives. According to Mancini and Roberto
(2009), the concept of turning points is vital to understanding
positive development change. Sometimes highly visible, at other
times apparently innocuous, such moments may prove important
in opening up new possibilities, often in what may otherwise be
unpromising circumstances. Resulting change of this kind requires
four conditions to be fulfilled, namely: the opportunity, the readiness
of the person to grasp it, the agency of the person to take active
steps to respond to the opportunity, and a sustaining context which
supports the change effort and adherence to the new pathway (p.31).
As Mead (1964) explains,
the individual realizes himself insofar as, in some sense,

he sees himself and hears himself. He looks in the glass
and sees himself; he speaks and hears himself. It is this
sort of situation in which the individual is both subject
5
and object. But, in order to be both subject and object, he
has to pass from one phase to another. The self involves
a process that is going on, that takes one form and now
another a subject-object relationship which is dynamic,
not static, a subject-object relationship which has a process
behind it, one which can appear now in this phase, now in
that (p.13).
Meads statement marks a dramatic shift in the object-self, but

one which is subjectively experienced as newly integrated (Bankston,
Forsyth, and Floyd, Jr 1981, p.285).
Peacebuilders Described Consciousness

Consciousness is commonly equated with awareness (Schmidt,
1990, p.131). What drove peacebuilders to commit in peacebuilding
work was their awareness of socio-political and economic problems
such as armed conflict, extreme poverty, and corruption on local, as
well as national level. Such social awareness enhanced their ongoing
process of self-introspection, self-reflection, and critical analysis
leading to a deeper sense of self awareness. In this context self-
awareness became a catalyst that made them do something about
their situation.
Peacebuilders (Fuertes 2010, p.4) ascribed consciousness to
what they call, kahimatngon, which implies informed awareness and
understanding of social and personal events, enabling the person
or community to take action. The notion of kahimatngon is akin
to the dynamics of conscientization or consciousness-raising, used
especially in Latin America during the 70s until today against the
backdrop of militarization, human rights violations, and poverty.
Kahimatngon is used in the Philippines mostly by community-
based organizations in their educational and capacity-building
campaign to empower local communities in taking constructive
action to address economic and political problems. Consciousness,
according to peacebuilders comes in two levels, namely: lower level
and higher level consciousness. Knowledge about ones work and
having general information about the kind of community they work
with constitutes the lower level of consciousness. They referred this
consciousness to the time before they made a willful decision to
work in peacebuilding, which involved commitment, courage, and
perseverance. Higher level consciousness involves understanding
the reasons behind their decision to work in peacebuilding and the
meanings as well as implications of their passions and commitment
in bringing about social change. Here, peacebuilders can reflect
on the objects of consciousness and attempt to comprehend their
significance (Schmidt, 1990, p.133). Knowing fully well the bases of
their dreams and aspirations which continued to inspire them given
various kinds of challenges and risks also constitutes higher level of
consciousness. The notion of kahimatngon falls under this level.
Consciousness, according to peacebuilders, has different types.
1. Consciousness as a process. Peacebuilders ascribed
consciousness as a process of finding connection in our existence
in terms of interpersonal and social relationships. According
to Rhodius Noguera, psychologist and grassroots community
organizer, consciousness is a process of understanding life in
every aspect. Nogueras sense of fulfillment always connects to the
larger community therefore it is beyond self-gratification and self-
preservation.
2. Consciousness as space. Peacebuilders viewed consciousness
as space in terms of geographical location where the action takes
place, and in terms of personal space that facilitates transition for
reflection, analysis, and decision-making. For Leguro, this space
was the place where creativity, meaning-making, and individual/
collective processing took place. As Leguros experience of
consciousness suggests, it was in this space where she came to
understand peacebuilding as a vocation, and define herself in terms
of her potentials. In this space, Leguro was also able to establish a
lasting connection to the outside, creating a point of convergence for
inner meaning-making and ongoing self-development.
3. Consciousness as interconnectedness. For peacebuilders,
consciousness does not happen in isolation. Context informs
consciousness whether people are aware of it or not. This implies
that there is always a social dimension to consciousness. The human
and social components of consciousness were described by many as
interconnectedness. Understanding consciousness through this lens
7
reflects the Mindanaoan collectivist worldview where peacebuilders
came from. It is characterized by communal living where the notions
of we-ness and togetherness are emphasized.
4. Consciousness as cornerstone. Peacebuilders believed that
consciousness of self and of others, including ones surroundings,
is the basis by which the practice of peacebuilding finds its full
expression. Tommy Pangcoga said it well,
Without consciousness, we peacebuilders dont have the

moral ascendancy to extend ourselves or reach out to others.
We need to first have a good grasp of who we are, what we
are, what we can do, what your limitations are, where we
want to go, what we feel, what we are afraid of, what we
are prepared to do. It hinges on that self-consciousness.
If a person ignores that and just takes it empassing of face
value then he would run the risk of miscommunicating
himself to others and misrepresenting himself, including
what he represents. That is very risky because instead of
being a connector, one becomes a divider.
Pangcogas explanation connects consciousness to what

Tisdell (2003) calls a glimpse of a truer sacred face, grounded in
ones own authenticity rather than who one was told one should
be. These are the moments, according to Tisdell when one says,
This is who I am even if it is not who you want me to be.
(p.139) Consciousness, which frees our sacred face, becomes an
ongoing process that often involves unlearning the ways we have
uncritically absorbed what others told us we should be. As Tisdell
explains, claiming and reclaiming who we are now, according
to our own beliefs and values, is a process of ongoing identity
development that many have described as a spiritual experience
or spiritual journey. Confronted by social realities, Parker Palmer
(2000) says that we claim our own face, our own identity, which
involves much learning and unlearning in search of our more
authentic vocation (p.140).
Implications of Consciousness in Peacebuilding
Peacebuilders identified at least 5 major implications
of consciousness in peacebuilding (Fuertes 2010, p.6). First,
consciousness of social realities led them to self-introspection,
which they described as a way to make sense of their conscious
experience of social reality. The process of self introspection
facilitated how they continued to define and redefine their selves
in terms of vocation, their potentials, including dreams and hopes
in life. Second, as a result, they started questioning and assessing
their values and priorities in life based on what they believed they
ought to do. Third, consciousness challenged peacebuilders to act,
to do something based on their consciousness of self and social
realities. Fourth, consciousness inspired peacebuilders to utilize
whatever field-based knowledge, skills, and theories they may have
established in order to strengthen and expand their peacebuilding
initiatives. Finally, consciousness helped to define and redefine their
identity as peacebuilders, providing guidance and direction to their
peacebuilding work.
Peacebuilders Explore Transformation

The word transformation connotes different things to different
people. It is used synonymously with alteration, assimilation,
change, conversion, digestion, metamorphism, metamorphosis,
modification, movement, mutation, shift, transfiguration,
translation, transmogrification, transmutation (http://dictionary.
sensagent.com/ transformation/en-en/). Lederach (2003) uses
transformation in addressing the harmful and destructive energies
of conflict into something positive and constructive, including
rebuilding of human relationships. Transformation in this context
refers to a comprehensive orientation or framework that ultimately
may require a fundamental change in our way of thinking. This
constitutes what I would call inner shifts in human consciousness
brought about by the influence that social and personal events have
on peacebuilders.
Carpenter et al. (1999) describe self-transformation as a process
as well as an outcome. As a process, self-transformation involves
redefining the self within the context of ones reality or lived-out
9
experience. Individuals must understand the meaning of the event
in terms of how it will affect the self and redefine the self in relation
to that event by integrating different aspects of the event into the self.
Viewed as an outcome, self- transformation can result from having
increased awareness of the event as experienced (p.1403).
Peacebuilders are transforming persons (Stein 1998). They are
people who elicit our admiration and call for emulation. They are
people who are in the process of transformation and therefore often
incomplete, like works in progress. They are becoming themselves,
yet they are also, oddly, becoming what they have not yet been.
Often they are people who transform others and their surrounding
cultures. It is my personal conviction that only those who have been
or are being transformed can be agents of further transformation,
declares Stein (p.xxiii-xxiv).
For peacebuilders transformation is a by-product of
consciousness and community engagement. Ones being and doing
within the context of community lies at the heart of transformation.
According to Orson Sargado, transformation is a higher form or level
of change. It goes beyond change of ones outlook and perspectives
in life. It is living out what you preach, giving congruency to both
words and action. For Noguera (self) transformation is anchored in
the community and in the lives of people he works with.
Using Metaphors to Bring The Message of Hope

In his book, The Little Book of Conflict Transformation,
Lederach uses head, heart, hands, legs and feet - basically the whole
being, in describing the transformation of conflict. Head represents
the conceptual view of conflict, that is, how people think about and
therefore prepare to approach conflict. This implies two things,
namely: the capacity to envision conflict positively, as a natural
phenomenon that creates potential for constructive growth, and
the willingness to respond in ways that maximize this potential for
positive change (pp.14, 15). The Heart highlights human relationships
which represent a web of connections that form the human eco-
system from which particular issues arise and are given life. It
further symbolizes life-giving opportunities that keep relationships
and social structures honest, alive, and dynamically responsive to
human needs, aspirations, and growth (pp.17, 18).
Hands, according to Lederach, bring us close to practice. Hands
are that part of the body capable of building things, able to touch, feel
and affect the shape that things take (p.18). Legs and Feet represent
the place where we touch the ground, where all our journeys hit the
road. Like the hand, they are a point of action where thought and
heartbeat translate into response, direction, and momentum. What this
implies is that transformation demands that we be responsive to real-
life challenges, needs, and realities (p.20). Transformation per se goes
beyond the cognitive aspect in addressing conflict. It involves our entire
selves as represented in Lederachs metaphors using body parts.
To bring home their message, peacebuilders used metaphors
as a mechanism in describing and articulating what transformation
means for them, both self and social transformation, within the
context of peacebuilding. By using metaphors, peacebuilders were
able to express ideas (Ortony, 1993) and comprehend partially what
could not be comprehended totally such as their feelings, aesthetic
experiences, moral practices, and spiritual awareness (Lakoff and
Johnson, 1980) within the context of self and social transformation.
Peacebuilders demonstrated their own unique ways of conceptualizing
and articulating their experiences of transformation brought about
by their consciousness of self and of socio-cultural and historical
contexts. In other words, they had a way of putting meaning into what
they experienced and observed around them. Meaning, from this
context, refers to what is meaningful and significant to peacebuilders
which, according to Lakoff and Johnson (1980), can be matters of
intuition, imagination, feeling, and individual (as well as collective)
experience (p.224).
Metaphors Peacebuilders Used (Fuertes 2010, pp.9, 10)

1. A Lighted Candle
Imagine yourself in a dark room with no single light available.
Most likely you will see nothing around you except total darkness.
There is no clear vision nor is there a sense of direction. Now imagine
someone bringing in a lighted candle, you will begin to notice your
surroundings. You will see people around you. In this situation, a
single lighted candle is all it takes to make a difference.
11
The focus of the metaphor is the lighted candle. As the candle gives
off light, it slowly burns itself as well, which is part of the whole process
of giving off light so others may benefit from it. It is only by allowing
itself to melt down can a candle become useful. In transformation,
peacebuilders had to let go of the old self in order to facilitate the
coming in of the new. The transformative process demands a face to face
encounter with personal biases, prejudices, indifference, and sometimes
apathy in relation to local communities that need direct assistance and
support. The process of letting go can be difficult and challenging for
some, however their newfound passions and commitment in bringing
about social change overcome difficulties and challenges.
2. A Lighter
Like a lighter that needs fuel and has to be turned on so flame
will come out, self-transformation requires events or personal
experiences that would serve as turning points or catalysts in
bringing about a higher level of change, whether the person is aware
of the process or not. Peacebuilders identified witnessing first-
hand the destruction brought about by wars and armed conflicts
in terms of displacement, death, loss of personal belongings and
means of livelihood, including safety and security. However, being
a part of post-conflict reconstruction initiatives such as education,
capacity-building, rehabilitation, trauma healing, relief assistance,
and humanitarian services, has facilitated inner shifts in peoples
consciousness which led to self-transformation.
3. A Growing Seed
The growing of seeds is called germination. Seeds require soil,
sunlight and water to germinate and then literally grow on their own.
Initially there is a radical that grows into the soil to find nutrition
and then there are roots which grow out of this radical. A stem or
plumule grows out of the soil upwards and becomes the stalk of the
plant. Leaves grow from this stalk and then the plant takes shape
(www.flowersplants.net).
The implication of the metaphor suggests that when a person
acquires self and social consciousness, complemented by peace
education, trainings, and seminars, transformation is inevitable.
Consciousness and Transformation
Consciousness and transformation go hand in hand whether or
not the person is able to articulate the process involved. Accordingly,
consciousness brings constructive change in ones thinking,
disposition, behavior or action. As peacebuilders immersed
themselves in community-based peace initiatives, listening daily
to the stories and experiences of local residents, and helping them
find ways in their attempt to address socio-economic and political
problems, their commitment to peacebuilding is deepened and
enhanced. This is high level consciousness. Leguro, for example,
thought of herself as an open-minded person towards the tri people
(Muslim, Christian, indigenous communities) of Mindanao. She read
and attended human rights, justice trainings and seminars. It was
not until she lived with actual Muslims, Christians, and indigenous
people in rural areas in Mindanao that she realized she held
prejudices towards these groups of people. The realization brought
her to a deeper or higher level of self awareness and understanding
about her own environment and upbringing. This made her think
of transformation as an ongoing process. These turning points
described by Leguro are not just occasions for dramatic self-
organization as Bankston, et al. (1981) point out; they hold much
greater potential. They have special meanings to those with certain
visions and aspirations. They are represented by a combination of
the strong desire to take some action to resolve social problems with
what is described as a new opportunity for doing so (p.288).
In Leguros case (Fuertes 2010), the process of transformation
was brought about by a conscious decision to change for the
better. Second, conscious of the things that needed change within
herself, Leguro, in collaboration with other peacebuilders, began
to intentionally create an environment that would further facilitate
and promote self-transformation. This transformative environment
took the forms of personal and community rituals, prayers, sharing
of visions and aspirations toward peace in company with fellow
peacebuilders and community development workers, including faith-
based organizations in the area. Third, the process of transformation
required mindfulness by acknowledging the presence of each person
and honoring the space that they were able to create (p.10).
13
Transformation (and consciousness) as Stein explains, leads
people to become more deeply and completely who they are and
have always potentially been. Transformation (and consciousness)
is realization, revelation, and emergence, not necessarily self-
improvement. The transforming person is someone who realizes the
inherent self to the maximum extent possible and in turn influences
others to do the same. (p.xxiv)
Conclusion
Let me conclude this article with personal statements about the
dynamic interplay between consciousness and transformation from
the perspectives of the peacebuilders:
- For someone who attempts to bring a positive change in a
society plagued by armed conflict and extreme poverty, he/she must
be mindful of the power or influence his/her presence brings. As a
peacebuilder, I must be aware of the content, the methodology, and
the processes involved in the implementation of my program in light
of the community dynamics. - Anonymous
- The connection between consciousness and transformation
lies in terms of being mindful that what you are doing liberates
people from self-defeating dispositions toward individual and
societal transformation. - Amy Ramiro
- My personal transformation is very much influenced by my
sense of consciousness in terms of my commitment to peacebuilding,
my values, and priorities in life. - Orson Sargado
- Consciousness plays a significant role in transformation.
Through transformation, you gain a better grasp of who you are and
what you can give to others as a person. - Tommy Pangcoga
While consciousness as explained by peacebuilders facilitates
(self) transformation, living out this transformed self, in the process,
also results in a much deeper level of consciousness. Hence, the two
become an ongoing process, each reinforcing and enhancing the
other towards effective practice.
REFERENCES
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Carpenter, Janet S., Dorothy Y. Brockopp, and Michael A. Andrykow-
ski. (1999). Self-transformation as a factor in the self-esteem
and well-being of breast cancer survivors. Journal of Advanced
Nursing, Vol. 29(6), 1402-1411.
Dugan, Maire A. (1996). A Nested Theory of Conflict. In A Leadership
Journal: Women in Leadership-Sharing the Vision 1 (July): 9-20.
Fuertes, Al. (2010). Peacebuilders in Southeast Asia Describe the Dy-
namic Interplay Between Consciousness and Transformation
Towards Effective Practice. Alternative Perspectives in the Hu-
manities and the Social Sciences. Ed. Otto F. von Feigenblatt.
Journal of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences, Inc.,
pp. 1-12.
Global IDP Database. 2005. Profile of Internal Displacement: Philip-
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sets/library/Asia/Philippines/pdf/Philippines+-February+2005.
pdf
How do seeds grow? Retrieved from http://www.flowersplants.net/
Seeds/How-do-seeds-grow90_AR.aspx
Lakoff, George, Mark Johnson. (1980). Metaphors We Live By. Chicago,
Illinois: The University of Chicago Press.
Lederach, John Paul. (2003). The Little Book of Conflict Transformation.
Intercourse, PA: Good Books.
Mancini, Jay, Karen Roberto. (2009). Pathways of Human Development:
Explorations of Change. Lanham: Lexington Books.
Mead, George H. (1964). On Social Pychology. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press.
Ortony, Andrew. (1993). Metaphor and Thought, 2nd ed. Ed. Andrew Or-
tony. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Quitoriano, Eddie L., Theofeliz Marie P. Francisco. (2004). Surviving in
Chronic Conflict
Environments, The Experience of IDPs in Central Mindanao, with the
Save the Children, UK, May.
15
Rychler, Luc. (2001). From Conflict to Sustainable Peacebuilding: Con-
cepts and Analytical Tools. In Peacebuilding: A Field Guide.
Reychler, Luc, Thania Paffenholz, eds. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne
Rienner Publishers, Inc.
Schmidt, Richard W. (1990). The Role of Consciousness in Second
Language Learning. Applied Linguistics.Vol. 11(2), pp.129-158.
Stein, Murray. (1998). Transformation: Emergence of the Self. College
Station : Texas A&M University Press.
Tisdell, Elizabeth. (2003). Exploring Spirituality and Culture in Adult
and Higher Education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Transformation Retrieved from dictionary.sensagent.com/transforma-
tion/en-en/
Rido and Pangayaw: Evaluating the Non-killing
Paradigm in Mindanao Revenge Killings
Sheila G. Tampos
Abstract
The non-killing paradigm, which gained momentum in 2002, is
a proposed strategy for social change that envisions a society free
from killing or threats of being killed. It claims that while conflict is
inevitable, killing is not. This paper aimed to examine this discourse
further by discussing four arguments from the framework in light of
the rido and pangayaw revenge killings among indigenous groups in
Mindanao through ethnographic and archival data. Common points
of emphasis between the paradigm and a notion shared among the
concerned indigenous groups include the notion of an inherent
inhibition or lack of an innate tendency to kill and the need to
support traditional resolution mechanisms that promote nonviolent
fight responses. However, there is a crucial incongruence: while the
non-killing paradigm considers killing as a problem to be solved, an
examination of revenge killings in Mindanao requires attention to the
socio-political and economic conditions that motivate marginalized
groups to resort to revenge killing. The more important question
then is not how to stop killing but how to address the conditions that
made conducive such actions. The non-killing paradigm will not
provide a productive framework in Mindanao unless it recognizes
that these killings will remain as a self-help tool in marginalized and
indigenous communities until repressive conditions are addressed.
KEYWORDS: Mindanao, peace, revenge killing, non-killing, rido,

pangayaw
17
Introduction
One challenging aspect in the academic analysis of violence is the lack of
a consensus as to what constitutes a violent act. In anthropological literature
alone, violence has been viewed from varying perspectives. In the 1980s,
David Riches (1986) focuses on its physicality and characterized a violent
act as a physical hurt deemed legitimate by the performer and illegitimate
by (some) witnesses (p. 8). On the other hand, Arthur Kleinman (2000)
argues that violence is mundane and that there are violences of everyday
life taking numerous forms and dynamics which affect people across
different socio-economic orders (p.239). For him, violence is multiple and
mundane since it exists where there is power that shapes representations,
subjectivities, and experiences. Another discourse on violence, meanwhile,
focuses on how structural social, economic, and political changes
underwrite violent acts among marginalized groups. This structural
violence manifests in self-destructive behavior and community degradation
which are forms of resistance that emerge in opposition to social, economic,
and political marginalization (e.g., Bourgois, 1995; Scheper-Hughes, 1993).
While violence as a category continues to defy any general
characterization, the non-killing paradigm made famous by Glenn
Paige (2002) suggests a focus on something measurable: the number
of killings. For this framework, a non-killing society is characterized
by no killing of humans and no threats to kill; no weapons designed
to kill humans and no justification for using them; and no conditions
of society dependent upon threat or use of killing for maintenance or
change. (Paige,2002, p.1). It claims that a non-killing society could
be realized given the existence of hunter-gatherer groups which are
classified as non-killing societies since they do not engage in wars and
killings (see Kelly, 2000). Hence, according to this paradigm, initiatives
to transform a society for the better should gear towards the complete
eradication of killings. In the Philippines, a campaign for a non-killing
Filipino society has been put forth that calls for institutional innovations
in implementing this paradigm such as in the form of nonviolent
education-training institutions, non-killing leadership training corps,
non-killing civil society institutions, among others (Abueva, 2004).
The optimism of the paradigm does deserve credit. Who would
not want to develop a society where media men are not killed for having
expressed their opinions or where women and children are not killed
in a military crossfire? However, the framework has to be evaluated
through further examination. It is in this light that I will evaluate the
primary propositions of the non-killing paradigm. This paper will
discuss revenge killings in Mindanao, specifically rido and pangayaw.
The discussions on pangayaw are based on the data I gathered through
ethnographic fieldwork among the Agusan Manobo in a span of three
years, while the discussions on rido among the Maranao are based on
secondary ethnographic sources. Four arguments on the non-killing
paradigm will be examined: 1. a non-killing society is possible due to
an innate inhibition to kill among humans; 2. the fact that most humans
have not killed or do not kill; 3. the need for nonviolent fight responses;
and 4. the need to address killings which are the key problem.
In the Philippines, clan feuding is considered the most common
source of violence in the country (SWS 2005). In the Autonomous
Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) where it is most rampant, the
phenomenon is commonly referred to as rido, a Maranao term for
revenge killing, for it often involves fatal retaliatory attacks between
warring groups. Since the 1980s, there has been a steady rise of
revenge killings in Mindanao (Lingga, 2007, p. 56). Among the
Manobo, pangayaw is used to refer to revenge killing as well as other
forms of killing such as slave raid, prestige killing, and armed revolt.
For the purpose of this discussion, focus will be on pangayaw in the
form of revenge killing. In the succeeding sections, rido (as practiced
by the Maranao) will be analyzed and pangayaw (as practiced by
the Manobo) will be examined by contextualizing the practices in
their respective socio-political and economic background. These
discussions will be used in evaluating key points offered in the non-
killing paradigm. This activity is relevant in gaining an understanding
on both the non-killing paradigm and the revenge killings in the
indigenous communities of Mindanao.
The Innate Inhibition to Kill

The non-killing paradigm opposes the Hobbesian view on
human beings as an innately brute hunter or warrior. Rather, a
human being is viewed as, by nature, peaceable. In line with this
claim, there have been anthropological arguments that cite the
emergence of war or violent acts due to external, rather than innate,
19
mechanisms (e.g. Ferguson, 1997; Gomes, 2010; Whitehead, 2007).
For instance, Brian Ferguson (1997) argues that socio-political
forces, especially colonial contact, made way to large-scale warfare
as material interests between concerned parties led to intensified
fighting (p. 342). In China, vast archaeological evidence of war starts
in the last part of the Neolithic period, shortly after the rise of states
(Underhill in Ferguson, 1997, p. 332).
This view on the lack of an innate tendency to kill is also shared
among indigenous communities where rido and pangayaw are
practiced. A shared understanding that an offense or a mistake was
committed always precedes these retaliatory attacks (Torres, 2007, p.
16; Tampos, 2016).
If you feel the blade going through another persons skin,

you will cringe. You will feel keag (sympathy). Thats why
you need the tegbusow (a spirit) to possess you, so you
wont feel that [inhibition].
This was a statement from a 60-year old Manobo farmer who

attempted to wage a pangayaw in the form of a retaliatory attack
around the 1980s. He attacked the culprit as a response right after
witnessing the murder of a dear friend whom he considered as his
brother. He stalked the killer and planned on attacking him with a
machete as soon as he would get a chance. But when he did, he could
not strike a fatal blow. He explained that this was due to the absence
of the tegbusow, a blood-thirsty spirit, who did not possess him since
he did not perform the necessary ritual.
This pre-raiding ritual is referred to as pangumpaja (to appease)
or panawag-tawag (to call upon). Once the tegbusow possesses the
body of the attacker, it is believed that he will turn into an invulnerable
killer deprived of the natural inhibition to kill. In order to appease
this class of spirit, blood (either from a brown pig or a red chicken) is
offered and would have to be spread on the ground and smeared on the
sharpened edges of the weapons. The blood may also be used to paint
the attackers face red or to place red marks on his cheeks and forehead.
Tonic wine (usually Mallorca), candle, coins, water, and betel nut may
also be offered to further appease the spirit.
This need to call upon a blood-thirsty spirit in order to get
rid of the inhibition to kill implies a belief that man is not born a
killer. In this regard, the proposition of the non-killing paradigm is
compatible with how indigenous groups whose beliefs resemble the
Manobo view the act of killing.
Most Humans Have Not Killed

The non-killing paradigm also proposes that a non-killing
society is possible since majority of humans have not killed or do
not kill. Jose Abueva (2004) further argues that if this is not the case,
the Philippine population would not have grown so rapidly (p. 32).
While this is statistically true, it does not take into account
the forms of structural violence wherein it is an institution, rather
than a person, that kills or diminishes the chance of survival of
an individual or a group. For instance, in his ethnography among
the socially marginalized people of a ghetto neighborhood, Philippe
Bourgois (1995) shows how the capitalist restructuring of the
economy which led to the erosion of the working class base left
marginalized people to participate in the underground economy.
In turn, this leads to a culture characterized by self-destructive acts
(e.g., substance abuse) and violent dynamics in the community that
curtails the survival rate of its members. These structural conditions
need to be taken into account since, in one way or another, these are
mechanisms that efficiently take away an individuals life.
Hence, the fact that most people do not kill does not have to
be glorified since it reflects a disparity between the minority and
the majority; that is, structural problems such as exacerbating
economic poverty are more rampant in other communities than
others. In Mindanao, poverty and the weak rule of law among
marginalized and indigenous groups have been linked to the
employment of revenge killings. In major discussions with
different Moro groups, equal access to economic opportunities
was often pointed out as a challenge in areas with the most
number of rido cases (Doro, 2007; Durante et al., 2007; Husin,
2010; Tan, 2007). Very low employment rate and unproductive
economic conditions can lead to despair that can cause violence
(Durante et al., 2007, p. 121).
21
In the narratives about contemporary revenge killings in Agusan
Manobo areas, poverty is commonly linked with revenge killings as
a theme that would make sense why pain is expressed in specific
ways such as pangayaw. As a 55-year old Manobo farmer pointed
out, Good livelihood is what can stop the pangayaw killings If
people can feed their children well, they will feel bad about the idea
of killing or being killed. A pangayaw case in 2012 similarly gained
narratives linking the act with the economic conditions in the area.
This was in terms of the lack of preoccupation in deprived areas
where people lack the motivation to not kill when enraged. This
same idea is reflected in the following statements of another farmer
who once waged a revenge killing:
If youre poor, you only have very little to live for. If anyone
messed up with the very few things you have left, thats it. If
they [the government] can provide us with good livelihood,
thats when these killings will stop. You wont bother yourself
preparing to attack someone if you have a kid in college or
a productive farm, would you? You will think twice before
you do something, otherwise it will affect your kid who is
in college or your successful farm. But, what do we have
here? None of our kids go to school. They marry at such an
early age and become maids in the city. The typhoons always
damaged our farms. We have nothing.
Perhaps not coincidentally, indigenous areas with high number

of revenge killing cases are among the most economically deprived
regions in the country. The ARMM is named as the poorest region
in the country (PBSP in Durante et al., 2007, p. 103). Meanwhile,
between 1985-2000, the entire Northern Mindanao region in which
Agusan del Sur is a part was also consistently identified as one of the
poorest regions in the Philippines (Reyes & Valencia, 2004, p. 2). So,
again, it is not a productive argument to point out that most people
have not killed since it ultimately reflects disequilibrium between
societies whose economic conditions either promote or avert killings.
Nonviolent Fight Response
The existence of societies that are weapon-free or whose
weapons are nonlethal is another main argument of the non-killing
paradigm that is employed to support the possibility of a non-killing
society (Paige, 2002, pp. 109-113). Archaeological records of lethal
weapons show that increased warfare only occurred late in human
prehistory (Ferguson, 2002; Grossman, 2008; Kelly, 2000). Nonviolent
responses such as the movements led by Mahatma Ghandi and
Martin Luther King, Jr. and the EDSA people power revolution may
instead be used to address a perceived disequilibrium. It is in this
light that the paradigm proposes that there should be a widespread
use of nonviolent fight responses (Lopez-Reyes, 2013).
There is no question at all as to whether a weapon-free Mindanao
characterized by nonviolent fight responses is ideal. The question,
however, why is Mindanao heavily armed? In the context of revenge
killings, this writer finds the notions of self-help and flexible
justice helpful. In studying the security issues in an indigenous
community in Bolivia, Daniel Goldstein (2005) explains that the
practice of lynching in Bolivia is a self-help response to crimes in
areas where the state no longer assumes its functions. This self-help
mechanism operates when socio-economic and security aid from
the state is absent or lacking, thereby people are left to implement
flexible justice by taking individual responsibility in addressing
crimes that concern their safety and socio-economic welfare.
In the context of the ARMM where clan feuding is rampant, rido
also appears to be a self-help means in responding to land disputes where
the state fails to provide mechanisms for effective resolution (Kamilian,
2005, p. 3). In Lanao del Sur, home to many Maranao, crimes such as
murder, homicide, and rape often remain unresolved (Matuan, 2007, p.
94). As Lara & Champain (2009) point out, the ARMM government does
not have effective command over the provision of security and internal
security reforms, hence it is not unsurprising that it could not play any
relevant role in resolving rido and other community-level conflicts (p.
11). On the other hand, in the province of Maguindanao, the presence of
competing authorities such as the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
and the state contributes to, rather than alleviates, the intensification of
conflicts that relate to retaliatory killings (Lingga, 2007, p. 68).
23
Traditional resolution processes have become the primary
venue in preventing and resolving rido and pangayaw in
indigenous communities in Mindanao. Among the Maranao,
igma and taritib which are founded on folk-Islam, all of rido
cases were efficiently settled in the past decade (Matuan, 2007,
p.79). In order to promote nonviolent fight responses, the role
of traditional leaders who are the important figures in the
traditional resolution processes needs to be further developed.
This is challenging since the transition from the traditional to
legal authority system in Maranao communities relegated the
traditional leaders to supportive roles to dominant state politicians
who have the monetary resources (Matuan, 2007, p. 94).
Like in Maranao communities, Manobo communities
experience difficulty in preventing or resolving pangayaw cases
especially when the concerned parties do not recognize a similar set
of leaders. A traditional leader or datu serves as steadfast dispute
mediators, but the prevalence of state-appointed tribal chieftains in
Lumad areas today make it problematic. For a number of Agusan
Manobo today, the inexperienced and young datu which the National
Commission on the Indigenous People (NCIP) declared as chieftains
on the basis of genealogy will not earn respect from their respective
members especially in the context of dispute resolution processes.
Made worse by the lack of access to basic legal services in indigenous
areas, retaliatory attacks are considered to inevitably remain as the
most effective retributive means to address grave offenses.
It is indeed an important concern then to identify mechanisms in
concerned communities that promote peaceful means in addressing
grave offenses. With this emphasis, the need to support traditional
resolution mechanisms is highlighted. The need for nonviolent fight
responses, therefore, is not simply a matter of disarming groups
but to develop the processes that attenuate the need to use arms in
resolving disputes such as the traditional resolution systems.
Killing as the Problem

Another proposition of the non-killing paradigm has to do with
the notion that killing is the key problem. As Paige (2002) points
out, the time has come to set forth human killing as a problem to
be solved rather than to accept enslavement by it as a condition to
be endured forever (p. 145). The question then focused on how
a society can eliminate killing and in understanding how other
societies become peaceful (e.g., Gardner, 2002; Sponsel, 2002).
In Mindanao, revenge killings are considered a problem due to
its consequences. Families have to evacuate to safer areas to avoid
the crossfire during encounters. Encounters could also damage
agricultural farms and livestock. Aside from displacement and
economic rehabilitation for affected families, literacy rate is also
hampered since schools would often be used as evacuation centers
and only a very few teachers would accept an appointment in
conflict-prone areas.
However, rido and pangayaw in the context of self-help and
flexible justice in indigenous communities amid the lack of stable
dispute resolution mechanisms serve as the last resort of marginalized
groups to address offenses and deter future transgressions. Instead of
focusing on killing as the ultimate problem, it is more important to
highlight the need to understand the conditions that make revenge
killings the last resort among marginalized communities. With
these conditions, such as exacerbating poverty and weak leadership
schemes, rido and pangayaw have become the last resort, not
necessarily the primary option, to express pain and rage. Among
different indigenous groups today (e.g., Manobo and Blaan),
pangayaw may even serve as a response to advocate socio-political
and socio-economic changes against impinging forces such as
encroaching mining corporations and logging concessionaires (see
Aksasato, 2011; Gaspar, 2011).
Hence, it is necessary to shift the attention from the notion
of killing as a problem to the necessity of understanding the large-
scale conditions that are promotive of killings in marginalized and
indigenous communities. To address these issues will, in turn,
address the need among indigenous communities to resort to killing.
Aside from economic poverty which has been pointed out in
the previous section, another problematic condition that requires
attention is the shift from the established and well-respected
traditional leadership systems to the paradoxical loss of leadership
amidst the multiplicity of leaders today. In many indigenous
25
communities in Mindanao, competing figures of authority include
the state, either the MILF or the communist New Peoples Army
(NPA), the traditional resolution processes among Moro groups,
and the traditional resolution processes among Lumad groups. The
existence of these multiple resolution bodies and the respective
preferences of the people have to be considered in strengthening the
justice system in concerned communities.
Today, indigenous groups such as the Agusan Manobo are
well aware that their struggle especially in terms of land ownership
and economic poverty requires them to engage in non-physical
transactions such as education. However, physical forms of resolution
such as armed revolt (e.g., against mining groups that trespass their
autonomy and ancestral domains) and revenge killings will remain
as a feasible option until their problematic socio-political and socio-
economic conditions are addressed. Ample attention, then, should
be directed to these problematic conditions that make conducive the
killings.
Conclusion
While there are propositions of the non-killing paradigm that
appears to be compatible with the underlying views in Mindanao
communities wherein rido and pangayaw revenge killings are
practiced, there are also crucial disparities. With regard to the
notion that humans do not have an inherent tendency to kill, there
are indigenous groups such as the Manobo whose beliefs seem to
adhere to the same principle that non-killing is the natural state of
relations among humans: no one is born a killer. A retaliatory attack,
be it a rido or a pangayaw, would only be waged if a grave offense is
committed. There is even a need for a ritual to call upon malevolent
spirits (tegbusow) to possess an attacker in order to attenuate the
inhibition to kill. The call for nonviolent fight responses that the
non-killing paradigm promotes is also compatible with the need to
highlight the role of traditional resolution mechanisms in indigenous
communities which will prevent or resolve revenge killings.
However, the general emphasis on killing as the main problem
in the non-killing framework does not appropriately capture the
need for rido and pangayaw to be viewed through the lens of wider
socio-economic and socio-political conditions. In the context of
Mindanao revenge killings, the more important question is not how
to stop killing but how to address the conditions that make such
killings the most feasible option for indigenous and marginalized
groups. Framing the issue in this manner would take into account
the status of rido and pangayaw as self-help tools until repressive
conditions are addressed. A productive framework for a more
agreeable Mindanao has to fixate on the wider large-scale conditions
rather than the mere number of killings or lack thereof.
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29
Peace is not Elusive: Mahatama Gandhis
Satyagraha
Peter Paul E. Elicor
Abstract
In this paper, I argue that Mahatma Gandhis Satyagraha, does not
simply mean protests, civil disobedience, hunger strikes and other
modes of resistance that seek to overcome injustices, violence and
oppression. On the contrary, as a concept and method, it is very far
from being a movement whose only goal is to overthrow a corrupt
regime. Rather, it is a movement geared at achieving peace and unity
and restoring social harmony. This article aims to elucidate this key
concept, which is one of the central themes in Gandhis teachings, and
underscores its intrinsic democratic principles. I further elaborate
this line of thought by applying it in the Mindanao context where
peace sometimes remains elusive especially against the backdrop of
political dynasties.
Keywords: Gandhi, Satyagraha, Democracy, Peace, Political

Dynasties
Conflict is a fact. It is a direct and inevitable consequence of
mans differences in relation to others. Burton (1988) describes it as a
type of relationship in which each party perceives the others goals,
values, interests, or behavior as antithetical to its own. It may occur
in the different levels of the society since each individual, despite the
intrinsic desire for social harmony and cohesion, would inevitably
find ones ideas, interests, religion and worldview clash, collide and
counterpoise with others. Conflict embraces, first, the relationships
between parties to a dispute, their perceptions and misperceptions,
their shared and separate values, and their goals and motivations;
and second, the political, social, economic, and institutional
environment in which the dispute takes place (Burton, 1988).
Prasad (1957) notes that all conflicts that take place between
individuals and groups may have been due to the fact that the wants of
one group come in conflict with those of others. In any case, however, a
real problem arising from conflict starts when one party begins to insist
on its authority, consequently demanding the submission of the other.
This becomes worse when the former begins to step on the latters rights,
entitlements and ultimately, dignity. Lederach (1997) observes that one
of the complexities found in many conflict settings is the multiplicity
of groups and collectivities vying for recognition and power, often in
the form of armed movements. Oftentimes, social conflicts, especially
when wealth is at stake, become a survival of the fittest scenario a
power struggle. The powerful party, particularly in terms of having
authority and arms, wins, while the weak loses. Furthermore, where
there is a deep, long-term fear and direct experiences of violence that
sustain an image of the enemy, people are extremely vulnerable and
easily manipulated (Lederach, 1997).
Mohandas K. Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, an
eminent figure in India, grew up in an environment where social
stratification was common and escalating. His country had been
under the claws of the British Empire, and due to this, oppression
was rampant. Gandhi revived and transformed traditional methods
of solving conflicts that embrace nonviolence. He showed the world
that peace, justice and political independence can be attained
through these techniques. And through his various experiments of
his ideas, he came up with the technique he called Satyagraha.
31
Satyagraha and its Fundamental Principles
The Gandhian Political Thought centers upon the necessity
of reconciling ends and means through Satyagraha, a philosophy of
action (Grover, 1968). Just like any other philosophical treatise, it has
basic foundations upon which it is intimately rooted. These are Satya,
Ahimsa, and Tapasya which translate as Truth, Nonviolence, and Self-
suffering, respectively. These three fundamental principles are so vital
that failure to grasp them results to confusing the entire Satyagraha with
those ordinary modes of rebellion like strikes, demonstrations, boycott
and fasting. In other words, what makes Satyagraha a unique concept
and method is its adherence to these fundamental principles which are
not always present in other traditional forms of subversion.
Satya or Truth. Gandhis concept of truth plays an essential
part in his entire philosophy and, in fact, his entire life. His book, An
Autobiography or The Story of My Experiments with Truth, underscores
his love for Truth. It is this concept that Ahimsa, Satyagraha, Swaraj
and his other key ideas were derived. This notion, however, did not
remain merely as an insight stored in his mind. Rather, it became
the motivating factor which propelled him to put his ideas into
concrete actions. Gandhi never claimed to have fully comprehended
the Truth, nor did he pretend to have grasped it with his own hands.
Rather, what he was fully conscious of was that he was always in
search for it. And while searching for it, his basic presumption was
that, the Absolute Truth is unattainable in this life (Gandhi, 1927).
What men can possibly know are the countless manifestations of
this Truth, which may at times vary from one another. This Absolute
Truth is:
The Eternal Principle, which is God. There are innumerable

definitions of God because His manifestations are
innumerable But as long as I have not realized this
Absolute Truth, so long must I hold by the relative truth as
I have conceived it. That relative truth must, meanwhile,
be my beacon, my shield and buckler (Gandhi, 1967).
Careful understanding, however, must be done in interpreting

Gandhis idea of relative truth. It must be noted that Gandhi neither
implied ethical relativism nor subjectivism. He did not imply that
men must act according to whatever they believe as true. Even
though Gandhi holds on to relative truth due to the unintelligibility
of the Absolute Truth, this relative truth must nevertheless follow
a certain criterion. And such is the criterion of love denoted by the
principle of Ahimsa. Gandhis God has neither a name nor religion.
He conceived God as life, for life exists in the midst of death. He
also considered God as Light, for in the midst of darkness, light
persists. And above all, he believed God as Truth, for in the midst
of untruth, truth exists. For Gandhi, these are the characteristics of
God which only suggest that He is purely good, and such goodness
never changes, ceases and ends. Moreover, he conceived God as the
Absolute Truth Himself which is unchangeable and whose power is
incomprehensible. Accordingly, Truth is not just a mere attribute of
God, but He Himself is. Thats why Gandhi believed that Truth and
God are convertible terms. In fact, he deemed it more appropriate to
say that Truth is God, rather than God is Truth.
Meanwhile, Gandhi adopted the term Satya which, in Jain
tradition, means Truth. Satya is derived from the Sanskrit word
Sat that signifies being. And since being is that which exists and
is real, Satya or Truth therefore is that which exists and is real. By
understanding Truth as God, which is a principle of Satyagraha,
Gandhi breaks off the wall which divides religions. With his
changed creed, he could easily accommodate as fellow-seekers those
who looked on humanity or any other object as their god, and for
which they were prepared to sacrifice their all (Bondurant, 1958).
Hence, Satyagraha may be imbibed by anybody irrespective of his/
her religion or belief systems. Furthermore, Gandhi acknowledged
an inner voice which he called the still-small-voice-within, that
tells a person the right thing to do when confronted with doubts and
confusions. Such inner voice, for him, is tantamount to the voice of
conscience, or the voice of God.
For Gandhi, realization of the Truth cannot be possessed by
anyone who is filled with pride, anger and hatred, nor can such a
man hear the inner voice within him. Gandhi emphasized the
virtue of humility as the only way to Truth, side-by-side with Ahimsa.
The search is obviously not only an intellectual endeavor but most
33
importantly it must pervade ones daily conduct. Only those who
have an abundant sense of humility can obtain a glimpse of the
Truth. The basic presumption of Gandhi is that the Absolute truth
cannot be fully known except through its countless manifestations.
It takes humility not to reject any person or religion which claims to
have known the Truth, nor to devote and narrow down his beliefs
in a single religion. Gandhi even went further in saying that due
to mans incapacity to know the Absolute Truth, he has, therefore,
no authority to punish other men. No one has the right to coerce
others to act according to his own views of truth (Gandhi, 1967).
Accordingly, humility leads to mutual toleration which should have
become the golden conduct. Gandhi accepted the fact that what is
true for one may not be true for another. However, Gandhi assured
that the different and sometimes conflicting notions of Truth must
not worry its seeker, for the varied interpretations of Truth are like
countless leaves of the same tree.
Ahimsa or Nonviolence. Etymologically, Ahimsa is a negatively
stated word, which literally means not to do harm. Himsa, without the
negative prefix a, traces its roots from the word han that means to kill
or to inflict harm. In a deeper sense, himsa connotes to wish to kill.
Thus, Ahimsa is not just a word denoting the act of refusing to do harm,
but in a deeper level, it also means not to wish to kill or inflict harm. In
the same vein, Gandhi believed that Ahimsa is not only the refusal to do
harm on the level of the physical, but also on the level of the mind. This
means to say that Ahimsa prohibits the harboring of ill-will against ones
oppressor and the wishing to take revenge on them.
Moreover, in practicing Ahimsa, as Gandhi taught, one is not
in the negative state of inoffensiveness. In other words, one is neither
passive nor indifferent when renouncing violence. On the contrary, he/
she is in the positive state of doing good and of showing love to his/her
enemy. Thus, Ahimsa is an active force of the highest order (Gandhi,
1967). Cowardice is the running away from a perceived fear or refusing
to do harm for fear of being harmed in return. Ahimsa, conversely, is not
an act of turning away from danger but a brave act of confronting the
danger with the pure intention of standing for the sake of Truth.
Ahimsa, therefore, implies that, due to the love for Truth, one
must speak and act according to it, no matter what it will cost him.
The adherent of Satya and the lover of Ahimsa must not be swayed
from his conviction by any threat of harm that may arise due to his
steadfast reliance on Truth and Nonviolence. In fact, between violence
and cowardly fight, Gandhi preferred violence than cowardice. As
Gandhi himself declared,
We do not call a mouse a coward because he is made by

nature no better than he is But a man who, when faced
by danger, behaves like a mouse, is rightly called a coward.
He harbors violence and hatred in his heart and would kill
his enemy if he could, without being hurt himself. He is a
stranger to nonviolence (Gandhi, 1967).
Gandhi believed that fearlessness is not a quality of the body but

of the soul. A physically well-built person is not always fearless and a
physically weak one is not always cowardly. Fearlessness is an interior
quality which implies freedom from any attachment to mundane
desires and external fears. Human passions and the attachment to
earthly wealth are one of the reasons behind why people fear of not
satisfying their desires, illnesses, death, and losing their properties
and fame. In fact, fear of insecurity is what, oftentimes, drives people
to impose violence to others. Hence, nonviolence entails the absence
of any form of fear that only affects the body.
Tapasya or Self-suffering. The word Tapasya has a close affinity
with the word tapas which connotes asceticism. In Satyagraha, it
means a lot more than that it denotes self-suffering. Deliberate
suffering in ones own self has a profound objective. It is not meant just
to arouse pity on the side of the oppressor, but it is intended towards
the moral persuasion of the one to whom the act of self-suffering is
directed (Bondurant, 1958). In other words, self-suffering is meant
to blatantly remind the oppressor about his acts which undermine
the peoples fundamental rights and dignity. Thus, by fighting evil
non-violently, self-suffering goodwill should wean the perpetrators
of evil to do better ways (Starosta & Chaudhary, 1993).
Careful understanding must be made, however, when
speaking of self-suffering. It must be made clear that self-suffering
is not the least and the last option because all other means of
35
redress are exhausted. On the contrary, it is the most difficult and
the most offensive attack in Satyagraha. However, if this kind of
force is used in a cause that is unjust, the person using it suffers
(Fischer, 1962). An example of such is fasting or hunger-strike.
Self-suffering, just like Ahimsa, leaves no room for cowardice.
A true Satyagrahi, when faced with an imminent danger due to
his faithful adherence to Truth and Nonviolence, is supposed to
courageously confront the danger without any intention to use
violence. This is to say that, even when the Satyagrahi has all the
might to retaliate using the force of violence, he willfully suspends
it and faces the oppressor using the force of nonviolence. Hence,
self-suffering is not a weapon of the weak (Bondurant, 1958).
This willful act of putting ones self in a state of affliction is beyond
the normal tendencies of human beings. In the brink of danger,
when ones life and dignity is threatened, a person normally fights
back or flees away. Yet, Gandhi strived to transcend from what is
normal. He believed that it is not easy to cultivate such an attitude,
that is, to withstand danger for the sake of Truth and Nonviolence.
Thats why Satyagraha is the new name for the law of suffering
(Starosta & Chaudhary, 1993). At the outset, Satyagraha requires
its adherents to be purified from the normal tendency of man to
succumb to violence. A Satyagrahi, through self-suffering, must
willfully eradicate his inclinations to act violently towards the
persons whom Satyagraha is offered. Just as one must learn the
act of killing in the training of violence, so one must learn the act
of dying in the training for nonviolence (Bondurant, 1958).
The Reality of Political Dynasties

Democracy, whose leaders are chosen by the majority of the
constituents, is one of the best forms of government. This guarantees
that the helm of the state is not controlled by an individual who has
assumed leadership by means of coercion. Democracy allows for a
delegation of political functionaries whose purpose is to bestow to
the right people the authority to do the states household chores.
The tasks of executing, legislating and adjudicating are conferred
upon individuals who think they possess the capacity to fulfill the
positions in the business of public service.
While good governance is one thing, the exercise of choosing
who will govern is another thing. The latter is always beyond the
extent of the quality of the governing body. No matter how mature
a government is with regard to political matters, the quality of the
peoples political involvement (say, during elections) always remains
an unpredictable variable in the entire equation. There are two
political factors that must be taken into consideration if we were
to determine why elections done through majority vote do not
necessarily translate into a well-governed state. One is the political
consciousness of the people and second, the perennial problem of
political dynasties.
It is not difficult to infer that even if elections were free from
fraud, the choice of the majority in terms of who governs or legislates
best is always a contentious point. The political awareness and critical
aptitude (or lack thereof) of the general populace is not a given fact.
This is where the usual argument against democracy gravitates.
Good government is a result of a good governing body, and a good
governing body is a result of an intelligent choice by the majority.
Hence, if the people (i.e. the electorate) lack even at least the level of
political consciousness required of an average citizen, chances are,
they would end up blindly supporting traditional politicians, and
hence, traditional policies.
Justice Antonio Carpio defines political dynasties as a
phenomenon that concentrates political power and public
resources within the control of a few families whose members
alternately hold elective offices, deftly skirting term limits.1
What this practically refers to is the rule of oligarchic families,
which are prevalent in many countries including the Philippines,
especially in Mindanao. Such has been a perennial political tactic
of securing a familys economic interests. Access to politics is
much open to those families whose members had held public
positions. Also, families who own businesses with national and
international proportions are likely to get involved in politics with
the apparent intention to serve the public, but most importantly,
1 This is a quotation form the decision passed by the Supreme Court of the
Republic of the Philippines (GR No. 180050) on April 12, 2011 (http://
www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/apr2011/gr_180050_2011.html).
37
with the covert goal to secure the political conditions favorable
to the interests of their economic endeavors. This practice of
patronage politics perpetuates the systemic equation whereby
economic power is oftentimes translated to political power.
In the Mindanao context, the phenomenon of political dynasties
is a symptom of a political problem which traces its root from the
lack of seriousness in implementing enabling laws in accordance to
the highest law of the land: the constitution. What really happens
in the political arena is nothing but a complex political skirmish
where each participant seeks to secure interests, whether of ones
own family or constituents. At a larger scale, this is manifest in the
existence of different political parties in a republican democratic
state. Each political party represents a minority group who seek to
lobby laws in the Congress in accordance to its interests. In a more
inconspicuous manner but equally extensive and problematic as the
system of political parties political dynasties, in effect, seek to build
family empires which operate on the basis of popularity, economic
control and most importantly, name-recall. Murray (2004) notes,
the reason that political progeny are so plentiful is simple: a famous
last name confers instant recognition among voters, and very often
Moms or Dads network of donors, too. Simply by having the
surname that evokes an idea of honor or suitability can potentially
keep competitors at bay.
Satyagraha and its Anti-Political Dynasty and Democratic

Principles
The Constitution of the Philippines states that: The State
shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and
prohibit political dynasties as may be defined by law (Philippine
Constitution, Article 2, Sec. 26). Though it is clear that political
dynasties are prohibited by the constitution, a law has never been
passed to actually stop this phenomenon from continuing. Hence,
there is a need to constantly reform our basic conception of justice
and realign our political processes to the democratic ideals enshrined
in the constitution.
Democracy, from the Greek words demos and kratos which
mean people and rule respectively, literally stands for a government
that is ruled by the people. Democracy may come in a form of direct
democracy, representative democracy or constitutional democracy. The
sovereignty of such political system resides in the people, manifested in
every citizens right to elect representatives to govern the society, as in
the case of representative democracy. Democracy acknowledges liberty
and freedom as inviolable endowments in each and every person. It
upholds the principle that each citizen is free and that he/she possesses
inalienable rights, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness. Such rights and freedoms however, are not absolute. No
one, in the name of freedom, can do anything he/she wants that will,
directly or indirectly, cause harm to others and destroy social order. On
the contrary, citizens are expected to act in freedom but regulated by
reason, and not just by ones whims.
In a democratic society, in order to facilitate the people to
express their freedom without undermining the common good,
certain laws are established. Nevertheless, no one is above the law.
Even the persons who serve the highest position in the society are
subjected to the prescriptions of the law. Such laws, in part, define the
boundaries of the freedom of each citizen in order to maintain social
order. The Constitution articulates the various rights, privileges and
freedoms of the people, and at the same time, gives corresponding
duties and obligation that must be faithfully followed. The freedoms
assured in a Constitution include the freedom of speech, assembly,
religion and freedom from fear and want. Accordingly, citizens must
always be watchful of these rights and freedoms they are supposed to
enjoy for these are susceptible to violations and abuses.
Another fundamental truth upheld by democracy is the principle
that all persons are created equal. Such, of course, does not mean that all
persons are equal in all aspects in life, for always, there are undeniable
differences in each person. Equality entails that every citizen must be
given equal opportunities to realize ones potentials and achieve ones
goals in life. Consequently, there must be equal access to opportunities
rendered to every citizen regardless of his/her status in life, beliefs
and religion. More than that, the government has the duty to equally
redistribute the countrys wealth so that the basic needs of the citizens,
e.g. education, medical care, safety and protection are attended to. Going
further, democracy upholds social justice. It preserves and maintains an
39
orderly and just society. Certain traditions and cultures, therefore, ought
to be protected, so long as these do not encroach on the freedom and
the rights of others and do not pose any serious threat to the common
good. Most importantly, justice is always rendered to each citizen. Thus,
laws are promulgated with the purview of safeguarding the people from
injustices and of providing every citizen due process.
Democratic principles are implicitly contained in Satyagraha
in various points. First, the unintelligibility of the Absolute Truth
signifies that one cannot insist on a certain idea to be absolutely true
for it is possible that such idea does not conform to nonviolence.
More so, he/she cannot coerce others to follow his/her views of
truth. In other words, a truth for one may be detrimental to others
for the reason that it is not aligned with the principle of nonviolence.
For always, a genuine truth is salubrious, that is, always geared at
uplifting the conditions of others and preserving the inviolability of
human life without any recourse to violence.
Second, freedom, particularly freedom from fear and want, is
the immunity of the people from any possibility of oppression and
exploitation. Racial discrimination, on the other hand, which was
then prevalent in South Africa, is always a form of oppression. It
implies that there is a certain standard under which the people are
classified. Gandhi, however, believed that no one has the monopoly of
the truth; thus, no one has the authority to create arbitrary standards
that classify people accordingly. Further, racial discrimination does
not only persecute physically but also emotionally and psychologically.
Inasmuch as racial or color prejudice is oppression, it is therefore
an infringement of democracys basic principle on freedom. Thus,
Satyagrahas thrust on purging out racial discrimination or color
prejudice contains the democratic principle of freedom.
Third, Satyagraha does not only aim primarily at overthrowing
a corrupt and unjust regime. Essentially, Satyagraha includes
constructive programs that would replace the despotic government
which oftentimes stem from a public tolerance towards political
dynasties, eliminate oppression and discrimination, uproot
injustice and eventually bring about genuine reconciliation and
transformation in the society. Accordingly, Satyagraha is not an end
in itself, but rather a means towards creating a just society.
Conclusion
The prevalence of Political dynasties, not only in Mindanao
but practically in all democratic states, poses a threat to the
democratic ideals that ensure equality and social justice. Change
processes must not only promote short-term solutions, but also
build platforms capable of promoting long-term social change
(Lederach, 1997). Satyagraha as a means in creating a peaceful,
just and nonviolent society inevitably includes a thrust against
inequality brought about by an indifference towards the reality
of political dynasties. In Mindanao, violence does not only
refer to physical attacks, degradation and public humiliation,
but also to the unequal distribution of resources which directly
creates hunger and poverty. Such reality often stems from the
consequences of political dynasties which inevitably creates a
breed of oligarchs. This is to say that an oligarchic government
that sustains economic inequality essentially promotes violence.
Therefore, equality, particularly economic equality, is one of the
primary keys in achieving the goals of Satyagraha. So long as
there is a wide gap between the wealthy and the destitute, equality
and ultimately a nonviolent society are beyond reach. This means
replacing patterns of violence and coercion with respect, creative
problem-solving, increased dialogue, and nonviolent mechanisms
of social change. To accomplish this, a complex web of change
processes undergirded by a transformational understanding of
life and relationship is needed (Lederach, 1997). Satyagraha is an
assertive action. It is not synonymous with passive resistance
which connotes less direct participation and assertion from the
people. In other words, it encourages the people to stand on what
they believe as reasonable and true granted that their actions
are accompanied with responsibility to the consequences. In
such case, Satyagraha contains democracys essence which is a
government of the people.
41
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hian Satyagraha West and East. International Philosophical
Quarterly. VOL. XXX111, Issue NO. 130. 163-172.
Actions, Reflections and Lessons Learned:
Psychosocial Response and Mental Health
Care Services of XU for Sendong Survivors in
Cagayan de Oro in 2011 to 2012
Mary Rachelle Reyes-Wapao, PhD
Abstract
This paper outlines the psychosocial response and mental health care
services of Xavier University- Ateneo de Cagayan to the survivors of
typhoon Sendong.
The devastation that typhoon Sendong brought to Cagayan de
Oro is a tragic first to Cagayanons. This paper outlines the observed
effects of Sendong on mental health of the surviving community.
The XUs psychosocial response to Sendong is multi-faceted:
this is guided by a two-pronged thrust: namely psychoeducation and
psychosocial processing. This psychosocial response moved through
three stages: 1. capacity building, 2. psychosocial processing in the
field, and 3. community rehabilitation. These efforts are sustained by
structure through team formation, and support, both technical and
operational, received from XU administration, Ateneo de Manila
University-Psychology Department, International Organization
for Migration (IOM) and DSWD Multi-sectoral Relief Response
Operations Center, and Department of Health (DOH).
This paper also brings to the fore the advocacy of the
Psychology Department of Xavier University to increase awareness
of psychosocial reactions to disaster and psychosocial needs of
disaster survivors.
Keywords: Psychosocial response, mental health care services,

Tropical Storm Sendong
43
The Tropical Storm Sendong: In Retrospect
By late afternoon of December 16, 2011, the rains were heavy
and the winds, strong. By the late evening, the city was in total
darkness. Early the next morning, December 17, the city woke up
to see the damage brought about by Sendong. This flood took more
than 2,000 lives. The total number of families affected was 113,651
and 721,844 individuals. In all, 23 barangays were flooded; totally
damaged houses reached to 13,337, and more than PPh2 billion in
infrastructural damage (http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph).
The present generation in Cagayan de Oro has never seen
anything like it before. The citys historical records show though,
that there was a big flood in 1916, that caused the Cagayan River to
overflow when the rains poured continuously for three straight days
(Montalavan, 2012).
November 5, 2010 December 20,2011
Aerial view shows whats left of the A house rests on a wall by the
once populous Sitio Kala Kala in roadside in Cagayan de Oro City,
Barangay Macasandig, Cagayan de a mute witness to the power and
Oro City. ERWIN MASCARINAS, fury unleashed by Tropical Storm
INTERAKSYON.COM WAYWARD Sendong. CAI PANLILIO/Inquirer
HOUSE Mindanao
Psychosocial Impact
Christmas after Sendong

As Christmas day approached in 2011, there was a sense of
heaviness, grief and shock shared by most people in the city. The spirit
of Christmas was not evident and for many, it was difficult to celebrate
Christmas with the usual fun and frolic. Majority of the Cagayanons
had these sentiments, especially those who were directly affected. At the
evacuation center of this citys Central School on Velez Street, ambulant
vendor Junie Legaspi, 32, described the disaster as grabe ka pait nga
pinaskuhan (the bitterest Christmas gift).
Despite their miserable situation, some victims were still able to
express their gratitude. A laundry woman from Baranggay Carmen
said, Bisan pag nawala ang tanan tungod sa baha, nagapasalamat
gihapon ko kay kumpleto mi pamilya karong Pasko. (Even if we lost
everything we had to the flood, I am still thankful because our family
is still complete this Christmas.) Pamilya ang pinaka importante
nga pinaskohan sa ako. (My family is the most important Christmas
gift for me), she added.
It was painful to listen to many survivors who lost not only
their homes, but also their hope in the future. Mag-unsa na mi ani,
wala nay pag-laum. Even others lost trust in themselves: Dili na
nako kaya mag pahimo pa ug laing balay, ako ra man tong gi-loan sa
housing. I dont have the capacity to build another house; I built the
one I lost through a housing loan.
The loss of tangible possessions was accompanied by
psychological losses such as: sense of control, sense of responsibility,
sense of the future, sense of individuality and identity. Along with
these emotions came feelings of expressed shame.
In the immediate aftermath, as survivors were housed in
evacuation centers, they expressed their gratitude for being safe,
warm, and clothed. However, from the way the survivors talked, it
was evident that they strongly felt uncertainty, vulnerability, fear,
hopelessness, and deep sadness. To say that their lives had been
disrupted, is an understatement. The Sendong survivors definitely
knew that their lives are forever changed.
45
Children
Among children in the evacuation centers, there were
evidences of generalized fear; some had recurring nightmares;
others manifested depression, withdrawal, aggressiveness and acting
out, disorganization and agitated behavior. Many of them expressed
intrusive thoughts and sensations.
About a month after Sendong destroyed their homes, school
children were observed beginning to enjoy themselves at the
playground of Consolacion Elementary School in the city. The kids
had fun in the swing and played all sorts of games. Their behavior
showed they were beginning to put behind them the devastation
they had been through.
Women Survivors Refugees

Coring, one of the survivors, was already apt to work side by
side with the camp managers in the refugee center. She was assigned
to do sanitation maintenance in specific sections of the camp. She
volunteered for this work as she tried to cope with the loss of her
daughter in the flood; at the same time, Coring took care of her
husband who is visually-impaired. Even in the face of destruction,
tremendous loss of property and life, women took on the role of
family caregivers and re-builders.
The tinoo-han (belief) that one can only visit a wake once
in any given day was set aside in the aftermath of the flood. Many
families lost a member; some families lost more than one member:
grandparents, father and/or mother, sons or daughters. Other
families lost neighbors, colleagues, classmates, or close friends. The
sudden passing away of precious people just did not make sense to
anyone.
Xavier Universitys Psychosocial Response

Since Cagayan de Oro is part of Mindanao, a region that is not
considered a typhoon path, there was little preparation for flood, if at
all. So the aftermath of Sendong left the city in chaos and confusion.
The reported extent of damage included 23 barangays, 113,651
families consisting of 721,844 individuals. From the viewpoint of
counsellors, the psychosocial demand of the survivors was extensive.
The counsellors courage to deal with the extent of the psychosocial work was
drawn from the Gospel of John 6: 1-15 on Jesus feeding of the five thousand.
5
When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming
toward him, he said to Philip, Where shall we buy bread
for these people to eat? 6 He asked this only to test him,
for he already had in mind what he was going to do. 7
Philip answered him, It would take more than half a years
wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite! 8
Another of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peters brother,
spoke up, 9 Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and
two small fish, but how far will they go among so many? 10
Jesus said, Have the people sit down. There was plenty of
grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand
men were there). 11 Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks,
and distributed to those who were seated as much as they
wanted. He did the same with the fish. 12 When they all
had enough to eat, he said to his disciples, Gather the
pieces that are left over. Let nothing be wasted. 13 So they
gathered them and filled twelve baskets with the pieces of
the five barley loaves left over by those who had eaten.
Psychosocial Training: Brief Crisis Counseling Orientation and

Debriefing
The Psychology Department of Xavier University organized a
post-crisis counseling training to address the crisis. Psychologists
from Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU), came in haste, to
Cagayan de Oro to offer training for local psychosocial counsellors.
The ADMU professional counsellors shared their expertise and
implemented their tested psychosocial intervention. They provided
drawing books and all sorts of materials for children. Using their
insights from their own Ondoy typhoon experience in 2009, these
experts assisted the survivors in coping with their traumas, gradually
leading them to make sense of their pains and suffering.
Five teams from AdMU conducted psychosocial debriefing
sessions and brief crisis counselling orientation-trainings on
47
December 22, 23, 27, 28, January 2, 3, 20, 21, and February 1. In sum,
there were about 450 participants from different sectors in Cagayan
de Oro who in turn worked as volunteers in their own schools,
barangays, and agencies.
Xavier University expressed its grateful appreciation to Dr
Edna Franco, then VP of AdMU, Dr Boboy Alianan whose earnest
support and input were invaluable, Dr. Gina Hechanova, the present
Chair of Psychology Department; Dr Melissa Macapagal, Dr. Lianne
Alampay, Dr. Joy Calleja, Dr. Mira Ofreneo, Dr Karina Fernandez,
Dr Marissa Adviento, Dr. Gilda Lopez, Mr Gary Faustino, Ms Judith
de Guzman, Ms. Anne Topacio, and Dr. Lota Teh.
Taking care of our own: XU Faculty and Staff Colloquium

One of the lessons learned from the Ondoy typhoon experience
is not to proceed as if nothing happened. A number of XU faculty
and staff were affected by Sendong. In all, there were 227 XU
employees and their families who were affected by the flood.
XU President, Fr Bobby Yap recognized that in the face of
trauma, there is need for time, space, and ritual for emotional
closure. About 715 teachers and
staff, from different levels and
XU campuses were gathered in a
colloquium on January 6, 2012.
Everyone in Cagayan de
Oro was affected by typhoon
Sendong. Everyone had a
story to tell. In the small group
sharing and psychosocial
Psychosocial processing: XU faculty processing, teachers were given
and staff the chance to listen to one
anothers perspectives during
the debriefing and counselling sessions. In doing so, everyone
came to better understand, cognitively and emotionally, the tragic
experience that had befallen on everyones life. This was the chance
to inform the general XU population of their physical, emotional,
cognitive reactions to the traumatic event they went through. Dr
Imelda Batar, Chair of the Psychiatric Department of Medical City,
Ortigas Avenue, Quezon city, explained during the Xavier University
Faculty convocation the importance of understanding and dealing
with stress reactions after one undergoes disaster.
On February 9, 2012, XU was able to determine that exactly
2,048 students were directly affected by typhoon Sendong. There
was a felt need to prepare teachers in dealing with their students
when classes shall have resumed after the Christmas break. Faculty
members were given a crash course of sorts on basic attending
skills, how to listen attentively, how to respond with empathy.
Psychoeducational materials were distributed for information-

dissemination.
Materials on handling stress after disaster, psychological
first aid, for parents on dealing with childrens reactions, and on
supporting survivors. Most of these materials were shared without
cost to the XU community by the AdMU Psych Department.
The colloquium ended with a celebration of the Holy Mass
organized by the XU Office of the Mission and Ministry, assisted by
other units such as Guidance and Counseling Office and Psychology
Department among others.
Psychosocial Community Service

Immediately after the faculty and staff colloquium, the
Psychology Department was invited by the representatives of the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Multi-
sectoral Sendong Operations Center to mobilize psychosocial
debriefing teams to evacuation centers and relocation sites.
At that time, there was a need for a system and structure in
effectively and efficiently mobilizing the debriefing teams. Drawing
from lessons in the Ondoy
experience in Manila in 2009,
and from the valuable advice of
Dr Alianan, structure was set
up in haste. An administration
team was created to take care
of logistics; a training team
was formed for continuous
49
competency-building; and
psychosocial debriefing teams
were created to serve as the
action teams. Thus, fifteen
psychosocial processing teams
were formed. DOH Cagayan de
Oro, through the able leadership
Some members of XU Psych Dept of Dr Benzon Go, supported the
Psychosocial Team formation and mobilization of
Standing from left: Isabelle Veloso, debriefing teams.
Mae Contreras, Dennis Pastoril, Gail
From December 22, 2011
Conway, Yayette delaPena, Maita Igna-
cio, Nerissa Buot, and Janet Ibale. to March 19, 2012, 66 evacuation
Seated from left: Rachelle Wapao, centers were served, including
Roger Lee, Richie Eduave, Voltaire government agencies like
Marquez, and Carla Barros. Department of Agrarian Reform
(DAR) and the City Health Office.
Community health navigators, the
military sector, children, women,
and the elderly, a few private
groups (businessmen), some
schools as well as religious groups
(nuns, priests, seminarians, CWL)
attended to about 4,100 survivors.
This was made possible only by
VP on Research and Social Outreach, the generosity and kindness of
Dr Hilly R Quiaoit, expressed that
DSWD Secretaty Dinky Soliman ap-
friends and partners.
preciated XUs efforts on psychosocial To serve the psychosocial
debriefing in the evacuation centers. needs of displaced individuals
and families, XU Psychology
Department partnered with the International Migration of the
Philippines (IOM).
Lyra Versoza trained more responders to address the grassroots
community. The module on Pagdadala was used many times over
by various groups: the military rescue workers, XU Ecoville camp
managers, and by some government agencies.
It was good that Xavier University, through its President,
Fr Bobby Yap, recognized the value of the psychosocial efforts on
the road to recovery. XU supported the Psychology Departments
initiative and effort with adequate funding from the Noah fund. This
support was essential in carrying out effectively and efficiently all
psychosocial interventions during this time.
Focused Psychosocial Community Service in Summer

2012
Even after the academic year ended in March 2012, still
the psychosocial effort was sustained. Debriefing/psychosocial
processing activities were continued. The Psychology Department
was invited to be part of the Health Cluster of XU Ecoville.
In summer 2012, the Departments psychosocial efforts
were focused on XU Ecoville.
Psychosocial service was, at
this time, more focused and
systematic.
Faculty members of the
Psychology Department adapted
and implemented their Psycho-
social projects for Ecoville: Jason
Manaois worked for the Psycho-
Xavier Ecoville, which is envisioned to social Care for XU
be God-centered, economically and Ecoville Camp Management;
ecologically progressive, inhabited by
residents who care for each other.
Janet Ibale worked with
practicum students in assessing
psychological needs of clients
and creating psychological intervention modules; Carla Barros,
worked with practicumers in doing assessment. Maita Ignacio
and other faculty members, Yayetta de la Pena, Voltaire Marquez,
Maria Celeste Sagarbarria, Jhoana Marie Mocorro, staff Dennis
Pastoril, were engaged in the implementation of a mental health
and psychosocial support program called Pagkab-ot sa Kalinaw
Pinaagi sa Himsug nga Pangisip: Achieving Peace through a Healthy
Mind. The thrust of the program was to promote mental health and
prevent the occurrence of mental health disorders through psycho-
education, aligning XUs psychosocial efforts in XU Ecoville with the
Inter-Agency Standard Committee of the United Nations (IASC)
51
principles on mental health and psychosocial support. Other faculty,
Nerissa Buot, Gail Conway, June Baunillo, continued their work at
Calaanan while Mae Pilayre continued her efforts at Mt. Carmel.
By March 2012, the engagement with XU Ecoville was far from
complete. Another phase of psychosocial service unfolded and was
focused on well-being which emphasized individual and community
resilience. At this time, there was some degree of understanding the
dynamics of trauma in recovery. This specific psychosocial service
springs from pagtoo (faith in God), paglaum (hope), pagkamalig-on
(inner strength) and pakipagtambayayong (community feeling). From
this understanding, the strategies that were adapted were faith-sharing,
community-building, and future-planning.
Recommendations and Lessons Learned in Psychosocial Care

after Sendong
From the experience with Sendong, lessons were hard earned.
First, is that in order for psychosocial efforts to be efficient and
effective, there has to be a sound structure. Second, competency
building is a foundation for effective psychosocial efforts.
Psychologists in the area had to go through training in Disaster,
Crisis, and Trauma Psychology.
There is a recognition that psychosocial care is an essential part
to disaster relief and should be an integral part of disaster planning
and preparedness. While disaster intervention involves relief
distribution and medical care, psychosocial counseling and efforts
may have to be integrated into any program of disaster response.
It is important to establish network with relevant groups, such
as DSWD multi-sectoral group, DOH, other educational institutions,
and international humanitarian organizations. It is important also
to forge an alliance with the authorities in order to be allowed to
provide psychological support in a structured way.
Psycho-education provides to community health workers
relevant background, and training on how to do psychosocial work.
There is a need for training of government and community workers
involved in disaster relief work.
Information coming from a comprehensive database must
also be accurate, since decisions on psychosocial efforts based on
those data. Reliable, credible information from the ground is key for
effective and correct response.
In retrospect, the saving grace was that people from different
sectors worked in solidarity, without thought for honor or personal
gain: faithful to the mission to be men and women for others.
53
Reconciling Literary Naturalism and
Guadium et Spes
Maria Luisa S Saministrado, PhD
ABSTRACT
Tension exists between literary naturalism and Gaudium et Spes
if human freedom is tilted more towards the physical realities. To
achieve balance to a persons dual nature implies a recognition of
the role of spirituality as defined in Gaudium et Spes to meet the
deepest longings of the human heart, which is never fully satisfied
by what this world has to offer, the same message that naturalism
wants humanity to reflect on for them to nurture and deepen their
spirituality to still their troubled hearts. Spirituality within the
tradition of Gaudium et Spes highlights the good of the human
person with the acknowledgment of divine will, the same aspiration
(with emphasis on social awareness) that naturalism, as portrayed
in the naturalistic novels under study, conveys for humanity, with
its lens however on individual will. The study concludes that
naturalisms focus on the physical social realities actually point to
the same aspiration that Gaudium et Spes projects the betterment
of the human condition and humanity as a whole.
Key Words: Literary Criticism, Naturalism, Naturalistic Novels,

Heroines, Gaudium et Spes (Vatican Document)
Introduction
This paper explores the context of Gaudium et Spes in order
to relate it to my examination of naturalism in literature in regard
to issues on marriage, family, human dignity, human will and
freedom, suicide and self-preservation, atheism and anti-clericalism
as represented in the four novels, namely, Maggie: A Girl of the
Street by Stephen Crane, The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton,
Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, and The Awakening by Kate
Chopin. It attempts to examine the tension that exists between
naturalisms focus on the physical, social realities and Gaudium et
Spes call for a consideration of the spiritual dimension of man for
the good of humanity. Despite these individualistic tendencies and
non-conformism to social roles and tradition as exemplified in the
naturalistic novels, this paper suggests that the human person has
spiritual yearnings for a meaningful life.
Naturalism is a mode of literary expression that highlights social
realities with a focus on characters challenged by external forces of
nature. It hints of the presence of tension with Christian spirituality
as reflected in Gaudium et Spes. The two traditions seem to clash
because one focuses on the physical realities, while the other one
focuses on the spiritual dimension of man1. However, naturalism, as
represented in the novels, has an implied message about the possible
betterment of the human experience. They show that the attainment
of perfection through instincts and individual will is futile without
a consideration of mans spiritual dimension that paves the way for
permanence or stability in life. On the other hand, Gaudium et Spes
shows that to recognize the spiritual within man is to search for the
good, for his continuity, and not for his destruction. So although the
naturalistic novels limit access to spirituality through its tendency
to undervalue self-preservation and the portrayal of life as a useless
passion with its focus on death as humanitys fate, they nevertheless
recognize a persons spiritual need for enlightenment from lifes
harsh realities and awareness of the dual nature of man - the physical
and spiritual dimensions. Also, because naturalism promotes social
1 The Vatican document uses man as a general term to mean either

male or female. It is used in this paper to be consistent with its usage and
meaning in Gaudium et Spes.
55
awareness for the betterment of the human condition through its
examination of social realities, its end goal echoes the spiritual creed
of love and furtherance of humanity proclaimed in Gaudium et Spes
and demonstrated in the novels through the protagonists inherent
need for love, social acceptance, and individual integrity.
Gaudium et Spes is a useful source for a commentary on
spirituality because it is an official summary of the doctrine of
the Roman Catholic church on these matters. It underscores the
aforesaid issues in guiding humanity for spiritual living in the
modern world among believers in the faith, along with non-believers.
The documents full title is The Pastoral Constitution on the Church
in the Modern World: Gaudium et Spes. It is a result of the efforts
of the Second Vatican Council, assembled in 1962-1965 by the
Church leadership. More than three thousand religious dignitaries,
authorities, observers and auditors were involved in the writing
of Gaudium et Spes according to Carroll:
Vatican II met in the great nave of Saint Peters Basilica in

Rome in four sessions in the autumns of the years 1962-
1965, with committees doing extensive work between
sessions. Made up of about 2,400 bishops, with about
500 periti or experts, and something between 50 200
observers and auditors in attendance (25)
Gaudium et Spes is distinctive as a document and in terms of its

orientation because it represents Christian spiritual values resulting
from the collaborative efforts of an Ecumenical Council that meets
once in a century or even once in several centuries when necessary
and convened by the Pope. Previous councils were Vatican l (1869-
1870) and the Council of Trent (1545-1563) (Carroll 25). It is also
the outcome of the Church response to the times that ensued from
the Popes observations:
Pope John intuited that there was something profoundly

out of sync in the inner life of the Church: intellectually
sterile, liturgically lifeless, moral instruction depending
more on imperatives than on invitations, fear emphasized
over hope, a clergy cut off from the laity, the razor wire
of the Reformation still dividing Christendom, the living
Word of Scripture all but forgotten, Jesus himself on the
margin of piety. (Carroll 27)
The purpose of the councils assembly is also to monitor the

papacy, especially in relation to his infallibility (declared by the
First Vatican Council) as well as strengthen his authority (Carroll 25).
Moreover, the council serves to evaluate the Church in regard to the
implementation and relevance of its spiritual tradition and teachings
in the contemporary world. The document is one of the results of the
councils aim for reformation within the Church, and an answer to
the threat of nuclear destruction and human extinction felt by the
council fathers in the context of Hiroshima and Auschwitz (27).
Spirituality within the frame of Gaudium et Spes therefore
suggests a quest for the true, good and beautiful (85). Pope Paul
VI promulgated Gaudium et Spes in 1965. Some theologians raised
questions about the document, for instance on its use of modern
language, and on what they saw as its excessive optimism, which
tied the idea of Christian hope to the modern idea of progress
(Ratzinger qtd. in Dulles 1). However, the document is significant
for the faithful as it represents the continuation of the Catholic
tradition that focuses on Jesus Christs spirituality, and on the
broader social mission of the church, rather than more narrowly
theological matters. Thus, Gaudium et Spes is useful here because
it links spirituality directly to the questions about family, marriage,
society, male and female roles, and the other social issues raised in
the four naturalistic novels.
One of the key concepts in Gaudium et Spes is that it considers
an individual person a social being (13). This suggests that man
male or female - belongs to a social structure that requires free
interchange of ideas and feelings with others. The doctrine cautions
that unless he relates himself to others, he can neither live nor
develop his potential (13). This statement suggests that a woman who
ceases to function as a social being and becomes a recluse or an
outcast will have difficulty living on her own. She will not be able to
develop her full potential in the world. Similarly, the portrayal of the
57
protagonists, Maggie and Lily, in Crane and Whartons novels, puts
them in situations where they cease to function as social beings
due to societal ostracism. As a result, their potential for change and
advancement as women with aspirations are crushed because they
are socially alienated and are eventually unable to live in society. The
documents important message for humanity is that we need others
for our survival or continuity, and the role of societal support for a
womans development ensures her continued existence in society.
The church through Gaudium et Spes echoes its concern
regarding isolation because it is not part of Gods design for
humanity: He did not create man for a life of isolation, but for the
formation of social unity (30). Hence, the church maintains that
from the beginning of salvation history He has chosen men not just
as individuals but as members of a certain community (30). It is
through social interaction that man is able to cultivate his talents
and realize his purpose:
Mans social nature makes it evident that the progress of

the human person and the advance of society itself hinge
on one another. For the beginning, the subject and the
goal of all social institutions is and must be the human
person which for its part and by its very nature stands
completely in need of social life. (3) Since this social life is
not something added on to man, through his dealings with
others, through reciprocal duties, and through fraternal
dialogue he develops all his gifts and is able to rise to his
destiny. (24)
Mans social ties which include his family and political

community, relate with greater immediacy to his innermost nature;
others originate rather from his free decision (24). Naturalism as
demonstrated in the novels of Flaubert and Chopin shows married
women who enjoy the shared activities available in society i.e. Emma
attending the royal ball, and Edna vacationing with family and
friends in the Grand Isle. However, these women are portrayed as
more determined in their quest for happiness and individual freedom
by challenging expected roles as wives and mothers, highlighting
naturalisms message, shared with Gaudium et Spes, that the deepest
longings of the heart is never fully satisfied by what this world has
to offer (39). And while Gaudium et Spes notes the importance of
socialization to the human person, it also cautions about its possible
threats: socialization, while certainly not without its dangers, brings
with it many advantages with respect to consolidating and increasing
the qualities of the human person, and safeguarding his rights (25).
It acknowledges that the disturbances which so frequently occur in
the social order result in part from the natural tensions of economic,
political, and social forms (25). However, it singles out the influence
of mans self-centeredness that causes the disturbances: But at
a deeper level they flow from mans pride and selfishness, which
contaminate even the social sphere (25). The statement echoes the
portrayal of individualism and self-regard of the female protagonists
in the novels, particularly the married heroines. Thus, the Church
recommends a relentless watch for the social order in relation to
human freedom, love, and justice:
This social order requires constant improvement. It must

be founded on truth, built on justice and animated by love;
in freedom it should grow every day toward a more human
balance. An improvement in attitudes and abundant
changes in society will have to take place if these objectives
are to be gained. (26)
There is tension in the idea of free will and individuality in the

naturalistic novel and Gaudium et Spes. For instance, Gaudium et
Spes discourages individualistic morality because it expects the
individual person to contribute to improving lifes conditions and
maintain that the obligations of justice and love are fulfilled only
if each person, contributing to the common good, according to his
own abilities and the needs of others, also promotes and assists the
public and private institutions dedicated to bettering the conditions
of human life (29). The focus on individualistic morality and
independence as exemplified by the female protagonists in the
novels highlights human freedom and individual will to show their
resistance to human conventions within patriarchal structures.
59
Gaudium et Spes focuses on the importance of social interaction
as human beings for a sense of community and esprit de corps.
Naturalism, as suggested in the novels, shows a twofold polarizations
within social structures through the representation of Chopins
characters like Edna and Adele, for example, who represent the
individualistic and social, physical and spiritual, traditional and non-
traditional. Other examples are Crane and Whartons unmarried
female protagonists who seek societal and familial acceptance while
Flaubert and Chopins married female protagonists resist oppressive
behaviors in favor of individual freedom, detachment, and fairness
in gender relations in their struggle for equal opportunities with
men in a male-centered society.
Man and the Spiritual

Gaudium et Spes suggests the need for humanity to extend
awareness to the non-physical, spiritual human dimension to minimize
the lagging spiritual advancement amidst the increasingly intellectual
formation (6). It reminds humanity of the importance of the life of a
human being among all creations in the world where his existence can
only achieve perfection through increased spirituality, the recognition
of his Creators love for his continuity. This love preserves man as he
cannot live fully according to truth unless he freely acknowledges that
love and devotes himself to his Creator (17). The document explains
more about the concern of the Church for humanity:
Never has the human race enjoyed such an abundance

of wealth, resources and economic power, and yet a huge
proportion of the worlds citizens are still tormented
by hunger and poverty, while countless numbers suffer
from total illiteracy. Never before has man had so keen
an understanding of freedom, yet at the same time new
forms of social and psychological slavery make their
appearance True, there is a growing exchange of ideas,
but the very words by which key concepts are expressed
take on quite different meanings in diverse ideological
systems. Finally, man painstakingly searches for a better
world, without a corresponding spiritual advancement. (5)
As to the value of man in this world, naturalism suggests
a need to refocus on the importance of self-preservation. The
novels depict the female protagonists with a passion and love for
the ideal despite the harsh realities around them. However, while
they are represented as dedicated to the physical-visible world,
naturalism, as demonstrated in the novels, recognizes the value of
spirituality to a persons life. The pursuit for material fulfilment
is connected to their quest for the ideal because of mans dual
nature. In other words, the longing for something more among
the female protagonists indicates that despite material fulfilment,
a persons spirituality is important as well and must not be
neglected. For instance, Cranes Maggie is successful in a material
sense as a prostitute. Whartons Lily comes from the elite class.
Flauberts Emma lives with her middle-class doctor-husband, and
Chopins Ednas businessman-spouse provides for her comfort
adequately. These women (with the exception of Maggie) read
literature suggesting intellectual formation, and they are more
educated than the other women who are simply content with
domestic education. Through these protagonists, naturalism
shows that they are a different breed of women with imagination
that challenge social traditions. The female protagonists lack
inner peace, an offshoot of their relentless quest for impartial
social structure that is more accepting, for instance, of female
interests and sentiments, as shown in their preferred readings
and alternative activities in society. On the other hand, Gaudium
et Spes reminds society about a balanced life because the tendency
of the individual person is to search painstakingly for a better
world, without a corresponding spiritual advancement (6). The
document suggests that this kind of spirituality is animated by a
consideration of the true, good, and beautiful for both men and
women.
Human dignity
Another key concept Gaudium et Spes highlights is human
dignity which is related to a persons self-respect or self-esteem. The
document asserts that man is not wrong when he considers himself
superior to bodily concerns, and as more than a speck of nature or
61
a nameless constituent of the city of man (14). It underscores mans
importance in this world because of his twofold nature: body and
soul, heart and conscience, mind and will (4), and he is expected to
acknowledge within him a spiritual or immortal soul (4):
Thus, when he recognizes in himself a spiritual and

immortal soul, he is not being mocked by a fantasy born
only of physical or social influences, but is rather laying
hold of the proper truth of the matter. (14)
In relation to the novels, the orientation of the female

protagonists is on material security, but towards the end, before
their tragic move, they discard this kind of security with their
acknowledgment of an inner reality they seem unable to satisfy
amidst the material advantage. They experience a sense of inner
vacuum to suggest a search for more despite the physical-material
orientation of naturalism. Thus, the novels portray women with an
inner center and spirituality anchored on a frail base as mentioned
earlier, and their experience resonates with Copernican moments
that show they are not the center of the universe, most notably in
their tragic fates.
The novels projection of physical-material realities signifies
unfriendly forces that seem beyond the protagonists although
dependent on their will. In Lehans terminology, the naturalistic
force was hostile or at least more indifferent to human needs
(230). This idea of unfriendly forces in naturalism is juxtaposed
with the spiritual reality as representing a positive force higher
than the female protagonists although within their reach, awareness,
and readiness to acknowledge it. So without a corresponding
spiritual advancement Gaudium et Spes points out that (6), a
physical-material triumph alone is meaningless as suggested by the
experiences of the female protagonists. This spiritual advancement
(6), along with the physical-material progress, paves the way for
humanity to recognize a higher, powerful force that is in no way
hostile to mans dignity, since this dignity is rooted and perfected in
God (20) with man as an intelligent and a free member of Gods
society called to share in His happiness (20).
Suicide and self-preservation
The novels show the harsh reality of suicide in a society where
female agency, human bodies, and the physical circumstances of
women in prejudicial positions pose as potent forces encouraging
self-destruction. The novels present suicide as the likely outcome
for a person that focuses on material reality and harmful emotions.
Gaudium et Spes, however, opposes wilful self-destruction because
it suggests a desecration of the integrity of the human person as I
will explain further. Thus, the documents message for humanity is
a reminder concerning what man is, what comprises an individual
as a person, and what he must acknowledge about ones self as a
person with dignity. A human being must acknowledge in himself a
spiritual and immortal soul (14). On the other hand, naturalism, as
demonstrated in the novels, conveys the message that there is more
to the physical-material human dimension, a perception similar to
that in Gaudium et Spes. For instance, in Chopins The Awakening,
Ednas spirituality deepened after her show of freedom from the
material excess provided by her husband. She feels that after having
descended in the social scale, there exists a corresponding sense
of having risen in the spiritual (Chopin 104). Gaudium et Spes
suggests that a human being is on a higher level than the human
body and physical circumstance because he or she has a soul. A
refocus therefore on the spirituality of man or woman uplifts his or
her consciousness from the challenges of material knowledge.
Gaudium et Spes is clear in its position on the subject of suicide
because it opposes the importance of life that the church upholds,
and is toxic to general welfare and society:
whatever is opposed to life itself such as any type of

murder or willful self-destruction, whatever violates
the integrity of the human person, such as torments
inflicted on the body or mind, attempts to coerce the will
itself; whatever insults human dignity, such as subhuman
living conditions, prostitution, the selling of women
and children; as well as disgraceful conditions, where
men are treated as tools for profit, rather than as free
and responsible persons; all these things and the likes are
63
infamies indeed. They poison human society, but they
do more harm to those who practice them than to those
who suffer from the injury. Moreover, they are supreme
dishonor to the Creator. (27)
Self-destruction is ruled out by the writers of Gaudium et Spes

because of its message of hopelessness and futility of life for future
generations: We can justly consider that the future of humanity lies in
the hands of those who are strong enough to provide coming generations
with reasons for living and hoping (30). Thus, the church calls for the
preservation of the human person (4). Naturalism, through the novels,
suggests that the self-destruction of the female protagonists provides
instant solution to a human problem without mental fortitude or staying
power and regard for the continuity of future generations. Gaudium et
Spes acknowledges the concept of self-preservation for the future of
humanity through acceptance of lifes challenges. Human beings are
encouraged to shoulder their cross, face responsibility through pro-life
affirmation and uphold the values of human dignity, brotherhood and
freedom (37). However, man extends his power in every direction (5).
The naturalistic novels portrayal of the female protagonists response
to societal values suggest a resistance to experiences that disadvantage
women and a sign of aversion to face further the challenge of human
pain. This is perhaps due to a culture that focuses on instant gratification.
This means for Gaudium et Spes that power is misdirected because
man does not always succeed in subjecting it to his own welfare (5).
Humanity is urged to acknowledge human suffering as one of the social
realities that beset mankind. Despite its negative connotation for non-
believers, human suffering as suggested in the document entails quiet
acceptance of the challenges by facing them, and the focus on human
agency through a life-affirming stance for a vision of hope among
mankind. The good news for humanity, however, is that a deepening of
ones spirituality may answer the innermost longings of the heart:
Since it has been entrusted to the Church to reveal the

mystery of God, Who is the ultimate goal of man, she
opens up to man at the same time the meaning of his own
existence, that is, the innermost truth about himself. The
Church truly knows that only God, Whom she serves,
meets the deepest longings of the human heart, which is
never fully satisfied by what this world has to offer. (39)
In relation to the novels, the portrayal of women experiencing

frustration in fulfilling the longings of the heart suggests naturalisms
acknowledgment of a persons spiritual aspect that needs attention.
The breakdown of conventional frameworks such as the family and
community structures (Souza 270) in the individual situation of
the female protagonists contributes to their sense of disconnection.
However, Gaudium et Spes implies that the longings of the human
heart can only be satisfied through a recognition of a higher force
that is positive, referring to a divine authority that is not hostile. It
reveals that this divine authority represents the ideal as the true,
good, and beautiful which is perhaps what the female protagonists
in the novels actually desire.
Human will and freedom

The idea of freedom as represented in naturalistic novels
suggests the absence of physical constraints with the protagonists
who perceive agency and free will as what Gaudium et Spes calls a
license for doing whatever pleases them (16), with the emphasis
on physical realities. The Vatican document opposes this to the
true nature of freedom, which is focused toward goodness: Only
in freedom can man direct himself toward goodness (16) with the
dignity of the human person requiring freedom from confinement
to passion and depravity.
Hence mans dignity demands that he act according to a

knowing and free choice that is personally motivated and
prompted from within, not under blind internal impulse
nor mere external pressure. Man achieves such dignity
when, emancipating himself from all captivity to passion,
he pursues his goal in a spontaneous choice of what is
good, and procures for himself through effective and
skillful action, apt helps to that end. (16)
65
Each of the four novels presents a woman whose courage,
spirituality, and values are challenged because they seem to clash
with the nineteenth century values of the family and society. She is
represented to have a split personality because she has an inner life
that questions and an outer life that is expected to conform. As a result,
her personal and social relationships have been undermined because
she feels structured by her circumstances. The womans situation in
naturalistic literature echoes the image of man in Gaudium et Spes
who feels confined by his experiences and yet, he feels limitless in his
aspirations: Thus, on the one hand, as a creature he experiences his
limitations in a multitude of ways; on the other he feels himself to be
boundless in his desires and summoned to a higher life (10). This
suggests therefore that a person expresses and continues to express,
many divergent and even contradictory opinions (12) because he is
split within himself (14). He often exalts himself as the absolute
measure of all things or debases himself to the point of despair
which often ends in doubt and anxiety (12-13). This manifestation
of tension within man indicates vulnerabilities that may cause him
to succumb to infractions:
Indeed, as a weak and sinful being, he often does what he

would not, and fails to do what he would. Hence he suffers
from internal divisions, and from these flow so many and
such great discords in society. No doubt many whose
lives are infected with a practical materialism are blinded
against any sharp insights into this kind of dramatic
situation; or else, weighed down by unhappiness they are
prevented from giving the matter any thought. (10-11)
As shown in the novels, naturalism suggests that transgressions

are committed without regard of the outcome. The protagonists do
what they are not supposed to do and dont do what they should.
As a result, happiness is compromised as it becomes elusive or gets
blocked by a conflict between their individualism (shown through
their resistance) and a repressive society. Reliance on human efforts
alone is not enough. Gaudium et Spes shows that man consider his
faith and spirituality in order to throw a new light on everything
and direct his mind to solutions to problems that are fully human.
The document expounds: The intellectual nature of the human
person is perfected by wisdom and needs to be, for wisdom gently
attracts the mind of man to a quest and a love for what is true and
good (15). Society undergoes inevitable transformations whereby
this very circumstance, the traditional local communities such
as families, class, tribes, villages, various groups and associations
stemming from social contacts, experiences more thorough changes
every day (3). With all sorts of transformations that humanity faces
in society, the relevance of tradition and its values is challenged:
A change in attitudes and in human structures frequently

calls accepted values into question, especially among
young people, who have grown impatient on more than
one occasion, and indeed become rebels in their distress.
(8)
The novels link freedom and human dignity through the

material circumstances and social status of the female protagonists.
And Gaudium et Spes cautions humanity about what can happen
to freedom and human dignity in extreme poverty or affluence and
warns about isolation through individualism:
Now a man can scarcely arrive at the needed sense of

responsibility, unless his living conditions allow him to
become conscious of his dignity, and to rise to his destiny
by spending himself for God and for others. But human
freedom is often crippled when a man encounters extreme
poverty just as it withers when he indulges in too many of
lifes comforts and imprisons himself in a kind of splendid
isolation. (30)
Atheism and anti-clericalism

Naturalisms representation of the protagonists points to young
women with free will who refuse to conform to the demands of
their societies in their unhappiness. The novels reveal that their
67
spirituality hungers for attention and nourishment. Their Christian
education and faith are portrayed as deficient in their experience
with dysfunctional families although the female protagonists such
as Flauberts Emma, for instance, seeks Christ in her final moments
for spiritual redemption or Chopins Adle, as Ednas foil, suggests
the importance and practice of Christian spirituality through family
values like marital fidelity, domestic devotion, and personal care for
the young to strengthen the tradition in her Creole society that is
predominantly Catholic. Flaubert shows a womans discontentment
and presents the corruption of church values through her
representatives who are unable to help Emma in her distress. Her
convent education has not exactly strengthened her faith in the good
because Flaubert depicts religious instruction in the Catholic convent
needs strengthening. The heroines spirituality needs a refocus too
because it is motivated by romantic ideals.
On the other hand, Cranes novel projects the importance of
physical supremacy among men and makes a travesty of Christian
spirituality because it symbolizes weakness in its preference for
individual submission and self-sacrifice for the common good.
The novel also showcases the hypocrisy of believers at the wake of
the lifeless protagonist. Crane attacks the flaws of Christianity with
the corruption of Church representatives and less effective spiritual
formation. Gaudium et Spes shows that man can only live fully
according to the truth if he freely acknowledges that love and devotes
himself to his Creator (17). The novels portray manifestations of
the protagonists orientation of the Christian spirituality (i.e. seeking
enlightenment of their problems by approaching a priest and kissing
the crucifix for redemption as in the case of Emma in Flauberts
novel). Desiring love and acceptance from society, the protagonists
extend importance to social activities (i.e. melodramas, royal balls,
long vacations or holidays, and dinners in mansions), the material
or physical circumstances from the naturalist perspective, because
of the focus on love and romance they consider the female ideals in
society. However, the negative experiences of the female protagonists
have become pathways for the recognition of an innermost need that
cannot be fulfilled alone by the physical-material realities that this
world offers.
Naturalism offers a radical concept of freedom with its
representation of individualistic women who use it with less restraint
and thought of its effect on the self and others. By contrast, Gaudium
et Spes explains that authentic freedom is an exceptional sign of
the divine image within man (16) and must be directed towards
the wellbeing of the individual and others. For instance, the tension
within the protagonists marriage and family in Flauberts and
Chopins novels illustrates female agency and freedom without deep
reflection on the consequences. Gaudium et Spes clashes with such
idea of freedom since it connotes unrestrained desires for human
independence to such a point that it poses difficulties against any
kind of dependence on Divine Love (19) the Creator wants to share
with humanity in the modern times. Gaudium et Spes suggests that
this kind of human independence or individualism extends to
modern atheism because it illustrates mans freedom to be an end
unto himself, the sole artisan and creator of his own history (19)
and reinforces the idea that this freedom cannot be reconciled with
the affirmation of the existence of a divine creator as the author
and purpose of all things, or at least that this freedom makes such
an affirmation altogether superfluous (19). The protagonists search
for love and freedom has links to the fulfilment of the spiritual
aspect of their humanity. Gaudium et Spes recognizes mans dual
nature: material and spiritual, and unless he recognizes that other
part of him and participates in some form of spirituality, such as his
own training in the faith (18) motivated by the ideal, true, good,
and beautiful (85), he remains split within himself. The Vatican
document suggests that a persons call to communion with God (17)
strengthens human spirituality. A compromised happiness results
from the neglect of a persons spiritual dimension so that when divine
instruction and the hope of life eternal are wanting, mans dignity is
most grievously lacerated, as current events often attests; riddles of
life and death, of guilt and of grief go unsolved with the frequent
result that men succumb to despair (20) that is experienced, too,
by the female protagonists. The novels show that the protagonists
are shown to be denied fulfilment through loving relationships as a
result of a spirituality anchored on a fragile foundation and lack of
awareness of a persons dual nature as suggested in Gaudium et Spes.
69
Although the church rejects atheism, the Vatican document
calls for both believers and non-believers in the faith for active
involvement in the betterment of this world (21). It notes further:
The church calls for the active liberty of believers to build up in
this world Gods temple too. She courteously invites atheists to
examine the Gospel of Christ with an open mind (21). Gaudium
et Spes warns that one clue for atheism is a critical reaction against
religious belief or against the Christian religion (18). Anti-
Christianity in Cranes novel is reflected in the representation of
Maggies brother (he despised obvious Christians (11) as opposed
to the culture of violence and physical strength in the slums. The
spirituality motivated by Christian principles promotes selflessness
and non-violent actions in consideration of the wellbeing of others
that the document suggests. Cranes naturalistic fiction shows that
spirituality and the focus on inner life weigh less among the slum
dwellers because of their efforts on concerns for economic survival.
It is through the character of Maggie that spirituality is demonstrated
even though physical power is more of a reality in the underclass.
This aversion to Christian ideology is also found in Flauberts novel
when he presents the insensibility of the clergy in society and the
imperfections of Emmas convent education.
This aversion is also found in Chopins novel when she portrays
the irony of the high society elite who attend the mass religiously,
but are corrupt and materialistic, and who subject Lily to oppression
for her social transgressions such as missing the mandatory church
mass and for still being single at age 29. The novels, however,
acknowledge the importance of spirituality because the protagonists
are portrayed with their inherent goodness as human beings and
desire to transform a repressive social structure through their acts
of resistance, perhaps to signify the need to change the status quo to
accommodate female wellbeing and equality with men.
Marriage and family

As to the institution of marriage and family, naturalism
presents it as flourishing with imperfections to portray social
realities. These are personal, economic, cultural, and social concerns:
communication barriers between husband and wife, intellectual and
emotional incompatibilities, money problems, cultural differences,
marital infidelities, and contradictory views about gender roles in
society. The church through Gaudium et Spes though encourages
humanity to understand more about marital love and the problems
it faces:
In addition, married love is too often profaned by excessive

self-love, the worship of pleasure and illicit practices
against human generation. Moreover, serious disturbances
are caused in families by modern economic conditions,
by influences at once social and psychological, and by
the demands of civil society. Finally, in certain parts of
the world problems resulting from population growth are
generating concern. (48-49)
The Vatican document suggests that it can offer guidance and

support to those who work to preserve marital sanctity to foster the
natural dignity of the married state and its superlative value (49):
For the good of the spouses and their off-springs as well

as of society, the existence of the sacred bond no longer
depends on human decisions alone. For God Himself is
the author of matrimony, endowed as it is with various
benefits and purposes. (1) All of these have a very decisive
bearing on the continuation of the human race, on the
personal development and eternal destiny of the individual
members of a family, and on dignity, stability, peace and
prosperity of the family itself and of human society as a
whole. (49)
The two married women in Flaubert and Chopins novels

choose to act independently in their unhappiness with their spouses
resulting in their experimentation with human love. Their marital
discontent and resistance to their roles as wives suggest their need of
emotional fulfilment. Although they go beyond the marital borders of
commitment, their independence may be interpreted as among other
things a message for their husbands not to treat them as possessions or
71
commodities. Gaudium et Spes presents a staunchly traditional view
of marriage, so that there exists tension with naturalism in its thrusts
for innovation and radical solutions. For instance, as portrayed in the
novels, the female married protagonists are represented as imbued
with independent minds who want their husbands to be sensitive
to their individual needs, to communicate with them honestly and
not take their feelings for granted. Communication barriers within
marriage and conjugal love seem taken for granted as a result of
unresolved deep-seated concerns. The churchs message through
Gaudium et Spes reminds man and woman about conjugal love as
firmly established by the Lord (52) suggesting that the couple work
to come up with a marriage that radiates from the equal personal
dignity of wife and husband, a dignity acknowledged by mutual
and total love (52). Although this view is a reversal of the marital
experience of the female protagonists, Chopins and Flauberts novels
show marriages and families of other characters in the novels that
embody the Christian ideals on marriage and family. For instance,
the marriage and family of Edna are juxtaposed to the marriage
and family of Adle while the marriage and family of Emma are
juxtaposed to the marriage and family of Homais wife that project
images of stability and marital contentment.
The writers of Gaudium et Spes say that to preserve the
sanctity of marriage and family in society, both husband and wife
are required to promote mutual self-giving so that they can
enrich each other with a joyful and a ready will (52). Chopins
Emma and Flauberts Edna long for love, but it is a different form
of love because it is based more on emotions instead of a decision
that promotes the self-giving of mature married love. The kind
of love they have is more physical than unconditional perhaps
because they have not exactly experienced the stage of romantic
love where young girls are carefree and responsibility-free. In
other words, they marry at a young age when they are not yet
mature enough to face the responsibilities of married life. They
have not received the kind of romantic love in marriage perhaps
because their husbands love is focused more on a decision to
have a family and embrace the traditional role of breadwinners,
making them seem to neglect their wives emotional needs. As a
result, the married women succumb to romantic love with other
men, an act that may be interpreted as a desperate move for the
completion of their romantic desires and live in the moment
or perhaps feel the excitement of being natural in their self-
expressions. The novels representation of marriage suggests that
both husband and wife, such as Edna and Lonce in The Awakening
or Emma and Charles in Madame Bovary, for instance, consider
the physical and emotional needs of each other so that they can
establish genuine sharing of feelings and thoughts for the total
commitment of their persons to each other.
Gaudium et Spes reminds couples about marital commitment:
As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good
of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue
for an unbreakable oneness between them (50). Both husband
and wife must remember that the author of matrimony is
God and contemplate the divine will in marriage by extending
mutual help and service to each other through an intimate union
of their persons and of their actions (49-50). Both can then
cultivate and pray for steadiness of love, large heartedness and
the spirit of sacrifice (52). In The Awakening, for example, Ednas
husband reconsiders his night outs with his male friends and be
with his wife and children. When they are on family vacation,
he is presumed to give first priority to them so that they can
exercise true practice of conjugal love, and the whole meaning
of the family life which results from it (53). This is shown in the
marriage of Adle to her husband whose example of a cohesive
family is demonstrated by their adherence to spiritual values such
as love and respect for each other and commitment to the family
and children.
As shown in Flaubert and Chopins novels, the married womens
need for gender equality and expression of creativity is laudable,
however, Gaudium et Spes puts the alternative view that both husband
and wife should consider the dignity, stability, peace and prosperity
of the family itself and of the human society as a whole (49). The
novelists do not imply that the protagonists are at fault in seeking
equality and creative outlets, but for the success of the marital and
familial structures, Gaudium et Spes suggests a consideration of
73
values for the preservation of the family and strength of the human
society. It also suggests a balance of personal or individual interests
and the common good such as the interests of married couples
and the family, as a whole. Both husband and wife are encouraged
to nourish and develop their wedlock by pure conjugal love and
undivided affection (51).
The novels, Madame Bovary and The Awakening, present
married women with natural longings and love. Their spirituality
may need to refocus on the ideal i.e. true, good, and beautiful.
Gaudium et Spes, however, calls for the preservation of marital
love, that it must never be profaned by adultery or divorce (52)
through fulfilment of duties as a Christian vocation. To safeguard
marriage and family, the Vatican document encourages steadiness
of love, large heartedness and the spirit of sacrifice (52). The married
couples behavior is expected to protect the meaning of marital love
so that they experience a truly human fulfilment with their children
who can contribute to the wellbeing of their parents (53). Parents
are also reminded of their important role in the education of their
children who bring about the needed cultural, psychological and
social renewal on behalf of marriage and the family (52). Flauberts
and Chopins novels, for instance, show the importance of parental
role in the education of their children. Emma is sent by her father to
the convent for her education while Edna reads stories to her sons
before bedtime to suggest her interest in the intellectual formation
of her children.
Human and social culture

Gaudium et Spes highlights the importance of a persons right
to a human and social culture in conformity with the dignity of the
human person without any discrimination of race, sex, nation, religion
or social condition. It acknowledges the importance of the development
of culture for humanity and comments on culture as follows:
The word culture in its general sense indicates everything

whereby man develops and perfects his many bodily
and spiritual qualities; he strives by his knowledge and
his labor, to bring the world itself under his control. He
renders social life more human both in the family and the
civic community, through improvement of customs and
institutions. Throughout the course of time he expresses,
communicates and conserves in his works, great spiritual
experiences and desires that they might be of advantage
to the progress of many, even of the whole human family.
(57-58)
For the development of culture in society, the document

recognizes the value of literature and arts because of its great
importance to the life of the church (67).
The naturalistic novels show that although the prevailing culture in
society is inherited through the male dominant tradition where female
protagonists make adjustments, innovations are possible, for instance,
in the inclusion of a more creative or productive life for women in
society. For example, Chopin introduces Reisz as an independent artist
accepted in society to juxtapose her role with the traditional woman
like Adle. The protagonists value creative works i.e. painting, playing
the piano, reading, watching creative productions, because they believe
that through them they can make a positive contribution to society and
culture. This suggests that the development of culture is made possible
through the roles of men and women who value their own contributions
to society. Here and elsewhere the naturalistic writers acknowledge that
tradition is enriched through a more tolerant society where women
enjoy productive roles with men.
The view of Gaudium et Spes is that freeing humanity from
ignorance occurs through the provision of cultural benefits so that
people will not be prevented from cooperating in the promotion
of the common good in a truly human manner because of illiteracy
and a lack of responsibility (64). Men and women therefore have a
special duty to develop themselves culturally so that they can help
themselves as well as others in society (65). The protagonists in the
novels are shown to have internalized the value of participating in
creative activities for self-development while contributing positively
as well to the culture in their society.
The novels do not portray women as content with their
domestic roles because they are focused on their creative efforts for
75
an independent existence. Gaudium et Spes asserts that since women
are now working in all spheres, they are encouraged to assume
their proper role in accordance with their own nature because
their participation in cultural life is important in society (65). The
church, therefore, acknowledges the role of women in the modern
world particularly their participation in the workplace. They are
expected to develop themselves in society for their wellbeing and
that of others. In this sense, Gaudium et Spes is in sympathy with the
implied endorsement in the novels of the need for the emancipation
of women. However, such developments relate to the tradition of
the church that highlights the values of Christian spirituality. These
values necessitate alignment to constructive actions or affirmative
solutions that promote the common good. The church acknowledges,
however, that it is sometimes difficult to harmonize culture with
Christian teaching (66); the integration of the values of Christian
spirituality to society is not without challenges as shown in the
images of marriage and family in the novels. This suggests further
that the structures of marriage and family as traditional institutions
in society undergo transformations in the face of social change. And
to keep the balance of a persons dual nature and inner contentment,
all forms of physical-material developments in the world must keep
pace with the non-physical spiritual advancements for humanitys
positive vision for continuity and a meaningful existence. The novels
recognize a persons spiritual need for enlightenment from lifes
harsh realities, and they suggest that the attainment of aspirations
for humanitys permanence and stability through instincts and
individual power alone is less certain unless there is a consideration
as well of the spiritual dimension.
Conclusion
Spirituality as portrayed in the novels has allusions to the spirituality
as defined in the Catholic Gaudium et Spes which links to the quest for
the true, good and beautiful in humanity (85). The novels have an
implied message about the common good of humanity that is why they
present a commentary on the flaws of Christian spirituality with the
portrayal of characters fraught with imperfections. This suggests that the
spiritual ideals of the Vatican document are executed with imperfections
not just by ordinary citizens but also by the custodians of the church as
represented in the novels. For instance, the Catholic priest in Flauberts
Madame Bovary fails to give advice to Emma when she approaches
him for spiritual enlightenment on her problems. Emmas orientation
of Catholic spirituality as a young woman is on the reading of serious
Catholic materials (i.e. Catechism) she does not find very exciting as
it requires learning by rote. This idea is perhaps a commentary on the
approach of Catholic instruction for the young women in the nunnery.
At her deathbed, however, Emma implores the compassion of Jesus
Christ demonstrating her orientation of the Christian spirituality.
In Cranes Maggie, Christian spirituality is attacked because the female
protagonists brother considers the Catholic spiritual ideal of submission
or obedience contrary to the physical power he advocates. Maggie
approaches a priest for guidance or help, but she is dismissed by the
priest as if she has a contagious disease. Like Flauberts Emma, the act
of approaching a priest for direction shows that her spiritual orientation
is Christian. Her inherent goodness as a person remains intact despite
her struggle for love from her family and freedom from poverty. Her
patriarchal society is an example of a world that tolerates oppression and
dehumanization. On the other hand, Lilys high society in Whartons
The House of Mirth presents people who hear the Catholic Mass on a
Sunday as a holiday of obligation. However, when Lily misses the Mass
once, she is criticized and gossiped at by the same people in her society.
Lilys implicit attendance at Mass is a manifestation of her Catholic
Christian spirituality. Her integrity as a person remains intact despite
the malicious gossip about her. Edna, in Chopins The Awakening, is also
surrounded by Catholic people, the Creole, who uphold the values of the
church in regard to family and gender relations. However, Edna seems
to value her freedom more than the mores of her patriarchal society
she finds limiting to her creativity. She values independence for herself
and for her children. Gaudium et Spes believes in the contribution of
women to society, and this is shown in the novels. It serves as a guide
on Christian spirituality with a focus on mans search for the true, good
and beautiful. It links spirituality directly to the questions about family,
marriage, society in relation to male and female roles and social positions
raised in the novels. They portray social realities where the strong and
dominant represented by the men in society make women question the
77
roles that limit them as well as challenge them to assert their rights as
persons with dignity, freedom and integrity. The novels suggest that in
reality, people, despite their church orientation, do commit suicide, an
idea that connotes that their Christian spirituality is anchored on a weak
foundation. This implies that despite a Christian spiritual orientation,
some people do not choose continuity and self-preservation. This idea
of reality is shown in the novels.
The naturalist writer may be less fully aware than the church-
based writers of the Catholic document such as Gaudium et Spes of
connections to the spiritual element because of the focus on the physical-
social dimensions perhaps for narrative-objective effect. However, the
novels suggest that tension exists between the physical and spiritual
human dimensions if freedom is tilted more towards the physical. To
achieve balance to a persons dual nature suggests a recognition of the
role of spirituality to meet the deepest longings of the human heart,
which is never fully satisfied by what this world has to offer (39), the
same message naturalistic novels want humanity to reflect on in order
to nurture and deepen their spirituality to still their troubled hearts.
Gaudium et Spes highlights the good of the human person with the
acknowledgment of divine will, the same aspiration literary naturalism
conveys for humanity, with its focus, however, on individual will. The
criticism on literary naturalisms reductionist treatment of the spiritual
dimension and intense focus on the physical-social realities therefore
point to the same aspiration that Gaudium et Spes projects the
betterment of the human condition and humanity as a whole.
References
Primary Sources
Chopin, Kate. The Awakening and Other Stories. Ed. Pamela Knights.
Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. Print.
Crane, Stephen. Maggie: A Girl of the Streets. Auckland: The Floating
Press, 2009. Ebook Library. Web. 26 Jul. 2014.
Flaubert, Gustave. Madame Bovary: Provincial Lives. Trans. Raymond
N. Mackenzie. Indianapolis, Indiana: Hackett Publishing Com-
pany, Inc., 2009. Print.
Gaudium et Spes. Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the
Modern World. Promulgated by his Holiness, Pope Paul VI on Decem-
ber 7, 1965. Web. 10 March 2013.
Wharton, Edith. The House of Mirth. London: ElecBook, 2001.
Web. 1 July 2014.
Secondary Sources
Baker, David C. Studies of the Inner Life: The Impact of
Spirituality on Quality of Life. Quality of Life Research 12 (2003): 51-
57. Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection. Web. 15 July
2014.
Carroll, James. The Beginning of Change. Vatican II: The Essential
Texts. Ed. Norman Tanner, S.J. New York: Image Books, 2012.
24-36. Web. 5 January 2014.
Dulles, Cardinal Avery, S.J. From Ratzinger to Benedict. First Things. A
Journal of Religion and Public Life. 2008. Web. 11 January 2013.
Lehan, Richard. Literary Naturalism and Its Transformations. Studies
in American Naturalism 7.2 (2012): 228-245. Humanities Inter-
national Complete. Web. 23 March 2014.
Souza, Marian de. Contemporary Influences on the Spirituality of
Young People: Implications for Education. International Jour-
nal of Childrens Spirituality 8.3 (2003): 269-279. Academic
Search Complete. Web. 3 July 2014.
79
Like souls meeting
Arlene J Yandug
I was killed
in a crossfire.
In the dream
I was crossing
the rice field
which was also
a battlefield.
A bullet
whiz-zinged
past me.
It missed me
by a hairs breadth.
Or so I thought
until I dropped
like a scythed
stalk.
There was
no pain.
Only velvet
oozing
from my neck,
the sun melted
like butter
until there was
nothing
It touched my
face, my hair,
my fingers, all
of me becoming
A brightness.
a flame
lengthening.
I felt my face,
my hair,
counted the veins
in my hand.
One, two
Three blue veins
to be exact.
And I was breathing.
I walked around
familiar faces,
flashing my smile,
wanting them
to notice my teeth,
my eyes, this
same body
and self.
But they didnt
see me,
They kept on
yakking penpen
de sarapen de kutsilyo
de armasin.
Then you were
There standing.
No silk-robed
wizard,
But just as you
always were:
grey-haired,
the wattle
on your skin,
thewidows peak,
your eyes
a declaration of
81
final
understanding.
You saw me,
made the slightest
bow of
recognition,
hands clasped
softly
in prayer
like souls meeting,
or like wings
from flight,
folding ever
so lightly.
February in many voices
Arlene J Yandug
In February when the broad leaves

of almendro trees trembled
with the sudden flight of birds
Datu Ubal killed a Spaniard.

The noon air rent by the cry of birds.
No, the bolo didnt give him

a measure of courage.
He gave this object courage.
Wisdom and common sense say

you cant divide land,
you cant divide
water. You cant.
You
Google Datu Ubal.

Google says
Date of Birth: Unrecorded
Place of Birth: Unrecorded
Date of Death: Unrecorded
This pot. Yes this.

This is our land. We live by this clay
pot, you cant divide
a clay pot.
In another poem,
an ordinary man named
Kudrat slept like a cat,
his wife alert to the noise of arrival
beyond the trees.
She could hear the warm rise
and fall of the cats abdomen.
83
In yet another poem, your great
grandma brandished her bolo,
cut back the forest vines, cleared the bushes,
taking the curse out of an old ground.
Ampingan ta ka. When the land heard that,
it knew for the first time it was loved.
Your great grandmas children

included your grandpa.
They were in perfect health and they
shot birds and enemies
with slingshots.
Right now, the anthropologist

puts the pot on three stones.
The stones represent
the Muslims, the Lumad and you.
The three stones where histories meet

disagree with each other.
Their anger appeased by the roots
and leaves in the forest.
You can never know a name

as deep as Ubal. Meanwhile,
the guest speaker says
theres a street name after
the slain Spaniard somewhere
in the deep south.
In February, the broad leaves

of almendro trees tremble
with the sudden flight of birds.
You go blank staring at the slides
of hills and canyons
sacred to the very same natives
perhaps your ancestors killed.
The Lumad declares to the govt
Futile to divide this land
according to numbers. Weve become
a minority here. If it comes down
to that, give our land back
not according to our number,
but our dignity.
Dignity. Clich your mind insists.

But it sounds poignant
in your language. Dungog.
Where the Spaniards were killed

the friars lanterns flit over the swampy
ground at night. In February, torches flit
over the field looking for frogs hiding in the grass.
The Kastila shot a sacred bird and it flopped through

the foliage with a lot of noise.
To the natives he said, Dont be afraid of my thunders.
Sug-ang. Tatsulok. You remove

a stone, and the pot will fall. The speaker
says this with the slightest gesture, his voice
slightly cracking.
In February when the almendros

sent out a scattering of wine-colored leaves
Datu Ubal killed a certain Esteban
Rodriguez de Figueroa. His wound
as deep as a canyon.
Is a country a summary of wounds

inflicted and received?
Another clich.
The rise and fall of the cats
abdomen? Is a country a name
you cant know because
it is unrecorded?
85
In the deep south,
theres the same scattering of leaves;
fifty wine-colored leaves rolling
along idle streets, one of which
is named in honor of Esteban.
Thats in February when unrecorded

names travel with the leaves
and children are just
gloriously
all boys
oblivious of names,
leaves, clay pots;
just boys molding
clay pellets in their hands
for their first slingshots
Hummingbird and skylark
Arlene J Yandug
The subdivisions here have names

as foreign as their streets,
perhaps to summon dustless climes,
evergreen trees, cooler sunsets.
Bloomingdale. Puerta de Sol. Bellevue.

In the district where I live,
only two streets I manage to remember:
Hummingbird and Skylark.
The first is where I live, the second is

where Jenny lives. She peddles trinkets,
shawls and supplements; laughs
as only she could laugh then
as a matter of course Id end up

buying items I dont need.
Despite her chirp, Jenny would end
up divulging the intimate sadness
of her life: her mother, paralyzed,

takes care of her kids. Her husband,
in her words an inutile philanderer
who sells insect repellents.
Jenny wants to live life anew:

new shoes new house new husband.
Abroadabroad is a mantra calming
her afternoons when she goes
to the net downtown, wearing an

ecru blouse that silhouettes her bra.
O, havent found my man yet
shed tell me under her breath.
87
Her man is any man who badly wants
her, sends her money asap.
Theyve become wais, the Amerikanos.
The Italians, their English is worse
than mine, shed say this

placing stresses in such a way
that her bird voice sings.
And then her eyes would light up:
Oh Lord, the Asians are surprisingly

charming but so kuripot hahah.
Theres a Thai she falls in love with.
But the poor man is literally poor.
Thats the way the story unfolds

or doesnt for us both.
Then I leave Hummingbird to find
happiness in another city.
In my trip back home,

a starlet startles me at the airport.
Her face: all shades and attitude.
Her humongous shoes,
more than adding height,

emphasize her delicate proportions.
Her bare-faced grin reaches me
before I could even say Jenny?
O Lord, she looks truly happy.
The Flattery of the Fates: A Sketch on the
Three Witches in Macbeth and the Two Evil
Sisters, Goneril and Regan, in King Lear
By Aimee C. Faunillan
There are as many similarities with Shakespeares plays

Macbeth and King Lear as there are differences. While Macbeth
portrays the steady decline of a nobleman through wild ambition
and thirst for power, King Lear narrates the foolishness of an
old king who decides to let go of his kingdom and power on the
basis of publicly-declared praises. However, the downfall of both
Macbeth and King Lear may be traceable to one parallel thing:
their disability to distinguish between truth and flattery.
Macbeths thirst for power can no longer be sated the
moment he first turns his ears to the prophetic praises of the
Three Witches: All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, Thane of Glamis!
All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor! All hail,
Macbeth! that shalt be king hereafter! In like fashion, King Lear
carelessly bows down to the false adulation of his two cunning
daughters, Goneril and Regan, even going as far as dividing his
kingdom between the two and banishing his favorite Cordelia,
who possesses not the gift of words but the rarity of a true and
honest heart. It was not so much Macbeths ambition and King
Lears pride that drives them to their despair and deaths as their
unexpected helplessness in the face of flattery. This vulnerability
to praise so magnifies Macbeths and King Lears inherent self-
conceit and arrogance that we, the readers, no longer remember
what was once honorable and admirable in them. The words of
American writer Dale Carnegie sum up these perils on flattery,
more than 400 years after Shakespeares memorable tragedies:
Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about
himself.
The Subtlety of the Three Witches

Shakespeare describes the Three Witches in Macbeth as
filthy and despicable creatures, so withered and so wild in their
89
attire that they look not like the inhabitants of the earth. These
women, moreover, are depicted to be powerful, possessing the
ability to summon tempests, conjure up visages of the future, and
vanish at a wink. With their facility at prophesying, these Three
Witches are often compared and contrasted with the Fates of
Greek Mythology, the Moirai, composed of Clotho, the spinner,
Lachesis, the allotter, and Atropos, the unturnable. Simply put,
the Fates reiterate the certainty that anything already spun
and allotted can no longer be turned or opposed. According to
Wunderlich, the power of the Fates is typically upheld by the
practice of witchcraft (290-291, 295-296), explaining thus the
association of these three weird sisters with the Fates.
Nonetheless, it is the subtlety by which these three women
deliver their flattery that holds more sway over Macbeth. Rather than
promising Macbeth power or riches or fame or summoning visions
of his imminent rise to power during that meeting at the heath, the
Three Witches so ingeniously allows this man --- this man who has
just gone to battle and has emerged victorious --- to feel what it
may be like to be hailed as a king. Macbeths subsequent reaction
to the flattery permits us to see his many dark and vulnerable layers
beneath an exterior of valor and honor. Of no less interest, moreover,
is Banquos nonchalant response to the flatteries of the Witches when
he is hailed as lesser than Macbeth, and greater. While we may
fault Banquo for having kept quiet despite his doubts on Macbeths
innocence regarding King Duncans murder, his earlier reaction
provides us a glaring contrast to the way Macbeth so easily buckled
under the false praises of the Fates. By not being able to sift flattery
from truth, Macbeth may have managed to murder his way to the
throne but, in the end, he failes to achieve lasting power or peace.
The Devious Duopoly of Goneril and Regan

Perhaps two of the most chilling villains in all of Shakespeares
plays are Goneril and Regan, the older daughters of King Lear. Both
Goneril and Regan are guilty of many things: willfully abandoning
their father, physically blinding an honorable earl, lusting after the
same man, and turning against their own sister, Cordelia. For all of
these crimes, however, these two evil sisters most depraved offense
is flattering an almost-senile king into foolish submission. What
stamps this verbal obsequiousness with the label of crime is the fact
that these two daughters are actually deceiving their own father.
Considering the manner by which Goneril and Regan have injured
King Lear, stripping him of his last vestiges of power just when he
has neatly divided his kingdom between them, their smooth words
in the beginning of the play later sound more condescending and
sarcastic than plain foolish. Goneril confesses to love Lear more
than words can wield the matter, dearer than eyesight, space, and
liberty while Regan professes to love in the same manner as her
sister except that this love falls short compared to her own, since
there is nothing else that makes her happy except Lears love.
While we cannot blame Lear for his anger as regards Cordelias
discomforting silence, we dont really feel sympathy for him when he
decides to disinherit his favorite daughter and banish her from the
kingdom. Even more so when this worthy and honorable king bows
down to the false adulation of his self-serving daughters, tossing
away the whole of his kingdom just as easily as he has pulled himself
into this sticky web of honeyed words. It is at this point, after all, that
King Lear first started to seal his sorry fate. Lears foolish submission
and subsequent violence (the disinheritance and banishment of
Cordelia) is none too different with Macbeths servility to the
prophecies of the Three Witches and his plot after plot of murder
just to be able to stay in power.
Gonerils and Regans smooth maneuvering and deliberate
deviousness, moreover, make them no less evil than The Three Witches
or the Fates who, in Greek Mythology, reside in the underworld but
control the lives of those who walk on the upper world. Aware of the
worsening senility of their father and even more aware of their own
lofty ambitions, these two sisters contrive to control his life or what
is left of it, even going to such great lengths as to rebuke anyone who
shows the slightest opposition to their plans. Oftentimes described
to be too devious to be considered credible, the characters of Goneril
and Regan in King Lear have always invited introspection and plain
disbelief. Yet, perhaps, Shakespeare has purposely made them to be
such, endowing these two daughters with all the qualities of a fiend,
royal hags in silken robes, so as to show us that no human character
91
-- in literature or in real life --- will ever be capable of such treachery
and heartlessness.
Of Flattery and Truth

When the Three Witches and the two evil sisters Goneril and
Regan heaped their praises on Macbeth and Lear, respectively,
they were, simply put, flattering themselves and no one else.
Theophrastus, the Greek philosopher and scholar upon whom
Aristotle has bequeathed his written works, once defined flattery as
a base companionship which is most advantageous to the flatterer.
The witches knew that the only way for Macbeth to usurp the throne
was to murder his way into it; Goneril and Regan knew how far their
flattering words could take them and how vast a part of the kingdom
all these will ensure them. There is no genuine advantage, therefore,
for either Macbeth or King Lear when they decide to participate as
unthinking audience to an elaborately-crafted play of words.
In the end, Macbeth and King Lear suffer the same fates: the
loss of their kingdom and death. Macbeth loses a kingdom which
has never been rightfully his while King Lear willingly gives up on
a kingdom that was by all rights his. The fact that both plays are
tragedies does not make this ending any more surprising. What
invites perplexity, and ultimately acceptance, is the bitter reality that
even the noblest, the greatest, and the most honorable of men know
not how to draw the dividing line between flattery and truth.
WORK CITED
Wunderlich, H.G. The Secret of Crete. London: Souvenir Press. 1975. Print
BOOK REVIEW: Pedagogy of the
Oppressed, Paulo Freire
Al Fuertes, Ph D
Introduction
This article contains a book review of Paulo Freires Pedagogy
of the Oppressed, published by The Continuum International
Publishing Group Inc. in New York. The book is now in its 30th
anniversary edition since its first publication in 1971. It contains one
hundred and ninety-three pages. It offers a new paradigm in the field
of education that seeks to incorporate in its learning processes the
social context. The article concludes with a brief response from the
author within the Philippine context.
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is based on Freires lived experiences
of oppression and how he translated such a reality into a pedagogy
that would emancipate the oppressed into becoming more aware
of themselves as Persons within a particular historical context and
be empowered to become agents of social change. Having himself
experienced the stigma of socio-economic, political, psycho-
emotional dynamics of oppression and witnessed its devastating
effect in the lives of the peasants and urban laborers in Brazil,
Freire believes that social awareness with critical thinking, which
eventually translates itself into praxis, brings emancipation. Freire
made a decision to intervene in teaching the oppressed that their
hunger is socially constructed. He committed himself to work with
them to help identify those responsible for this social construction,
which is, in his view, a crime against humanity.
About the Author

Paulo Freire is a revolutionary activist whose concrete practice is
93
the basis of his educational philosophy. His critical praxis, according
to McLaren, demands attention. As a professor at the University of
Recife in the 1960s, Freire worked with peasants in the Brazilian
Northeast during the countrys national literacy campaign. At this
time, he evolved a theory of literacy based on his conviction that
every human being is capable of critically engaging the world in a
dialogical encounter with others. In 1964, he was arrested and later
sent into exile after the military sized control of Brazils government.
He returned in June 1980, only after an amnesty was declared in
1979.
A critique of the traditional model of education

Pedagogy of the Oppressed is a critique of the dominant banking
model/system of education as manifested in situations where the
teacher deposits all knowledge and information into the minds of
the students and withdraws them during examination with all the
interests. Based on this model, students do not have the chance to
actively participate in the learning process nor are they given the
opportunity to express their ideas based on the subject or issues at
hand. The book criticizes learning methodologies, where teachers
teach assuming they know everything while the students know
nothing and, therefore, are taught and/or subject to discipline. This
reality leads Freire to his democratic proposals of problem-posing
education where men and women develop their power to perceive
critically the way they exist in the world with which and in which
they find themselves and, at the same time, come to see the world
not as static reality but as a reality in the process of transformation.
Hence, there are, at least three things that the book mentions that
Freire opposes. First, he courageously denounces the neoliberal
position that promotes the false notion of the end of history and the
end of class. Freire always viewed history as possibility, recognizing
that History is time filled with the possibility and not inexorably
determined - that the future is problematic and not already decided,
fatalistically. Second, he continues to reject any false claim to
the end of class struggle. He contends that although one cannot
reduce everything to class, class remains an important factor in our
understanding of multiple forms of oppression. Third, Freire never
accepts the poststructuralism tendency to translate diverse forms of
class, race, and gender-based oppression to the discursive space of
subject positions. He always appreciated the theoretical complexity of
multifactor analyses underestimating the role of class. For instance,
he resisted the essentialist approach of reducing all the analysis to
one monolithic entity of race. In his regard, it would be a mistake to
view all African Americans, for example, as one monolithic cultural
group without marked differences such as economic, political and
educational status of the people within a community.
Freires approach to social analysis

For Freire, it is important to approach the analysis of oppression
through a convergent theoretical framework where the object of
oppression is cut across by such factors as race, class, gender, culture,
language, and ethnicity. He argues that whereas, one cannot reduce
the analysis of racism to social class, one cannot understand racism
fully without a class analysis, for to do one at the expense of the other
is to fall prey into a sectarianist position, which, according to Freire,
is as despicable as the racism that we need to reject. Thus, he would
reject any theoretical analysis that would collapse the multiplicity of
factors into a monolithic entity, including class.
The problem that Freires Pedagogy encounters

According to the book, many liberals who have embraced
Freires ideas and educational practices often reduce his theoretical
work and leading philosophical ideas to a mechanical methodology.
Many pseudocritical educators, in the name of liberation pedagogy,
often sloganize Freire by straitjacketing his revolutionary politics to
an empty clich of the dialogical method. They fail to understand the
epistemological relationship of dialogue. According to Freire,
In order to understand the meaning of dialogical practice,

we have to put aside the simplistic understanding of
dialogue as a mere technique Dialogue is a way of
knowing and should never be viewed as a mere tactic to
involve students in a particular task. We have to make this
point very clear. I engage in dialogue because I recognize
95
the social and not merely the individualistic character
of the process of knowing. In this sense, dialogue presents
itself as an indispensable component of the process of both
learning and knowing. Dialogue teaching, is to create a
process of learning and knowing that invariably involves
theorizing about the experiences shared in the dialogue
process. Dialogue must require an ever-present curiosity
about the object of knowledge. It is never an end in itself but
a means to develop a better comprehension about the object
of knowledge(p.17).
Criticism against Freires Pedagogy and a Response

There are two criticisms against Freires Pedagogy that the
book presents. One deals with the nature and the methodological
approach to education. According to Gregory Jay and Gerald Graff,
education should be non-directive and neutral. They argue that
Freires proposal in Pedagogy of the Oppressed to move students
toward a critical perception of the world - which implies a correct
method of approaching reality so that they can get a comprehension
of total reality - assumes that Freire already knows the identity of
the oppressed. Who the oppressors and the oppressed are, argue Jay
and Graff, is conceived not as an open question that teachers and
students might disagree about, but as a given of Freirean pedagogy.
The second criticism pointed out by Graff also gives Freires
Pedagogy not only false but also points to a distorted notion that
there is a priori agreed-upon style of writing that is monolithic,
available to all, and free of jargon (ex. Marxist jargon). Indeed, the
problem with the teaching of the conflict, according to the book,
is that the only referent for engaging authority is a methodological
one. As a result, Graff demeans the ability of oppressed people to
name their oppression as a pedagogical necessity and, at the same
time, he dismisses the politics of pedagogy that could empower
minorities and build on privileged students minimal experience of
otherization to help them imagine alternative subject positions and
divergent social designs.
Personal Comments
Freires Pedagogy is a revolutionary endeavor that could turn the
academic value system of the world upside down. In the Philippines,
for example, where oppression and heavy militarization continue to
cripple if not paralyze the potentials of the people from becoming
active participants in the building of a just and progressive society,
Pedagogy of the Oppressed is relevant and timely towards establishing
new paradigms both in education and the educational system that
would seek to incorporate new, creative, liberating and life-affirming
approaches to learning processes. This means incorporating into
various academic curricula relevant historical issues that affect
the lives of the people as well as the socio-economic and political
system and structures where such issues operate. Students should
not be viewed as passive learners. Instead they ought to be treated as
active participants in the whole learning process with a rich deposit
of knowledge and perspectives in terms of their lived experiences.
The challenge lies on the approach to education and how such an
approach will be reconstructed in ways that would affirm the hopes,
dreams and aspirations of students particularly the masses. I believe
that Freires pedagogy could also take form of both non-formal and
informal approaches to education.
Like Freire, I believe that there is no such thing as neutral
education process. Education either functions as an instrument that
is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into
the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to the
status quo, or it becomes the practice of freedom, the means by
which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and
discover how to participate in the transformation of their society.
Bringing this pedagogical process to Western context may lead
to tension and conflict in society, but as Richard Shaull puts it, it
could also contribute to the formation of a new person and mark the
beginning of a new era in Western history.
97
Book Review: Costly Wars,
Elusive Peace, Miriam Coronel
Ferrer, 2013
Erlinda Montillo-Burton, Ph.D.
This book, Costly Wars, Elusive Peace, is a collection of

articles written by the author Miriam Coronel Ferrer, which
focuses on the Peace Processes in the Philippines between 1990
and 2007. It is divided into four (4) parts and each part consists
of several articles, which the author had written and presented in
different national and international forums pertinent to armed
conflicts that had occurred in the Philippines.
The first part of the book is composed of different articles
under the heading of War Cost and Benefits. The initial article
discusses the nature and causes of armed conflict which looks
into various dimensionsreligious, economic, political, and
culturalaggravated by relative deprivation, loss of control
of ancestral domains, human rights violation, militarization
and marginalization. Protracted wars had put heavy toll on
governments at opposing sectors, the reality the author says
is an illegitimate economic dimension of war, because of the
tremendous costs on resources, disruption of economic life
of the people and community, destruction of infrastructures,
exploitation of natural resources.not to mention its impact on
the psychosocial state of some individuals due to the impact of
violence and trauma.
In the article (included in Part I) Philippine State and the
Communist Insurgency, the author, traces the history of the
Communist movement in the Philippines and how this created
conflicts in the different regions. In the same vein, the author
discusses the history of Moro resistance, which started upon the
birth of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the
organization of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a split-off
from MNLF, and the ABU SAYAF, formerly commando fighters
turned kidnappers of people for ransom. She further averred the
current conflict in Mindanao was caused by complicated factors:
poor governance, patronage and continuing underdevelopment,
lack of national consensus, incoherent peace policy and absence of
peace-building leadership and failure of ARMM as a mechanism
for peaceful political competitor.
Part two of the book consists of three articles, which
generally deal with the process of the Communist front. The first
article written in 2008 delineates the peace negotiations between
the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front
(NDF). This included past negotiations between the Aquino
administration (1987-1993) and the CPP-NPA-NDF and the GRP-
NDF talks in 1997. In 1998, the Comprehensive Agreement on
Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law
(CARPHIL), set forth the agenda and principles guiding the talks
and uphold human rights. It prohibits all forms of violence against
life and persons, inhumane and degrading treatment. Between
1986-1992, talks were conducted by the Aquino government and
the CCP but failed due to irreconcilable framework. The author
contended that the reasons for failure were multi-faceted and
difficult to pin down one particular factor. However, doors re-
open to peace due to more response to public opinion and growing
public pressure. Consequently, peace zones were established in
certain areas in Mindanao.
Part three consists of three articles, which pertain to
Instituting Regional Autonomy. The article on Breaking the
Impasse: Formulae for Muslim Autonomy (1998) relates how
the government under the Ramos administration (1992-1998)
attempted to break the impasse through different proposed
schemesto find compromise agreement that will uphold both
the provisions of the Tripoli Agreement (MNLF Perspective)
and the Philippine constitutional processes. The second article
written in 2000 entitled Recycled Autonomy: Enacting the New
Organic Act for a Regional autonomous government in Southern
99
Philippines examined the progress of the implementation of
the legislative component of the latest peace agreement with
MNLF and assessed the extent the proposed laws could provide
meaningful autonomy as envisioned in the 1996 peace agreement.
The third article, Unfinished Regional Autonomy projects and
the option discusses the creation of two autonomous regions
in Muslim Mindanao and Cordillera as provided by the 1987
Philippine Constitution.
The final part of the book (Part 4) deals with the theme
Elements of Peace Building, which consists of five articles that
dwell on the initiatives of varied agencies-government, NGOs,
academe, religious institutions, and even foreign governments.
The first article describes the Six Paths to Peace formulated
by the National Unification Commission (NUC) during the
administration of the former President Fidel Ramos (1992-1998).
Its mandate was to produce a viable general amnesty program and
process that will lead to a just, comprehensive, and lasting peace.
This document in a way, according to the author, has legitimized
and validated the long demands of social sectors of civil society the
need for comprehensive reforms to address structural inequalities
and achieve lasting peace. The recommendations of NUC were
accepted by President Ramos as the basis of a peace policy of his
administration. Although some reactions to the NUC after the
public consultation brought forth issues and controversies, in the
final assessment, the Six Paths to Peace remains the operational
framework for the Philippine peace process to date.
The second article discusses the role of the NGOs in peace
building. Many NGOs in the Philippines have espoused the
general goal of peace wherein, though their main pursuit
is focused on environmental protection, human rights, and
development, some were engaged in advocacy and campaign to
promote peace. Moreover, some religious groupsthe Catholic
and Protestant churches were engaged in peace advocacy work
through dialogues and pastoral letters. On the grassroots level,
peace was established through community unilateral declaration;
while peace education was offered in some educational institutions
in Mindanao and elsewhere in the Philippines and declared their

schools as peace zones. Several peace research and training
institutes and programs have emerged to collect database on
conflicts in the Philippines and engaged in consortium studies.
The third article Peace making in Southern Philippines
(2006) traced the beginning and growth of Moro and Mindanao
Peace groups whose focus was on initiatives to address the
Moros, Lumad and Christian migrant settlers in the context of
Moro insurgencies. Assemblies were conducted in different cities
as well as Muslim-Christian interfaith dialogues were undertaken
by churches and religious congregations. Besides these, there was
a growing interest in studying indigenous conflict resolution
practices and concepts of peace and violence. In Mindanao,
women professionals also worked on Mindanao agenda for peace
and development from the gender perspective.
The fourth article discusses the integration of the MNLF
forces into the PNP and AFP without demobilization and
disbarment, which was observed to have been a success, although
there were several problems such as culture shock, discrimination,
and interrelations between the integrees and non-integrees, and
lack of trust and confidence. Nonetheless, despite the negative
sentiments and incidents, training goals were met.
The final article The Mindanao Peace Process and the
Challenges to Japan Peace Building Assistance (2007) devoted
its discussion on how Japan became a third-party builder in
Mindanao. Japans role was not a mediator in Mindanao conflicts,
but rather as a development monitor. Its role is not to duplicate
what has already been done by other groups. Because of the many
existing programs, there is more of a need to conduct impact
assessment of such programs, which would be crucial in steering
ongoing and future developments. It is believed that support for
the socioeconomic programs might solve political problems in the
area of conflict. Thus Japan was mostly concerned on the socio-
economic component, which is the crux of peace undertaking
and building.
This book is one of the most informative and thought-
provoking documents that clearly elucidated the causes of events
that led not only to very costly protracted conflicts but the great
101
loss of human lives over the years in Mindanao. That despite
all the interventions/mediations pursued by some countries
and agencieslocal, national, and internationalto find peace
solutions for Mindanao, yet the Culture of Peace could not be
sought but continues to be elusive.
The publication of the book in 2013 is quite timely for this
year, 2014, since there have been some development with regard to
GRP-MILF agreement to address the need for peaceful solutions
along political, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions. The
author, herself was appointed by the incumbent president of
the Philippines to serve as chief negotiator on the GRP side.
Her broad knowledge of the political upheaval created by both
the Communist faction and the Moro Liberation organizations
(MNLF and MILF) were based on thorough research; this makes
the book credible and reliable. This book is strongly recommended
as one of the required readings in Political Science classes in
Philippine academic institutions.

BOOK REVIEW:
State of Fear: Reportage on
human rights in Mindanao during
the Arroyo and Aquino regimes
Davao Today. Davao Today
Webworks & Multimedia
Ventures Inc., Davao City., 2014,
329 pages
Christine Faith Gumalal
As it is commonly known that media is controlled by those

in power, this compilation braves to expose the stories of the
voiceless Mindanao. State of Fear is a collection of Davao Todays
reportage on the killings, abuses, maltreatment, and silencing of
the civilians by the military under the reign of then president
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and the current Benigno Aquino Jr.
In a constant struggle to achieve peace, State of Fear
questions the governments means in achieving the end. With
fourteen chapters, it chronologically covers the period between
2006 up until 2013 and gathers true accounts of harassments of
the Lumads, the farmers, NGOs, and even the National Peoples
Army.
All these atrocities prompted the editors to come up with the
present volume of articles. From the birth of Oplan Bantay Laya
under the administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, to the
newly branded Oplan Bayanihan, these military strategies remain
to function in the same manner: to continuously instill fear. But
this state of fear has to stop, as mentioned by Germelina A. Lacote
in the preface, by telling the world all the victims stories.
This sentiment is aptly followed by Luis V. Teodoro of
UP-Diliman who, in his foreword, recalls the recent inhumane
irregularities of the distribution of basic necessities to the victims
of Yolanda. This, he states, is just a scratch on the surface if one
looks into the gross treatment of the military. The same military
103
who has done little amidst the billions that have been allocated for
its modernization. With its change of name, under the Aquino
administration, Teodoro warns the reader that this peace and
development program still operates with the same deceitful
intent: to preserve the reign of the political dynasties.
With its first four chapters, State of Fear reveals the stories
of political activists and workers who seek to protect the basic
human-rights of Mindanao, as reported in The Years of Living
Dangerously. Such as the experience of InPeace lawyer Beverly
Selim-Musni who experienced first-hand threats from gunmen
sent by the government to stop her cause. Musni, along with many
other NGO workers, seeks to protect the peasants of Mindanao
from being thrown out of their territories.
From massive dislocation, to limiting the purchase of rice
to a kilo per day, Villages in the Grip of Fear recounts the
pressures put on by the military during the height of its operations
against the NPA. Limiting the innocent families access to basic
commodities is the militarys technique to make the people
confess. Thus obtaining the authority to execute the innocents.
The result of all this chaos is laid out in Fleeing Terror.
This chapter reveals how the Lumads and Moros alike, would
rather stay in public schools and municipal halls. Everyone seems
to be conveniently tagged as rebels. The National Commission
on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) has conveniently laid out that the
villagers role: wether one is with the government, or with the
NPA. Such is the crisis revealed in the fourth chapter, Paquibato,
where people can no longer move freely without any identification
card that bears a soldiers signature.
Unfortunately the harassment does not only end with fear.
For it also disturbs the lives of children, women, and martyrs.
All of these accounts are revealed in the fifth to eight chapter,
respectively titled Childhood Interrupted, Heroes & Martyrs,
Rebelyn Pitao and The Agony of Waiting. These chapters
seek to voice out the unheard deaths of the children, the women,
and the professionals who dedicated their lives aiding Mindanao
when the government refused to do so.
In the concluding chapters, State of Fear revisits the

tumultuous times in Philippine history and looks into the grim
situation of Martial Law. Of how, 37 years later, the age of
despotism has not really died with the dictator. Such power in
any regimes could have destroyed any community. For one does
not have to look far, for the carnage that transpired in Ampatuan,
Maguindanao is still fresh in the mind of the people. Blood in
her Hands discusses how the perpetuators were protected by the
administration who, in the end, highly benefited from this reign
of terror.
Yet the question remains: what now?
In these suffocating fears that take unnamed lives and sedate
an entire nation, State of Fear awakens a community and stirs the
government to take notice. Free from the political and economic
chains that dominate the mainstream media, Davao Todays State
of Fear has successfully voiced the unheard.
105
book review:
Nur Misuari: An Authorized
Biography Tom Stern. Anvil
Publishing Inc., Manila., 2012,
229 pages
Maria Luisa S Saministrado, PhD
Dr Tom Sterns book highlights the accomplishments

and agonies of the founding leader and Central Committee
Chairman of the Moro National Liberation Front. Its purpose
is obviously to share the unique story of Nur Misuari, his
perspectives and vision as MNLF frontrunner for empathy and
identification with the peace and war advocates in Mindanao
and the entire country as well. His protracted struggle for the
delivery of basic services and pursuit of rights for his Bangsa
Moro brothers and sisters is openly delineated by Stern.
Hence, the title adequately encapsulates the message of the
book. It is an interesting read not just among the Muslims who
are particular with the state of affairs in Mindanao, but also
among the Christians for a better understanding of pressing
Mindanao issues in relation to the struggles of Nur Misuari for
the liberation of the Bangsa Moro people from the bondage of
Philippine colonialism.
The book is rich with historical details. It presents the
challenges Sterns principal subject faced against the Philippine
government under various presidents namely, Ferdinand
Marcos, Corazon Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada, and
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. While the first chapter of the book
starts with a positive note through flashback with Misuaris
receiving the UNESCO Peace Prize, it regales as well his
incarceration in Manila for charges of rebellion against the
country. His prison is a heavily guarded bungalow, and Stern
writes an unnerving account that Misuari found one morning

seven poisonous snakes slithering and hissing about his
bedroom (3) and experienced on one occasion a bullet that
whizzed past his ear. It is only in the subsequent chapters
of the book that the semi-chronological narrative of Misuaris
life starts with Stern focusing initially on Misuaris childhood
and his family on an island in the Sulu archipelago. There, he
received his basic and secondary education with colors and
then left for Manila to study Political Science at the University
of the Philippines on a scholarship grant. It is in the same
university that he earned his Masters degree in Asian Studies
in 1964. He eventually became an instructor in Political Science
until his resignation in 1968.
Sterns book can be considered as a Philippine History
edition from the perspective of Misuari. The reason is that it
incorporates recognized historical events in the Philippines such
as The Jabidah Massacre, Martial Law under the Marcos regime,
Misuari and his Bangsa Moro Republik, the years under the
various presidents, Misuari as leader of MNLF and as ARMM
governor, Misuari and the Organization of Islamic Conference
(OIC), and other events important in Philippine history. There
are a number of History books that have already been written, but
Sterns book explores the Mindanao conflict with the inclusion
of key figures in the political arena. The reading part may entail
heaps of effort and grit due to the small font used and number
of pages, but the information the writer shares with the readers
is thought-provoking and truly interesting because it gives them
background knowledge of Philippine history and the Mindanao
conflict. Those who hail from Mindanao will surely be grateful
to Stern for the valuable information shared in the pages of this
book.
The back cover reveals that Dr Tom Stern is a Visiting Fellow
at Stanford University. His other books are River of Reckoning, Gold
Fever, and Escape through the Roof of the World. With reference to
the book, James Borton, an international journalist and author of
Venture Japan, shared a succinct note about the writer who offers
a masterful accomplishment of historical sweep, narrative and
private conversations with the Moro politician and feared MNLF
107
rebel leader, who brandished both word and rhetoric in his more
than 30 years quest for Muslim autonomy. The book, however,
may be more convincing if the writer also conducted interviews
of key figures who held disparate views to those of Misuaris for
clarity of the issues raised and for a more balanced presentation
of ideas. The writer may have also included a page or two about
an update of Misuaris life in his senior years and the status of
MNLF. Overall, the written expression is excellent, and the ideas
presented about the subject and the peripheral dynamism that
challenged him have historical significance and implications
in relation to the conflict in Mindanao and the concerns of the
government for a united and peaceful Philippines.

book review:
Illustrated Historical Folktales.
Fr. Francisco Demetrio, S.J.,
Illustrations by Albert San
Juan Vamenta and
Pennesencio Estarte
Aimee C Faunillan
Nine historical Philippine folktales on Cagayan de Oro and

Mindanao come together in one rare compilation
The unique komiks format of these tales, which brings
together history, folklore, and visual art in one easy-to-read
compilation, offers a window into a Mindanaoan past not
often mentioned in published historical books and other, more
mainstream collections.
These historical tales make up the first volume of a total
of four volumes and spans seventy-six pages. The collection
includes brief, rarely-chronicled historical tales on some of
the most prominent heroes of Cagayan de Oro during the
Philippine-Spanish and Philippine-American wars and portrays
a yet-untold story of Rizals secret visit, from his place of exile
in Dapitan during the Spanish occupation in the Philippines, to
his friend Don Urbano Alvarez in Tagoloan, Misamis Oriental.
Moreover, this illustrated edition encompasses tales that explore
the historical derivations of the present-day names of Cagayan de
Oro and Mindanao and retell the myth of Camiguin Island as an
original part of Surigao mainland.
Some of the tales in this edition are told in two versions.
The Origin of Cagayan de Oro mentions Kalambagohan as the
old name of the city and Cagayha-an as the name of the sultans
beautiful daughter, so revered for her beauty that even the river,
which has since borne her name, had claimed her by taking her
life away. In the next tale, The Origin of the Name Cagayan and
Mindanao, the Muslim princess is not named, although Cagayha-
109
an was mentioned as the old name of Cagayan de Oro. In both
versions, Cagayha-an bears roughly the same translation: the
place where the people of Lanaospecifically the men who
sought the hand of the sultans daughterwas put to shame.
The story of The Battle of Agusan, set in Agusan, Cagayan
de Oro during a Philippine-American encounter at the turn of
the twentieth century, features the astute leadership and heroism
of Captain Vicente Roa and also comes in two versions. The first
portrayal highlights the plan of operations of the Kagayanon
soldiers, while the second version emphasizes the land, sea, and
riverine battle strategies of the Americans as they sought to beat
down the Filipinos. The two versions conclude with the defeat of
the Filipino soldiers, although the first story recounts the death
of Captain Roa at the point of a bayonet. By contrast, the second
rendition depicts the beheading of the brave captain as his final
mortal blow.
The tales of Iponans patron saint, San Guillermo, and the
statues supposed participation in the battle that resisted the
invasion of the Muslims are also included in this compilation,
although no historical personages are mentioned in any of the
stories. Two other tales, namely, Rizals Clandestine Visit to
Tagoloan and Sarjento Bravo and His Sister unravel a side to war
and revolution that is more personal but, as Bravos tale depicts,
no less harrowing. It comes as a surprise that a Spanish authority
had helped Rizal in his plan to visit an old friend in Tagoloan from
Dapitan, but equally astonishing is the story of Sergeant Bravo
and his sister, who discovered each others identities only after
the former has already killed the husband of the latter, a Spanish
lieutenant from Malaybalay. Such are the subtle repercussions of
war, and the people of Mindanao, specifically Cagayan de Oro,
have not been exempt from its many-sided blows.
The tales in this collection are illustrated in the tradition of
the Filipino komiks, with the text done mostly in English. Paneled
images accompany the text, although some of the images may be
improved in terms of contrast and visibility. Nonetheless, the art
illustrations of Estarte and Vamenta effectively bring to life the
historical tales often handed down orally from one Mindanaoan

generation to the next, making this illustrated edition a valuable
material in and out of the classroom.
Where oral literature and mainstream historical accounts
have failed, these pictorially-depicted folktales have succeeded.
To fill the gap between folklore and official history is one of the
achievements of this collection. Illustrated Historical Folktales
provides a visual representation of a Mindanaoan past so remote
and so obscured by centuries of colonization it is, by all rights, a
rare cultural gem and a historical artifact in itself.
111
Book Review:
Gugud Mindanaw: Tales of
Mindanao. Vol. 1., Museo de Oro,
Xavier University
Arlene J Yandug
The critical test in a publication like Gugud Mindanaw is the

transposition of indigenous materials into the popular medium
of comics. Folkloric materials, like any oral literature, rest on a
vast network of cultural references and allusions common to the
community whence they come. Comics, on the other hand, thrive
on immediacy and brevity and rely on the semiotic significations of
printed words, panels, speech balloons, pictures, and captions.
The challenge then is how to transpose these tales into the
comics vocabulary. How to render them visually and linguistically
apt while faithful to their sources at the same time. As I went
through the stories, page after page, it was easy to see the writer/s
and the artist trying to strike a balance between these two genres.
The cadence of the Bisayan language, the attention to regional and
cultural idiom, metaphor, and symbolism show delicate handling
of material. In the tale of Uleda, the mother stands for the social
compulsion to save face. Shocked by her sons (a worm) ambition
to marry the chief s daughter, she tells him ang tawo nga dili
mokatawa nimo mao ang tawo nga walay baba (anyone who doesnt
laugh at you must have no mouth). There is wit here captured with so
much precision. Or, in another instance, the men notice the womens
long absence from their home upon seeing a tomato plant growing
in their fireplace. This is a detail that shows the flawless mystery of a
riddle, suggests gender roles, a sense of place, or even a whole way of
life and worldview.
All four tales, while stories of human relations, signify mans
deep connection with the natural world. In three stories, humans
are disguised as either a monkey, an earthworm, or a worm. Their

transformations to human form indicate crucial turns in the plot.
An animal turning into a handsome man/prince towards the end
signals the comeuppance of erring and unsuspecting characters,
and the subsequent moral of the tales. In these tales, animals have
supernatural powers; they talk, provide food during drought, and
assist men in slash-and-burn farming. Human beings are not
necessarily superior to the natural world. Like the forest, the animals,
and other creatures, they are part of the earths web of life.
The artist, Nonoy Estarte, an advocate of Mindanaos art and
culture, shows his distinctive impressionistic strokes in the graphic
illustrations. Most striking are the faithful iconic significations in his
rendition of the facial features, the clothing, the houses, the flora
and the fauna of the place. Remarkable too is his creative use of
panel borders - bamboo poles, leaves and vines, the visual motifs
such as the pako rabong (fern) and the geometric patterns which are
reflective of ethnic identities.
However, I get a sense that the images (perhaps originally
drawn on larger panels) are squeezed into the comic book format,
reminiscent of the horror vacui of Philippine paintings. Perhaps,
the drawings could be more effective if they were simpler. Less
ink strokes, less 3-D effect allow the essential outlines to emerge;
more space allows movement and gives a sense of field and spatial
proportion.
Since comics rely on pictures, the narrative has to be judiciously
plotted through panels to control pacing. The size, shape, and
placement of these panels affect the timing and movement of the
narrative. Backdrop story (difficult to drop if the writer is quite close
to the material) could be clipped to allow the present plot to stand
out. Further, the dialogues could stand snipping here and there
without losing their resonances. I got this sense of cluttered-ness
when I could not follow the story anymore and wanted to drop it and
do the laundry instead. The tiny letters do not help. Words, cramped
into balloons, are difficult to read.
The third tale, Ang Kabayaran, however, is a breath of fresh air.
Lots of space, big letters, simpler pictures. This tale, reminiscent of
picaresque stories, tells the story of a boy accused of stealing a deer
by just smelling it being roasted. When the boy is put on trial, an old
113
man saves him by offering the chief a precious gong in exchange of
the boys freedom. After the chief has listened to the music, the old
man refuses to give the gong to the chief. He says the boy has merely
sniffed at the meat; similarly, the chief rightly deserves the sound
only, not the gong itself.
All in all, this first volume is a good material not just for children
but also for adults who have become oblivious of the richness of our
culture and the richness of our tales.

Book Review:
Stories, Jose V. Ayala, University
of the Philippines Press 1999,
162 pages
Abigail C James
A few families have made a significant impact on modern

Philippine society in such a way that the name is immediately
recognized with multiple achievements. The surname Ayala is one
of them. The Ayalas have made numerous contributions to the
countrys economics, infrastructure, and culture. The latter especially
rings true for Jose V. Ayala, who made his mark in the literary world
in the second half of the 20th century by penning numerous stories
that engage and question the world around us. This is epitomized in
his first collection, aptly named Stories. The seventeen short stories
found in the compilation reflect a writer who finds his craft in the
realms of the what if , drawing the reader into the minds of each
peculiar character.
At the very beginning of Stories, we are introduced to a world
full of symbolism in something of an allegory with And the Dancer,
Dancing. It is a strong opening for a book that constantly makes
the reader question the tales of which they are being allowed into.
And the Dancer, Dancing describes the plight of thirteen men, all
chained together and dependent on the others for each movement.
They must find a way to work together to accomplish even the most
minimal task. Pervading through the story is the presence of the
outside power that put them there, watching at all times. This story
sets the tone for many of the others in the collection, using a stream
of consciousness narrative that seems to be a favorite of the author.
The stories that follow this big bang of a headliner are more
within the realm of common life, with a hint of fantasy. The reader
is introduced to relatable characters put into predicaments that
115
might be faced by themselves or anyone they might know. We have
the strugglers such as the poor father Anselmo, coping with hunger
and pride in Salt and Rice, the well-meaning government man Gil
Flores, whose wish for progress is met with rejection by the locals
of Tanabag in the lengthy piece Hard Earth, and the frustrated
retiree named Constancio trying to make it alone on a new island
after retirement in The Alien. These stories invite the reader so
graciously to feel for the main characters in their misadventures.
Other stories describe anomalies in life, such as the clerk, also named
Constancio, a man almost maddeningly entranced with the full
moon in The Astronomer, and the unnamed protagonist trying to
make it through day after day in a seemingly meaningless existence
as in Night is a City.
The second half of Stories ventures into the special realm of
the mind. We encounter characters dealing with lust and sin, forever
contemplating the fine balance. Jilted lovers still hopeful for an
embrace whether literal or imaginary are found in The Sound of
Reflections and So Still, So Bright. Ayala then flirts with madness
by penning stories such as Bestiary and The Walled City. As a
reader, one may wonder at his inspiration for such peculiar plots that
brush the forbidden edges of the mind with careful fingertips.
The last few tales in Stories come full circle with Ayalas The
Other Half of the World, a story published several times locally and
internationally. The story, revolving around a man known only as
the beggar, comments on the predicament of many Filipinos who
are living in squalor and scrounging up a living to support a large
family. With this being the penultimate piece in the collection, one
may observe Ayalas fascination with poverty, this being the main
theme of many in this engaging ensemble of selections.
Ultimately, Jose V. Ayalas style and flair for highlighting
the peculiar in everyday life has been encapsulated in beautiful
descriptive writing. With each layer of this well-crafted collection,
the reader cannot help but be pulled in. The author hands out
invitations to think deeper about history, class, and relationships
as well as bringing the reader along to dissect the human psyche as
it reacts to multiple situations. It is through these complexities that
Ayala succeeds in making his mark that has lasted for so long.

Kinaadman is a Visayan word signifying
both knowledge and wisdom. The sailboat
(vinta, a familiar sight in southern Philippine
seas) carries on its sail a letter K in the old native
syllabary. (Designed by Salvador Wee S.J.)

Peace Amid Diversity: Kinaadman Journal Explores Conflict Resolution

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Kinaadman

(wisdom) A Journal of the Southern Philippines

Southern Philippines has been a melting pot of various ethnic

Erlinda M Burton, Ph D. is presently the Curator-Director of

Peacebuilders in Mindanao Describe Consciousness and

Rido and Pangayaw:

Peace is not Elusive: Mahatama Gandhis Satyagraha.................. 30

Actions, Reflections and Lessons Learned:

Reconciling Literary Naturalism and

Like souls meeting..................................................................................80

February in many voices........................................................................83

Hummingbird and skylark....................................................................87

The Flattery of the Fates: A Sketch on the

viii Kinaadman Vol.XXXVIII

KEYWORDS: Peace, Mindanao, peace building, consciousness and

Peacebuilding in Their Own Words

the individual realizes himself insofar as, in some sense,

Meads statement marks a dramatic shift in the object-self, but

Peacebuilders Described Consciousness

Without consciousness, we peacebuilders dont have the

Pangcogas explanation connects consciousness to what

Peacebuilders Explore Transformation

Using Metaphors to Bring The Message of Hope

Metaphors Peacebuilders Used (Fuertes 2010, pp.9, 10)

KEYWORDS: Mindanao, peace, revenge killing, non-killing, rido,

The Innate Inhibition to Kill

If you feel the blade going through another persons skin,

This was a statement from a 60-year old Manobo farmer who

Most Humans Have Not Killed

Perhaps not coincidentally, indigenous areas with high number

Killing as the Problem

Keywords: Gandhi, Satyagraha, Democracy, Peace, Political

The Eternal Principle, which is God. There are innumerable

Careful understanding, however, must be done in interpreting

We do not call a mouse a coward because he is made by

Gandhi believed that fearlessness is not a quality of the body but

The Reality of Political Dynasties

Satyagraha and its Anti-Political Dynasty and Democratic

Keywords: Psychosocial response, mental health care services,

November 5, 2010 December 20,2011

Christmas after Sendong

Women Survivors Refugees

Xavier Universitys Psychosocial Response

Psychosocial Training: Brief Crisis Counseling Orientation and

Taking care of our own: XU Faculty and Staff Colloquium

Psychoeducational materials were distributed for information-

Psychosocial Community Service

Focused Psychosocial Community Service in Summer

Recommendations and Lessons Learned in Psychosocial Care

Key Words: Literary Criticism, Naturalism, Naturalistic Novels,

1 The Vatican document uses man as a general term to mean either

Vatican II met in the great nave of Saint Peters Basilica in

Gaudium et Spes is distinctive as a document and in terms of its

Pope John intuited that there was something profoundly

The purpose of the councils assembly is also to monitor the

Mans social nature makes it evident that the progress of

Mans social ties which include his family and political

This social order requires constant improvement. It must

There is tension in the idea of free will and individuality in the

Man and the Spiritual

Never has the human race enjoyed such an abundance

Thus, when he recognizes in himself a spiritual and