PUP Research Journals (Polytechnic University of the Philippines)

Speech Delivered in the International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines

Mirer, Jeanne

Promoting the Goals of the United Nation’s Charter: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Jimenez, Jayson

B O O K  R E V I E W SWHAT CAN PHILOSOPHY DO IN THE PRESENT?A Reading of  Badiou and Zizek’s Philosophy in the PresentJayson C. JimenezTHE BELOVED IDIOMA Reading of  Villafania’s Pinabli & Other PoemsDennis Andrew S. AguinaldoPRUDENTE AS REVOLUTIONIST AND PROPHETAlfredo O. Cuenca, Jr.What Can Philosophy Do in the Present?A Reading of Badiou and Zizek’s “Philosophy in the Present”JAYSon c. JimeneZBachelor of  Arts in Philosophy Polytechnic University of the PhilippinesWhat can philosophy do in the present? Can she intervene in the state of  affairs, in political, social or philosophic situations? In a public conference held at Vienna in 2004, Žižek and Badiou contemplated on the idea of  how philosophy mediates in the contemporary time and surprisingly both agree on what philosophy has to offer. Badiou began the discourse with his speech on Thinking the Event. A philosopher, he alludes to, intervenes in the present as an inventor of  new problems in a setting he called ‘a philosophical situation.’ He listed three forms of  philosophical situation.  First, it is a situation in need of  a choice or decision, for instance, the relation between Socrates and Callicles, a relation premised on mere ‘confrontation’. Philosophy herein arbitrates between two non-related viewpoints that are exactly different in both form and content. Second, a situation where there is a distance between power and truth. Here, Badiou cites a Roman Soldier beheading the intellectual Archimedes for not responding to his questions. The third philosophic situation implies a value of  exception by means of  an event of  love. He describes a love story depicted in Mizoguchi’s film The Crucified Lovers. A young woman married to a shop owner fell in love with their employee. They absconded to the woods and the husband makes excuses to his relatives to defend his wife’s reputation. However, the law prevailed at the end and the condemned lovers were crucified leaving the audience with a ‘smile.’ The film, meanwhile, told us of  the opposite perception: that love resists death (the film in literal sense gave us a view of  dead lovers punished by the society). As Badiou says, “Between the event of  love and the ordinary rules of  life there is no common measure (…) what will philosophy tells us then? It will tell us that ‘we must think the event’ (…) we must think the exception (…) B o o k  R e v i e w s| M A B I N I  R E V I E W130we must think the transformation of  life” (7). Love is being determined into an ‘undecidable’ event which values exception even in the rigid enforcement of  laws in the society.  Badiou adds that if  one desires to have a meaningful life through the guidance of  philosophy one should think the event (exception), the distance between power and truth, and lastly, should be firm in all decisions. Between Callicles and Socrates one should choose. On the other hand, if  you take the side of  Archimedes, you will be against the side of  the Roman Soldier. Similarly, if  you follow the lovers, then your action is adamantly hostile to the conjugal rule. As Plato would say, philosophy is an awakening. It is a seizure that would break the sleep of  thought. And it would be legitimate to say that whenever there is paradox of  any forms—then Philosophy takes place. This is the function of  philosophy. Seizure implies a side to take, a selection that creates a break between choices, that is, the power of  choice is the element of  philosophy.  Badiou stressed that a philosopher must commit himself  to a choice or decision in the name of  universal principles. He demonstrated eight. First: Thought is the proper medium of  the universal. By Thought, Badiou means the precondition of  the possibility of  being a subject at the local level before constituting a universal. Second: Every universal is singular, or is a singularity. The universal presents itself  not as regularization of  particular or of  differences, but a subtraction from identitarian predicates, that is, in a form of  singularity where the logic of  the forms of  knowledge describes particularity not in the lens of  an “indescribable figure of  universal itself.” Third: Every universal originates in an event, and the event is intransitive to the particularity of  the situation. This eventual revisionism is explained by Badiou through negation of  political universalism by declaring, say, that the French Revolution was a vain attempt and the May 1968 student movement was never a national emancipation but a sexual liberation. Fourth: A universal presents itself  as a decision. Badiou emphasized the unfolding of  the universal by drawing all consequences of  evental statements. There are events that are encyclopedic such that we understand these events only when predicated of  knowledge that enjoins us to decide. Fifth: The universal J . C .  J i m e n e z | Philosophy in the Present|An Interdisciplinary Journal 131has implicative form. This implicative form verifies the consequences that follows from an evental statement, for instance, the undecidability of  the French Revolution whether it is successful or not in its objectives to which the missing event is indexed.  This event remains in the political category (that of  political universality) even if  one thinks that there is no revolution. Sixth: Badiou explains that: The universal is univocal. Every statement in a given situation is undecidable. One has to conform to a choice as logical necessity, either affirming or denying the situation.  But what occurs in the event has nothing to do with the meaning or the beings of  the event; whereas any previous events that are undecidable will have to be decided in favor of  truth. But if  there is an event seemingly “devoid of  any significance,” it would have to yield to exceptions on decision. Consequently, it is clear that what affects the evental statements is the “act” whose nature is univocal. Seventh: Every universal singularity remains incompletable or open. Badiou’s com-mentary here is about the subject-thought whose localization is bound to infinitude, that is, “the ontological view of  being-multiple” which cognizes the possibility of  conforming to infinite affirmations that uncloses the universal singularity. Eight: Badiou’s last thesis on the universal: Universality is nothing other than the faithful construction of  an infinite generic multiple. Generic multiplicity expounds the non-determination of  any predicates of  encyclopedic knowledge whose membership requires non-identity, or non-possession of  any proper-ties that mark the differences in the group in a given situation. Universality arises in the faithful construction of  such generic multiple that leaves the subject-thought open. It would culminate in the invention of  consequences that will initiate multiple possibilities.  For his part, Žižek contends that philosophy is not a discourse of  everybody longing for home. Philosophers are called to intervene; however, his task has something to do with changing the concept of  the present situation. Philosophers, more often take the side of  an alternative in solving a problem. This gesture however complements the most typical characteristics of  philosophy, being a non-dialogic discipline. Žižek mentioned that political agreements among philosophers (like Derrida and Habermas along with other American philosophers on the summer of  2003 calling for a New Europe) betray something on their own philosophy. B o o k  R e v i e w s| M A B I N I  R E V I E W132 Philosophers often give ‘fast food philosophical answers’ which Žižek characterizes as “a philosophical confusion, a type of  politico-ontological short circuit” (32). This enables us to think that philosophy nowadays (Žižek refers to Postmodernism) performs the act of  pseudo-transcendental category which evokes “immediate ontological unveiling” (33). In this light, Žižek stressed the ano-malous place of  Neo-Kantianism through its representative, Habermas. For Žižek, Habermas’s ‘state philosophy’ enunciates this form of  thinking which provokes a somewhat totalitarian position of  science in the society. He defined state philosophy in the Habermasian sense as the “endorser of  development necessary for capitalism, science and etcetera” (34). On the contrary, Žižek pro-posed a new definition of  “state philosophy” as a “philosophy which tacitly tolerates scientific and technical progress, while on the other hand, it tries to control its effects on our socio-symbolic order, that is, to prevent the existing theological-ethical world picture from changing” (35).  What is then the role of  philosophy?  Philosophy, Žižek answered, “hardly plays a normal role in the sense that it is merely a philosophy.”  It habitually lodges in the position of  other fields or subjects. By stating an example, he mentioned that German Philosophy was brought by the non-appearance of  revolution by that time. Thus, we should be awakened from our dream of  having a normal philosophy because it is anomalous par excellence! Žižek adds that philosophy “literally exists with its excessive connection to external condition which is of  amorous, political or etcetera” (49). Following Kant’s notion of  “public and private use of  reason” Žižek gave emphasis on intellectuals engaging in public philosophical debates. Like Badiou, he buoyed the participation of  singularity in universal by means of  overcoming humanism (universality) through disposing the singular non-human (inhuman). ‘Inhuman’ is a terrifying excess that resists symbolization and should be evaded. Žižek offered an astonishing proposal: a redefinition of  ‘inhuman/non-human’ via humanization or the universal idea of  being human. One can be human without a race difference: German, French, and English, for example. The fundamental message of  philosophy, according to Žižek, is the immediate participation in the universality, beyond particular J . C .  J i m e n e z | Philosophy in the Present|An Interdisciplinary Journal 133identifications (40). This would sufficiently support the premise that even Žižek, in this book, would conform to a need for timely philosophy that is, in nature, emancipatory.  Badiou and Žižek both agree that philosophers themselves should intervene in the process of  paradoxical thinking, the idea that contradictions occur in light of  choice, power and exception.  Echoing Nietzsche, both agree that, “a Philosopher should be a kind of  a physician that diagnoses evil, suffering and, if  need be, suggest remedies in order to return to the normal state of  affairs” (46). R e f e r e n c eBadiou, Alain and Slavoj Žižek. Philosophy in the Present. Translated by Peter Thomas and Alberto Toscano. USA: Polity Press, 2009.The Beloved IdiomA Reading of Villafania’s Pinabli & Other PoemsDenniS AnDReW S. AgUinALDoUniversity of  the Philippines - Los BañosIn his memoir Elegy for Iris, John Bayley revealed that the young Murdoch wanted her first novel to have “something for everybody.” This was, at least for Bayley, akin to the very spirit of  Shakespeare’s corpus. Likewise, I find this phrase the best way to describe Santiago Villafania’s latest book. For in terms of  language, advocacy, and aesthetic vision, Pinabli & other poems, indeed has something in hand for everybody. “Pinabli” is the Pangasinan word for beloved, perhaps a single beloved, but the reader will find that the direction of  this passion disperses. This book extends itself, encompassing the country, the waxing and waning of  its literature, blessing the Pangasinan language, embracing languages in their plurality and mutability (for – as a proper banquet – this book is generously attended by the translations of  distinguished well-wishers into Filipino, Ilocano, English, Spanish, and Italian), drawing inspiration from Jose Rizal, Sappho, and Cirilo Bautista, and singing of  many personages, among them Jaime P. Lucas and Levi Celerio, a soulmate too, and an unnamed rebel poet.However, in the same way that so many varied adventures lead to the fulfillment of  a single quest, all these loves seem to pour into one overarching pinabli: Caboloan, that is, the ancient name of  Pangasinan. To oversee this scheme, the poet chose the magnificent Urduja to recur as a figurehead, the heroine and muse.In her introduction, Dr. Florangel Rosario Braid quoted Dr. Ricardo Nolasco’s remark that Villafania has produced models for succeeding writers. I followed this lead and found, happily, how judiciously Villafania orchestrated the commingling of  many poetic forms with the different languages, for example, how a Pangasinan tongue-twister assumed the form of  a sonnet, how the anlong caught B o o k  R e v i e w s| M A B I N I  R E V I E W136Jose Garcia Villa and Leonard Cohen unawares, how the haiku – in a pas de deux with Pangasinan – yielded to the cummings-type lyric that sought to cut in. I can imagine how a reader can find fault in the scatter of  these mass of  poems. In my view, what the collection lost in terms of  cohesion and elegance, it gains in sweep and ambition. Villafania needs such vision and range to translate poetic forms across the shores of  cultures. He must willingly import and export these forms and languages, wholesale, so to speak, in order to assure the continuity of  Pangasinan literature.  If  he wishes to increase the repertoire of  this particular literature, he must endow it with new methods of  drawing breath.  The present collection proves Villafania equal to the challenge he set for himself.Something in this book for everybody, I said, but what’s in it for me?  There is this one poem, and I had the good fortune of  hearing the poet read it himself, his delivery almost as sombre as his black shirt. Dalityapi sa Huling Paglalakbay speaks of  the final journey of  the cattle-caravans (those lovely cow-drawn shops laden with brooms, clay pots, toys, and many other products from the provinces) toward the city that decided to shun them. Villafania leads with this stanza:ang mga bumabaroy ng Caboloanilang salinlahi din silang nagharisa mga daan at lansangan upang sundanang bakas ng kanilang mga ninunoat haraya ng lalawigang pinagmulan Here is the penultimate stanza of  the second movement:sa ngalan ng paglago at pagbabagongayon ay mga dumi sila sa paninginsa mga lansangang ipinagbabawal nang apakansa mga bayang pilit iniluluwaang kanilang kaluluwa pabalik sa silanganPrudente as Revolutionist and ProphetALFReDo o.cUencA JR.Department of  the Humanities and PhilosophyPolytechnic University of  the PhilippinesIn his essay “Literature of  Knowledge and Literature of  Power,” Thomas de Quincey did not anticipate the rise of  revolutionary literature as instrument for radical change. Dr. Nemesio E. Prudente’s “The Revolutionists” is a novel of  ideas based on his life as a political detainee for six years and as a refugee in the heart of  rural Philippines opposed to Marcos’ martial rule. It tells about the adventures of  his alter ego and the novel’s protagonist, Dr. Dencio “Ka Edong” Noble, who immersed himself  in the ever growing revolutionary clamor in the countryside as poverty intensified, as politics became more and more authoritarian, and as people of  mixed ideologies, particularly the youth and studentry, transformed themselves into self-taught armed cadres and partisans inspired by grassroots wisdom, simplicity and honesty.It tells about Ka Edong holding court with the college dropouts, activists and unlettered farmers while on the run from the military. This sets the novel apart from the other Filipino works, which are mostly picaresque or novels of  manners, with the possible exception of  Rizal and Amado V. Hernandez. Here we note a marked difference: Prudente’s novel does not only explicate on the human condition, it stirs men to action.In the last chapter of  Rizal’s Fili, we see Father Florentino and the dying Simoun discussing good and evil. In chapter five of  Fyodor Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov we see Ivan Karamazov in his delirium indicting Christ again for coming back and not putting an end B o o k  R e v i e w s| M A B I N I  R E V I E W138to human suffering. With Dostoevsky again, in the last chapter, we see Father Alyosha Karamazov, like Father Florentino, talking of  the eternal human condition. Prudente does not moralize. In stirring men to action, he also takes a glimpse of  the future. In fact, many of  the events taking place today have been predicted by him in his own introduction to the book, as well as in its epilogue, such as the downfall of  Erap Estrada and Marcos before him, the highs and lows in the Cory Aquino and Fidel Ramos administrations, the military role in the ousting of  two presidents, the continuing CPP-NPA threat, the significance of  EDSA 1 and 2, and the stirring call to arms at the end of  the book: “Stay awake Filipino nationalists, progressives and democrats! Our job is far from done!”The rise in terrorism has been predicted by Prudente but he warns against confusing terrorism with revolution. Asks student leader Vicky in chapter five: “In a revolutionary struggle, in particular armed struggle, where is the dividing line between terrorism and revolution?”State terrorism, Ka Edong answers, is institutional violence, extreme poverty and misery, and assumes varied forms like a court order upholding a land-grabber and setting him free. Is fighting for justice an act of  terrorism? In the same chapter five of  the novel, which is practically a book within a book in terms of  ideas, Prudente goes farther than Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon and Albert Camus’s The Delicate Murderers. He asks: “How would the selective assassination of  the enemies of  the people range against the revolutionary’s principles of  morality, decency and respect for human life. He adds: “If  the communist parties and their controlled governments are anti-people instead of  pro-people, then I believe that one of  these days they’d be confronted with people’s revolutions.” A .  O .  C u e n c a ,  J r . | Prudente as Revolutionist and Prophet|An Interdisciplinary Journal 139What is the solution?The student leader Vicky again says: “Ka Edong is for the establishment of  a people’s democracy in the country, in contrast to the elitist democracy which existed before martial law. Yet, he admits that even the elitist democracy is preferable to a fascist dictatorship. He stresses, nevertheless, that going back to the elitist type of  democracy should be avoided. For him, a people’s democracy must rise from the ruins of  the dismantled dictatorship. Returning to the pre-martial law elitist democracy would merely restore the old problems, not very different form the problems we’re now facing.”Well said.

English

WHAT CAN PHILOSOPHY DO IN THE PRESENT? A Reading of Badiou and Zizek’s Philosophy in the Present

Rivas, Virgilio

AXIOMS OF CHOICE: Or, what post-continental philosophy has to say about the lived axioms of decision-making

This paper showcases the context of social justice as well as the development of modern concept of inclusive distributive justice. Looking at treaties, protocols, and universal human rights as bases of fundamental objective of the right to life and the dignity of human persons, as well as in lay man’s term, it touches the concepts of primary social goods such as rights, liberty, and opportunity. Essentially, summarizing the term as opportunities and aspects of institutions that the citizens should have in order to live a sense of their own worth as moral persons and thereby, realizing the individual’s highest interest and advancing people’s self-confidence and self-worth

Puno, Reynato

THE MEANING OF SOCIAL JUSTICEReynato S. PunoABSTRACTThis paper showcases the context of social justice as well as the development of modern concept of inclusive distributive justice.   Looking at treaties, protocols, and universal human rights as bases of fundamental objective of the right to life and the dignity of human persons, as well as in lay man’s term, it touches the concepts of primary social goods such as rights, liberty, and opportunity. Essentially, summarizing the term as opportunities and aspects of institutions that the citizens should have in order to live a sense of their own worth as moral persons and thereby, realizing the individual’s highest interest and advancing people’s self-confidence and self-worth.       keywords: social justice, rights and liberty, inclusive distributive justiceIn general terms, social justice or distributive has been understood as “giving to each what he or she is due.”  More specifically, it has been referred to as the “notion that individuals ought to receive the treatment that is proper and fitting for them,”  thereby bringing to the fore the concept of “fairness”and “rightness” by which benefits and burdens are distributed among peoples, communities and nations.  Another thinker stepped back to look as well at the sources of the elements being distributed and defined social justice as being concerned with distribution benefits and burdens that are a result of social relationship and institutions.  The Center for Economicand Social Justice (CES) in Washington D.C. elaborated on this definition, viz:Social justice encompasses economic justice.  Social justice is the virtue which guides us in creating those organized human interaction we call institutions.  In turn, social institutions, when justly organized, provide us with access to what is good for the person, both individually and in our associations with others.  Social justice also imposes on each of us a personal responsibility to work with others to design and continually perfect our institutions as tools for personal and social development.SOCIAL SCIENCES AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW18In more practical terms, Mick Dodson, an Australian Social Justice Commissioner, describe social justice, viz:Social justice is awakening in a house with adequate water supply, cooking facilities and sanitation.  It is the ability to nourish your children and send them to school where their education not only equips them for employment but reinforces their knowledge and understanding of their cultural inheritance.  It is the prospect of genuine employment and good health:  a life of choices and opportunity, free from discrimination.Three distinctive features of social justiceA universal definition of social justice also known as distributive justice or eco justice is elusive, but with all its nuances and refinements, at least three important points on social justice, based on literature on the subject, need to be highlighted:1) The benefits or goods to be distributed are not just income and wealth (economic goods) but also those that people need and care about (social goods) such as political power, access, liberty, opportunity and the bases of self-respect.2) The distribution of what is “due” must be based on at least three criteria (i.e., rights, need, deserts/merit) to achieve fairness and rightness.  These criteria would guarantee the security of expectation and freedom of choice (rights), recognize the distinctive value of each person’s actions and qualities (merits), and provide the prerequisites for individual satisfaction (needs).3) It involves relationship among actors who individually contribute (burden) and, in turn, receive (benefit) from the results of the relationships and outcomes ofthe contributions.19THE MEANING OF SOCIAL JUSTICE Inquiry on inclusive distributive justiceAmong the contemporary thinkers, John Rawls inaugurated the inquiry into the issue of what it is, the just society, should equalize across persons.  In his phenomenonal work, A Theory of Justice (1971), he listed the primary social goods for all persons on broad categories, as rights and liberties, opportunities and powers, and income and wealth.  Later, he specified the five primary goods or categories of such goods:  (a)  basic liberties, including freedom of association, liberty and so on; (b)  freedom of movement and choice of occupation; (c)  powers and prerogatives of offices and positions of responsibility; (d)  income of wealth; and (e)  the social bases of respect.  The last is defined as “those aspects of basic institutions that are normally essential if citizens are to have a lively sense of their own worth as moral persons and to be able to realize their highest-order interests and advance their ends with self-confidence.”Years later, the Noble Prize-winning economist Amartya Sen argued that the egalitarian focus should not be on the equality of primary goods as conceived by Rawls, but on what goods do for people, short of providing idiosyncratic welfare:  they enable people to escape morbidity, to be adequately nourished, to have mobility, to achieve self-respect, to take part in the life of the community, and to be happy.  Sen calls these “doings and beings” as functionings.  For him, incomes should not be equalized, but distributed in manner that equalizes the functionings that persons can achieve.  For example, a handicapped person will generally require more income than an able-bodied one.The development of the modern concept of inclusive distributive justice in the last two centuries coincides with the genesis of the concept of universality of human rights soon after the Second World War.  The various human rights covenant came as response to the world’s outrage over the Nazi atrocities of enslavement, torture, and genocide.  On December 10, 1984, the UN General Assembly adopted and proclaimed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.  This declaration affirmed the importance of civil and political rights such as the rights to life, liberty, and equality before the law, and more controversially, the importance of SOCIAL SCIENCES AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW20social and economic rights.  In 1966, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Optional Protocol to the Civil and Political rights providing for the mechanism of checking state compliance to the international human rights instruments.  These treaties entered into force in 1976 and are binding as international law upon governments subscribing to them.  The basis of the covenants is a common agreement on the fundamental objective of the dignity and worth of the human person.Social justice and human rights are two sides of one coin.  The bulk of the declarations in international human rights instruments carries a common, three-fold theme that resonates the modern concept of social justice or distributive justice:  the right of every human being to participate in shaping decision that affect his own life and that of his society (freedom to decide); reasonable access to the economic resources that make that participation possible (equality/equity of opportunity); and affirmation of the essential human worth and dignity of every person, regardless of individual qualities and/or group membership (dignity or person).  The right to life is the single most basic human right.  The fundamental principle behind this right demands that every human being should have access to the economic resources that maintain life.  Without sufficient economic maintenance such as work, food, shelter, and clothing, all the other rights and freedom are virtually meaningless.  The human right to economic maintenance includes not only the right to the minimal life-maintaining essential which were also provided to “chattels”under slavery, but also right to an adequate standard of living and to the kinds of public services, such as medical and health care, social services and, especially, education which afford the basic supports for a decent living standard for everyone in modern society.Internationally endorsed human rights principle enshrined in the UN Charter, International Bill of Rights, and related treaties and covenant provide an overarching paradigm for social equality and  social justice for all humanity.  International human rights belong  to every human solely by virtue of his/her membership in human kind and not by virtue of any special merit.  The biological unity of humankind emphasizes the oneness of 21THE MEANING OF SOCIAL JUSTICE all human being as member of the same human species and acknowledges the close affinities among members of the human population.According to [Jose P.] Laurel, the promotion of universal rights correlative with the pursuit of social justice is a function of the state.  The trend towards globalization challenges the degree of intervention the State should take to equalize people.  But as Amartya Sen says:  “The real debate on globalization is, ultimately, not about the efficiency of markets, nor about the importance of modern technology.  The debate, rather, is about the inequality of power, for which there is much less tolerance now than in the world that emerged at the end of the Second World War.”  The fault line is between the powerful and powerless, the haves and have-nots, and the excluded and included.To protect the market and its own legitimacy, the state needs to intervene with corrective mechanisms when marginalization occurs. National political authorities “will retain a unique advantage in justifying extraction for redistribution purposes.”  States have the freedom and duty to pursue human development.  Nevertheless, there appears to be a consensus that economic globalization encourages states to keep social welfare spending low and give priority to balancing budgets and avoiding high taxation rates.  In this precarious situation, the human rights approach lends an effective mechanism as it carries a legal obligation.  Policies must be in conformity with human rights obligations.  The difficulty arises when states accept other legal obligations such as frameworks of international organizations that contradict human rights obligations.  The human rights regime then becomes a most useful tool for social mobilization, especially of those excluded or abused by the market.  In a democratic landscape, concerned groups can rely on freedom of expression and association to open up a political space where their demands can be heard, whether anchored on civil, political, economic, social or cultural rights.  Their claims can be brought before a judge.  Privacy rights, for example, are at the core of discussions about regulation of the internet, a major avenue that facilitates the globalization of exchanges.  Already, in other jurisdictions, cases have been filed and decided by courts.SOCIAL SCIENCES AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW22Approaches in promoting inclusivenessThe exclusiveness of the global market needs to be countered by the inclusiveness of human rights and social justice.  In this regard, civil society organizations (CSOs) and others in the citizenry can pursue an inclusion framework that demands identifying and dismantling barriers of discrimination and privilege to ensure that opportunities reach those left out of development.  John D. Clark, former manager of the NGO and Civil Society Unit of the World Bank and advisor to governments on development and civil society issues, identifies four practical strategies;1) Participation:  ensuring that people have influence over decisions affecting their lives.  This concerns ways in which poor people exercise their voices through new forms of deliberation and mobilization so as to influence large institutions and their policies (Gaventa et al.  2002).  Participation is about active, as opposed to passive citizenship -- “making and shaping,”not just using and choosing.  Institutions rarely offer structures allowing such democratizing of influence, hence the importance of CSOs working at the local level as mobilizers and conduits for this voice.2. Empowerment: helping people see their own potential as active agents in development.  Even if the state affords people rights of active citizenship, most of the poor don’t take advantage because they see themselves as powerless or fear reprisals. Empowerment comes through right-awareness work and linking people in similar situations (including those in different countries).  This is also usually  enabled by CSOs and is most advanced in countries where there is a strong civil society sector.3. Equity:  ensuring that laws, services, and opportunities are affordable without favoritism and that the benefits of development are broadly shared, Laws may require this but inequalities remain, perhaps because the elites are skilled at 23THE MEANING OF SOCIAL JUSTICE annexing the benefits or because staff in the delivery agencies don’t care about the poor.  Independent watchdogs and campaigning organizations are usually needed to wrestle against such in-built prejudices.4. Security:  ensuring that the most vulnerable people get the most protection. Every society experience shocks, and the weak are least able to sustain them.  At times of crisis, governments take protective steps, but these often attend to the big actors in the national economy, leaving the weak to fend for themselves. CSOs often have good records for providing safety nets in such situations and for advocating to governments macro-strategies that pose fewer risks.  Their efforts help to ensure that the poor are included in bad years as well as good.The universal debate on social justice notwithstanding, our 1987 Constitution appears to have perpetuated Laurel’s idea of social justice. The 1935 and 1973 Constitution devotes an entire article to social justice and people participation.  Article XIII of the 1987 Constitution on Social Justice and Human Rights provides, viz:Sec. 1.  The Congress shall give highest priority to the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the right of all people to human dignity, reduce, social, economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political power for the common good.  To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition, ownership, use and disposition of property and its increments.Sec. 2.  The promotion of social justice shall include the commitment to create economic opportunities based on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.Sec. 16.  The right of the people and their organizations to effective and reasonable participation at all levels of SOCIAL SCIENCES AND DEVELOPMENT REVIEW24social, political, and economic decision-making shall not be abridged.  The State shall, by law, facilitate the establishment of adequate consultation mechanisms.The right to a healthy environment is a human rightBefore I put a close to this discourse on social justice, I like to make a short shift of the idea of sustainable development as I respectfully submit that especially considering the alarming statistics concerning our environment, sustainable development should go hand in hand with social justice.  Briefly, sustainable development has been defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” The unsustainable use of natural resources in this generation would deprive future generations of the earth’s wealth and bounty, thereby pushing the goals of social justice beyond reach.  The Philippine is now considered a major “ecological hotspot.” While our country is extremely wealthy biologically and is home to a wide diversity of living organisms, it has had one of the highest rates of biodiversity loss in recent years.  Forest cover is down to 18%, putting in precarious balance the lives of 284 endangered species of plant and animal life in 1998.  We are rapidly losing our freshwater resources. with 158 major rivers unfit for drinking and 50 rivers biologically dead or cannot support any form of life.  Recently, it was reported that the Philippines is on top of the list of countries most affected by global warming.  These figures should serve to us as early warning device of the impending darkness of our future thick enough to be felt now.The universal human rights regime and its concomitant inclusive social justice contribute to addressing the adverse ecological consequences of economic globalization.  They enable individuals to challenge the impact of environmental degradation on their own lives.  In Latin America,. for instance, the individual human right to a healthy environment is gaining recognition in both regional and domestic case law.  In terms of social mobilization, human rights serve as a convergence point in forging alliances between the environment and human rights movements.

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Promoting the Goals of the United Nation’s Charter: The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

WHAT CAN PHILOSOPHY DO IN THE PRESENT? A Reading of Badiou and Zizek’s Philosophy in the Present

AXIOMS OF CHOICE: Or, what post-continental philosophy has to say about the lived axioms of decision-making

The Meaning of Social Justice

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