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|SANIBLAKAS FOUNDATION |
PROGRAM THRUST FOR Lambat-Liwanag. PROJECT TO BUILD A NETWORK OF CENTERS FOR EMPOWERING PARADIGMS |
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ANNOUNCEMENT: MONTHLY SERIES OF PARADIGM-SPECIFIC CONFERENCES CONTINUES AUGUST 31, TO BE FOCUSED ON THAT DAY: "GENDER SENSITIVITY, EQUALITY AND HARMONY.' click here. |
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Come, join us in gathering the empowering Light… - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - |
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We are a network of light-gatherers and light-sharers, committed to help empower our fellow humans by freeing them from those divisive and self-limiting patterns of thinking and behavior. These old paradigms have gone unchallenged for centuries but we are now bringing them up for reexamination under the glaring light of reason and inspiration. |
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We are the LAMBAT-LIWANAG Network of Centers for Empowering Paradigms. ‘Lambat’ is the Filipino word for network; and ‘Liwanag’ our word for Light. This network, mainly academe-based, was convened by the synergism-oriented SanibLakas Foundation under its overarching program thrust for Human Development and Harmony (HDH). |
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This
network embraces research centers and equivalent entities in different
universities and schools, mostly in Manila, with definite plans for nationwide
expansion. The five founding
centers, all in the City of Manila, are:
·
Social
Science Department, Philippine Normal University (PNU)
·
Social
Research Center, University of Sto. Tomas (UST)
·
University
Center for Research, Seminars and Conferences, Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
(PLM)
·
Manila
Studies Program, University of the Philippines-Manila (UP-M)
·
Human
Rights Office, Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP)
We
have been joined by the research unit of the Philippine Science and Technology
Center (PSTC, recently renamed as Sentro ng Agham Pilipino) in Baguio City and
the Applied Cosmic Anthropology Program of the Asian Social Institute (ASI),
even as efforts and processes are underway for us to be joined by equivalent
entities within the Philippine Christian University (PCU), Letran College, and
the College of Community Health Management and Development (CCHDM), Adamson
University (AU), De La Salle University-College of St. Benilde (DLSU-CSB), and the Ateneo de Manila University (AdMU).
For a much broader reach within and also beyond the Academe, we have started establishing close contacts with such wide groupings as the Education Network (E-Net) and Environment Education Network (EEN), Philippine Association of Schools, Colleges and Universities (PASCU), and the Catholic Education Association of the Philippines (CEAP), as well us with key officials of the Department of Education (Dep Ed), and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).
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1.
Total Human Development and Harmony
Synergism
and the Cosmic Human-- in Cosmology, Philosophy, & Spirituality
Synergism and the Biological Human-- in Anatomy/Physiology, & Biosphere (symbiosis, bio-diversity in ecosystems, etc.)
Synergism and the Social Human-- in Social Basics, in Economics, in Health and Health Care, in Aesthetics, & in Culture
Holistic appreciation and treatment of the physical systems of the body
Holistic appreciation and
treatment of physical, mental, emotional, psychological, psychic and spiritual
health
Holistic appreciation,
study and application of various modalities of health care and of medicine
Holistic appreciation of
synergies among various roles of healers and care-givers in an effort centered
on empowered patients.
3.
Deep Ecology and Harmony with Nature
Basic
respect and appreciation of and love for the natural environment
Deeper
Eco-Spirituality
Comprehension
and respect for biodiversity in stability of symbiosis
Comprehension
and respect for ecosystems as fragile habitats
4.
Sense of History and Sense of Mission
“3-D”
View of History, including time continuum and multidimensional development
(“Detalye, Daloy at Diwa”); critique of memorization-oriented and
fragmented patterns in present-day teaching of history.
Constructive
and liberative view of time continuum and collective journey
Holistic
Collective consciousness on Holistic collective experience
Concept
and challenge of consensus-building and synergy-building for a collective
sense of mission as humankind and as a nation; and on this basis, the
consolidation of synergies in nationhood and in humanity.
Distinction
between democratic governance and “participatory democracy”
Citizenry
as Sovereign Body Politic; and Government’s role and accountability as
servant, facilitator and leader in a working democracy
People’s
collective self-empowerment through “building-blocks” synergies
Human,
people’s, peoples’ and citizens’ indivisible and innate rights
Human
development and social harmony
Interrelationships
among legitimate social, economic, political and cultural rights and
interests
Culture
as community creation, property and patrimony
Critique
of overspecialized artistry and star system as elitist and separative in
bases and consequences
Holistic
view of culture as synergy of collective value-systems and practices of the
community
Aesthetics
as basic faculty inherent in all humans: “Art from the Heart”
Interrelation
and balance of aesthetics and functionality
Community’s
cultural identity and enrichment as a component of collective self-respect
and as basis for assimilation
Seeking
light as pursuit of reason and not of mere information, as pursuit of wisdom
and not of mere knowledge
Promotion
of seeking and sharing wisdom and knowledge as the basic process in
education;
“Reinventing”
the teacher as a “sharing and learning facilitator” and of textbooks as
channels of learning instead of authoritative “last word” on anything.
Recognition
and enhancement of sources of knowledge, skills and knowledge outside the
school systems
Promotion of less-structured education systems for children that would encourage and enhance intuition, aesthetic appreciation and creativity, respect for self and others, love for all life, predisposition to team play, and basic spirituality.
8.
Gender Sensitivity, Equality
Repudiation of all
physical, cultural and philosophical/religious justifications for
macho-patriarchal beliefs, rules and practices
Promotion and
institutionalization of genuine respect between the sexes
Promotion of equality of
opportunities for all individuals regardless of sex or gender preference
Attainment of Equality view as institutionalized standard and, upon this premise, focusing on work for Holistic Harmony between the sexes.
Critique
of criminal justice systems that focus on penalizing perpetrators and
advocacy of giving substantial/equal attention to the rehabilitation and
restitution for the victims
Development
of holistic and effective rehabilitation/restitution systems.
Development
of holistic and effective crime prevention systems.
10.
Associative Economics, Social Capital and Sustainable Development
Critique of elitist,
individualist and extreme-collective economic systems, philosophies and
practices
Synergism and sharing
paradigm in collective productivity and prosperity.
Promotion
of successful enterprises that are broad and popular in ownership,
management and operation in the mold of genuine cooperatives
Promotion
of bigger roles for coops in major industries and the economy
Promotion of conscious
and consistent application and optimization of the concept of Three Basic
Synergies (physical, mental, spiritual) in healthy organizations
Development of collective
morale and efficiency as functions of leadership
Organizations as
embodiments and mechanisms of the members’ individual and collective
empowerment through synergy
Repudiation of
personality-centered organizational practices with “superman”-type,
superstar, “infallible” or dictatorial leaders, on the one hand, and
nominal, fans-club-type or slave-type members, on the other.
12.
Appropriate/Adaptive Technology.
Promotion
and enhancement of user-centered creativity for designing and innovating
technologies appropriate to specificities of contexts for application
(including respect for tradition and for scientific advances)
Promotion
of popular ownership, control and enjoyment of broadly-applied technologies;
Harmony
with Nature as a requirement for acceptable technologies
Respect
for intellectual property rights of entire communities
Appropriate
balance between “economies of scale” and “small is beautiful”
13.
Mutual Enrichment of Families and Friendships.
Promotion
of consciousness on families and friendships as synergies
Consciousness
of families and friendships as vital building blocks of bigger (community,
national and international) synergies
Repudiation
of sub-cultures for small-group separativeness, like rumble-prone
fraternities, clannishness or tribal mentality, sectarianism, and
“pakikisama” mainly for negative actions and behavior.
Adoption
of family interaction ideals in friendships
Adoption
of healthy friendship dynamics in family relations
Families and friendship circles as natural groupings for light-sharing ethics.
Marriage
as ideal meeting point of synergism paradigms in Friendships and in Family
life-- discernment for choice of partner, real preparation for marriage,
continuing development and enjoyment of holistic romance between the
partners during decades of marriage to further develop its inner strength
14.
Human Dignity and Human Harmony: Human Rights and Peace
15.
Aesthetics Without Boundaries: ‘Art from the Heart’
Specific Nuances of Art in Communication
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Dr.
Noemi Alindogan-Medina (chairperson,
Social Sciences Dept., PNU) Network Council
Chairperson
Prof.
Enrique D. Torres (head, Human Rights Office, PUP),
Network Council Vice Chairperson
Dr.
Ernesto R. Gonzales (head, Social Research Center, UST), Network
Secretary-General
Dr.
Romeo M. Barrios (head, University Center for Research, PLM), Network
Council Member
Prof.
Bernard Karganilla (director, Manila Studies Program, UPM), Network
Council Member
Dr.
Mina Ramirez. (president, ASI; director, ACAP), Network
Council Member
Engr.
Faustino Mendoza Jr. (president, SAP, Baguio), Network
Council Member
Prof.
Ed Aurelio C. Reyes (ASI;
president, SanibLakas Foundation), Network Convenor (non-voting)
Light-Seeking and Light-Sharing Tasks on These Paradigms
a.
Collation of Existing Literature on the Paradigms and their Counterparts
Survey
and physical collation (even in photocopy form) of books, book abstracts,
monographs, excerpts, etc. promoting or describing, or arguing for or
against any or all of the empowering paradigms or their counterparts in
dominant or other belief systems
Building
up of bibliographical data-bases and reference systems for all items.
b.
Generation of New Literature for the Empowering Paradigms
Encouragement
of new writings (like researches, etc.) for the Empowering Paradigms
especially from persons and institutions active in the respective fields of
these paradigms, and inclusion of all these in the collation (2a).
Conducting
surveys, interviews and field experiments and documenting these for
inclusion in the collation (2a)
Convening
of conferences on each of these paradigms to generate position papers,
reaction papers, and publication of proceedings and eliciting further
responses, and inclusion of all these in the collation (2a).
c.
Development of Mechanisms for the Sharing of All Holdings
Reproduction
of all physical holdings for establishment of an Empowering Paradigms shelf
in the libraries of each Lambat-Liwanag network member
Development
of index and cross-reference systems on all pertinent holdings of network
members that have not been physically collated, with faxing and
hyper-terminal systems for bilateral sharing transactions.
Development
of a password-secured website for inter-member sharing
d.
Effective Public Promotion of the Empowering Paradigms
Development
of a website for internal/public sharing and promotion
Publication
of a periodical journal initially in tandem with the SanibLakas CHOSEN Sites
Project
Convening
of symposia, public lectures
Development
of training and study modules
Development
of communication and media plans.
Mechanics for the Lambat-Liwanag Network
a.
Needed Machinery for the Network
Network
members among social-research-oriented institutions, largely academe-based,
each of which is committed to contribute to the synergy of resources and
efforts to make the multipartite project work. (Initial
network members: University of Sto. Tomas (UST) Social Research Center;
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila (PLM) University Center for Research,
Seminars and Conferences; Philippine Normal University (PNU) Dept. of Social Sciences and History,
Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) Human Rights Office, and
University of the Philippines-Manila (UPM) Manila Studies Program.
Candidate and/or recommended network members: Asian Social Institute (ASI),
Philippine Christian University (PCU), De LaSalle University College of St.
Benilde (DLSU-CSB), University of Pasig, Titus Brandsma Center (TBC), and
Earthlite Bahay-Liwanag.)
A
Network center to build and orchestrate the synergy, with a council of
representatives of member-entities, executive committee, a chairperson, an executive
director and a secretariat. (The council shall embody the ultimate
holdership or ownership of the multipartite project, but prior to its
acquisition of legal status, SanibLakas Foundation provides a mantle with
its SEC registration with its bank account as channel for accessing and
storing funds.)
An
organizing core convened by a SanibLakas officer among initiators preferably
representing potential network members, to refine the concept, make plans,
and do other spadework tasks for the project
A
secretariat or equivalent, for coordination and initial file-storage
functions.
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General Conference
The first Lambat-Liwanag general conference on the Empowering Paradigms was held at the Central Library Bldg. of the University of Sto. Tomas, on the whole day of Friday, October 26, where the most of the Empowering Paradigms were discussed in simultaneous workshops by about 50 participants mostly from academic institutions or entities. Convened jointly by Lambat-Liwanag, Saniblakas and UST-SRC, the Conference passed resolutions approving in principle the paradigms discussed, as presented above, with some suggested additions and clarifications. This Conference was documented (click here).
Paradigm-Specific Conferences
In December 2001, Lambat-Liwanag convened jointly with PUP-HRO a special conference on Human Dignity and Harmony: Human Rights and Peace, intending it to be the first of the series of paradigm-specific conferences. However, this was found to be lacking in preparation and in many aspects could not be considered as having met the required rigors of such conferences. Still, the conference was very significant due to the context of urgency for peace advocacy in the wake of bombings in the United States, and due to the lessons it yielded.
The Network is now set to convene a monthly series of paradigm-specific conferences, each to have a principal paper presentor and a secondary paper presentor, both from the Academe; a set of three reactors, preferably including at least one from the Academe; an open forum; and an afternoon workshop period and a plenary session for synthesis and for the passing of Conference resolutions, one of which would formalize and commission a paradigm-specific working group. Except for the first two and the one scheduled for December, all these paradigm-specific whole-day conferences are to be held on the penultimate Saturday of the month.
The first eight of these have been definitively scheduled to be held as follows:
Mainly Academe-Based
Network