Bulletin
No. 4-1 (October 25, 2000)…
............
'Broader
Perspective Needed To Face
Eco-Political
Crises' -- SanibLakas
o….
…......MMANILA,
Philippines (SanibLakas InfoShare) -- The synergism-oriented
SanibLakas Foundation issued a call this morning calling upon the
people to view and respond to the present economic and political crises
with a broader perspective,  a
viewpoint that lifts all our hearts and minds well beyond the details of
individual personalities, specific acts, and sensational twists and turns.
"Sensational details, as played up by the commercial media, although deserving
our attention should not drown out our collective awareness of larger national
interests, longer historical processes, and overall commonality of desire
for peace and progress in our country," the statement said.
..
…......In
its statement titled "Broader Perspective Needed to Avert Further Divisiveness,"
SanibLakas clarified that is "not asking the opposition to abandon
its work; neither are we asking the Estrada administration to stop trying
to defend itself and asserting its mandate." Calling upon the people
to "to demand, and to actually show the way, for a much better handling
of the crises," the statement proposed four ways by which "all good men
and women (could) come to the aid of their country":
..
…......1.
Adopt a broader view of things. Consider things in proper perspective,
take the long view. Remind everyone that there has been a
decades-long historical antecedent to the present economic crisis, and
the solutions are not as instant as a "snap election" or having another
politician succeed the incumbent one. Let's start to personally live daily
and fully the ethics we want all the other people to adopt; it will really
take some time, but no solution to our social problems can ever work without
that!
..
…......2.
Effectively influence all those debates on the crisis in order to
raise them to the level of intelligent discourse, refraining from
rabid partisanship, impassioned debates and rantings.
..
…......3.
Help build a consensus that our country urgently needs the combined
efforts of all patriotic Filipinos to reassert the collective nobility
of our nation, based on our heritage.
..
…......4.
Work to highlight the traditional Filipino value of "damayan" which
is very much alive during crises and calamities, and. strengthen whatever
strands of unity have remained so far among our people.
..
…......At
one point the statement referred to the latest focus of excitement: the
disclosure made by a provincial governor implicating President Estrada
in a payola arrangement from operators of called "jueteng," the illegal
gambling equivalent of the government's lotto:
............"We
do have to address the despicable levels of graft and corruption in our
society, but unless we are ready to believe that it all just started under
the present administration, we should also be critical of the hypocrisy
of those personalities who were part of full-blown graft and corruption
machineries in the past but who now dare claim to be 'holier-than-thou.'
............"And
if we take illegal gambling in proper perspective, for example, we would
not put it on equal terms with policies that have sacrificed the health,
environment, income levels and other interests of our people just to appease
foreign creditors and investors and international usurer agencies. It would
take much effort to develop such sense of history. With too many of us
absorbed in passionately debating some media-spotlighted controversy or
other from week to week, even from day to day, who would remember any of
those antecedents? :
..
…......The
statement pointed out that "Estrada's governing style and personal lifestyle  really
leave so much to be desired, and some acts have crossed the bounds of the
legal (like banning Inquirer reporters from legitimate coverage) but his
more significant offense against the people's interests has been his very
continuance of his predecessors' consistent obedience to foreign-investor
and foreign-creditor dictates for honoring all those illegal debts, "leveling
the playing field," privatizing basic public services while raising taxes,
etc., and all the while claiming to be 'pro-poor'."
..
…......Towards
the end, SanibLakas asked "all individuals and groups who find merit
in this statement to help us reach more and more people with its analyses
and calls," adding that "We have faith in such synergy."
..
…......For
the full text of this statement, please click here. --->
.
Bulletin
No. 4-2 (October 25, 2000)
.
SanibLakas
Prepares Three-Year
'Doables
And Dreams' Program
..
…......MANILA,
Philippines (SanibLakas InfoShare) -- A new three-year program
combining the "obviously doable" and some "uninhibited dreaming" was recently
approved in principle by the SanibLakas ng Taongbayan Foundation.
In a meeting held last September 30 at the Earthlite "Wholistic
Place" in Cubao, Quezon City, the SanibLakas Board of Trustees, noted
that the foundation achieved much more in the last three years than the
same Board could imagine in January 1998, start of the current program
term which will end this coming December.
..
…......"The
seeds we planted have germinated-- they've grown!" SanibLakas founding
president Ed Aurelio C. Reyes enthused in the President's Report, citing
that the end-97 decision to shift from the earlier "services" orientation
to promoting the synergism principle among the "biggest number of people
in the shortest time possible" was crucial in the organization's rise to
achieve its present momentum.
Present,
aside from Reyes, to constitute a clear quorum of eight out of eleven,
were Marie R. Marciano, vice president and treasurer; Joydee C. Robledo,
board secretary and executive director (on leave); and trustees Romy Lee
B. Ancheta, Mila R. Garcia, Ed Felipe de I. Vera, Noemi A. Medina, and
Luis B. Gorgonio. Trustees Araceli Ocampo and Pinky Serafica were
then of town and trustee Beth Roxas was then on an overseas trip.
..
…......Also
present as observers were Marz Zafe, Esper Dowling, and Ros Zerrudo, all
of the SanibLakas Human Development and Harmony (HDH) program,
and Armand Mauricio of SALIKA, the SanibLakas organization for synergy-building
in the environmental movement. Mrs. Dowling, representing the Earthlite
community, also gave the welcome remarks.
..
…......Reyes
and Marciano informed the body of possible funding for SanibLakas programs
and projects that may likely come from, among others, an international
eco-spiritual organization based in the United States. This likelihood
forms the basis for the "uninhibited dreaming" for the scale and speed
the contents of the new three-year program could be implemented beginning
January 2001 or even earlier. Still, it was asserted that even without
such external assistance SanibLakas Foundation, which has consistently
been mission-driven and synergy-powered will continue and even increase
the momentum already achieved in the various program thrusts.
..
…......"Lack
of funds cannot stop us, it can only slow us down a bit," Reyes said.
"In synergism-promotion, the initial familiarization levels achieved in
the last three years will be raised to the level of deeper comprehension
and conscious application of the principle in key sectors of our social
life," the draft program document declared, adding that "in concrete synergy-building
efforts, the seeds that have been sown, the teams that have been formed,
will grow into full-blown organizations and networks."
SanibLakas
Foundation will convene a general membership meeting early this coming
December to elect a new Board which will flesh out and finalize the new
three-year program. It will also hold a Christmas party for the broad
"SanibLakas family" on December 9, with the tentative title "Sanib-Saya!"
..
…......The
broad "SanibLakas family" embraces all the members of the SanibLakas-created
organizations (like SALIKA, Filipinos for Life, ACES,
and Sanib-Sining), program committees or project working teams.
While membership in the Foundation itself remains strictly invitational,
the process starts with being an active member and exemplary team player
in any of these organizations, committees or teams.
.
Bulletin
No. 4-3 (October 25, 2000)
.
Salika
Schedules Multiracial
Art
Performance in High Seas
.
…........MANILA,
Philippines (SanibLakas InfoShare) -- It will be International Water
Day on March 22, 2001, as well as a full month before Earth Day 2001.
This early, the Sanib-lakas ng Inang Kalikasan (SALIKA) is preparing
a world-class project, in fact a multi-racial one, to protect the endangered
species in the habitat of the South China Sea.
..
…......Well-known
artists from about ten countries in the Southeast Asian region will converge
in a critical spot in that part of the world to hold a multiform artistic  performance
symbolizing the concern and commitment of their respective peoples, or
even their respective governments, for the dolphins, sea turtles and other
endangered sea animals that have established their migratory routes and
roosting sites in the area. Their "performance in the high seas"
will be supported by simultaneous multi-art form performances in their
respective national capitals.
..
…......The
project, titled "Earth Lives, Earth Live" will be undertaken
by SALIKA in partnership with counterpart environmental and artists'
organizations, media and academic institutions, and private sector entities
based in about a dozen or so countries, mostly in Asia.
..
…......Armand
Mauricio, SALIKA's special project coordinator, told SanibLakas
Infoshare that more specific details will be released soon, as overall
preparation work progresses.
Bulletin
No. 4-4 (October 25, 2000)
First
C.E.S. Seminar Held In Cebu;
Advocates'
Organization Formed
…
............CEBU
CITY, Philippines (SanibLakas InfoShare) -- SanibLakas Foundation
has always had close friendly ties with the Visayas Cooperative
Development Center  (VICTO),
with the latter consistently supporting the SanibLakas message of
synergism for cooperatives since early 1998. For this reason, SanibLakas
gifted VICTO with its first two-day seminar on concrete application
of the synergism principle in cooperativism, and this was held for seven
participants in this city last Sept. 18-19. This launched the SanibLakas
program for Cooperative Education on Synergism (C.E.S.) which
is set to hold such seminars in all regions of the country starting next
year.
............The
seven graduates, out of a total of nine starters selected by VICTO,
were Victor V. Comeros , senior trainer, VICTO-Region 7; Reylan
S. Castillo, manager of the Telecommunications Multipurpose Cooperative
(TELEMCO); Venus R. Sarmiento, manager of the Metro Cebu Policemen's
Multipurpose Cooperative; Laureano B. Mesias, Jr., elecom chairman
of the Cebu People's Multipurpose Cooperative; Ma. Teresa P. Olorvida,
acting MCAD dept. head of the PAC Cooperative Inc. (PACCI) Mario
Nuñez Encabo, vice chairman of board of directors, and chairman,
education committee, of the NTEP Employees Multipurpose Cooperative;
and Zosimo E. Oliveros, development officer of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation,
Inc.
............The
two-day seminar constituted of four modules, one each on: the general and
specific nuances of the principle of synergism, including a comparative
analysis of metaphors being used to illustrate it; the application of synergism
on each of the seven principles of cooperativism as enumerated by the International
Cooperative Alliance (ICA); the basic principles of forming and leading
healthy organizations, including the specifics of the three synergies for
total human unity and development; and points of attention in training
and education, to enable the seminar participants to undertake effective
echo seminars in their respective cooperatives.
............In
a related development, the newly formed Advocates of Cooperative Education
on Synergism (ACES) immediately doubled in size as the founding core,
namely the members of the SanibLakas program committee on CES
(Ding Reyes, Joydee Robledo, Pinky Serafica, Ed de Vera, Romy Lee
Ancheta, and Marie Marciano, all of the SanibLakas Board of Trustees;
plus Hermie Manimtim of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Institute
on Cooperatives and Salud Liporada, formerly of the Cooperative
Foundation of the Philippines, Inc.) were joined by the seven seminar
participants, and by the following VICTO leaders: Mercedes D. Castillo,
regional executive director, VICTO-Region 7; Clarita P. Napoles,
regional executive director, VICTO-Region 8; Renia Salinas -- regional
executive director, VICTO-Region 6; Butch Salera -- executive director,
Visayas Cooperative Finance (VCF); Reina-Marie C. Bernaldez, editor
of The Coop Post (national newsletter of the cooperative
movement); and Mario Tamidles.
............ACES
will
consider as founding members the first 100 signatories to its one-page
basic declaration. It is scheduled to hold a general membership meeting
about one year from now, at the end of the Cooperatives Month in 2001.
CES seminar participants are expected to comprise the majority
of the ACES members.
Bulletin
No. 4-5 (October 25, 2000)
'Chosen
Sites' Launch set October 27;
'Seven
Flames' Pamphlet Out by Then
.........MANILA,
Philippines, October 25, 2000 (SanibLakas InfoShare) -- The "Sanib-Tinig"
New Moon Jamming at Earthlite in Cubao, Quezon City this
coming  October
27 will be titled "Inspirado!" and will feature inspirational songs. What
an apt occasion that will be for SanibLakas Foundation to launch
the "CHOSEN Sites" project under its Human Development
and Harmony (HDH) program! And this "happy voices together"
jamming, which is the fifth in a monthly series, will be enriched by jamming
in other forms of artistic expression, namely painting and poetry.
............The
acronym word "CHOSEN" stands for Centers of Holistic
Synergies for Enlightenment, and under the project's first phase,
SanibLakas Foundation will recognize existing sites where people
of various creeds, inclinations and social standing can meditate in silence
almost every day and join mutually-enriching "Sanib-Sinag" personal
sharing sessions at least once every week.
............According
to the project brief, CHOSEN sites are areas that are "kept
clean and wholesome, with healthful and generally serene atmosphere, with
Nature motif in at least one major part of the venue (with living plants
and animals); with privacy against passersby; place to meditate alone;
place for quiet conversation for about 25 people; wall place to hang some
inspirational paintings; wall place to hang texts of the 'Seven Flames
for Holistic Synergies'; and at least a shelf-scale collection
of readings on spirituality" and synergistic paradigms.
............During
the October 27 launch, SanibLakas will announce the selection of
the first three to five such CHOSEN Sites, likely to include
Earthlite itself and the "Inter-Faith Room" at the campus of the
Asian Social Institute. Part of the requirements for formal
recognition is the signing of a formal memorandum of understanding between
SanibLakas Foundation and the owners or managers of the venue defining
the general and specific commitments of each party to keep, promote and
maximize the recognition of the venue's status as a CHOSEN Site.
............Other
candidates include the Maryknoll Ecological Sanctuary and the Tam-awan
Village, both in Baguio City; the Titus Brandsma Center in New
Manila, Quezon City; and the Likha-Diwa sa Gulod in Krus na Ligas
beside the University of the Philippines campus in Diliman.
............Phase
II of this project will see SanibLakas Foundation starting to build
CHOSEN Sites in various parts of the country and even in
Filipino communities overseas, in partnership with local community organizations.
Art-jamming will also be held regularly at various frequencies in the CHOSEN
sites.
….........
please send your own
information on joint statements, joint actions
and other partnerships,
via sanib_alam@yahoo.com
.
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