Educational Funding for Filipinos

Aristotle states that: "poverty is the parent of revolutin and crime" and that when there is no middle class, and the poor greatly exceed in number troubles arise and the state soon comes to an end."

Aristotle was really on point when he said that poverty causes revolution. A case in point would be the recent violent rally of the students of the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP) (see it here http://ph.news.yahoo.com/gma/20100325/tph-robbery-raps-filed-vs-5-pup-students-d6cd5cf.html). The revolt of the students was because of the tuition fee increase which the students wouldn't be able to afford because most students in PUP are the impoverished citizens. The answers of the school admin was because the school needs the money to improve their educational system and facilities. I myself do not condone the violence that the students did (because they could've resolved it in more civil manners) but I think that we should also look at the side of the school admin because they also are very underfunded and without necessary funds it would be hard to continue their teaching.

A solution for this would be Aristotle's point of view that the great equalizer for citizens is a good education and proper distribution of wealth. That is the problem with our country today. The government should budget more of their money to the educational system of our country instead of other luxuries because an investment in education of the people would give back tenfold. Education would give citizens hollistic virtues which in Artistole's point of view is very important in building a progressive and active society. In addition, if everyone is educated in the right way then the citizens would be more learned and civil which would prevent public unrest. Education would also help in the progress of the country because it would help people get jobs easier so they would be more productive instead of becoming dropouts and bums. That is why if the government puts more primary emphasis on alloting funds to the educational system (and IMPROVING the EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM) of the country the citizens would be more productive and progress would be attained because the citizens would be more active in serving the state. As a conclusion, students, teachers, and the whole community in general would benefit if their is an increase in funding for our educational system because more people would be mechanics, doctors, lawyers, businessmen, instead of being killers, thieves, and hooligans.

-Written by Paolo Guerrero 07-1002

Aristotle defined the constitution as a way of organizing the offices of the city state. In my opinion our current government does not observe the constitution according to Aristotle’s definition. Yes, our government have three main branches namely the legislative, executive and the judiciary. All of them have different purposes which are defined in our constitution. As a concerned citizen I noticed that the distribution of powers among the three branches of the government is violated. Our current president who also acts as the head of the executive branch is slowly manipulating the different sectors of the government. The current president controls almost all the important sectors of the government (legislative, military and executive). In addition the judiciary is under the threat of being manipulated by the president by appointing the next chief justice. What I’m trying to point out is that the constitution was made in order to organize the offices of the city state. Moreover, the proper implementation of the constitution is the equal distribution of powers to its respective branches and not under one ruler. -mark go

Citizenship

Aristotle concludes that “man is a political animal”: we can only achieve the good life by living as citizens in a state.

The somewhat subtle issue in the Philippines is the authentic understanding of citizenship, or lack thereof. Filipinos understand citizenship just as something that allows them to vote, which some do not even avail. This is possibly why the Philippines do not have a good political leaders -- heck, is not a first rate country. "Man is a political animal" is something that should be understood by Filipinos, rich or poor, in its fullest and deepest sense.

--Gerick Ortiz

Education As A Significant Stepping Stone In the Wellbeing of a State

“Education, being an important curriculum for ensuring the wellbeing of the city-state”

The education system in the Philippines is extremely under funded. Due to this lack of financial assistance, education cannot thrive; therefore the youth of the nation are deprived of proper schooling. People believe that the children are the future but in fact they are being denied a good and thorough education and are thereby being left without the hope of better life opportunities. The government cannot even supply enough schooling establishments with a sufficient amount of literary materials. Even the already existing schools are not equipped with suitable tables, chairs and even lack in number of classrooms. A country cannot develop properly and has no chance of prospering if it cannot supply the people with the right education that they deserve. Without a stable educational institution, the wellbeing of the country will not be able to flourish.

-Ashley Skead

The Absence of Middle Ground in Philippine Society

"A strong middle class keeps a state in balance and guards against corruption and oppression."

One of the many problems in the Philippines is that social classes are highly contrasted. It is no longer defined by merely the high-middle-low classes in this country but society is comprised of several types of people that come from all walks of life. There are the extreme rich and the extreme poor and the difference between the two is immensely obvious and very much evident. The middle class of the Philippines no longer prefers to dwell in their homeland and would much rather move to greener pastures where pay is higher. The absence of the country's middle class is also the absence of a middle ground for society. This brings about the situation that the Philippines is now facing, where the rich take advantage of their position, thereby becoming even wealthier, while the poor are milked for what they are worth and are pushed even further down the social ladder. There is no check and balance with the apparent absence of the middle class.

-Ashley Skead