TAMBARA Issues
Volume 40 (2023)
The Concept of Solidarity
Abstract: Solidarity is a core value in egalitarian societies that aim at the preservation and expansion of generous systems of social security. In Western Europe, the need for strong forms of solidarity is not really controversial, although the precise architecture of the existing social security systems differs greatly among various states. Also, there is the awareness that these systems are again and again challenged by new sociological evolutions, by large scale immigration for example. Hence, they are continuously required to prove their legitimacy. By contrast, in the United States of America (USA), the electorate is deeply divided on the question of the necessity and the extent of solidarity. All this compels us Europeans to a deeper reflection on our most evident ethical and political commitments. The notion of solidarity belongs to our European heritage. Once upon a time, this was the third value of the French Revolution: Next to freedom and equality, there was fraternity. In this article, we will propose a definition of the concept of solidarity that is, to some extent, inspired by the ethics of David Hume and we will spell out its implications. We will justify this definition by comparing it to alternatives and we will indicate some threats of solidarity in contemporary wealthy societies. Finally, we will defend the necessity of strong forms of solidarity in actual societies.
Keywords: solidarity, insurance, individual responsibility, anonymity
Specters of Magellan: Historical Parody and the Inverted Story in Visayan Novelty Songs
Abstract: The characters of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu are important in stories of the foundation of the modern Filipino nation, serving as symbols of European colonial domination and Filipino resistance. However, their symbolic positions are not absolute—Magellan’s position as initiator of Roman Catholicism makes his identity as an invader to be resisted at all costs, something that is difficult in the highly Catholic Philippines. However, these difficulties can be mitigated when applying the concepts of multiplicity and heterogeneity of historical characters as theorized by Jacques Derrida, as well as the possibilities afforded by the analysis of parody in the work of Mikhail Bakhtin. These concepts and characters align in the novelty songs of Visayan singers Yoyoy Villame and Max Surban, where the stories and characters of Magellan and Lapu-Lapu are parodied, expanded, distorted, and inverted. This provides us with new and useful ways of relating to and interrogating these historical narratives and their modern applications.
Keywords: history of the Philippines, parody, inversion, specter, Jacques Derrida, Mikhail Bakhtin, Ferdinand Magellan, Lapu-Lapu
Trauma in Marawi Siege Narratives
Abstract: Trauma theory is a type of criticism that explains how extremely painful experiences affect the victims’ psyche and perception of the world. Narratives written by trauma victims create a space for memory and meaning of trauma to persist. This paper looks into the narratives written by the survivors of the Marawi Siege, a representative trauma in the modern history of the Philippines. A textual analysis of these narratives is carried out to explain how trauma is presented in writing. The findings of the study reveal that the narratives manifested themes of fear and anxiety, sadness, despair, shock and disbelief, and confusion in expressing the individual trauma of the survivors. Also, the social spaces of family, community,
and culture are the most affected during the crisis and significantly influence the way the survivors create meaning of the trauma experienced. Furthermore, issues of collective fear, crisis of meaning, threatened cultural identity, and motivation for continuity reveal the impact of collective trauma on the survivors and the entire Marawian community.
Keywords: Marawi Siege, narratives, textual analysis, trauma
Unraveling Davao City through the City-Wide Social Survey
Abstract: The City-Wide Social Survey (CWSS) was conceived to collect and record empiric data about different areas of concern in Davao City. Its goal is to make such information available to relevant stakeholders so they can utilize the results in carrying out their institutional mandates. The last seven years of consistently conducting the survey brought Ateneo de Davao University (ADDU) to its fourteenth run, producing a wealth of knowledge useful for policymaking, reform, and public agenda-setting. This paper covers data on socio-demographic profile, economic trends, governance, common good, and happiness. The findings reveal that Davaoeños are mostly Roman Catholics, Bisaya, and with varied household amenities and facilities based on their economic status. The economic trends manifest Davaoeños’ confidence in their future quality of life and the local economy conveying a sense of hope and resilience. Amidst challenges and local problems identified, the data reveal Davaoeños’ high affirmation of nationalism, sense of belonging, trust in the justice system, and happiness.
Keywords: Davao City, economic trends, governance, common good, happiness
The Search for the White Mandaya
I first heard of the white Mandaya while growing up in Tagum in the late 1950s. Tagum then was still a frontier, and we kids walked or ran around barefoot, even in school until Grade II, when the nuns advised our parents to make us wear bakya (wooden slippers), at least. I think it was part of the campaign against schistosomiasis. This was the era of ceaseless rains, Petromax lamps, hand water pumps, kalesas, abaca plantations, logging trucks, and, in the late afternoons, huge flocks of kabog (fruit bats) winging their way up north.
Time Spent in Sitio Dayuh, Basilan
June 11, 2019 was the day I arrived in Basilan as a madrasah volunteer teacher in Sitio Dayuh, Tipo-Tipo, Basilan. Situated on the eastern side of Basilan, Sitio Dayuh is a remote coastal village with no electricity. There are around 300 residents who are closely-related Muslim families of Tausug and Yakan descent, with a sprinkling of Sama people. I stayed at Sitio Dayuh for almost ten long but beautiful months, sheltered by a Tausug family. I came as a total stranger from far away Davao City, but left with vivid, living memories of my days as a member of the community.
Volume 38 (2021)
Beyond Roads and Seas: The Trajectory of China’s Belt<br /> and Road Initiative in the Current Philippine Reality
Opening Spiel by Host
Ms. Mary Donna Grace J. Cuenca: To our University President, Fr. Joel E. Tabora of the Society of Jesus, to our Center for Politis and International Relations (CPIA) Director, Ms. Rhisan Mae Morales, to the Dean of the School of Business and Governance (SBG), Dr. Jenner Chan, and of course, to our guest speaker, Prof. Lucio Blanco Pitlo III, students, my fellow teachers, we welcome you all to this afternoon’s event, brought to us by the CPIA with the theme, Beyond roads and seas: Te trajectory of China’s Belt and Road Initiative in the current Philippine reality.” At this juncture, may we request everyone to please stand for the invocation to be given to us by Ms. Krizza Janica Mahinay, a faculty of the International Studies Department, and thereafter please remain standing for the singing of the Philippine national anthem…
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Philippines-China Relations in the<br /> Remaining Year of the Rodrigo R. Duterte Administration: Respice, Adspice, Prospice
Opening Remarks by Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ
Respice, Adspice, Prospice; examine the past, the present, and the future. With these words, I welcome you to this forum on Philippines-China Relations, sponsored by the Center for Politics and International Affairs (CPIA), under the leadership of its energetic director, Ms. Rhisan Mae Morales. I welcome all faculty members, students, and guests to what promises to be a very interesting presentation, considering that our guest of honor and main speaker is none other than the Honorable Jose Santiago Sta. Romana. I regret and apologize for not being here personally. What was originally scheduled for March 1st was disturbed by the sudden declaration of that day as Araw ng Dabaw.
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Unpacking the South China Sea<br /> Arbitration in the Philippine Quest for Archipelagic Integrity and National Dignity
Opening Remarks by Dr. Lourdesita S. Chan
Dr. Renante D. Pilapil, Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), Ms. Rhisan Mae Morales, Director, Center for Politics and International Affairs (CPIA), Atty. Henry S. Bensurto Jr., our resource person, colleagues, students, support personnel and other guests, good afternoon. On behalf of the University Research Council (URC), I welcome you all to this significant forum.
More than a year and a half ago, and until now, we have joined the rest of the world in battling the pandemic. But apart from this, another existential issue we have faced is our archipelagic integrity, which is central to our territorial and national dignity. We need to protect our territory, our shared goal. The awareness and understanding we derive from this forum, particularly on the matter of the Arbitral Ruling, are crucial to our ability to discourse in favor of our territorial integrity.
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China-Afghanistan Relations:<br /> The Taliban Conundrum and its Challenges in Asia’s Regional Security
Opening Remarks by Fr. Joel E. Tabora, SJ
Recently, the United States President Joe Biden delivered a speech at the United Nations General Assembly. Basically, his speech asserts that the future belongs to those who share the values of freedom, human rights, and democracy that America upholds. He called for unity among those who share the same values to address the major problems of the pandemic, climate change, and the egregious attacks on global political and economic structures that would protect equality, human dignity, and human rights.
In his talk, he never once mentioned China. But he clearly portrayed China as a counterfoil to American values that would seek advancement through the domination of the weak, through the expansion of its territory on land and on sea, through economic coercion and disinformation. He even spoke of investments in infrastructures in weak countries that was of low quality, corrupt, and destructive of the environment.
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Tambara 37 (2020)
Dapitan: A Quick Historical Glance
ABSTRACT: In his book Historia de las islas de Mindanao, Jolo, y sus adjacentes (1667), Fr. Francisco Combes, SJ mentioned that the Ternatans massacred hundreds of Bol- anons while pretending to trade, which led to the migration of some 1,000 Bol-anon families to Dapitan in northern Zamboanga. However, an earlier report by Miguel López de Legazpi in 1565 talked of the same incident in Bohol, but the perpetrators of the massacre were Portuguese, not Ternatans. Legazpi also did not mention any migration as an aftermath of the atrocity. A hundred years had elapsed between Legazpi and Combes, and details about the same incident had diverged. Tis paper gives a quick background of the Portuguese-Spanish rivalry and the continuing saga of Dapitan through the years. While Dapitan played an important role in the history of Mindanao in the early years of Spanish rule, today it is relatively obscure. Its main festival, the Kinabayo, is held in honor of St. James the Greater (Santiago) and commemorates the mythic Battle of Clavijo in Spain in 844 CE, which historian say did not actually take place, like the phantom Ternatans in Bohol.
KEYWORDS: Dapitan, Bol-anons, migration, Bohol massacre
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Colonial Roots of Christian Chauvinism in Mindanao
ABSTRACT: This is the story of how Christian chauvinism emerged in the Philippines. The idea may be described as that sentiment and attitude of self- righteous arrogance among Christians who believe, or have been made to believe, that their Christian church (or denomination) is the only true church and all others are false. Applied to Muslim Christian relations, Islam easily falls under the category of a false religion. Although there are now a growing number of Christians, both ministers and faithful, who believe and accept that Islam as just as true, the chauvinistic kind still predominates.
KEYWORDS: Mindanao, Christian chauvinism, American colonial regime, Islam
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Mothering in the Digital Milieu:<br /> An Autoethnographic Study of a Working Mother’s Rhetorical Practices in Social Media<br />
ABSTRACT: The advent of digital communication technologies has modified the cultural construction of a mother in the twenty-first century. It has paved the way for a different way that mothers and their families make sense of the meaning of motherhood, which usually occurs in the context of interpersonal interactions. Mothers use social media to connect with other mothers and to communicate with existing networks of family and friends, sharing their vulnerabilities while performing their maternal role. Situating this study within the bounds of the Rhetorical Tradition of Communication, this study focuses on ‘what is being said’
and the elements associated with tradition which sees communication as an artful discourse. The author uses autoethnography as the research method to allow her to employ emotional recall and deeply delve into the underlying meaning and cultural practices beneath her Facebook posts. Using the lens of dramatism theory and embodying gender and feminist communication, mediated communication, and
social media communication, the study discusses the empowerment of first-time mothers, the processing and sense-making of the roller coaster of emotions for long- time mothers, and the early detection of issues that impede further emotional, and cognitive stresses, among mothers.
KEYWORDS: Motherhood, working mothers, rhetorical practices, social media, identity
construction
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A Correlational Study on Emotional<br /> Intelligence and Mental State Among Content Moderators
ABSTRACT: Tis research sought to find predictive correlation in identifying the level of emotional intelligence including its domains namely: self-emotional appraisal, other’s emotional appraisal, use of emotion and regulation of emotion toward the level of mental state specifically in stress, anxiety, and depression among content moderators (CM). The study utilized a predictive-correlational design and employed complete enumeration. Wong and Law’s Emotional Intelligence Scale (WLEIS) was used to measure the level of emotional intelligence while the Depression, Anxiety and Stress 21 Scale (DASS-21) was used to measure the level of mental state. The results showed that the overall level of mental state’s relationship towards the overall level of emotional intelligence is negatively significant. Tis means that the higher the level of emotional intelligence, the lower the level of stress, anxiety, and depression. The result of the research recommends to isolate the possible affected employees, assess if the level of exposure caused severe disturbance on CM’s mental state, investigate for secondary traumatic stress and professional burnout, and establish a mental health program that caters different roles in organization. Therefore, these initiatives can protect both the CM’s overall welfare and the organization’s interest. Moreover, the results of the study could prove to be beneficial and influential to the international guidelines and best practice on occupational health policies and programs.
KEYWORDS: Content moderators, emotional intelligence, depression, anxiety, mental health
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Bravery and Love
When COVID-19-19 was declared by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a global emergency in early February 2020, most healthcare workers have not thought that they will have a first-hand experience in dealing with a pandemic. Back in the Philippines where I worked in the Department of Health (DOH) for twenty- two years, I was confidently doing my job in assisting local government units (LGUs) in the training of health workers as well as monitoring and evaluating the implementation of health programs. I was also able to work with the United States Aid for International Development (USAID) health projects in the control of tuberculosis as well as in health governance. So when I migrated to the United States (US) I was prepared to work in a different field from my comfort zone in public health. I thought it would be a great challenge but I welcomed it because the new field in direct patient care would widen my life experience as a healthcare professional. I realized later that the bedside knowledge and skills which I learned in my new field has prepared me to deal with the demands in coping with this pandemic.
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Four Lessons COVID-19 Taught Me
I have seen four things soar in value during the pandemic—connectedness, sound mental health, clean water, and the present moment. In my pre- COVID-19 life, I rarely paid them a long look to recognize that in the face of crisis, they matter the most.
I remember traveling and building a creative life in 2019. Trying out new things, I got trapped in this false dichotomy that focusing on myself means zero time for others, like for an old colleague who dropped a note on Messenger, for a reliable friend, for a caring cousin, for old, sick aunts. However, as fate would have it, they were among those who passed away during the pandemic—a startling reminder that a minute of genuine connection is never too small or meritless. How many such moments did I offer? How often do I forget that a hello, a gesture of forgiveness, a hug, and a brief recount of old tales could mean the world to someone?
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I am tired and sad. So help me, God.
“The new normal and social distancing.” Te phrase totally changed my views, beliefs, relationships, and even my attitude toward my own health. I could still vividly recall all those times that I felt something had changed inside of me within the pandemic years.
It was in late 2019 when all over the news, there was a reported outbreak in Wuhan, China, and proved to be fatal. Ten there were scenes showing the efforts and heroism of Wuhan medical frontliners in battling the virus. I was hopeful that this type of outbreak would be contained and resolved. After all, having experience taking care of a SARS-COV patient somewhat gave me the confidence of “been-there-done-that” kind of attitude. I mean, aside from Ebola and SARSCOV, are there any other reasons why I must be afraid when handling a patient?
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Tambara Journal
The Editor
Tambara
Ateneo de Davao University
Jacinto St., 8016 Davao City
Philippines
Email: tambara@addu.edu.ph