Lesson Proper for Week 7

PREAMBLE OF THE 1987 PHILIPPINE CONSTITUTION

We, the sovereign Filipino people, imploring the aid of Almighty God, in order to build a just and
humane society and establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations,
promote the common good, conserve and develop our patrimony, and secure to ourselves and
our posterity the blessings of independence and democracy under the rule of law and a regime
of truth, justice, freedom, love, equality, and peace, do ordain and promulgate this Constitution.

What is the purpose of the preamble of the Philippines?

The preamble of the Constitution provides that we should establish a Government which shall
"conserve and develop our patrimony." Our "patrimony" includes our public forests, mangroves,
wildlife, and flora and fauna which should be conserved, protected and renewed.
Why is Preamble important?
The preamble plays a very important role in shaping the destiny of the country. The preamble
gives a brief idea to the makers of the constitution so that the constituent assembly make plans
and formulates the constitution. Preamble is an introductory statement to the Constitution which
contains the ideals on which the Constitution is based and the basic underlying principles of the
Constitution.
Importance of the Preamble can be stated as follows:

 The Preamble contains the philosophy on which the entire Constitution has been built. It
provides a standard to examine and evaluates any law and action of government to find out
whether it is good or bad. Hence, it is the soul of the Constitution.
 The Preamble shows the way the government ought to run. It declares India to be a
sovereign, socialist, secular and democratic republic.
 It envisages justice-social, economic and political-for all its citizens. It seeks to give the
citizens all types of freedoms—freedom of thought and expression, freedom of religion,
cultural and educational rights etc.
 The Preamble mentions people as the source of the Constitution. It seeks to provide
equality of status and opportunity to all individuals and thus promotes a sense of
brotherhood among all citizens

THE GOOD CITIZENSHIP VALUES CLUSTER

The Filipino value system or Filipino values refers to the set of values that a majority of the
Filipino have historically held important in their lives. This Philippine values system includes
their own unique assemblage of consistent ideologies, moral codes, ethical practices, etiquette
and cultural and personal values that are promoted by their society. As with any society though,
the values that an individual holds sacred can differ on the basis of religion, upbringing and
other factors. In this Era/Generation we as future educators, we need to focus and inculcate to
the mind of every individual the true meaning of what is good and what is bad, what is right and
what is wrong.
PAGKAMAKA-DIYOS

 Faith in the Almighty

o Faith in God – Be God-fearing and live according to His will.
 Respect for Life
o Recognize the absolute value of human life and the human dignity of every person. Do
not inflict harm on others.
 Order/Work
o Order entails, discipline of the mind, emotion and action.
o Man is destined to work.
o Achievement is getting things done well while Activity is matter of merely staying busy.
 Concern for the Family and Future Generations
o Our family is worth more than any wordily gain.
o Spend QUALITY TIME with your family.
o Every member of the family has a role to play, the duty and right to give and receive love
and respect.
o The strength of the family lies in its values and the commitment of its members to
responsibility, hard work and morality.

PAGKAMAKA-TAO

 Love
o Live and work together in harmony. o Avoid violence as a way of settling disputes.
 Freedom
o the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

 Peace
o Peace is a concept of societal friendship and harmony in the absence of hostility and
violence. In a social sense, peace is commonly used to mean a lack of conflict and
freedom from fear of violence between individuals or groups.
 Truth
o Truth is the property of being in accord with fact or reality. In everyday language, truth is
typically ascribed to things that aim to represent reality or otherwise correspond to it,
such as beliefs, propositions, and declarative sentences.
 Justice
o Give everyone their due.
o Do not oppress or take advantage of anyone.

PAGKAMAKA-BAYAN
Unity

o Work together and share with one another.

 Equality
o Equality is about ensuring that every individual has an equal opportunity to make the
most of their lives and talents. It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life
chances because of the way they were born, where they come from, what they believe,
or whether they have a disability.
 Respect for Law and Government
o Obey the laws of the land
o and support government programs.
 Patriotism
o Place the good of the country above one’s own.
 Promotion of the Common Good
o Put the welfare of the greater number of people over one’s own.
o Do not be greedy and selfish.

PAGKAMAKA-KALIKASAN

 Respect for the environment

o Keep your surroundings clean and conserve our natural resources.

NATIONALISM VS PATRIOTISM

 NATIONALISM - nationalism is a devotion of love for one’s country. Nationalism means to

give more importance to unity by way of a cultural background, including language and
heritage. It implies to a person that his country is the most superior among other countries
and he will defend it no matter what.

 PATRIOTISM - Patriotism is a devotion to one’s country for no other reason than being a
citizen of that country. It is a common virtue that pertains to the love for a nation, with more
emphasis on values and beliefs. One who is patriotic will be ready to make any sacrifice for
his country. He will never live selfishly for himself alone. A soldier for instance makes the
supreme sacrifice of his life for the sake of his country.

Patriotism vs. Nationalism

Nationalism and patriotism are often used interchangeably, meaning one for the other. There is,
however, a wide distinction between nationalism and patriotism as political concepts.
Nationalism, etymologically, means love, care for, preservation and patronage of one’s native
land and everything in it— the country of birth of a national, whether it be Filipino or otherwise.
To be a Filipino nationalist, therefore, the ethnological ramifications of nationalism must all be
present in one’s being. This implies a heartfelt dedication for the love, care, and preservation of
the Philippines and everything that is identified with it: The Philippine territory, the inhabitants,
Philippine sovereignty, its government, all things that represent and symbolize the country; the
aspirations, hopes, dreams and needs of the Filipino people.
On the other hand, patriotism is taken from the Latin term pater, which literally means “father”.
Patriotism is the willingness and determination to lay down one’s life for the fatherland—the
constant resolve to sacrifice one’s life and limb for the preservation of the State. It is the total
realization of that love for the country, which is nationalism. In other words, to be patriotic is to
be nationalistic. Conversely, one cannot be patriotic without being nationalistic.
The famous poet Rabindranath Tagore, himself a great patriot, said that patriotism is more
important than nationalism. A patriot loves his own country, but he does not hate the people of
other countries. A nationalist might consider his own nation important and hate the people of
other nations. A patriot is international in his outlook. He is broad-minded and tolerant. He is a
citizen of the world. A nationalist may be narrow-minded. He may think in terms of his own
country and hate all those who are not his countrymen.