READINGS IN THE PHILIPPINE HISTORY

Cedric Louis Bañares BSED English 1-A

Chapter Exercises

A. True or False. Write true if the statement is true. Otherwise, write false in the space provided.

False 1. The 1935 Commonwealth Constitution was a result of the passage in the United States Congress
of the Hare-Hawes Cutting Act.

False 2. The Philippine Commonwealth was interrupted by the Cold War.

True 3. Before 1973, the constitution in effect in the Philippines was the 1935 Constitution.

True 4. Landownership in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period was a great source of hatred
and resentment among the Filipinos.

False 5. The American period ushered in a great improvement in landownership in the country.

True 6. Agrarian reform under the dictator Ferdinand Marcos was a failure.

False 7. The cédula personal was optional during the Spanish period.

True 8. Direct taxation was suggested by the Americans after World War II, but then President Manuel
Roxas declined it.

True9. The VAT or value-added tax was introduced during the time of President Elpidio Quirino.

False 10. The Sin Tax Reform is a good example on how tax reform could impact social services.

B. Historical Reporting. Form groups with four to five members each. Research on a particular current
event or issue in the country that spans at least three periods in Philippine history, tracing the roots of
the issue and proposing solutions or recommendations afterward. Present the group's finding in class.

Group:

Cedric Louis Banares Lorielle Mae Lara

Charmine Faye Bilo Aldrin Buencansejo

Jessa Barde

“Philippines ‘War on Drugs’”

Findings:

The ‘war on drugs’ was first implement on the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who served
office from June 30, 2016 to June 30, 2020. “The campaign was said to reduce drug proliferation in the
country, however, this campaign led to the deaths of over 12, 000 Filipinos to date, mostly urban poor.
At lest 2,555 of the killings have been attributed to the Philippine National Police.” (Human Rights
Watch)
Large-scale of extrajudicial violence as a crime solution was a marker of Duterte’s 22-year tenure as
mayor of Davao City wherein, he, himself was accused of overseeing a police death squad that targeted
drug dealers. He faces possible impeachment following testimony from a former police officer, Arthur
Lascanas, who said the President ran a “liquidation squad” during his recent stint as the Davao City
Mayor.

It became the cornerstone of his presidential campaign. During his election victory in May 9, 2016, he
said, “If I make it to the presidential palace I will do just what I did as a mayor. You drug pushers, holdup
men, and do-nothings, you better get out because I’ll kill you.” Since then, duterte targeted those
involved in the trade in narcotics, whether as sellers or consumers. Police officers began arresting and
killing alleged drug users under Operation Tokhang (which focused on urban poor slums) amd Operation
Double Barrel (targeting alleged drug lords).

Although human rights organizations amd political leaders have spoken out against the crackdown,
Duterte has been relatively successful at not having the legislature engaged in any serious oversight of
or investigation into this war. The Philippine judicial system is slow and perceived as corrupt, enabling
Duterte to act proactively and address the issue on drugs in a non-constrcutive way with widespread
violations of human rights. There are no trials, so there is no evidence that the people being killed are in
fact drug dealers or drug addicts. This shows the weakness of human rights institutions and discourse in
the face of a popular and skilled populist leader. (Council and Foreign Relations, 2016).

Proposed Solutions and Recommendations

It is undeniable that our country, the Philippines is one of the countries that have the highest rates of
drug addiction, and significant level of drug use and a robust drug trade. However, there is a little
evidence that, almost two years into the government’s antidrug campaign, the singualr focus on
enforcement-led and punitive solutions is working.

We believe that the Philippines needs antidrug policies, approaches and tactics that are responsive and
appropriate to the emerging evidence from around the world and to the changing contexts of drug use.
Although it is agreeble that the campaign somehow resolved the problem on drugs, since the police
have been doing their jobs as ordered by the President and he made a fast action with regards to it. the
problem is numbers of death continued to rise. It became worse, and people claimed that even innocent
lives have been involved. We believe that his approach is too violent and aggressive.

Here, we have few recommendations that will alter the extra-judicial killings as the embodiment of anti-
drug campaign:

Set up and expand alternative solutions to incarceration for individuals accused of low-level drug
crimes such as removing criminal penalties for personal drug possesion.
Change how law-enforcement works to go after high-level drug trafficking criminal networks
instead of consumers, low-level deales, and mules at the bottom of the drug trafficking ladder.
Set up accurate and up-to-date baseline information on the number of drug users and people
who sell drugs.
Establish drug-prevention programs based on information.
 We must also consider fight against poverty, the creation of employment, especially for young
people in entry level, increasing the quality of education as well as the time children and
adolescents spend in schools to prevent drug addiction.
Legalize drugs with an approach that promotes prevention, education and a tight control and
surveillance of users, besides pursuing a strategy of punishment against illegal dealers and those
who would take advantage of the system.

A complex problem needs a complex solutions. We believe that ending drug trafficking will not be
accomplished simply by killing or detaining the users, pushers, and dealers from selling drugs. Our
country must be creative and inclusive if we really want to achieve peace and security inside the
country. The killings are merely a solution for war on drugs, we must create a society that will not put
innocent lives’ at stake, instead a place that will empower their every Filipino’s lives.

C. Infographic Exhibit. Form groups with four to five members each Each group will think of a specific
social, political, economic, or Cultural issue in the Philippines. Research on its evolution and propose
recommendations and solutions. Hold an exhibit in the campus to showcase your research.

Children’s Rights

Evolution

Child rights are human rights that also recognize the special needs for care and protection of minors —
children and young people under the age of 18. All children have these rights, regardless of religion,
race, ethnicity, gender or cultural background. No child should be treated unfairly on any basis. (World
Vision, 2022)

In the Philippines, thousands of children are robbed of their childhood and suffer lifelong developmental
challenges as a result of violence. The 2015 National Baseline Study on Violence Against Children (NBS –
VAC) revealed that most Filipino children experience and are vulnerable to physical, psychosocial, and
sexual violence in any setting, but it is significantly high in the home. According to the Council for the
Welfare of Children (CWC), 3 in 5 children suffer one or two forms of violence at home, while parents
and other members of the family (brothers, cousins, and sisters) are often the perpetrators of abuse.

Alongside with that, these are the findings from the Situation Analysis launched by the Government of
the Philippines and UNICEF:

• Around 31 percent of children live below the basic needs poverty line, with a much higher figure
(63 percent) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

• Although the Philippines has reduced the overall child mortality rates
between 1990 and 2015, under-5 mortality is still high in ARMM at the rate of
55 per 1,000 live births, a long way still from the national targets of 15 for
infants and 22 for children under five.

• Poor nutrition in very young children is a major problem when

compared to the regional average of 11 percent in East Asia and the Pacific: 33
percent of children under five are stunted or too short for their age, and 21
per cent are underweight. Significantly more children in ARMM are stunted at
45 per cent.
• The Philippines is close to universal access to safe drinking water (90 percent in 2015). Those
without access belong to the poorest households with only 80 per cent having basic drinking water,
compared to 99 per cent of the wealthiest households. Only 62 per cent of people in ARMM have
access.

• Access to education is encouraging, yet an estimated 2.85 million children aged 5-15 remain out
of school. As of 2015, only 91 per cent were enrolled in
primary school, and 68 per cent in secondary. ARMM
reported substantially lower rates at 75 per cent and 29 per
cent respectively.

• Children in the Philippines, regardless of socio-

economic status, experience high levels of violence: 2 in 3 are
physically, and psychologically abused. •Cyber violence has
emerged as a serious threat with the Philippines becoming a
source, transit and destination country for commercial sexual
exploitation and trafficking.

• The Philippines also failed to meet the Millennium

Development Goals in these areas by the target year of 2015.

Our findings suggests that children ages usually below 18 years old in the Philippines have been
experiencing challenges and violence throughout the years. Children and young people are especially
exposed to rights violations because they are dependent on adults, which can at times heighten risk.
They are among the most vulnerable population groups in the society. Therefore, there is a need to
prioritize their survival and living conditions, health and education especially while they play a significant
role as our nation’s future.

SOLUTIONS/ RECOMMENDATIONS:

I believe that in order to empower child rights,

the government must strengthen economic
supports to families: the government must
provide household financial security as well as
family-friendly work policies.

We must also make a change to social norms in

order to support parents and positive parenting.
By doing so, public engagement and
enhancement campaign must be implemented
among communities. The government should
also apply legislative approaches to reduce
corporal punishment.

And one of the most important thing to do is to

provide quality care and education early in life
through pre-school enrichment with family engagement and improved quality of child care through
licensing and accreditation.

We must also enhance parenting skills to promote healthy child development through conducting
childhood home visitations and using parenting and family relationship approaches.

Lastly, the government must intervene to lessen harms and prevent future risks. The possible ways to
apply it is by enhancing primary care, doing behavioral parent training programs, treatment to lessen
harms of abuse and neglect exposure as well as treatment to prevent problem behavior and later
involvement in violence.

We believe that through these, we can empower and protect the child’s rights. We can make a better
world to live in where we can sustain every children’s needs and prioritize their health and safety, and
especially their education that will eventually make a door for their improvements and opportunities. As
the nation’s future, parents, adults and especially the government, should start making an action and
stop the negligence to abuses, violence and child poverty. Children have their own rights, and even
without their voices being heard, we must uphold it.

References:

https://www.worldvision.org.ph/campaigns/child-rights-history-facts-how-to-protect-them/
#:~:text=According%20to%20the%20Philippine%20National,school%20and%20in%20the
%20community.

https://www.unicef.org/philippines/press-releases/despite-progress-children-are-deprived-basic-rights-
philippines

https://www.humanium.org/en/philippines/