Peace

What would threaten peace?

Peace is threatened when there is uneasiness, oppression and hatredelements which promote inequality
and insecurity. These elements will serve as fuels for a human person to abandon hope and resort to conflict
or even war. Once put in place, peace will be threatened and restoration will be hard. It will start a cycle of
hatred and discrimination which will again fuel conflicts in the future, like the bloody history of humanity.
Oppressed by the Spaniards for more than three centuries, the Filipinos rallied against them despite Jose
Rizals opposition to the bloody rebellion. Conflict causes people to change. It blinds them of the possibility
of a dawn without blood Thus, they will rebel. While conflict may not happen directly, it will definitely
happen if conditions do not improve.
Peace can also be threatened by poverty, which is a consequence of social and economic inequality. Conflict
is more likely to occur when resources are scarce. Thus, people experiencing poverty are more likely to
crime and violence.

How do I become a peacebuilder in my own community, city, and the country?

Building peace is a lifelong, or rather a never-ending journey that each one of us must uphold if we really
want it to last. Being privileged enough to enjoy a college education in a Jesuit university, the least I can
do is to help inform and correct misconceptions to minimize discrimination, and uphold social justice and
human dignity. By doing this, elements which may threaten peace may be minimized. Simple as it may
sound, but if only all those who are informed actually live it out, I am sure peace in my community and in
my country will last more than a lifetime.

What do you think is the effect of the decision of the university to cease operations? Is the decision right?
Why?
Its closure resulted in a severe economic and educational dislocation in Tacloban City and in the whole of
Region VIII. Losses from the weakening and closure of collateral businesses such as dormitories, boarding
houses, restaurants, canteens, bookstores, and transportation, to mention a few, were estimated to be around
P100,000.00 a day for Tacloban City alone. The cost of sending students to equivalent schools in Cebu and
Manila drained the family coffers and depressed the economy of the Region as money flowed out of it as a
result of this phenomenon. The Mayor of Tacloban City along with the Mayors of many towns of Leyte
and Samar bewailed the closure of DWU as an economic tragedy for the Region. The Archbishop of Palo
lamented the fact that now his Archdiocese does not even have a Catholic university.(1)
Much was lost because of the closure of the university. Though supporters of the university administration
claim that the "selfishness of union members" led to the closure, I do not think it was right for to close the
university. From my perspective, it seemed like they were just avoiding the issue even though the Supreme
Court ruled that they should pay. It was like they just awaited the issue to gather dust and be forgotten.
Now, that the issue may have been swept under the rug, the university reopened with no news of following
the ruling of the Supreme Court
DWUJF - Article: Reanimating an Alma Mater. (2017). Web.archive.org. Retrieved 13 October 2017, from
https://web.archive.org/web/20060518121940/http://dwujf.faithweb.com/articles/athena.htm
If you were a member of the DWUEU, would you join the strike? Why?
If you were the employer of the Divine Word University, would you negotiate with the union? Why?
In the employer/employee relationship, the employer has much more power. This makes any negotiations,
such as over wages or working conditions, favor the employer before negotiations even begin. By joining
together, employees can combine their influence to level the conditions for negotiations.
An employer that does not like the way negotiations are going with employees can threaten to just close the
company, or relocate it. This gives the employer incredible leverage in negotiations. The ability to strike
gives employees a threat of almost equal power (strikes are generally temporary). The more power
employers have over employees, the more lopsided any negotiations are going to be in favor of employers.
If I were a member of the DWUEU, I would join the strike. I would fight for my right for just wage and
benefits. If I am doing my work properly, I would expect to be paid properly and there must be certain rules
to be followed. All the more if the Supreme Court rules on my favor, and the employer goes against it.
If I were the employer of the Divine Word University, I would negotiate with the union. Though, I do not
know the exact details of employers side, nothing is wrong with listening. I would prefer to be transparent
rather than be defiant about it. However, considering what happened and assuming no corruption was going
on, there may be compromises on both sides.

Family
The family is the basic unit of the society where children, the hope of the future, are nurtured. It is the
primal environment where children are taught of love
The family finds in the plan of God not only its own identity, what it is, but also its mission, what it can
and should do. The role that God calls the family to perform in history derives from what the family is; its
role represents the dynamic and existential development of what it is. Each family finds within itself a
summons that cannot be ignored and that specifies both its dignity and its responsibility: Family become
what you are.
The family has the mission to become more and more what it is, that is to say a community of life and love
in an effort that will find fulfilment in the kingdom of God. For the love of God, is first felt by the children
in the world by the love of their family, their parents. As Christians, it is the duty of the family to guide the
child to the salvation and so, when time comes, he will also do the same to his family.

Environment
The moral life is constantly determining our responsibilities and how we carry them out. The issues on the
environment are rooted on the fundamental doctrine: stewardship, and the right to a balanced and healthful
ecology. It is our duty as stewards to take care of the Gods creation, the environment. But why?
Firstly, the destruction of the ecology will not only affect the present generation but also the future
generation. It is the right of the future generation to see, feel and live in a heathy environment, as it was our
rights too, and the generation who came before us and our ancestors. They have the right to see the beauty
and goodness created by God. The creation was not for our own, or your family or your company; it was
made for the entire humanity.
Secondly, the creation belongs to God, not ours. The dominion granted to us by God is not an absolute
power. We are told to nurture and cultivate not to destroy. It is only natural to take care of what was lent
to us until the real owner comes again.
Thirdly, we depend on nature and so as other creatures, but who will nature depend on? God gave us
something that other creatures do not have: intellect. God gave us intellect so we may think on our own on
what is good, not only for ourselves or fellow neighbors but also for what is good for His creations. He
must have wanted us to discover on our own how to cultivate the land and how to take care of it. Nature
took good care of our ancestors and now, us. Who will take care of the nature when it is in pain? When
hurricane pound the forests, when wildfires burn the grasslands? Other creatures cannot plant trees nor trees
cannot protect animal offspring. It is because it is our job.
Lastly, it is Gods first gift to us. God created the humans last, in the sixth day. He prepared everything else
carefully, with gentle hands, so we may live in an environment where we can survive, breath, see goodness
in it. He cultivated the soil so plants may grow. He crafted the plants so that it may bear nutritious fruit that
we and other animals can eat. He raised the animals that we may also eat and live with as a partner. He gave
us fresh water, so we, the plant and the animals may drink. He gave us light so we may see these things,
hoping that we may think it is beautiful, and we will take good care of it.