member, Human Development and Harmony Cluster, Pamayanang SanibLakas ng Pilipinas

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ON-LINE LIBRARY

 

 09-01      ARTICLES IN PARADIGM       LIST OF ALL PARADIGMS

9


9. Reconstructive/Restor-ative Justice 

Critique of criminal justice systems that focus on penalizing perpetrators;

Advocacy of giving substantial/equal attention to the rehabilitation and restitution for the victims

Development of holistic and effective crime prevention systems.


THE 15 EMPOWERING PARADIGMS:

  1. Total Human Development and Harmony Through Synergism

  2. Holistic Health Care and Medicine

  3. Deep Ecology and Harmony with Nature 

  4. Sense of History and Sense of Mission

  5. Civics and Democratic Governance

  6. Culture as Community Creativity

  7. Light-Seeking and Light-Sharing Education

  8. Gender Sensitivity, Equality & Harmony

  9. Reconstructive/Restor-ative Justice

10. Associative Economics, Social Capital and Sustainable Development

11. Synergetic Leadership and Organizations

12. Appropriate/Adaptive Technology

13. Mutual Enrichment of Families and Friendships

14. Human Dignity and Human Harmony: Human Rights and Peace

15. Aesthetics Without Boundaries: 'Art from the Heart'   


.

Restorative Justice of our Ancestors

By Ed Aurelio C. Reyes

Lead Founder and National Spokesman, Kamalaysayan

This is excerpted from "Will to Inherit a Dozen Distinct Endowments," first published in the 7th issue of LightShare, which was based on the same author's article in Filipino titled "Mayaman Ka! (Hindi Nga Lamang Halata!)" that was first published in Tambuli ng Dakilang Lahi.

FORMAL History is supposed to be limited to written History, according to the western system of scholarship which also treats periods with no written historical accounts as “pre-history,” and relegates all non-written evidences of past events and cultural patterns only to the coverage of Archeology.

It’s good that the word kasaysayan is not a mere translation of the term history! Kasaysayan covers the interconnected oral and written narrations (salaysay) of events and social behavior patterns that members of a community or of a set of communities deem significant (mayroong saysay) to them.

Our sense of history, or whatever little of it remains in our hearts and minds, will serve us well if it can develop within our self-image a sense of pride that we collectively deserve to have. Living according to our heroic heritage will surely improve our lives and allow us to discern a collective sense of purpose for our nation and for the world.

For thousands of years, even preceding the time of Christ, we, the peoples in the archipelago now called the Philippines, had our own system of writing which, in the account of Andres Bonifacio, entire community populations knew how to use. This is now known as “baybayin” or “pantigan” (also known by the foreign-based coined word “alibata” ). But almost all the pieces of writing that existed at the beginning of Spanish colonization and the artifacts of indigenous religions were destroyed on orders of the Spanish clergy who branded the whole lot as “works of the devil.” For this reason, entire libraries of written historical accounts vanished in giant pyres and this accounts to a large extent for our collective amnesia.

Over the centuries, even oral history suffered its own disconnections and all elders who possessed unpassed knowledge had to bring all the information with them to their graves. We have scarce information on our traits and our lives over those millennia, but we have enough information concerning at least a dozen things that we should all cherish as treasured truths. They form part of a great inheritance from our forebears.

Obviously, they did not write out a will for us to have this inheritance, but we are the ones who can have the will to really live and preserve this rich legacy!
As labeled here by titles that all begin with the same Tagalog syllable ‘ba,’ these points should strongly influence our collective self-image as the peoples of the Philippines.


A Dozen Distinct Endowments

There are a dozen items in a list we have have constructed of distinct moral, ethical, and spiritual endowments we have inherited from our ancestors’ culture and behavior that had stretched over all of a few thousand years starting with the last millennia of the “Old Testament” period (but they got gradually removed from our culture since we got colonized about half a millennium ago).

Labeled with Tagalog words that all started with the syllable “Ba, ” the following items make up the list, which was first published by this same author’s article in Filipino, titled “Mayaman Ka! – (Hindi Nga Lamang Halata)”:

  1. “BATHALANG KALOOBAN” (Divine Spark at the Innermost Core or “Loob”)

  2. “BAHAY NA BUHÁY”(Living Quarters Within Nature’s Bounty)

  3. “BAYANIHAN” (Teamwork in Producing; Loving Care in the Sharing)

  4. “BANGK SA BANG”(Boat Figurine on a Burial Jar)

  5. “BAYAD-SUKLIANG MATAPAT” (Honorable, Sustainable Partnerships)

  6. “BABAYLAN” (Doctors for Holistic Health)

  7. “BALANGHAYAN NG MGA TAGBALAY” (Genuine Community Spirit)

  8. “BAHAGHARI NG PAGLIKHA” (Abundance in Creativity)

  9. “BALIK-LOOB SA UNAWAAN” (Justice: Compassionate Healing)

10. “BANIG NG PAGNINIIG” (Synergetic Interweaving)

11. “BAYBAYIN” (Universal Literacy)

12. “BANAWE” (Farming the Mountains)


System of Justice: Compassionate Healing

By way of example, let us focus our attention on the system of justice that prevailed in the communities of our ancestors. It affords us a fresh look at the word “Katarungan” which is way different from the sense of word “Justicia” or “Hustisya.”
Our early justice system was founded on the principle of profound understanding (taróng) of one another to prevent offenses and to redress them if they happen. It was reconstructive and reformative and far more effective than the vindictive and penal system we have later borrowed from western jurisprudence.

Whenever a community member commits an offense against another or others of the same community, the latter’s primary concern is for the genuine healing of the wounds inflicted. These were wounds of the aggrieved and even the spiritual and social wounds of the offender. The community considered itself as the biggest victim of the offense since the binding fabric of mutual trust, ultimately, is the one put in serious jeopardy.

With the aim to fully and deeply understand but not condone the offensive act, the community’s leaders and mediators work carefully to decide proper and constructive ways of restitution as part of the healing for it, and the community eventually emerges even more unified than before.


back to top                      post a comment


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 






Created and

Maintained for

by our 'cyber arm':


TIMES VISITED:

203

 To open the lambat-liwanag  main site,  please click here.

LAMBAT-

LIWANAG 

Network for Empower-ing Paradigms

(formed in 2001)

is proud to be a founding member- organization of 

 formalized in its 1st General Assembly last November 15, 2008

click here for info.

For info on these fraternal  organizations

 of KAMALAYSAYAN within the family of

PAMAYANANG SANIBLAKAS,

click here

PAMAYANANG

SANIBLAKAS

MEMBER GROUPS:

Advocates of Cooperative Education on Synergism

Consumers & Communicators for Truthful Information

Galing-Pilipino Movement

Kaisahan sa Kamalayan sa Kasaysayan

Kaisari Movement for Gender Harmony

Kilusang Kartilya

Kilusang Lakas-Pamayanan

Lambat-Liwanag Net-  work for Empowering Paradigms

LightShare Digest (magazine)

LightShare e-Mail List Group

Living Learnings League

National Economic Protectionism Association

SanibDasal Synergetic InterfaithPraying Comm'ty

SanibLakas ng mga Aktibong Lingkod sa Inang Kalikasan

SanibSigla Movement for Holistic Health

Sanib-Sining Movement for Synaesthetics

SYCONE Humanity

Tambuli ng Dakilang Lahi (magasin)

 

 

 

 

Keep the Flame of Truth Alive in our Hearts!

 

 

FEEDBACK BOX:

   What are your comments and questions'

Your Name &Nickname:

(Answer Required)

Position: 

Organization, Office,

School or Barangay

or country of location

Answer Required)

Postal / E-mail Address(es)

(Answer Required

Personal or work 

background relevant to  the comment 

or inquiry:

  S E N D  -->
            

back to top.