October 16 - 31, 2017
OPINION
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
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Breaking
Point
SOGI and Parenting Rights
another.
R y a n
Anderson,
Senior Research Fellow in
American Principles and
Public Policy of The Heritage
Foundation, says that SOGI
laws “threaten the freedom
of citizens, individually and
in associations, to affirm
their religious or moral
convictions—convictions
such as that marriage is the
union of one man and one
woman or that maleness
and femaleness are objective
biological realities to be
valued and affirmed, not
rejected or altered.” The
last time I checked Section
2 of the Canadian Charter
of Rights, everyone has
the freedom of conscience
and religion and freedom
of thought, belief, opinion
and
expression,
among
other things. If we follow the
prescription of Section 2,
the SOGI curriculum, as a
specific school curriculum,
is violating the first and
second part of Section 2
because it undermines our
right to choose based on our
freedom of religion and belief.
If, for example, the SOGI
curriculum were a curriculum
on Sikhism, Judaism or Islam
or Christianity, it would not
have been approved at all.
By Rosette Correa
A school trustee in
Chilliwack has met harsh
words an angry mob of
citizens when he spoke
against sexual orientation
and gender identity policies.
Barry Neufeld posted a long
statement on his publicly-
accessible Facebook page,
saying “I can no longer sit
on my hands. I have to stand
up and be counted.” Neufeld
is talking about the Sexual
Orientation
and
Gender
Identity curriculum being
introduced in public schools
this year that aims to equip
educators of all backgrounds
and experiences with tools
and resources for “supporting
marginalized
LGBTQ
students and for creating
safer and more inclusive
school environments for all
students.”
He called the new efforts
by the Ministry of Education
to create tolerance for all
sexualities “the latest fad” that
has turned into a “weapon
of propaganda” for gender
theories.
To discuss equality and
tolerance, kindness and
understanding among people
is a good thing. To force it on
unsuspecting children and
parents on its real agenda is
Bulong
Pulungan
either, and so they will half-
heartedly teach it because
they fear that if they don’t, they
will lose their jobs. Parents
in Langley have protested
against it because there was
no prior consultation on it,
and they were not informed.
So, as a parent, what can
you do?
You must ask your child’s
teacher for the materials being
given to them. This will give
you an opportunity to look at
it, and know how to discuss
it with your own children so
that they are not confused
with what the school teaches
and what your own family
values teach them. This is the
sad fact of it, that the SOGI
curriculum undermines our
rights as parents to teach our
children our own values, and
we feel we cannot do anything
about it. It is necessary to
have a dialogue with your
teacher and principal about
your misgivings, and let them
know that you do not agree
with the curriculum. For now,
this is all you can do.
In Ontario, when the new
sex education curriculum was
introduced to include teaching
Grade 7 students about anal
sex, one out of six parents
pulled out their children from
the class, and were allowed to
do so. Hopefully, BC follows
suit, so that parents can have
this option. While teachers
act in loco parentis while
children are at school, they
still do not know fully what is
best for a child in their class
- the best intentions still come
from the parents. This is why
standing up for something
that as a family you do not
agree with is important, as
it is still our responsibility as
parents to raise our children
with the values we want them
to have, not what the world
wants them to possess.
Discerning the truth amid wordly distractions
Atio tortured
himself
to
Reprinted from Manila Bulletin
death?
Angel Thoughts
O n e
“And the effect of royal legal battle looming is
righteousness
will
be that between lawyers Lorna
peace and the result of Kapunan and UST dean Nilo
righteousness, peace, and Divino. We finally met Dean
trust forever.” Isaiah 32:17
Divino and I candidly told
This is the month of Our him I was ready to believe the
Lady of the Rosary. Let us not demo job on him thanks to
forget to offer what Our Lady tri-media and online reports.
loves best—our daily rosaries He clarified key issues for
for peace!
us and I must admit, my
* * *
initial perception of him has
Last week I wrote about changed after that encounter.
my reaction to Horacio Perception
can
become
Castillo III’s tragic death reality if one does not make
courtesy of his own fraternity an effort to go beyond mass
“brothers.” There have been media hysteria and social
so many denials among the media tweets and Facebook
“brods” and finger pointing, I posts. So many fake news
am afraid justice is still far for and demonizing tweets.
the Castillos. Will it end up that
For starters, he is from
By Deedee Siytangco
The study of slavery and its
impacts on society, as well as
the injustices of the Komagata
Maru, the Chinese Head Tax,
etc. only form part of Social
Studies, and does not intend
to give a paradigm shift in
one’s belief and convictions.
While it is true and
noble
that
we
should
teach children that no one
should be discriminated
against, the whole point of
implementing SOGI is a
form of discrimination - it
discriminates people who do
not have the same beliefs
and do not subscribe to what
SOGi is teaching. Christianity,
Sikhism, Judaism and Islam
all subscribe to the religious
belief that marriage is a
natural union between an
man and a woman. To teach
SOGI means to teach children
from these cultures that what
they have come to know
and believe in as a system of
values is wrong and should
therefore be set aside for this
“new” belief. It changes an
entire culture, the good with
the bad, for the sake of being
politically correct.
Teachers who are asked
to teach this curriculum have
just been given the package
this year, leaving no time to
study and train for it. Not all
teachers subscribe to SOGI
Nueva Ecija, a UST law grad,
magna cum laude, class
valedictorian, father to five
boys, head of a 60-man law
office and lawyer to many
distinguished personalities,
former
PCSO
general
manager, expert in corporate
and litigation cases is indeed
a lawyer to emulate (and
envy) if one is to go by his
spectacular rise and present
niche in his profession. A
daily mass-goer, this proud
Tomasian, is a dedicated
family man and as he said,
values his reputation which
he labored hard for.
He also revealed, on
our prodding, about his
social corporate conscience
that his salary as dean has
gone quietly directly into
sub sidizing
scholarships
for poor deserving UST law
students. Nearly a hundred
have benefited from his
scholarship program.
His world now is shaken
by the hazing death and by
two cases filed by Lorna
Kapunan against him which
he laments are baseless and
totally malicious, to dishonor
him. He will fight it, he assured
us. “My conscience is clear.
As my rector advised me, I
will pray and pray hard.”
Having
heard
his
explanations and having
“grilled” him together with
the rest of the media present,
I wonder now my friend, feisty
gung-ho celebrity lawyer
Lorna Kapunan has indeed
over-done herself with her
claim in a TV interview on
Sept. 27 that UST Law Dean
WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM
Nilo Divina not only recruited
law freshman Horacio Castillo
III into the Aegis Juris fraternity
but that Divina also knew
that Castillo was to undergo
initiation rites on the evening
that he died? Not true, Divina
told us.
According to Kapunan,
Castillo’s father called up
Divina to ask him that since
the law dean is also a member
of Aegis, then he could make
it easy for his son during the
initiation rites? As alleged by
Kapunan, Divina assured the
father that no hazing would
happen since Aegis Juris is
an academic fraternity.
However, the victim’s
father, in response to a
question by Senator Grace
Poe, categorically denied he
called up Divina to ask him
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