Members of the corps of Arrupe volunteers comprising of batches 39, 40, 41 and 42 facilitated the conduct of the Ehem! Anticorruption Sensitivity Orientation Workshop to third and fourth year Theology classes on 24th February until 4th March 2014. This week-long workshop among participating Theology classes in Theo 131 (Christian Morality & Spirituality) and Theo 141 (Christian Commitment & Solidarity) is part of the observance of the Atenista Ako, Maligdong! which is a month-long campaign to promote the culture of integrity and good governance in the university, particularly in the tertiary level.
This effort at curriculum integration has been part of the platform used by the Arrupe Office, formerly the Social Involvement Coordinating Office (SICO), to push this advocacy agenda on good governance by the Society of Jesus Social Apostolate (SJSA) which has since been embraced by the former as one of its thrusts in the furtherance of its goals and objectives in social formation. Using the module of the Ehem Anticorruption Self-Check Manual, the Arrupe Vols (who themselves underwent the workshop as part of their formation as volunteers), walked the students through the gamut of corruption (in nature, form, practice, level and extent, both personally and socially), its causes as well as its consequences, inorder to set the stage for discussing how cultural transformation could best be addressed as a fulcrum in achieving integrity as a way of life. Using the web chart as a tool for analysing corruption, within the pedagogical paradigm of the Pastoral Cycle, the Arrupe Vols used the workshop to underscore how corruption can be imbedded in a given culture. At the end of the three-hour workshop, the Theology students were then given a simple exercise as a way of proposing personal measures on how to regain a life of integrity, as students, starting with the self.
As in previous years, the Arrupe Office partnered with the Theology Department in running this Ehem! workshop. In a way, this is a concrete effort to integrate topics in Morality and Social Teachings within the framework of promoting good governance and integrity, more specifically using the lens of social formation. Ten (10) classes were committed by the department for this particular program partnership, handled by four faculty who voluntarily agreed to be part of this anticorruption campaign. Headed by Lunar Fayloga, its chair, three other faculty members of the department committed their classes for this week-long workshop, to wit: Butch Samante, Rosario Gaid and Eufemia Faller. Eleven (11) senior Arrupe Vols acted as main facilitators of the workshop namely, Jefford Ray Mamacus, Jubail Pasia, Eloisa Ramirez, Brent Harvey Jimenez, Sarah Joy Reyes, Angelie Jane Robles, Sigrid Cubil, Kristoni Go, Allen Faith Cape, Patrick John Comoda, and Jemimah Pearl D’lonsod. They were assisted by fourteen (14) younger Arrupe Vols, such as Jonamae Eusebio, Christylbert Neri, Jesse Roy Alcaraz, Jhana Lynne Ligue, Maryin Feliz Yap, Kahlil Denise Alcomendras, Alvin Sajulga, Lyneth Egonio, Jazzmin Enfectana, Erika Aira De Peralta, Kyle Elvin Calica, Christine Grace Ruta, Michelle Marie Ungab and Jul Rashid Kasid.
The Atenista Ako, Maligdong! campaign, under the purview of the Commucations & Advocacy Program (CAP) of the Arrupe Office, was launched on 12th February 2014 at the Thibault Grounds, showcasing exhibits on specific articulations on integrity by the different socio-civic clubs. As a fitting follow through of this campaign, the Arrupe Office will be conducting a forum on Wednesday, 19th March 2014, at 3:40 p.m.-5:40 p.m., F-213, where the issue of corruption in the legislature, the senate, is up for discussion. Fr. Xavier “Javy” Alpasa, SJ, executive director of the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan, is being invited as the resource speaker. The Arrupe Office invites the university community to this upcoming forum. (By M. Isabel S. Actub, Arrupe Communications & Advocacy)