International Journal on Culture, History, and Religion Volume 6 Issue 2 (2024)

Welcome to Volume 6, Issue No. 2 of the International Journal on Culture, History, and Religion (IJCHR). We are excited to present our new journal logo and front cover design. Our editors and editorial board members look forward to your engagement with this issue. We believe it will inspire us to explore different perspectives, critically evaluate ideas, encourage meaningful discourses/dialogue, and present emerging trends and issues related to our better understanding of the interaction between culture, history, and religion in the context of the post-COVID-19 world. This will be achieved through the following topical themes:It is imperative to evaluate the distance learning experiences of university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. This assessment should focus on the students’ readiness, engagement, and performance and the university and administration’s support in addressing academic and non-academic issues the students face (Aguilar et al.). The moral standards within Higher Education Institutions among faculty and students should also be considered (Kong).Encourage individuals living in religiously diverse societies to participate in meaningful dialogue to promote the holistic development of community members (Kachappilly). Specifically, this involves recognizing the daily challenges automotive mechanics face in the Philippines as they strive to provide affordable transportation for the general public while supporting their families (Ignacio).It is suggested that climate sensitivity be integrated into the senior high school religious education curriculum under the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Lipa (Rosales) as a response to the call of Laudato Si. Likewise, it is important to give attention to the historical, socio-political, and catechetical significance of the tradition of performing Sinakulo in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines (Eballo & Eballo).Happy reading!

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Climate-Sensitive Religious Education Curriculum in the Unified Schools of the Archdiocese of Lipa

The Catholic Church recognizes the role of Catholic schools in teaching the faith to students and how it can be applied in their daily lives. With the global challenge we face due to climate change, the education sector plays an essential role in promoting awareness, adaptation, and mitigation against climate change. This study describes the possibility of integrating climate sensitivity into the religious education curriculum for the senior high school level, the Unified Schools of the Archdiocese of Lipa (USAL). Through a focus group discussion among religious education teachers of USAL, climate sensitivity is found in the elements of the religious education curriculum through the objectives, contents, learning experience, and assessment. A climate-sensitive religious education curriculum in USAL is evident through the integration of environmental education into religious education subjects by the teachers on selected lessons for the senior high school level that aims to bring out the relationship between the faith being taught and the action that the students must do toward the environment to care and protect it. Thus, climate sensitivity bridges how one must live the faith in favor of God’s creation.

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Pandemic in Retrospect: Students’ Evaluation of Distance Education During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study describes the distance learning experiences of university students in terms of their readiness, engagement, and performance amid the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines the university’s and the administration’s support in attending to the academic and non-academic concerns of the students. Using a sequential explanatory design, the study utilized a quantitative online survey contextualized by qualitative methods such as key informant interviews and focus group discussions. The findings suggest the following: the students, in general, are equipped to manage distance education effectively, in terms of their gadgets, accessories, and internet connectivity; the remote learning mode engaged the students through the affordances brought by the learning platforms (VLE, MS Teams); and the students performed well in either major and general education subjects due in part to the support and performance of the teachers as well as the assistance of the university and the administration in laying down a framework for relevant teaching and learning. The students also demonstrated their preference for blended (50-50) classes, while it highlighted their concerns about mental health where it needed improvements. The study suggests that all forms of support are extended to optimize students’ learning while in quarantine. The study hopes that the findings will inform the crafting of university online learning policies in the following semesters.

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Prevailing Moral Standards in Higher Education Institutions

This paper investigates the moral standards within Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) among faculty and students, employing a phenomenological approach. Through qualitative methodology, it examined the lived experiences of six faculty and six students from diverse HEIs via in-depth interviews. The findings revealed structured standards aligned with the Code of Ethics for Professional Teachers, emphasizing values such as respect, honesty, integrity, and social responsibility. Additionally, unwritten moral standards reflect participants’ lived experiences, covering spirituality, empathy, accountability, fairness, and personal well-being. In addition, it identified three interconnected factors influencing ethical behavior: moral character, interaction, and environment. Traits like integrity and self-discipline form the foundation for ethical conduct. Positive interactions, such as empathy and compassion, foster a supportive atmosphere. The moral environment, marked by responsibility and justice, shapes societal and institutional contexts for ethical behavior. By nurturing moral character, encouraging positive interactions, and fostering ethical environments, HEIs can promote ethical behavior and improve educational quality. This research enhanced understanding of moral standards in HEIs, offering insights to enhance educational experiences and promote a morally upright society within institutions.

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Fusion of Horizons: Search for New Paradigms in Inter-Religious Dialogue

The FABC recommends the exercise of dialogue in three different areas of life in Asia: (i) dialogue with the Asian poor, (ii) intercultural dialogue and (iii) interreligious dialogue. Interreligious dialogue, which is the subject of our discussion, is classified into four types: Dialogue of life, Dialogue of action, Dialogue of theological exchange and Dialogue of religious experience.Employing the analytical and critical methodology, this paper aims at investigating various paradigms of interreligious dialogue that have been practiced down through the centuries, in view of developing a most feasible paradigm, based on the writings of Hans-Georg Gadamer. Accordingly, we have critically analysed the following models: (i) the ideal of both/and (Hegel), and (ii) the ideal of either/or (Kierkegaard), (iii) the metaphor of two books (Bonaventure), (iv) the intercultural hermeneutics (Schleiermacher and Gadamer), and (v) the fusion of horizons (Heidegger and Gadamer). Finally, our discussions boil down to Hans-Georg Gadamer’s understanding of “fusion of horizons” and its implications in interreligious dialogue. According to Gadamer, “to acquire a horizon means that one learns to look beyond what is close at hand.” A genuine fusion of horizons through dialogue always involves rising to a higher universality that overcomes our own particularity and that of the other. A fusion of horizons thus envisages respect for the differences of different religions. Here, one does not try to acquire mastery over the other and other religions based on our pre-judgments, rather strive to partake in the other and share the other’s alterity. In order to foster interreligious dialogue as “fusion of horizons, we have to shun “ethnocentrism,” and cultivate certain essential qualities like (i) openness to change, (ii) interreligious consciousness, and (iii) empathetic understanding.To conclude, the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, in “Dialogue and Proclamation,” advocates the people living in religious pluralistic societies to engage in meaningful dialogue for “the integral development and liberation of all people.”

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An Auto-Ethnobiography on the Life of Auto Mechanics

This paper narrates the life of auto mechanics which have been unnoticed for a long time as evidenced by the lack of literature that can be found. Using an Auto-Ethnobiography method of qualitative research, the author shows the life and experiences of auto mechanics in the Philippines, both in the casa and talyer set-up. By providing these experiences and life of the subjects, a glimpse of the hardships and difficulties can be seen with an integration of the experiences of the author, who is also part of the industry.

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Christ as Tahanan: Re-appropriating Christ in the Context of Urban Street Dwellers

This paper is an attempt to re-appropriate the identity of Christ as Tahanan in the context of Filipino Urban Street Dwellers. By doing Christology in a cultural perspective, the researchers were able to relate the identity of Jesus as a Tahanan that gives comfort to the urban street dwellers. This Tahanan is not a house but the loving comfort of Jesus to their lives. There is a place (tahanan) for them to cry on and be pacified “tahan” afterward. From the experience of rejection comes the experience of belongingness, from despair to hope, from retaliation to forgiveness, disharmony to peace, and hostility to reconciliation. These contrasting experiences make us feel at ease and comfortable. The inner disposition of happiness and fulfillment comes out from “kalooban ng tao”. This is what is called “ginhawa”, relief from both physical and inner suffering.

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Internship Performance of Information Technology Students at Bulacan State University – Bustos Campus

The study aims to determine the internship performance of information technology students at Bulacan State University – Bustos. It delves into providing inputs to enhance the students’ curriculum and on-the-job training experience. A descriptive quantitative research approach was employed to gather necessary information from 145 student trainees during the academic year 2022-2023. Results show that their internship performance was at an “excellent” level. It also reveals that professionalism obtained the highest mean score among the key competencies, including teamwork, communication, attendance and punctuality, productivity and resilience, initiative and proactivity, dependability and reliability, and attitude. The study recommends that Bulacan State University-Bustos continue its existing industry partnerships and expand its linkages, especially with the companies that accept information technology trainees.

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Palabas, Paloob at Palalim: The Historical, Socio-political, and Catechetical Significance of Sinakulo in Malolos, Bulacan, Philippines

During the 1970s, many barangays in Malolos, Bulacan, faithfully staged the Sinakulo, dramatizing the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In 2014, the residents of Barangay Tikay in Malolos, Bulacan, celebrated the centennial staging of their traditional Sinakulo. Scholars like Doreen Fernandez and Nicanor Tiongson already examined Sinakulo in the context of Philippine theatre history and aesthetics. In addition to its historical implications, this research article explored the social and catechetical contributions of Sinakulo. The researcher used a traditional triangulation method, which involved conducting library research, making observations with field notes, and carrying out informal or semi-structured interviews to verify the data. He applied a tripartite framework developed by Prospero Covar, where Filipino personhood is likened to a jar (banga) with the characteristics of labas (exterior), loob (interior), and lalim (depth/meaning) (Covar, 2015). He effectively adapted the said framework in presenting the evolution of Sinakulo from an agricultural landscape (historical context) to an industrial workplace (socio-political context) and then to a pastoral/catechetical necessity for present-day evangelization.

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Assessing the SOGIE Bill from the Framework of the UN Legal Identity Agenda

This paper seeks to evaluate the Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity or Expression, or Sex Characteristics or the “SOGIESC Equality Bill” (the Philippines’ version of the global LGBTQ+ activism that seeks to affirm the basic rights of all people regardless of SOGIE) within the context of the United Nations Legal Identity Agenda, which emphasizes the relevance of legal identity for civil registration and vital statistics. It uses qualitative methodology utilizing conceptual and comparative analysis. The document begins with the structure of the Bill, outlining significant sections on gender and gender identity definition, as well as corresponding sanctions and penalties. The paper also examines current legislations that recognize the rights and identity of other marginalized elements of society, such as senior citizens and persons with disabilities. It then looks at the UN Legal Identity Agenda and how it relates to the SOGIESC Bill, emphasizing the necessity of legal gender identity recognition and the responsibility of the state in guaranteeing equitable access to legal identification for everyone. Using the UN Legal Identity Agenda as a framework, the study argues that Legal Gender Identity is an important provision in the Bill to assure acknowledgment and, eventually, objective recognition of a person’s gender identity.