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Monday, December 17, 2007

THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS

Natawa ako when I read Ferdie Gonzales' message he posted at Alumni.net and brought up the issue again (Pukpukan Scandal). . . ang tagal na? May nakakalala pa ba? Dahil kung di mo marecall, you don't belong to IV-1! This happened when Mr. Albea our History teacher gave the class an assignment to draw on our notebook the map of the group islands of Micronesia. Hinampas ng makapal na History notebook (sa ulo! yes sa ulo!) ni Mr. Albea all those who did not do their assignments (pati babae di nakaligtas!)

I could feel the emotions Ferdie expressed against our teacher as he said that all should be accorded with respect regardless of status, age and gender. Mr. Albea confirmed Ferdie's posted bulletin by retorting: " THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS". He said: " Age mellows the strict rule of discipline. If during the time I made use of force to achieve a higher goal, please be reminded that it was made to make you all better persons and not for personal grandeur. . . proof. . .look where are you now?" Luckily hindi napukpok si Ferdie because he did his homework while most of us received that unforgettable, (unforgivable), embarassing note book blow in our heads. POKKKKKK!!!! ang lakas! Ang lutong! Ha!ha!ha!ha! Perhaps Ferdie felt more embarrased to see some of our girls got humiliated infront of the boys. . .Sana puro boys na lang ang napukpok (he he he) If Mr. Albea raised that option, for sure isa ako sa magvovolunteer! ( Tutal wala naman talaga akong assignment eh!) just to spare the girls from the abashment. And what if all the boys did their homework and all the girls did not? Would our teacher continue to bang that infamous canary yellow note book on their skulls? Maybe yes...maybe no... but after that "pukpukan blues" everyone was talking about it. Marami ang natawa, yung iba nainis and almost everybody was asking evryone: " Malakas ba pukpok sa iyo? Masakit ba?" Hahahahahah! It was more of a hilarious experience than a chagrin one! Maybe Mr. Albea had the point ( or he was immature then as a teacher?) because after that occurance wala ng nagyaring pukpukan because from thereon everyone did their chores!

"THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS" - This is a phrase encompassing two beliefs:
1. Morally actions are sometimes necessary to achieve morally right outcomes - the implication is that, good ends justify questionable means.
2. Actions can only be considered morally right or wrong by virtue of the morality of the outcome - Few people will use The Ends Justify The Means to describe their own views; instead the phrase is often used to cast suspicion on the action or motivation of others.
This phrase THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS is closely associated with NICOLLO DI BERNARDO DEI MACHIAVELLI, political philosopher, musician, poet, playwright of the Italian Rennaisance. . . but most expert agree that Machiavelli was not actually advocating such an outlook!

Let us accord out teachers the will of appreciation, consideration and respect due to them. They have their shares (along with most specially with our parents of course!) for bringing us where we are now. True, for most of us thay have really made us better persons and citizens. Mr. Albea was such an excellent and exciting teacher ( so with the rest of MHS mentors) I did enjoy the way he conducted his teachings. Ferdie, on the other hand was (and still) a very good classmate and friend to us and to the other MHSians. Talaga lang mahal ni Ferdie ang mga kababaihan ng Section 1 and I personally admire and respect him for that! Everyone is entitled to his personal point of view.

THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS . . . .sometimes . . . . perhaps . . .
Mabuhay ka Mr. Albea! Mabuhay ka Ferdie!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

THE ENDS DOES N’T ALWAYS JUSTIFY THE MEANS

Hi fellow MHSians. This is just a reaction to an article “The end justifies the means” posted by Jessie.

Although Mr. Albea wasn't my mentor in our History class back then in HS nor been under him on any subjects nor extra curricular activity (like Boy Scouts), but I knew him for his reputation as strict and disciplinarian mentor.
However, I beg to disagree to his statement and I quote, “Age mellows the strict rule of discipline. If during the time I made use of force to achieve a higher goal, please be reminded that it was made to make you all better persons and not for personal grandeur. . . proof. . .look where are you now?"
With all due respect Sir Albea, I’m sorry but I don’t believe in the old cliché “Spare the rod and spoil a child” and that is to my opinion at least.

While there is a bigger possibility that a mentor could influence his protégé, but this should not be taken as a general assumption in taking full credit or discredit to whatever the outcome or future of his students. While successful alumni can be better claimed as his guinea pig (read as: result of his strict rule of discipline) but how about other MHS alumni who doesn’t excel in their career or had a failure in life? Will he also accept responsibility that his “iron-fist rule” causes this failure in life?

I hope Mr. Albea could realize that respect begets respect. While instilling fear to make the students study hard could help justify the expected outcome by the teacher, I’m sure there are other ways to impress ideas, principles or teachings gradually on somebody’s mind while instilling the self-respect intact to a student.

I do valued what my mentors had imparted on me but learning isn’t only confined in the 4 walls of the classroom. While I agree that pummeling a book on the head of his student is not for his personal grandeur but I don’t think literally and semantically how it will make you a better person.