Ceasefire, Ceasefire: Breaking the Escalation of Violence

War talks is more terrible than actual war because violence exists without end.

The recent clashes between the Philippine troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Basilan island and Zamboanga Sibugay province have brought back talks of an all-out war. With scores of deaths from both sides, the war talks driven by frustration, anger, blame and revenge seems to be charming the public at large.

The media is even fanning this flame of war talks by interviewing military personnel, family members of slain soldiers, ex-and current government officials who advocate the war talks.

To overcome these negative energies is the greatest show of strength. Well, easier said than done. Whatever others say, I commend the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines for showing the government's resolve for peacebuilding. President Aquino reaffirms the ceasefire agreement and orders no military operations against the MILF rebels who assaulted the soldiers.

As this time, we have yet to hear about the hundreds of civilians who fled their houses because of the clashes. We could imagine them praying the end of hostilities, violence.

Ceasefire, ceasefire!

Let the blinding smoke from the guns settle down (that we may see each other clearly). Let the harrowing sounds of gunshots be gone (that we may hear and listen to each other's plea).

With ceasefire, we break the cycle of escalation of conflict. We break the expectations of the other side of retaliation and revenge. We break the perception that we are insincere about peace talks.

This time, let us mean peace. And we mean peace.

With peace talks, we build trust of our intentions and goals to be inclusive. We bridge our differences with the other side. We connect our dreams of a shared and brighter future in one homeland under three stars and a sun.

Peace talks offers hope until the end. It is more worth dying for.

Social Distance in Facebook: Breaking or Building Barriers Among Differentiated Groups in Cyberspace

Source: http://www.sgclub.com/lifestyle

Social networking sites have captured the interest and aspiration of people especially Filipinos and Filipinas to make contacts and connect with families, friends, and others. To illustrate this, imagine Facebook having over half a billion account users all over the world. Twenty-six million of those are found in the Philippines.  Thus, albeit virtually, numerous contacts are made by differentiated groups through Facebook.

Research has shown that contacts among equals of differentiated groups reduce social distance. With the popularity and wide use of Facebook in the world including the Philippines, do contacts occur among differentiated groups? Or Facebook further solidifies the ingroup and marginalizes the outgroup? Does Facebook break or build social distance among differentiated groups?

It is hypothesized that Facebook facilitates ingroup formation and strengthens its cohesion. Moreover, Facebook does not intentionally marginalize the outgroup.  It helps reduce social distance among groups especially those who have a sizeable number of friends from other groups.

If you have a Facebook account, please take the survey here.

The results of this survey will be presented at the 2011 Philippine Sociological Society National Conference in Ateneo de Naga University in Naga City on October 14-15, 2011.

Thank you very much.