Freedom from ignorance

There are two types of freedom: freedom "of" and freedom "from". When President Roosevelt defined the Four Freedoms, the first two were the freedom of expression and the freedom of worship. The other two were the freedom from fear and want. We have always maintained that the most important of all freedom is the freedom from ignorance. The freedoms from fear and want, for instance, are caused by ignorance or lack of education. Freedom from fear is what today is called terrorism. And it is a fact that poverty is the underlying cause of terrorism, and the underlying cause of poverty is lack of education.

It would be good if our Department of Education and the Commission on Higher Education would adopt "Freedom From Ignorance" as an official motto. The truth about freedom is that there is only one true freedom – the freedom to do good, and when we say good, we mean the greatest good for the greatest number of people. No one has the freedom to do what is wrong. That is not using freedom. That’s misusing our liberty to do what is right.

We reiterate this because so many evil things are being committed in the name of religious freedom. The best example is the current world terrorism problem that is being committed in the name of Islam. It is very obvious that all the acts of terrorism from the Sept. 11 bombing of the World Trade Center to the situation in Mindanao are not solving any problems. Worst, they are a detriment to peace and the war against poverty.

Definitely, we must have freedom from want and freedom from fear. But the only way to realize these goals is to understand that education and only education can eradicate both want and fear. The world is now a global village and we are entering the era of communication. There is no reason why we cannot resolve our conflicts peacefully and rationally. Everything that happens in any part of the world affects the other parts. On this score, one of the major problems is the preservation of the environment. We all live in one planet. And on the long stretch pollution anywhere will be pollution everywhere. We must think globally.

We cannot understand the advanced countries that ban the use of certain pesticides and fertilizers, yet they continue to manufacture them to sell in less-developed nations. Wouldn’t it be more logical if they banned its manufacture and not make money to the detriment of underdeveloped countries? That would be giving third world nations the freedom from harmful pesticides and fertilizers.

Since the Spanish times, the main emphasis of all administrations in the Philippines was education. That is why we, economically, were the second most progressive country in Asia, next only to Japan. When President Marcos declared martial law, he tried to substitute army discipline for knowledge and wisdom. In record time, we became the second poorest country in Asia, next only to Bangladesh.

It is education that will liberate us from poverty and terrorism.