A sound mind, a sound body

The great philosopher Plato once said, “Mente sana en cuerpo sano.” In English, “A sound mind and a sound body.”   

Having both is definitely not impossible as countless men and women throughout history have achieved peak physical fitness while maintaining their cranial integrity. So, it’s not always true that a jock equals dumb and nerd equals frail, as media stereotypes depict.  

While there is no mutual exclusion between mental and physical endowment, there is a dependency between the two. To have sound mental health, one must be able to maintain physical health.

I remembered before, in my days as a student, a discussion about Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The psychological theory he developed summarizes the needs of every human being, and how meeting those needs would help humans in the development of their psychological make-up. His theory is represented by a pyramid, with the most basic physiological needs, like food, resting at the foundation. If those fundamental needs are not met, then satiating the higher needs (which can lead to better development) would be impossible. Bottomline: A hungry person will not be able to think of anything else because he’ll always be thinking about food.

Probably because I was not too worried about my basic needs, I was able to focus on learning more in school, which gives me enough knowledge to actually quote Plato and remember Maslow’s theories. School is indeed more conducive to learning, and more fun, if one’s body is not running on empty.

Much can be learned from this and these lessons can be applied to create solutions for our country’s problems on poverty and illiteracy. It does make sense; satisfy the public’s basic needs to survive, and they can move on to try and sate their higher psychological needs for esteem and self-actualization, which, again according to Maslow, drives curiosity and the willingness to learn.

Recent news reports on the activities of the Department of Education show that the DepEd realizes this and has applied it to the Education For All (EFA campaign — a move that aims to ensure that all school-aged children are in school by 2015. Aside from the usual, but no less excellent, investments on newer classrooms, upgraded facilities, and higher compensation for teachers, the DepEd has started a feeding program to ensure the physical well-being of the kids.

The Gabay sa Kalusugan Feeding and Nutrition Program began in August 2010 and has benefited children from five different schools in the country. The DepEd, along with the program’s principal sponsor NutriAsia, fed and oversaw the nutrition of the students of five beneficiary schools for six-months. Obviously, with the children’s need for food and nutrition satisfied, they can put more effort in studying, thus helping them perform better in school.

The DepEd has applied many layers of plans and goals to be able to achieve the EFA. The feeding programs are indeed just the beginning; reports state that the DepEd will also implement programs that will increase the quality of teaching and initiatives in alternative learning systems. Every layer of the EFA campaign is aimed at helping “our children to be literate and imbued with life skills,” according to DepEd Secretary Bro. Armin B. Luistro FSC.

Going back to Plato, he also said, “You cannot conceive the many without the one.” Again, verifying Maslow’s theory that depriving someone of a single need could ultimately lead to lost opportunities in acquiring other higher needs.     

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 One of the most sensitive presidential agencies is the Movie Television Review and Classification Board (MTRCB), which is tasked with reviewing, supervising and regulating motion pictures, publicity materials and television programs, as well as closing down erring movie houses.

 The new MTRCB head, Mary Grace Poe Llamanzares, who was sworn in by President Aquino last year, had her baptism of fire when critics questioned her qualifications. Was she selected on the basis of her being the daughter of the late movie icon, Fernando Poe Jr. and Susan Roces? Why, she wasn’t even an actress.

Deputy spokesperson Abigail Valte said one does not have to be an actress to know what the job calls for. Even Sen. Jinggoy said, “She’s very intelligent; she’s tailor fit for the job.” The Directors Guild of the Philippines and the Actors Guild of the Philippines also reportedly endorsed her.

Grace had gone to Assumption Convent for her high school education; she was captain of the debating team, which explains her being a good speaker. She has a degree in development studies from the UP, and another in political science, major in government and political theory, from Boston College in the US. Her exposure to her parents’ movie careers gave her an insight into the goings on in the movie industry. Living in the US with her businessman husband Neil Llamanzares for many years, she came home to help campaign for her father who ran for president, but lost, in 2004. At the time she was honorary chair of the Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM) party-list group.

At the Bulong Pulungan sa Sofitel media forum, she said she would like to have an open mind, and that the board would rule on films with the public good as a major consideration. The board, she admitted, is tasked with finding the balance between the interests of the movie and TV industry as business ventures and the rights of viewers.

 She wants to modernize the agency by improving its website, issuing on-line permits, and creating a film archiving system. FPJ Productions, she said, has archived about 250 films.

Would she have allowed the showing of “The DaVinci Code” in the theaters in this country? Grace said the movie did not make movie goers lose their faith, but it should be shown as a movie for adults only. Grace has three children, ages 6, 12 and 18.

Her attention was called to two controversial scenes in the movie “Father Jejemon,” which starred comedy king Dolphy. One showed him dropping a sacred host to a woman’s cleavage, and another showed the host stuck in a woman’s dentures — which acts Catholic leaders said, made a mockery of the Holy Communion. Grace commended Dolphy’s film outfit, RVQ Productions, for editing out the scenes from the movie’s trailer — though not from the actual movie itself.

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