As information multiplies and personal preference increasingly shapes what people accept as true, Filipinos need a firm foundation to distinguish right from wrong, Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said.
Speaking at the Teaching Series event Unchanging Truth in a Changing World, Cayetano argued that openness to new knowledge should not mean treating every principle as relative.
“Without a foundation,” the veteran legislator warned, “people risk losing their ability to discern fact from opinion.”
“We grew up in a world where things were more definite, right and wrong. What they told us was right was not always really right, and what they told us was wrong was most probably wrong. Ang point ko lang po, wala masyadong relativity noon,” the seasoned lawmaker said.
“Artificial intelligence and shifting information flows can make it harder to separate facts from personal opinions.”
The senator acknowledged that scientific discoveries and technological advances continue to change what people know, but said that change should not erase basic principles. He also warned that artificial intelligence and shifting information flows can make it harder to separate facts from personal opinions.
“Everything was about clarity in school. This is correct, that’s wrong. Now, it’s all about what you want. What your happiness is. What you think you are, is correct,” Cayetano said.
“If you don’t have a foundation, or even in the measurement, as the engineers or the technical people, you have to have a point of preference before you can make a measurement,” he added.
Cayetano urged participants to ground their discernment in biblical teachings, saying that access to information alone is not enough to determine what is true.
“We really have to discern.”
“We really have to discern. There’s no problem discerning when you are rooted in the Word of God. The problem with discerning, and you’re not rooted in the Word of God, you go back to fake news,” he said.
Cayetano also stressed that God’s Word should be accessible to everyone and translated into practical lessons for daily life.
“When we hold on to God’s word, for example, when you say, we are healed by the Lord Jesus, you have to imagine it now,” he concluded.
