It's funny how the most unassuming news article can lead one down a deep dark rabbit hole of insanity. Last week in Los Angeles Jorge “Jerry” Perez de Tagle was honoured with an award for his work in improving Philippine society.
Jorge “Jerry” Perez de Tagle, national chairman of The Way to Happiness Philippines Foundation, flew in from Manila, August 3, to receive the Bayanihan Spirit Award for his work to improve Philippine society.
The award was presented at the 17thAnnual Filipinotown Neighborhood Council Festival, where he was also recognized by US Congressman Jimmy Gomez and Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell.
Perez de Tagle has spent the last several years working with the Philippine National Police, the Department of National Defense, local governments, churches, and community organizations to tackle the problems of crime, drugs, and corruption.
He has trained thousands within the ranks of these organizations to spread commonsense values among their members and into the community. The focal point of the program centers around The Way to Happiness, a commonsense guide to ethics and values.
Who is Jorge Perez de Tagle? What is The Way to Happiness? If he has been working hard to improve Philippine society why is an American, not a Philippine, organisation giving him an award?
Let's start with the second question. What is The Way to Happiness? It's a front for Scientology.
L. Ron Hubbard is the creator of the science fiction religion known as Scientology. This gist of this religion is that men are unhappy and depressed because they are infected with the souls of aliens who were dumped in volcanoes on this planet thousands of years ago by an alien warlord named Xenu. The only path to salvation is to reach the level of Clear and become an Operating Thetan which means you are no longer infected with these alien souls.
The Way to Happiness is a non-religious ethical system, supposedly the first though I could point to Lao Tse and Aristotle as well as others who wrote non-religious ethical systems, written by Hubbard as a way to help men live better lives. Allegedly this book has been used by governments all over the world with astounding results that are backed only by claims and not any hard evidence.
Scientologists like Tom Cruise and Nancy Cartwright have also given this book away by the millions.
Scientologist Nancy Cartwright, the voice actor for Bart Simpson, mailed 1 million copies of The Way to Happiness booklet to residents of San Fernando Valley, California in December 2007.
Tom Cruise has distributed The Way to Happiness pamphlets, and passed out brochures embossed with his name at the elementary school where the 2005 movieWar of the Worlds was filmed. He also gave copies of the pamphlet to managers of United International Pictures, the company which distributed War of the Worlds overseas. In a Church of Scientology-produced promotional video which appeared on YouTube in January 2008, Cruise cites "the way to happiness" as one of the benefits of Scientology: "When you're a Scientologist and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help," said Cruise. "We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Way_to_Happiness
Former members of the church claim that The Way to Happiness is a front to make Hubbard's ideas more palatable and to entice people to join Scientology.
Front group? Critics of Scientology, including some former officials, argue that "The Way to Happiness" is primarily a recruiting tool for the church. According to Vicki Aznaran, who once served as inspector general of the Religious Technology Center, the church's highest ecclesiastical organization, The Way to Happiness Foundation is "a front group to get people into Scientology" and the book is designed "to make Scientology palatable to the masses." Another former church member, Gerald Armstrong, claims that Hubbard wanted "rich Scientologists to buy huge quantities of this book for distribution. He wanted to go down in history as a scientist or a philosopher or both." Both Aznaran, who runs a private detective agency in Dallas, and Armstrong, who works for an anti-Scientologist attorney in San Francisco, are currently locked in prolonged and bitter litigation with the church over a variety of claims.
Church officials strongly deny that "The Way to Happiness" is a lure to attract potential converts. Still, the church is anxious to broaden its appeal by promoting Hubbard's various "technologies" for combating drugs, reforming criminals, teaching morality and learning how to study-and doing it through its sundry satellites: Narconon, Criminon, Applied Scholastics and The Way to Happiness Foundation. The church's encyclopedic reference text, "What Is Scientology?", claims that 23 corporate giants have used Hubbard's study technology. Yet a check of three of them-Mobil Oil, General Motors and Lancome-brought denials of any corporate involvement with the church. But if the nation's public schools are any measure, Hubbard's tracts will continue to turn up in the most surprising places.
Surprising places like the NCRPO?
NCRPO Regional Director, PDIR Oscar D Albayalde stated that the main purpose of this effort is Nation Building for the future generation. This is the reason why the President started the war on drugs to build a safe nation guarded by disciplined policemen.
The Way to Happiness (TWTh) Philippines Foundation is a non-profit, non religious and non political approach that uses the proven 25% Tippinng Point model of social change. NCRPO supports the Way to Happiness Philippines Foundation’s advocacy: supporting a common sense education and ethics initiative using the Way to happiness Booklet.
The PNP particularly the NCRPO adopted the 21 precepts of TWTH during the implementation of War against Illegal Drugs. Now, that the NCRPO is concentrating on its Internal Cleansing Program, NCRPO Regional Director, PDIR Oscar D Albayalde believes that the TWTH would be very helpful in transforming moral values of the police.
Albayalde, a man of good ethics and public servants himself, is convinced that the booklet is a must read for police officers. It’s about time to renew our commitment that police officers to be effective public servants must be morally upright, he said.
The Way to Happiness Philippines website has this advice to PNP officers on "how to effectively deal with the lack of moral values and reduce crime in your community."
- Distribute The Way to Happiness book or The Way to Happiness book-on-film to offenders to get them back on the right track.
- Have officers give the book to members of the community, to neighborhood watch groups and those involved in community policing efforts.
- Issue copies of the book to your officers and encourage them to read it and use it when dealing with members of the community.
- Get The Way to Happiness public service announcements played for youth groups, schools, after-school programs and detention centers and get the educators using The Way to Happiness in their tutoring and mentoring programs.
- Get The Way to Happiness used in parenting classes, anger management programs, conflict resolution training and gang prevention efforts.
- Supply parole and probation officers with copies of The Way to Happiness for probationers, parolees and their families.
- Get copies of the book distributed to inmates in local jails and correctional facilities.
- Reprint The Way to Happiness (license available by contacting us) for your department or agency.
http://thewaytohappinessphilippines.org/campaigns/police-program/
I find it odd that with all the coverage of the drug war the use of this program has never been discussed. At least I have never heard of it until now. Albayalde says the purpose of using The Way to Happiness is nation building and "transforming the moral values of the police." But is this booklet really the best way to accomplish those goals?
Aside from benign advice like brush your teeth and honour your parents The Way to Happiness booklet has one suggestion that will not help in anyone's moral transformation and will certainly not build any nation.
7. Seek to live with the truth
False data can cause one to make stupid mistakes. It can even block one from absorbing true data.
One can solve the problems of existence only when he has true data.
If those around one lie to him or her, one is led into making errors and his survival potential is reduced.
False data can come from many sources: academic, social, professional.
Many want you to believe things just to suit their own ends.
What is true is what is true for you.
No one has any right to force data on you and command you to believe it or else. If it is not true for you, it isn’t true.
Think your own way through things, accept what is true for you, discard the rest. There is nothing unhappier than one who tries to live in a chaos of lies.
"
One can solve the problems of existence only when he has true data" and "What is true is what is true for you" both cancel each other out. You cannot solve anything if the true data you have is only relatively true and not actually and factually true.
"What's true is true for you" is the essence of relativism and relativism the source of the downfall of modern civilisation. Truth is truth. It is not relative. If the facts all say that the suspect did not pull a gun and that he was shot multiple times in the back then the PNP officer's claim to the contrary will never be true no matter how much he wishes it to be so. If an officer steals thousands or millions of pesos no wrangling of the truth, I only borrowed it or took what was rightfully mine, will change the fact that he is a thief.
This book, The Way to Happiness, is actually the way to death and destruction and no person in their right mind would ever use it even if it was not the ethical system of a sci-fi religion.
Now allow me to go a little in depth about who Jerry Tagle is. Suffice to say Tagle is a Scientologist.
This is from a website documenting members who have completed Scientology courses. The course Mr. Tagle completed is called "The State of Man."
After reading the synopsis several times I am still not sure what this course is all about. It seems to be a series of lectures given by Hubbard in the 50's about the various levels in Scientology all the way up to OT which is Operating Thetan.
Jerry Tagle also boasts of having studied in many universities around the world and he has an honorary doctorate from the BEST School of Theology.
Why would he list that he studied for a Phd at BEST when he was given an honorary doctorate? You do not study for an honorary doctorate. The philosophy of the BEST school on handing out honorary doctorates is interesting to say the least.
As for the BEST school here is what the operator has to say about honorary doctorates.
According to Bishop Ariel P. Coleto of Brethren Evangelical School of Theology, an honorary doctorate degree bears more weight compared to doctorate degrees earned through matriculation (or the traditional method) for the reason that those who are chosen to receive the honorary degree first did something to their milieu that is why they are considered for such honor, while those who earn the degree by traditional means they have yet to prove themselves which they do so through formal study and research having lacked actual stints.
The latter have not yet shown the glitters of their actual accomplishments to the world. Bishop Coleto could not have emphasized this better.
I am thankful for the Ph.D. in Social Sciences and Fine Arts given to me by the Brethren Evangelical School in partnership with Edenton Mission College (CHED accredited).
https://thedailyguardian.net/option/doctorate-degrees-via-honoris-causa/
The Facebook page for BEST shows that they are handing out honorary doctorates like there is no tomorrow. That's because honorary doctorates are the only degree they offer!!!
At least I have not seen any evidence to the contrary that they offer real degrees.
This web page makes it seem like they offer bachelor's degrees in various fields but it also sounds like a scam and maybe it is.
Now for the the third question: Why was Jerry Tagle given an award for helping to improve Philippine society in Los Angeles rather than the Philippines?
I do not know the answer to that. However one of the men recognising Mr. Tagle is Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell. If you search this man's name it is clear that he has assisted the Scientologists in many of their public outreach efforts like a bike ride to raise awareness of hit-and-runs. A Scientology minister was hit while riding his bike and nearly died. Amazingly he used The Way to Happiness to assist in his recovery.
For just that purpose, Damian had a special edition of The Way to Happiness booklet printed with the Finish the Ride logo on the cover and made this available to those who participated in the ride. The Way to Happiness is a nonreligious common sense moral code authored by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard.
Damian credits a precept from The Way to Happiness as a critical factor in his recovery.
“I applied a precept that states, ‘Sometimes others seek to crush one down, to make nothing out of one’s hopes and dreams, one’s future and oneself…. The real handling of such a situation and such people, the real way to defeat them is to flourish and prosper.’”
http://www.scientology-losangeles.org/news/finish-the-ride.html
Mitch O'Farrell also "presented the Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre with a proclamation in honor of the Church’s 45th anniversary and in appreciation of the Church’s invaluable service to the community.”
I have no idea if this man is a Scientologist or not but it is quite the coincidence that he has recognised the Church of Scientology all over Los Angeles and now he has recognised Jerry Tagle, a Scientologist who lives in the Philippines. What are the chances?
Should anyone be worried that PNP officers will be converting to Scientology after reading through The way to Happiness? While Scientology does have a small presence in the Philippines I find it doubtful that PNP officers will be scrambling to reach Clear and become Operating Thetans. I don't think they even know what they are dealing with and it is this aloofness which makes it very funny that one of the PNP's methods of training to improve themselves is the moral and ethical code of a science fiction religion.
