Activity # 1

Ethics

1. Identify a list of: (a) obligations we are expected to fulfill, (b) prohibitions we are
required to respect, and (c) ideals we are encouraged to meet. Discuss whether these
are ethical in nature or not.

A. Obligations we are expected to fulfill

Moral Obligations
One of our purpose here on Earth is to live a happy, fruitful and a
conscience-free life. And to live a conscience-free life, we need to follow the
moral standards that are expected for us to fulfill. Every waking day, making
decisions or executing an action, people must keep in mind to always do what is
morally right. Our moral obligations is ethical in nature for it helps us
acknowledge the goodness or badness of our future decisions or actions.
Obligations in the country
As a citizen of the Republic of the Philippines, we are expected to fulfill
its rules. We are expected to follow what the law they have institunalized. These
law ensures the overall welfare of its citizens. However, there are some law that
are questionable and we are afraid that it might violate human rights. One
example of this is the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 which was signed by the
current administration by July of the said year. While it was not yet signed and is
still a bill, I, personally, got myself a copy of the context of this law. And there
are sections there that are really questionable. For example, when you post
something in social media about criticizing the government, you might get red-
tagged as terrorist just like that. So, human rights advocate were also very concern
of when it would be made or signed into a law. But, as expected in the
government, it seems they are afraid of critics that instead of revisiting the
sections and fixing those that may taint human rights, they signed it immediately.
This case is ethical in nature because are we just going to follow a rule without we
knowing that it might harm us. It’s good if you’re just trying to be a good citizen
by doing it. But we should always remember that before we become citizens, we
were first our own person. And we have our own moral compass that we follow.
If a law is something that is not parallel to your moral standards, you could
always fend off.
B. Prohibitions we are required to respect
Culture and Traditions
Every ethnic group in the country have their own culture and traditions
that they considered sacred for it symbolize their identity. Each cultures set out
rules and prohibitions that they wanted for their people to follow. And we are
 expected to respect this rules and prohibitions they set put for themselves.
Generally, we must respect the culture that are different from us and their
traditions. I think this is ethical in nature in the sense that if we respect them and
not make fun of or mock if we think it’s weird, that we are actually doing the right
thing.
Religion
Last time, we discussed about the multiplicity of religion in which there is
some challenge in indicating which is really the moral standard because each
religious sector have their own. And like every religion, they have rules set for the
people in their church to follow. These prohibitions, although may not be
applicable to us, we must respect. This is ethical in nature because we know that
there is no inferior or superior in religion, so whatever rules or prohibitions they
set out for themselves, respecting it is what is morally right.
C. Ideals we are encouraged to meet

2. Are clothes a matter of pure aesthetic taste, does it make sense for clothes to become
a subject in a discussion of ethics? Why? How about other forms of adornment,
such as tattoos and piercings?

The way we dress up, how we come up to what style are we going to do or how
we decided or what are the criteria set for us to choose this certain top, says a lot about
ourselves. You may choose to wear long-sleeved clothes because that’s where you’re
most comfortable and you’re the type to be a bit conservative. You may, also, choose to
wear tiny strap dresses because you wanted to look chic and girly. However, our fashion
sense and style has evolved. Nowadays, people dress to look aesthetically appealing.
Whether we admit it or not, when we buy clothes, we choose those that are visually
appealing to us and to others. So, yes, I must agree that clothes are a matter of pure
aesthetic taste. You wanted to look good. Therefore, you choose clothes that match your
style. That’s how it is now.
Clothes, also, I think has become a subject in the discussion of ethics. Our
country, for example. The Philippines, as we know, is a highly conservative country.
Some elderlies here have not yet fully adapt to what’s trending nowadays. When they see
someone whose skirts are too short for their liking, they immediately thought of her as
“malandi” or flirt. There’s stereotyping going around especially when it comes to the way
people dress up and present themselves in the public. Women are always thrown with this
kind of judgments. We saw how modern women are becoming more confident of
themselves. They wear clothes however they like. But then, some still assumes that when
they choose clothes that show a little too much skin, that they do that to provoke
everyone, especially men. Hence, they are being restricted on what and what not to wear
– what is appropriate and what is not. The same goes with tattoos and piercing. People
who have these in their bodies are always prone to judgment from other people. They are
always being stereotyped. When in fact, they just do whatever makes them happy. But,
still, they are thrown hate and were always assumed worst.
 Clothing and other forms of adornment, such tattoos and piercing, are all part of
ourselves. It is our right to do whatever we want with our bodies. No one should have a
say in that. If that’s where you feel most confident, then you should go for it. These
things are not supposed to be a subject in discussion of ethics. The only wrong here is the
way people think. They forgot that we’re unique. We have different principles that we
lived by and we should respect that.

3. Look for a newspaper article that tackles an ethical issue. Consider the following
questions:

The news article that I read that is entitled, “Family seeks hospital detention for
Dr. Naty Castro” which was published last February 24 by GMA News is about the
demands of the family of Dr. Natividad Castro to put her in a hospital arrest due to her
health condition. Dr. Castro was a former Secretary General of Karapatan Caraga. She
brought few Lumad members to Geneva to seek help for them. Dr. Naty is community
doctor in Butuan. She was arrested last February 18, 2022 by the PNP for allegedly
kidnapping and serious illegal detention. Dr. Naty is also being red-tagged as a terrorist
which her family denied.

a. What makes this a matter of ethics?

b. What is your own ethical judgment on this case?
c. What are your reasons for this judgment?

4. Brainstorm and come up with a list of common Filipino values. Consider the
strengths and weaknesses of these.

The common Filipino values that I’ve come up with are the following. First is the
value of Bayanihan or camaraderie. This value shows how Filipinos are willing to extend
a hand whenever there are people in need. Whatever kind of help, whether big or small,
they won’t hesitate to help their fellow Filipinos. The strength of this is that it allows
Filipinos to show how they value fellowship and how they show sympathy and empathy
towards the situation of others. They act upon it because for them it is what would make
them feel fulfilled. While the weakness for this, I think, is that it makes a person less
motivated because they would there will always be someone to help them. They would
become reliant of help from other people and not try to work harder.
The next is that Filipinos are known to be hospitable. They are very welcoming
and very accommodating especially to people from another country visiting here. The
strength of this value is that Filipinos can be able to show other countries the kind of
people they are. They can be able to exhibit their culture which is very helpful in
boosting our tourism. The downside of this value is that there are times, when we get
very hospitable that we don’t know we are already being abused or even worse.
Another common Filipino value is our being resilient. Whenever we’re face with
adversities, we would always finds ways to bounce back. After every storm, there would
 still be smiles on our faces and hope in our eyes. Filipinos don’t give up easily because
everything all will be over in time. The strength of this value is that it shows how strong
Filipinos are that they are not fazed with anything. They stood up hopeful and they never
dwell on the damage it caused them for long. They let life happen and believe that
whatever happened were meant to happen. But, it doesn’t give them free pass to lose
faith, instead they accept it and do what they think is right. However, the downside of this
is that because we are expected to be resilient, means we should get back up immediately.
It’s taking away our chance to grief and feel down which are all fine. Because we are
expected to be resilient, we are not allowed to entertain our negative emotions which is
supposed to be normal since we are only humans.
The next is that Filipinos are known to be family oriented. We value the
importance of family so much that our goals and plans in the future is entangled with
prioritizing the welfare of the family first. The strength of this value is that it shows how
much Filipinos care for their loved ones; how much they are willing o sacrifice for them.
Family is a very important concept in our lives. We think that we should be grateful to be
able to be a part of one because others don’t have their own family. While the weakness
of this value is that not every family relationship is the same. There are members of the
family that don’t feel secured around them especially those that experienced abuse. Some
that experience a punishable offense and should-be-put-behind-bars kind of abuse wanted
to speak out but being held by the concept of family or the value of family even when it
does them bad. The point is that family ties are important. But, if this tie is putting a
weight on your welfare or if this tie is only causing abuse, maybe the concept of family is
not very much a priority here.

5. Imagine that you are a legislator. What rules or laws that currently prohibit certain
acts or practices would you want to amend or repeal? Also, are there certain acts or
practices currently permitted by the law that you would want to prohibit? Think of
this on the level of your school, your city, and the nation.

6. Comment on this statement: “What I believe must be true if I feel very strongly
about it.”

This statement shows how much conviction you have of your own judgment. Yes,
there are people who believed in their gut feel. Oftentimes, we are proven that they are,
indeed, true. But, to always depend on it should not be something we need to do if we’re
eager to find the truth. Feelings are valid. Maybe, there are emotions that stirred in you
that make you believed it is something associated in your quest for truth. However, we
cannot always be dependent on it because we might be wrong. To say something is true,
it must first be equipped with evidences and not to solely, rely on what we feel is right.

7. Is looking after the benefit of your own family over all other aspects considered as
another form of egoism? Discuss.