Acaylar, Nicco 1 –Estrellado

Arellano, Noreen Frances Christian Ethics

Molina, Janice Th; 5:00 – 6:00 PM
Navarro, Czarina Louise Ateneo de Davao – College of Law

Laudato Si
An “urgent challenge to protect our common home … to bring the whole human family together to seek
a sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change”.

The word 'change' is something that our country clamors for. For the
Philippines where poverty is so blatant, it is a word which denotes the meaning
of hope. However, while we see it as a political move towards progress, we fail
to notice how the change in our environment is leading us towards the
opposite. Pope Francis, in hope of entering into dialogue with all people, talks
about our relationship with the environment, our interdependence on Mother
Earth. But this relationship with the Earth as our sister which we should care
for is often brushed aside for the benefit of ourselves. Instead of being good
stewards of God's creation, man takes dominion of the earth as if he is its
master and it is his servant. The earth is changing but not for the benefit of all.
What is happening now in our common home poses a threat to all mankind,
especially to the poor who are less equipped to fend for themselves. In Pope
Francis's Laudato Si, the urgent challenge to protect our common home
includes a concern to bring the whole human family together to seek a
sustainable and integral development, for we know that things can change.

In Laudato Si, Pope Francis identifies pressing modern ecological

challenges: Pollution and Climate Change; The Issue of Water; The Loss of
Biodiversity; Decline in the Quality of Human Life and the Breakdown of
Society; and Global Inequality. These are all the result of our failure to give
significance to the earth which sustains us and our overwhelming indifference
towards our fellow human beings.

On Rapidification
One of the biggest challenge today is what Pope Francis called
"rapidification." Before, people lived in a much slower pace. Today, our lives are
so fast-paced. It is almost as if time is something we always have to chase.
According to Pope Francis, this accelerated, intensified speed run in counter
with the naturally slow pace of biological evolution. With this kind of speed,
changes come quickly too. But the problem is that the goals of rapidification is
not necessarily geared towards the common good. It is not to sustain human
development. It is true that different fields of career demand higher
productivity from their employees. While this not a bad thing, the end at which
this aim is towards profit-making. Today's world is so competitive that people
often lose sight of the more important things. Competitiveness highlights the
achievements of the individual and it is that which people aim for. As the world
becomes more evolved, change does not really play out for the common good.
Rather than propel us to growth, it just causes people anxiety. It affects the
quality of life of many. The more we give in to the trend of rapidification, the
more harm we cause to ourselves.

To address this challenge, it is up to the person to see the kind of

lifestyle he/she is living and to try to effect some changes on it. People
nowadays are so focused on their career that they forget the more important
things in life. The rapidity with which people live their lives today let them
forget that life is short and that although it is important to keep up with the
pace of the world, it is also, if not more, important to pause and slow down.
Overtime is the trend and it is always health which suffers. Simple stress can
lead to depression which is becoming more and more common these days
especially in developed countries. Also, people often spend more time with their
jobs than with their families. Asian countries, particularly India and East Asian
countries, while they emphasize the close family ties, also put so much
relevance to their careers and studies which as a result make them prone to
depression. In Japan, for example, research has shown that more women were
more so into their career that they sacrifice their chance to start a family. While
this is not a bad thing, what is alarming that people often lose sight of the
importance of making relationships with other people and the chance to
sympathize and empathize with the rest of the world as one is so absorbed in
their jobs.

Here in the Philippines, while Filipinos are naturally sociable and open to
people, career demands are so overwhelming that most often than not, it is not
healthy. Work-life balance is not achieved. Even during weekends, employers
contact their employees for matters relating to their jobs. The time to spend
with family and relax is limited, if not non-existent. People are overworked
which has serious ramifications on their health and on their lives. In contrast,
Germany has legislation which prohibits employers from contacting their
employees during weekends and vice versa. This is to maintain the work-life
balance. Acknowledging the fact that life is so fast paced today, Germany
enacted a policy to enable their workers to pause in their careers and to give
them time to reflect, spend time with their family and to engage in things which
of equal, if not more, importance. It enables them to take notice of the
environment so that they can think of ways to counter them.
On Air Pollution
Another problem that we have to deal with is the problem of pollution.
We deal with pollution in our everyday life that sometimes we hardly notice it.
Air pollution, for example, is so widespread. Developed and developing
countries alike face this problem. It is a global concern and amidst the
enactment of national policies or local ordinances, it still seems like we would
be facing this problem for years to come as a lot of us fails to exert effort in
addressing this matter. With pollution so widespread, the risk for our health
heightens. It produces a broad spectrum of health hazards and it is the poor
who endures the most out of it. Developing countries, for example, suffers the
most of this problem for years. This is not to say that developed countries do
not but only that they have the means to remedy it with their advance medical
technology. Meanwhile, in countries like the Philippines, the presence of
pollution cannot be denied in our major cities where deaths often occur in
slum areas. Lung problems usually arises. Unfortunately, with the lack of
financial assistance from the government, the poor cannot counter the
problem.

On a large scale, air pollution can be abated through our government’s

effort in intensively enforcing air pollution-control policies such as the Clean
Air Act. Operations of coal-fired power plants, a significant source of air
pollution, shall be regulated. Smoke belchers shall likewise be controlled.

In our own ways, we can address the issue of air pollution by collectively
reducing the use of our motor vehicles and limiting the trips that we take
whenever we can. Taking public transportation and carpooling helps reduce
the number of vehicles on the road. Having fewer vehicles on the road means
that there will be less carbon emissions and pollution that will get into the air.
Another good measure in addressing air pollution would be planting trees.
Planting trees can offset the carbon dioxide and other gases in the air. It
improves the quality of air and also makes our surroundings cooler. A national
Anti-Smoking ban would also help. Opposition to such enactment would
always argue that doing so would reduce revenues coming from cigarette
companies, but addressing the problem of pollution trumps such argument. In
big cities like Manila for example, people smoke in public areas and this
pollutes the air which smokers and nonsmokers alike breathe. In turn, people’s
health is continually being exposed to health hazards caused by cigarette
smoking. What good are revenues if every time we breathe our health are being
put to danger?
On Waste Problem
There is also the problem of waste. We often hear the older generations
lament about the loss of the beautiful landscapes. Today, those landscapes
may be nothing but a pile of rubbish. Factories produced industrial waste and
chemical products which can lead to bioaccumulation. It harms everyone.
What more is that the poor usually suffers most from this. However, to blame
everything to the factories and industrial corporations would be to negate our
own responsibility. It is undeniable that the volume of waste a typical person
generates every day is alarming. Instead of recycling, people tend to just throw
them away without thinking of its other possible uses. Homes and businesses
was beginning to look like a huge pile of filth as hundreds of millions of tons of
waste are generated, much of it non-biodegradable, highly toxic and
radioactive, from homes and businesses, from construction and demolition
sites, from clinical, electronic and industrial sources. There is also the fact that
developed countries just ship their waste in the developing countries like the
Philippines, as if the soil of our nation is a trash bin. Take for example, Smokey
Mountain in Payatas. Anyone can see the danger it poses to the health of the
people living in the area. The waste and pollution present there is enough to
send outsiders running and yet, many of our poor countrymen settle in the
area. Poverty is already a problem so grave that it renders people without a
choice to choose a better place for themselves. The fact that we do not care to
lessen our waste through recycling and adds to the waste which would be
dumped there increases to the health risks already present in the area.

As simple as it is, we can help minimize the country’s waste problems by

consistently observing the Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (3R’s) practice in our own
households. Reducing entails cutting back on amount of waste that we
produce by expending only what is essential. Reusing involves coming up with
new ways to utilizewaste so that we do not have to dispose of it. Recycling is
repurposing waste to remake new goods that can be used again.

Apart from the 3R’s, we can also employ waste segregation. Waste
segregation helps in recycling and reprocessing waste and therefore reduces
further consumption of of new materials. Segregated waste like plastic and
paper is considered to be a commodity which is still marketable.

On Climate Change
The issue of climate change is something we cannot escape and we can
no longer ignore. The effects of it are clearly felt: from the abnormal weather
pattern to the rise in sea level due to the ice caps melting in the North pole.
Pope Francis emphasizes that “the climate is a common good, belonging to all
and meant for all.” However, this notion had been set aside in favor of people’s
own interests. The pope recognizes that “a number of scientific studies indicate
that most global warming in recent decades is due to the great concentration of
greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, nitrogen oxides and others)
released mainly as a result of human activity.” Compared to generations before,
our lives are undeniably more advanced due to technological and scientific
achievements. However, we are also more prone to health problems as a result.
Climate change is not just the problem of one nation. It is the problem of all of
humanity. It is a global problem with grave implications: environmental, social,
economic, and political. The poor who are the least responsible for causing the
problem are the ones who are most vulnerable to its harmful effect. The need to
develop efficient and effective policies is urgent, so that in the years to come,
the emission of carbon dioxide and other highly polluting gases can be
drastically reduced. Pope Francis provided as an example, substituting for
fossil fuels and developing sources of renewable energy.

Being that Climate Change is a wide-reaching phenomenon, it takes

collective action to address such issue. One radical measure that can be done
about climate change is to raise awareness in order to help individuals,
societies, and governments make informed decisions about climate change. By
voicing out our concerns, we send a message that we are concerned about our
environment. We can encourage our policymakers to enact and enforce more
comprehensive laws that will limit or regulate carbon emissions.

As for individual actions, we can start off by simply conserving energy in

our own homes. Turning off appliances when not in use is one thing.
Participating during earth hour is another. We could limit our energy
consumption to a maximum of eight to ten hours if possible. Instead of using
our air conditioners, we can just open our windows to let the air in. Instead of
using electric driers, we can just hang our clothes under the heat of the sun.
There are many things we can do if we are just sensitive enough to do our part.

On Water Shortage
There is also the issue on water. Our natural resources are already so
depleted. The present level of consumption in developed countries and
wealthier sectors of society, where the habit of wasting and discarding has
reached unprecedented levels which cannot be sustained any longer. The
exploitation of our planet had already reached an unacceptable level and it is
the poor who suffers the most. Fresh drinking water is indispensable for
human life and for the support of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Sources
of fresh water are necessary for health care, agriculture and industry. It is of
primary importance that this issue be addressed. Where before, water sources
are constant and plenty, today the scarcity of it can be felt in a lot of places like
Africa. There now exists a problem on water shortage. Africa, for example, is
especially affected as large sectors of the population have no access to safe
drinking water. While some countries have areas rich in water, others endure
drastic scarcity. These areas are also where droughts are normally experienced.
These impede agricultural production which results to low food production. In
turn, hunger is widely felt in the area.

The quality of water available to the poor is one particularly serious

problem. Many deaths result from unsafe water. Water-related diseases,
including those caused by microorganisms and chemical substances may also
spread and affect a whole population. According to studies, dysentery and
cholera, linked to inadequate hygiene and water supplies, are a significant
cause of suffering and of infant mortality. Underground water sources in many
places are threatened by the pollution produced in certain mining, farming and
industrial activities, especially in countries lacking adequate regulation or
controls. It is not only a question of industrial waste. Detergents and chemical
products, commonly used in many places of the world, continue to pour into
our rivers, lakes and seas.

In the Philippines, the quality of water available to slum areas raises

concern. The drinking water there are polluted and are not safe to drink. This
often leads to diseases which the poor have no adequate means to counter. As
a result, many die, especially children whose immune system is still weak.

To address this problem, it would really help if the government would be

strict in ascertaining that factories’ wastes would not go to our rivers, lakes
and seas. If we can address water pollution, we can also address in part water
shortage. The government then needs to implement a strict policy to counter
this problem.

Also, it goes without saying that one solution to water shortage is by

conserving water. We can conserve water by doing very simple things like
turning off the faucet while not in use; taking shorter showers; making sure
that our pipes and faucets are not leaking, etc. These are just simple things
which we can do to help address this issue.

On Human Life and Activity

Anthromorphism is a school of thought which holds that human beings
are the central and most significant entities in the world, as opposed to
animals and nature. Such notion is seen to be a source of environmental crisis
as it encourages the view that humans dominate and rule over nature, leading
to its exploitation.

Although it is true that some people firmly reject the idea of a Creator, it
does not negate the fact that we have responsibilities to our neighbor and to all
of creation. Life is grounded in three fundamental and closely intertwined
relationship: relationship with God; relationship with our neighbor; and
relationship with the Earth itself.

The harmony between Creator, humanity and creation as a whole was

disrupted by or presuming to take the place of God and refusing to
acknowledge our creaturely limitation. People assume dominion over the earth
no longer to till and keep it, to administer but to abuse it and use it for their
own good without considerations as to the effects it would cause to others.
People are no longer Mother Earth’s good stewards but its destroyers.

We are not God. Therefore, we should not treat God’s creation less than
we treat ourselves. With how fast the world is running today, people often
forget God. We end up worshipping earthly powers or ourselves usurping the
place of God, even claiming an unlimited right to trample His creation
underfoot. We must not exploit nature in such a way that could damage the
environment. We must not view nature solely as a source of profit and gain for
this has serious consequence in our society. We are given the opportunity to till
and preserve it, to administer it and to develop its potential. And this is what
we must do. The idea that we can take control of everything we think we can is
manifested in the violence and abuse that is plaguing the world. We are using
our abilities for destruction. We are using our destructive power in wars. We
are using our destructive power over the common home which God so blessed
us. By doing so, we are using our destructive power on our brothers and
sisters, on our fellow human beings, on our very own selves. Where the
wickedness and selfishness of man is so blatant, we must find ways to go back
to the selflessness God wants from us by first taking care of our common
home. We should not forget our relationship with nature. We have to love the
earth if we are to truly say that we love our neighbors, ourselves and our
Creator.