ReEd 4

(Intro to Cath. Social

Thought)
 Chapter 1
(The Experience of Social Injustice)
 Positive economic
(%) refers to the
Facts Perception economy,
(%) such as
(%)
Negative people's
(%)
income and
finances

Socio - refers to "the Politics - the activities

study of the associated with the
behaviors of governance of a country
people, including or other area, especially
the ways they the debate or conflict
interact with one among individuals or
another or their parties having or hoping to
family structures achieve power.
contemporary socio-economic
and political context and
experience
When responding to and interacting
with the world, Catholic social
thought does not simply stay in its
“ivory tower;” rather, it emphasizes
that, in order to do God’s work and
work towards justice, there is a need
to be immersed in and understand
the contemporary situation of the
world through the natural and social
sciences, as well as business and
economics, the humanities, and
applied sciences.
In the age of social media and real-time
connectivity, society is constantly
bombarded with news about our
community, our country, and the world.
 Various media platforms on the internet
allow us to immediately learn about
breaking news, as well as comment on
them.
While there is good news that is
celebrated in media, such as a growing
economy, there is also an awareness of
corruption and injustice in the
government, in business, and in civil
society.
 Ph Societal Experiences

- GROWING ECONOMICALLY
- INVESTMENT IN GREAT STATUS
- strong economic growth and growing
confidence from investors
- the growing awareness for gender
and racial equality both locally and
abroad have brought to the fore
questions of how race, culture, and
gender impact access to social
services and economic opportunities
- committed to mitigate climate
change in their own ways—a big step
toward helping care for the
environment in the face rapid
environmental degradation and global
warming.
The benefits of
these
developments in
the country and
worldwide have
not necessarily
been felt by nor
received by all
people.
The benefits of these developments in the
country and worldwide have not necessarily
been felt by nor received by all people.
1. local situations such as the laglag-bala
scam in airports, the slow and often
hindered redistribution of land for farmers
and peace talks with the New People’s
Army (NPA) and various groups seeking
autonomy in Mindanao, and the issue of
poverty have been common topics in
Philippine news.
2. Accusations of corruption, greed, and
apathy from those in power have plagued
the country.
3. Filipinos have become divided over
the socio-economic and political
situation of the country, with the
election of President Rodrigo Duterte
and his manner of governance.
4.While there has been some reform in
healthcare and education, the
Philippines still lags behind in terms of
healthcare indicators, such as maternal
mortality rate and malnutrition, as well
as inadequate facilities for schools and
training for teachers.
It is this social reality that has
encouraged people from all
walks of life to either protest on
the street, lobby and enter into
politics, or work for reform
through non-government
organizations (NGOs).
The benefits of
these Negative
developments in
the country and
worldwide have Contrast
not necessarily
been felt by nor
received by all
Experience
people.
 Negative Contrast Experience
1.wherein an encounter or experience of
reality has revealed to people the way
things ought to be, by the way that they
are not;
 if a person emphasizes that poverty,
corruption, and sexism, for example, should
not be allowed, such a statement can only
be said when experienced in contrast with
the good, which would be gender equality,
living wages and decent quality of life, and
transparency and accountability.
 Negative Contrast Experience
2. The experience of a lack of justice has
spurred people to work for a system
that ought to be more just.
“Experience has a productive force,
not only in terms of providing
knowledge, but by compelling us to
speak out and take action…and
because experience, which we can
pass on, challenges our establishes
ways of thinking and acting, it is not
innocent.”
 A faith that That is Both
Personal and Social
 For the Catholic Church, this present reality
requires a response that is rooted in the
Catholic faith commitment. Such a faith
commitment acknowledges that what others
might see as only secular, with no room for
religion, is not divorced from faith and religion.
 Faith is not simply private nor solely concerned
about getting to heaven when one dies; the
Catholic faith commitment entails
working for justice for one’s neighbor,
and not just offering thoughts and
prayers for those in need.
 A faith that That is Both
Personal and Social
To respond to this reality, there is a need
to understand its complexity, its
interconnectedness, its various aspects,
historical roots and development, and its
pervasiveness.
These unjust situations were not created
overnight… were built over time through the
different institutions, decisions, and
organizations that made particular decisions
and whose decisions and actions fed into a
particular way of doing things.
 A faith that That is Both
Personal and Social
If the Catholic Church wishes to
respond adequately to the current
situation, it needs to collaborate with
other disciplines and organizations in
order to have a more complete
understanding of how the current
situation operates, and how people
interact with, are affected by, and
contribute to this situation.
Analyzing the Contemporary Context
• Filipino Culture
• Civil Society
Social • Social Institutions
Aspect • Education
• Healthcare
• Gender

Economic • Business
Aspect • Economics

Political
• Governance
Aspect
 Filipino cultural traits

Strength of Weaknesses
Filipino of the
Character Filipino
Character
 Strength of Filipino Character

1. Pakikipagkapwa-Tao (regards for others)

2. Family Orientation (genuine and deep love for the
family)
3. Flexibility, Adaptability, and Creativity (capacity to
adjust, and to adapt to circumstances and to the
surrounding environment both physical and social;
resourceful, adept at learning, and able to improvise
and make use of whatever is at hand in order to create
and produce)
4. Hard work and Industry (capacity for hard work, given
proper conditions)
5. Faith and Religiosity (deep faith in God; innate religiosity
enables us to comprehend and genuinely accept reality
in the context of God’s will and plan
Weaknesses of the Filipino Character
1. Extreme Personalism ( no separation between objective task
and emotional involvement); take things personally
2. Extreme Family-Centeredness (creates an in-group to which
Filipino is fiercely loyal, to the detriment of concern for larger
community or the common good)
3. Passivity and Lack of Initiative (one waits to be told what has to
be done; the need for a strong authority figure and feel safer
and more secure in such presence; high tolerance for
inefficiency, poor service, and even violations of one’s basic
rights)
4. Colonial Mentality (lack of patriotism and actual preference for
things foreign)
5. Kanya-kanya Syndrome (selfish, self-serving attitude that
generates a feeling of envy and competitiveness towards
others)
6. Lack of Self-Analysis and Self-Reflection (tendency to be
superficial; joking about the most serious matters prevents us
from looking deeply into the problem.
 Social Institutions
Aside from culture, social
institutions play a big role in
how civil society works and
provides for people. Education
and healthcare are important
aspects of society that heavily
affect the kind of people that
make up society.
 Social Institutions
As part of the Sustainable
Development Goals, education
and healthcare for the poor and
marginalized groups have
become important indicators
towards whether or not a society is
progressing towards becoming a
community of flourishing and
development.
 Education
The Philippines boasts its almost universal basic literacy
rate. However,
 the quality and affordability of education is an issue,
due to lack of school materials and teachers. Out of
school youth are also an issue.
 Educational mismatch is also a concern, with more
students opting for universities and colleges rather
than vocational and technical courses and
contributing to underemployment and
unemployment.
 This focus on getting traditional four year degrees is
due to the perception that only four year courses in
colleges and universities can lead to well-paying
jobs, as well as the ambition to move abroad to
other countries in order to earn more for one’s family.
Healthcare
 The Philippines has both private and
publicly funded hospitals. Those funded by
the government charge less, little to no
fees; because of this, many of the poor go
to these hospitals.
 The cost, adequacy, and availability of
certain facilities and technologies for
certain healthcare procedures at public
hospitals have been criticized, as not all
public hospitals would have the equipment
needed for any form of medical procedure
and thus would cause logistical and
financial problems in transporting patients.
 While both public and private hospitals seek to offer
the same quality of service, sometimes lack of funding,
coupled with the large number of people who need to
be served, leads to a failure to achieve the same
quality and care that a private hospital can give.
 There is also a perception that since public hospitals
are free, patients have no right to complain; there is
also the concern of the sheer volume of patients that
need to be treated at certain hospitals due to
legislation that does not allow hospitals to refuse
patients.
 Some public hospitals are also dependent on their
local government to provide adequate funding, which
is difficult to get due to healthcare not being a priority.
 This lack of priority stems from healthcare being a
concern only when someone is sick, rather than
healthcare including preventive procedures as well.
 Gender
The Philippines continues to
maintain the narrowing gender
gap in Asia, according to the
Global Gender Gap Index in
2017;
 the country boasts of equal
opportunity for education for
both men and women and
improving political participation
and empowerment.
 Gender
While the country leads the Asian region in
terms of gender equality, it has
nevertheless decreased in the world
ranking.
This is due to lesser opportunities for
economic participation, as well as the
continuing problem of maternal health
and deaths;
the October 2013 labor force survey
revealed that four in seven unpaid family
workers are women and three in ten
underemployed people are women.
There is also still a tendency towards the
traditional understanding of gender roles.
A strong machismo culture promotes a
traditional understanding of masculinity
and femininity:
the male as the breadwinner of the
family, who is strong and assertive,
while the female is the one who takes
care of the home and the children,
and who is gentle, meek, and obedient
to men.
These gender expectations can harm
both men and women:
men are not allowed to express
emotion or to show that they are
dealing with feelings that they might
have, which is not emotionally healthy,
while women are not allowed to
express themselves and must be
obedient to men. This can lead to
violence and abuse, and a
reinforcement of rape culture and
power over women.
 Economic Aspect: Business
and Economics
 The past few years saw the country’s growth
based, measured as Gross Domestic Product
(GDP), has been very positive, consistently
exceeding 6% for nine consecutive quarters as
of the third quarter of 2017.
 As shown earlier, the country’s economic
indicators paint a rosy picture of the country.
Cheaper costs for labor, an almost universally
literate and young population, as well as a good
grasp of the English language has made the
country a lucrative investment.
However, a question needs to be
asked: who is benefitting from this
growth?
 The dominant model of trickle down
economics, which has become the
assumed economic model, assumed
that giving some form of incentive,
such as tax cuts, to the wealthy
owners of capital and businesses will
stimulate business investments and
lead to more job opportunities or
more wages that will “trickle down”
to the workers in the businesses.
This theory continues to be debated
today and used when economic policies
are being crafted by certain political
parties; however, the theory has also
been critiqued to be ineffective.
Over time, studies showed that the
wealth at the top increased, while
poverty levels have not decreased as
much, from 26.6% in 2006, down to 21.6%
in 2015; farmers and fishermen, as well as
women and children in particular have a
higher level of poverty incidence
compared to the general Filipino
population.
There is also the question about what
is being spent on that fuels economic
growth and whether it is effective or
being put to good use.
 Other national budgets, especially
the United States of America allocate
a large amount of funding for the
military and national defense, rather
than for education, healthcare, or
housing.
 Locally, the national budget for the Philippines
in 2018 allocated a large share to the
Department of Public Works and Highways,
while the next largest allocation goes to the
Department of Education.
 This indicates a positive move to build
infrastructure in the country, as well as
improve the educational system through
better school materials, buildings, and pay for
teachers.
 However, whether the budgeted amount is
enough, and whether it will reach the people
who need it is another matter, as political
maneuvering, as will be seen later on in this
chapter, can affect who has access to the
resources that the government allocates.
Lastly, economic growth can have an
effect on the environment. Production
and consumption create some form of
strain on the environment, and if left
unchecked, can lead to much
ecological devastation: climate
change, rapid deforestation, loss of
biodiversity, and decreasing arable
farmland are some of the tangible
effects of an economy that focuses on
growth that is not inclusive for all people
and the environment.
Care for the environment has
become a growing concern: there
has been a push for consumers to
be more mindful of what they
consume and how they consume
food and other needs such as
clothing, while producers are
pressured to come up with
sustainable methods in creating
their products and services.
 The Political Aspect:
Governance
One of the common
problems that has
consistently been raised in
the country is the problem of
corruption in the
government, both at the
local and national levels.
 The Political Aspect:
Governance
 Corruption is understood to be any form of abuse
of power, and in government, that power comes
in the form of the ability to craft and policies and
procedures that will affect how resources are
allocated and how people behave, or to simply
affect how such policies and procedures are
made through activities such as bribery, vote
buying or selling, misuse of public funds, or
extortion.
 Sometimes, such abuse is done to protect the
person’s status, privilege, or wealth; sometimes it
can also be done out of fear or pushing from
other more powerful people.
 According to Transparency International, the Philippines has a
score of 34 out of 100 in 2017, wherein 0 means highly corrupt,
and 100 is very clean.
 Political engagement and corruption continues to be an issue
in the country, with the same politicians and same systems
continuing to operate, without much change.
 Systems that focus on rent-seeking behavior and patronage
politics are pervasive at both the local and national levels of
government.
 Rent-seeking behavior is behavior that uses resources to obtain
some form of economic gain, without necessarily giving some form
of value to society through wealth creation; this is seen in the
prevalence of patronage politics,
 Patronage Politics is a collusion between public and private entities
wherein the public entity, such as the local government, dispenses
or gives out contracts, enacts favorable policies, or gives other
valued benefits to private entities, in exchange for loyalty, votes, or
financial backing.
This form of politics creates difficulties
and barriers to concretely
responding to the needs of society,
as it leads to politicians caring
primarily for their private partners, as
well as private partners having more
power, compared to other
individuals or organizations, in
advocating for particular policies
that would benefit them, to the
detriment of others.
 Summary and Implications
1. a brief analysis of the socio-economic
and political aspects of society that
human beings encounter and live in
everyday is real.
2. Interconnectedness of all of these
institutions and decision makers are
enmeshed in a web of relationships,
where one decision made will have
effects and consequences, subtle or
obvious, in other institutions and on other
people.
 Summary and Implications
3.Understanding this
interconnectedness is crucial to
remember when analyzing and
understanding our complex reality
today.
4.Reference to various authoritative
sources in the the socio-economic
and political sections for analysis of
the contemporary situation
 Summary and Implications
5.a situationer of the country in order
to ground the theologizing
6.The Catholic Church has much to
say, and has said much, on the
various aspects of society as well as
the documents the Catholic Church
issued in response to these topics.
8.In order to explain this reality,
Catholicism explains further
sin not simply as personal but
also social.
9.to identify a clear link
between our actions and the
consequences in order to
acknowledge one’s role in
the wrongdoing.