ANDREA NICOLE PENAFIEL

PHILIPPINES MAN DIES AFTER BEING FORCED TO DO 300 SQUATS FOR

BREAKING COVID-19 CURFEW
A. What type of social sin does the news article present and why do you think so?

 A sinful attitude is one of the two categories of social sin that I can think of that
are present in this news story. As was mentioned, immoral attitudes are
displayed by people who consent to or actively take part in acts of violence
against others.

 The incident described in the news article occurred when police forced Darren
Manaog Pearedondo to execute 300 squats after violating the lockdown curfew,
which resulted in his death. Based on the description provided, this is already a
manifestation of a sinful mentality.

 In addition to the fact that such violence is incompatible with our laws, as moral
beings, we can never permit such heartless or evil deeds, unless your morality is
already distorted.

 A sinful structure is the second category of social sin that comes to mind. Social
structures that are considered sinful violate people's rights to human dignity and
hinder them from exercising their rights, which, in my opinion, leads to injustice.
B. What is/are the possible social issues or problems that gave rise to this social
sin?

 We can explicitly observe from the news article that there is an abuse of given
power.
 It is obvious that the police officers involved in the article abused their position as
government employees, which contributes to another societal problem plaguing
our nation today which is the superiority complex.

C. Quote a particular Social Teachings of the Church you think should respond to
this kind of social problem?

 The Catechism says precious little about political power, save for directly linking
the abuse of power to man’s fallen nature through original sin (CCC 407).

 Considering how prevalent these societal concerns are in our nation, I believe
that the best thing Filipinos can and must do is to abstain from adopting this
wicked mentality. We must remain aware of everything going on around us.
Instead of standing out for our fellow citizens who are being oppressed, abused,
and deprived of their rights, our silence benefits the oppressors, abusers, etc.