Republic of the Philippines

ISABELA STATE UNIVERSITY

City of Ilagan, Isabela

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE & TECHNOLOGY

GEC 7 - ETHICS
Semester/A.Y.: 2nd Semester, SY 2021-2022

QUIZ 4

Whistle-Blowing and the Duty of Speaking Truth to Power

Business ethics is a field of applied moral philosophy wherein the principles of right and
wrong (as we are learning about deontology, virtue ethics, utilitarianism, among others) are
made pertinent and relevant to the workplace. Just because the primary purpose of business is
the proverbial bottom-line called profit, it does not mean that profit is the only motive. More
and more people are realizing that to make a business sustainable, we need to make decisions
that balance a triple bottom-line; namely, people, planet, and profit. This requires that we must
improve our competence in decision -making that calibrates benefits for the stakeholder
(people), the environment (planet), and the investors (profit). Often, those business decision-
makers who do everything, especially the illegal and immoral acts to maximize profit in a single-
minded way, somehow harm their company’s long-term sustainability. For example, they may
lose customers if they produce substandard goods and services just to make short-term profit.
On the other hand, their employees might keep resigning and they have to continuously hire
new people because the compensation is not fair and just. They lose money in the long-term
because they spend more for training costs because they pay below, minimum wage salaries
therefore hiring employees that lack certain qualities they need for their company. Thus, there
is a place for ethical principles in business, insofar as a business decision-maker’s goal is
sustainability and not merely profit. But what can someone in the workplace do in the face of
unethical business practices?
Recent history in the Philippines has witnessed controversial whistle-blowers. Names
such as Primitivo Mijares, Heidi Mendoza, and Rodolfo Lozada Jr. have become part of the
narratives of different ethical scandals in the past few decades. But what a whistle-blowing? We
can consider it as a kind of speaking truth of power. It happens often in the workplace that an
authority figure violates a law or makes unethical decision, such as bribery or extortion,
deception, and exploitation of labor, among others. When it happens that an authority figure
instructs a subordinate to do unethical act, the subordinate may not agree with undertaking the
act if he wants to live by certain moral principles. There is a problem that arises here. On one
hand, the subordinate must follow the instructions of the authority figure because the
employer-employee contract binds the subordinate to follow the orders of the authority figure.
To do otherwise would be insubordination, which can be grounds for termination. He could lose
his job. On the other hand, if the unethical act that is instructed by the authority figure is clearly
against the principles of the subordinate, can he refuse to do it without fear of losing his job? In
this problematic scenario. The subordinate needs to find a solution. Whistle-blowing is one way
of making an ethical intervention.
However, the whistle-blowers that we named above resorted to one kind of whistle-
blowing: namely, exposing the wrong doing externally either be testifying in a public panel or by
going to mass media such as radio announcer or journalist. While external whistle-blowing can
be effective, it is not the only manner by which a subordinate can blow the whistle against an
erring authority figure. Here are three other intervention methods: (1) secretly informing a
higher authority figure (the “boss of the boss”) about the unethical act, (2) writing an
anonymous letter to the authority figure threatening to expose the wrong-doing, and (3)
collaborating with like-minded colleagues to sabotage the undertaking of the unethical act and
to prevent it from being done. It takes a strong moral character to stand up to authority in the
spirit of doing the right thing. But more than moral character, it is important to be wise and
clever in choosing which intervention method to use in order to uphold one’s moral principles.

I. Go online and look for news items on whistle-blowers. Identify the crime or unethical
act that they are exposing as well as the perpetrators of the crime. Detail your findings
and opinion below.
ANS.
Around 4 p.m. on February 21, 2020, an article was published in which the
whistleblower of the "Pastillas" scheme, Allison Chiong, an immigration officer, was placed
under the Witness Protection Program (WPP). The money-making scheme was dubbed Pastillas
because payoffs were rolled in bond paper that resembled a Philippine milk candy delicacy. This
enabled Chinese POGO laborers to enter the nation freely. Chiong said that Chinese travellers
paid current and former Bureau of Immigration officers between 8,000 and 20,000 php to enter
the country without being checked or going through the normal immigration procedure. He
went on to say that it started in 2016, when the Department of Justice eliminated overtime pay
for all immigration officers, and peaked in 2017, when there was a "great increase" of Chinese
entering the Philippines.
According to Chiong, cooperating immigration officers at Ninoy Aquino International
Airport Terminal 1 would be paid about Php 20,000 per week, while those in Terminal 3 will be
paid around Php 8,000 per week. Chinese travellers with records that may have barred them
from entering the country had to pay Php 200,000. According to Chiong, the "lucrative
activities" were taken over by former BI-Travel Control Enforcement Unit (TCEU) employees
Bien Guevarra, Glenn Comia, and Den Binsol, all of whom worked under Red Marias, the former
head of the BI Ports Operation Division. Guevarra, Comia, and Binsol were relieved of their
former duties in the middle of 2019, but they continue to oversee the syndicate group,
according to him. Marias, on the other hand, was appointed as an assistant commissioner to
the Bureau of Investigation before leaving to run for mayor of Muntinlupa City. Soon after, the
BI's "other syndicated organizations" joined the money-making operation, supplying their own
list of Chinese visitors who wished to take advantage of the fee-free access.
Many people are tempted to make quick money, particularly if they have the means to do
so. In the Pastillas instance, the authorities have nothing to worry about; they just give "simple"
and "hassle-free" admission in exchange for some fast cash, which will be offset once the
Chinese tourist begins functioning in the Philippines. Because there is no screening or
questioning, anybody, including those with a criminal past, may enter the Philippines. These
crimes put Filipino civilians at jeopardy in order for BI personnel to line their wallets.

II. Reconcile these two topics: our discussion of autonomy and the duty to “speaking
truth to powers.” Suppose you are already working for a company and your boss tells
you that you should offer a bribe to a government agent to obtain permit to build and
operate a factory in a province. What would you do? What are your alternatives if you
believe that it is wrong to bribe government agencies?
ANS.

What I would do is not follow my boss's instructions, even though he is my boss, because
his instructions are a form of money extortion in which I bribe a government agent to obtain a
permit to build and operate our factory in a province, and that kind of act is a violation of law,
and I could be charged with it and sentenced to prison. Instead, I will endure the struggle of
obtaining the permit and I will follow the proper procedure of obtaining If this occurs, a worse
scenario or incident may occur, in which many people and the environment are harmed. I
believe that bribing government agencies is a wrong or unethical act because it is a form of
money extortion, corruption, and graft that is illegal or against our law. If I follow my boss's
directions, I will tolerate government agency officials' wrongdoings, and this will become their
habit, which could lead to several harmful incidents. Bribery is an immoral behavior in my
opinion since it is against the law; thus, we must follow the appropriate method and the law
because it is the right thing to do.

III. Consider other topics in the field of business ethics. Select one and give a presentation
of the significance of discussing this topic.
ANS.

So here are some instances of corporate ethics in action as firms try to strike a balance
between marketing and social responsibility. Company XYZ, for example, produces cereal made
entirely of natural components. The marketing department wants to highlight the all-natural
components as a selling advantage, but it must balance excitement for the product with the
standards that regulate labeling methods.
 Some rivals' marketing promote high-fiber cereals as potentially lowering the risk of
certain forms of cancer. The cereal firm in issue wants to increase its market share, but its
marketing staff cannot put questionable health claims on cereal boxes without risking lawsuits
and penalties. Even if rivals with bigger market shares in the cereal sector participate in
unethical labeling methods, this does not imply that every producer should.

Consider the issue of quality control for a firm that produces electrical components for
computer servers. These components must be delivered on schedule or the producer risks
losing a lucrative contract. The quality-control department detects a potential flaw, and every
component in a single shipment is inspected.

Unfortunately, the checks may take too long, and the window for on-time shipment may
pass, causing the customer's merchandise to be delayed. The quality-control department may
either dispatch the components and hope that none of them are faulty, or they can postpone
shipping and test everything. If the parts are bad, the firm that purchases them may face a
firestorm of consumer criticism, prompting the client to seek a more dependable source.

What Exactly Is Business Ethics?

Business ethics is concerned with ethical quandaries or contentious situations that a

corporation faces. Business ethics is often associated with a set of activities and processes that
aid in the development of customer trust. Some corporate ethics, such as minimum wage,
insider trading rules, and environmental standards, are written into the law. Business ethics, on
the other hand, may be impacted by managerial conduct, with far-reaching consequences
across the organization.

What then is the Importance of Business Ethics?

Business ethics is crucial because it has long-term consequences on several levels. A

company's reputation is at risk as investor knowledge of environmental, social, and governance
concerns grows. For example, if a firm engages in unethical actions, such as weak consumer
privacy policies and safeguards, a data breach may occur. This, in turn, may result in
considerable customer loss, trust erosion, less competitive hiring, and share price decreases.