ETHICS

DR. LIONEL E. BUENAFLOR

Head-Social and Behavioural Sciences Department
Head-Batangas Heritage Center
University of Batangas
 Filipino Morality

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Culture

• The opposite of relativism is Ethnocentrism. It is

a belief that there is one correct culture.
• The common ground between the
ethical/cultural relativism and ethnocentrism is
the shared values, i.e., the values common to
one another.
• Does culture play a role?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Culture
A MORAL RECOVERY PROGRAM
• The events at EDSA not only ousted a dictator
but also demonstrated to the world and to
ourselves, our great strengths as a people.
• Today, we realize that most of our problems as a
nation still remain.
• Ousting a dictator is an easy part. The difficult
part is the task of building a nation.
• Self-interests and disregarding of common good
are becoming too ordinary.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Culture
A MORAL RECOVERY PROGRAM
• We are confronted with the lack of discipline
and rigor, our colonial mentality, and our
emphasis on porma.
• Despite our display of people’s power, we are
now passive once more, expecting our leaders
to take all responsibility for solving our many
problems.
• To build a nation, there is a need for economic
recovery. There is a need to re-establish
democratic institutions and to achieve the goals
of peace and genuine social justice.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Culture
A MORAL RECOVERY PROGRAM

• Building a people means eliminating our

weaknesses and developing our strengths and
this starts with analysis, understanding, and
appreciation of these strengths and weaknesses.
• The first step to change is understanding
ourselves.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS

• Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for

the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing.”
• Many Filipinos don’t only condition themselves
to NOT act against evil but to also NOT care
about it when it is staring at them in the face.
• How can a once proud and honourable people,
once lauded as one of the most progressive
nations of Southeast Asia become the laughing
stock that it is today?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS

• First Question: What is evil to begin with? How

do you define evil? What, for you, is bad and
what is good?
• For religious people, being good is about
following the standards put forth by God, Allah,
Brahma or any other deity.
• For us Abrahamanics, there are the 10
commandments.
• For the atheists, there is the idea of Humanism.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS

• Philippines is home to both religious people,

non-religious people and everyone else in
between. However, do a lot of them know the
difference between good and evil and are they
willing to take a stand in such matters.
• The answer is NO! Why? Because the media
has essentially corrupted the idea of what is
good and what is evil.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS

• A lot of Filipinos do not like having their fun

ruined. Policeman, even the good ones who are
just trying to maintain law and order in their
respective communities, are used to scare
children.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• For many Filipinos:
Discipline = Strict Rules = Evil.
• That is why it has become quite popular to
demonize the Marcos administration and
whatever projects he put together for the
country.
• What matters to most Filipinos is not what you
are doing but how they figure in what you are
doing. Are you stealing funds from the
community? I won’t say anything unless you
steal from me.
Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor
 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• Are you sharing the funds you have stolen with
me? Even better!
• This is not the only thing that is wrong with the
morals of the Filipino people. The other is how
they misinterpret the idea of “good.”
• Everyone admires the poor but hardworking
type of person. Unfortunately, through the use
of the media, many of our less-informed
countrymen are duped into thinking that the
poor are always good.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• The media seems to openly demonize the rich
and the intellectuals and depict anyone
criticizing the poor and their activities as “evil”
even if what many poor people in real life are
doing (i.e., drinking, gambling, or committing
incest) can be considered “evil” in and of
themselves.
• In more progressives shows like in Filipino indie
films, the occasional thought-out TV show and
most foreign media, there is often a grayness in
protagonists, no matter who they are.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• For instance, Oskar Schindler was a rampant
womanizer and George Washington was still a
slave owner. But even this concept flies way
over the head of most Filipinos.
• Not all conflicts are pure black and white or a
good vs. evil.
• The bottom line is that anyone who is being
criticized or persecuted by the rich are almost
automatically labelled as “evil” even when they
might actually have a point.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• Doubly so for intellectuals who are depicted as
ignorant to the plight of the poor or utterly
emotionless.
• If this is how we classify the difference between
good and evil in the Philippines, is it any real
surprise that terrorists are allowed to run free
and are even considered allies by our
government.
• Second Question: What do we do now?
• Taking action is important if we want to put a
decisive end to evil and corruption.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS
• Unfortunately, this kind of work can get really
messy and when not taken seriously, can have
serious consequences.
• In our society alone, it is probably tough to find
anyone with any strong opinions and a well
thought-out reason for it.
• Consider how our brand of democracy works:
instead of choosing a leader who will guide us to
progress and prosperity, we only choose people
who will shoulder the burden of leadership
alone.

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 The Filipino Morality
THE PHILIPPINES: A NATION OF MISGUIDED MORALS

• We have countless irresponsible people who

throw their garbage all over the countryside or
the cityscape and then, when it floods, blames
the government for all their troubles.
• Third Question: What are we going to do about
it?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor

 Classroom Discussion:

Is it necessary to do something in order to

uphold morality? Why or why not?

Dr. Lionel E. Buenaflor