About MBV

Charity, Justice and Pursuit of the Common Good

If it is accepted that no Filipino is, and should be, an island, and that in pursuit of development his existence must be within the context of having to live with another Filipino, the question of the nature of that relationship then becomes paramount. In other words, in reaching out to his fellow Filipino, what should the nature of that reaching out be? The answer cannot be anything else but Love, or Charity. For if it were the opposite, the untenable position will again obtain: that the Filipino will be alone, and will be isolated. This does not have to be argued very far. If Hate can be the basis of that relationship, then the killing of the other individual becomes justified and necessary. However, as pointed out, no Filipino can be, should be, and is
an island. Therefore, the relationship of the Filipino individual with his fellow Filipinos should be based on Charity.

By way of reasoning, we see that Charity is a logical conclusion on how we should relate between fellow Filipinos. Logic tells us that we HAVE TO love, we HAVE TO be charitable if the Filipino individual’s relationship is to be sustainable. This reason, this ability to reason, sets humans above animals. As organisms, we all develop within an ecosystem of mutual protection just like chimpanzees, carabaos and lions. However, these animals cannot think and cannot reason why they all need to be together and help each other. As humans, we know why we have to love and be charitable with each other.

Yet, reasoning does not seem to be enough. Machines and computers can be programmed to act logically and maintain peaceful co-existence among different robots. Reason, by itself, is capable of grasping the equality between men and of giving stability to their civic coexistence, but it cannot establish fraternity, or brotherhood as we practice it among ourselves. The ability to maintain that Love, that Charity, in spite of our fellow Filipinos hurting us or causing us harm requires far more than reason. Reason alone cannot support Charity. Something else, another dimension to charity, must be present. Otherwise, we are left with just the logical or intellectual dimension of being a human. This dimension is Faith.

Faith means believing in the capabilities of our fellow Filipinos. It means belief in our countrymen’s basically good and kind nature. It means a belief in our own ability to be resilient and to rise up every time we fall. Based on our history and recent experiences, many have argued that logically we should leave the Philippines. However for many of us who are left behind either by choice or by circumstance, we cannot avoid but put Faith in our countrymen.

Faith has two dimensions: the object of our Faith and our act of Faith. We have faith in our countrymen. So while, for example, we believe that the Philippine Basketball Team can beat China, we will NOT DIE for that belief. It is, however, possible to die for our belief in a God — regardless of one’s religion. Thus the practice of our Faith is an important dimension in our integrated development which, if suppressed by any sector in society will lead to instability and social degradation.

Ultimately, Faith and Reason, and the manner by which these two are intertwined will lead Filipinos to the Truth. Inevitably Reason with the help of Faith, and Faith with the help of Reason, will lead us to an understanding of our meaning here on earth. Regardless of our religion, this spiritual reality is an aspect in our over-all development that must be ensured if we are to fulfill full human development.

To begin this journey to the Truth, Charity requires that each individual must be fair, must be just in his dealings. Otherwise, false Charity or Love will be obtained. One does not really love unless he is fair, or just, in the first place. This is what we call Justice.

The concept of Justice covers the Filipino as an individual as well as the institutions that he participates in, or is part of in the society. There are three types of Justice we recognize:

1. Commutative
Commutative justice calls for fundamental fairness in all agreements and exchanges between individuals or private social groups. It demands respect for the equal human dignity of all persons in economic transactions, contracts, or promises. For example, workers owe their employers diligent work in exchange for their wages.

Employers are obligated to treat their employees as persons, paying them fair wages in exchange for the work done and establishing conditions and patterns of work that are truly human.

2. Distributive

Distributive justice requires that the allocation of income, wealth, and power in society be evaluated in light of its effects on persons whose basic material needs are unmet. Minimum material resources are an absolute necessity for human life. If persons are to be recognized as members of the human community, then the community has an obligation to help fulfill these basic needs.

3. Social

Persons have an obligation to be active and productive participants in the life of society and that society has a duty to enable them to participate in this way. This form of justice can also be called “contributive,” for it stresses the duty of all who are able to help create the goods, services, and other nonmaterial or spiritual values necessary for the welfare of the whole community. Basic justice also calls for the establishment of a floor of material well-being on which all can stand. This is a duty of the whole of society and it creates particular obligations for those with greater resources. This duty calls into question extreme inequalities of income and consumption when so many lack basic necessities.

Commutative justice falls within the realm of economics and will act out or become important in defining the economic markets that develop as a result of human business enterprise. Economies, therefore, must be managed and markets must function in ways that will ensure the fair exchange of goods, services, and in particular, the fair treatment of workers, small entrepreneurs.

Distributive justice falls within the realm of politics and is exercised by the government, or the state. The government of a nation that practices distributive justice ensures not only that the distribution of the wealth of its people are fair, equitable, but also considers seriously the impact of market imperfections in providing for those whose basic needs are unmet. Therefore, its tax policies, economic agenda, and quality of public service must fulfill this basic form of justice.

Social justice is society’s responsibility to its members, and its members’ responsibility to society. Basic is the need for every Filipino to contribute actively and productively to the people and institutions with whom he interacts. The Filipino has to be equipped to contribute positively to the Philippine economy and to his family, neighbors, and community. Beyond that, social justice then demands that we all look after each other, making sure that no one every goes hungry, no one ever has no facility to be educated, clothed, and nourished. This is the realm of civil society.

Under today’s democracy, commutative and distributive justice have to be enforced through formal laws and rules coming either from the government through its instrumentalities, or through voluntary private organizations. Social justice, on the other hand, is rendered voluntarily by the individual and members of civil society, all driven by individual acts of gratuitousness.

The development of the Filipino through Charity and Justice will ultimately lead us to conclude that development must lead every Filipino to work for the common good. To love someone is to desire that person’s good and to take effective steps to secure it. Besides the good of the individual, there is a good that is linked to living in society: the common good. It is the
good of “all of us”, made up of individuals, families and intermediate groups who together constitute society. It is a good that is sought not for its own sake, but for the people who belong to the social community and who can only really and effectively pursue their good within it. To desire the common good and strive towards it is a requirement of justice and charity.