governance

Theology 4: Transforming the World with St. Vincent de Paul [1]

Governance: Public Service and Public Trust

Code Number: TH221E (Student’s Copy)

Course Title: “TRANSFORMING THE WORLD TOWARDS THE REIGN OF GOD WITH ST.VINCENT DE PAUL”

Chapter 3: Governance: Public Service and Public Trust

Objectives: At the end of the lesson the students are able to design a one day seminar-workshop on good government for Barangay officials, Chairman, and Kagawads with special focus on corruption.

LET US “SEE”

Activity:

1. Read and study the following:a. “Code Of Conduct And

Ethical Standards for Public Officials And Employees”

Republic Act No. 6713www.csc.gov.ph

b. “Rules Implementing The Code of Conduct And Ethical Standards For Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713)” www.dole.gov.ph

c. “Code Of Conduct For Public Officials” (Additional Reading) Presidential Decree No. 21238 www.unodc.org

2. Group Discussion/Workshop:

GUIDE QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION/WORKSHOP:

a. What basic principles about governance or public office are espoused by the assigned readings 1 and 2?

b. Do you think such principles are being followed by those in govt.? Cite concrete examples in actual life that supports your position.

c. What points in/of the documents do you thing need to be emphasized today if transformation or reforms in govt. are to become real and effective?

d. What can we do as citizens of the Philippines to contribute to good government?

3. Group Reporting: (10-15 minutes per group)

Property of the Institute of Religious EducationUnauthorized reproduction and selling is not allowed. Second Semester 2014-2015.

http://www.unodc.org/

http://www.dole.gov.ph/

http://www.csc.gov.ph/



4. Processing and Synthesis: By the Teacher

(SAMPLE SYNTHESIS)

What do we get from the foregoing reports and discussions? First, “Public Office” is a “Public Trust”. Second, Public office exists for public service and for the common good. Third, public office has to be rendered or performed with the highest standards demanded of a particular office.

“It is the policy of the State to promote a high standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest.”(IRR, RA. 6713 Rule 2, Section 1).

In Rule V of the same code, exemplary service and conduct is rewarded and is enumerated as follows:

“commitment to public interest (or the common good), professionalism, justness and sincerity, political neutrality, responsiveness to the public, nationalism and patriotism, commitment to democracy and simple living.”

To ensure transparency and honesty in public office and to check on graft and corruption, government officials and employees are required to submit annually their Statements of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SAL-N) and the Disclosure of Business Interest and Financial Connections (IRR, Rule VII) and to divest themselves of any interest that is deemed to produce or provide conflict of interest (IRR, Rule IX). The effectiveness of such requirements to curb graft and corruption is of course a different issue.

Public officials are oblige to act promptly on letters and request coming for the public (within 15 days), submit annual performance reports, process documents and papers expeditiously, act immediately on the public’s personal transactions and make all public documents available to the public. Such are the duties of Public Officials and Employees (RA 6713, Section 5). The same RA 6713 enumerates in Section 5 Acts and transactions that are prohibited:




a. Financial and/or material interest in any transaction requiring the approval of their office,

b. Own, control, manage, or accept employment …in any private enterprise regulated, supervised or licensed by their office unless expressly allowed by law,

c. Engaged in the private practice of their profession unless authorized by the constitution or law, and provided that such practice will not conflict or tend to conflict with their official functions,

d. Recommend any person to any position in a private enterprise which has a regular or official transaction with their office,

e. Disclosure and/or misuse of confidential information known to them by reason of their office and not made available to the public to further their private interests, or give undue advantage to anyone, or to prejudice the public interests,

f. Solicitation or acceptance of gifts…in the course of their duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the function of their office. Basically these are what are provided for in

the two readings we had in class.

LET US “DISCERN”

A. The Catholic Social Teachings

The Social Teachings of the Church offers several principles valuable and helpful for good governance. They may be classified as follows:

a. Authority and Governance

b. The Common Good and The Dignity of the human person

c. Social Justice and Respect for the Rights of Persons

d. Solidarity and Subsidiarity

e. Religious freedom

1. Authority and Governance

The church recognizes the need for society and the need for legitimate government and authority for the development of peoples in society and the common good. “Human society can neither be well-ordered or prosperous unless it has people invested with legitimate authority to preserve its institutions and to devote themselves as far as is necessary to work and care for the good of all.”(CCC #1897) However legitimate authority is subject to limitations by the very purpose for which the same authority exists. There is no such thing as absolute government and authority. “Authority




does not derive its moral legitimacy from itself…must act for the common good …based on freedom and a sense of responsibility” (CCC #1902).Good governance should be directed towards the common good and government must remain at the service of people and humanity, ensuring the good of all people and the whole person.

Pope John Paul II mentioned that authority and governance must meet “the almost universal demands for participatory ways of exercising political authority… and for transparency and accountability at every level of Public life.”(Pope John Paul II Message during the World Day of Peace, 2003) Government exist for the people and not vice versa. We have the right and duty as citizen to demand for good government; government exists for the people and for the good of all and not the other way around. Consultation with those whom government seeks to serve is therefore a necessity for good governance.

The duty of obedience requires citizens to obey, honour, and respect legitimate authority subject to the limits of public order, public interest and public morality, with a sense of freedom and responsibility. “The duty of obedience requires all to give due honour to authority, and to treat those who are charged to exercise it with respect, and in so far as it is deserved, with gratitude and goodwill” (CCC #1900). The citizen is obliged in conscience “not to follow the directives of

civil authorities when they are contrary to the demands of the moral order, to the fundamental rights of the person or the teachings of the Gospel” (CCC #2242).

2. The Common Good and the Dignity of the Human Person

One of the very important reasons for the existence of society is precisely the Common Good. Common Good is understood as “the sum total of all those conditions which allow people, either as groups or individuals, to reach their fulfilment more fully or more easily” (GS #26.1/ CCC #1906). The good of each individual is necessarily related to the common good, which can only be properly understood in its relation to the individual human person. Respect for the individual human person demands respect for the common good; respect for the common good demands respect for the individual human person.

Respect for the Common Good has three essential elements: respect for the human person, social well-being and development of the group itself, and peace. The common good presupposes respect for the human person. We cannot talk of the common good and at the same time fail to respect the dignity of the human person. “Public authorities are bound to respect the fundamental and inalienable rights of the human




person” (CCC #1907). We cannot pursue the common good if we cannot even protect the dignity and rights of individual persons.

Part of the duty of public authority is to mediate on conflicts resulting from particular interests of various individuals, and conflicts resulting from the interests of various groups. Such should be done with the Common Good as the higher interest in consideration. However, it is still the duty of public authority to ensure that what is essential to lead a normal human life is made available to all: “food, clothing, health, work, education and culture, suitable information, right to establish family, etc” (CCC#1908).

The Common Good requires peace and stability. Part of the duty of government is to provide for the security of a just social order using morally acceptable means, and government has the right to personal and collective defence. Human society cannot flourish or develop in the midst of lawlessness and disorder. The Common Good involves all members of society, and no one is exempted cooperating with all of one’s talents, efforts and energy to attain it.

3. Social Justice and Respect for the Rights of Persons

The human person is the end-all and the be-all of human society. The human person represents the ultimate end of society, the very reason for society’s existence. Society

exists for the good of the human person. Society and public authority has the duty to ensure Social Justice or “justice for all”. Social justice is ensured “when it provides the conditions that allows associations or individuals to obtain what is their due, according to their nature and their vocation” (CCC #1928). Social justice can only be ensured when the human person is respected, his dignity upheld, and his basic rights safeguarded. Respect for the human person entails “respect for the neighbour as another self” (CCC#1930).

Pope John Paul II believes that the fullness of the human person can only be seen in the light of his/her relationship to God and human’s proper place in the whole of creation (Centesimus Annus, 1991. # 53-55). In the same document the Pope enumerates human rights as follows: (CA #155)

a. The right to lifeb. The right of the child

to develop in the mother’s womb from the time of conception

c. The right to live in a united family

d. The right to develop one’s intelligence and freedom in seeking the truth

e. The right to work and share in the wise use of material resources

f. The right to derive from work the means




to support oneself and one’s dependents

g. The right to exercise one’s sexuality freely

h. The right to religious freedom

Good governance requires that such rights are enhance, protected and safeguarded.

4. Solidarity and Subsidiarity

Human beings are social beings. As the popular song/saying from John Donne goes “No man is an island… no man stands alone… we need one another…Living with community and society is an expression of the basic unity and social nature of humans. “It is not good for the human to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him/her (Gen 2:18). The story tells us that God created human beings for each other. Human dignity can be realized and protected only in community, precisely because we are social beings. We need to foster relationships and bonds between individuals and groups, for this is a requirement of our being human. “The principle of solidarity, also articulated in terms of ‘friendship’ or ‘social charity’ is a direct demand of human and Christian brotherhood (CCC #1939).

Governance and public authority must also respect the Principle of Subsidiarity. By this principle we mean that “a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a

lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to coordinate its activities with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view of the common good”(CCC #1883). It would be wrong to take over the function of a smaller unit of society (such as the family) and assign such functions to society at large. What can and should be done by a smaller unit of society should not be taken over by larger units of society. Those in governance and authority should allow certain decisions to be taken at the local level or unit and should assist only when necessary as dictated by the common good. Higher government authorities should consult and listen side by side with the different groups in society.

5. Religious Freedom

Public authority is bound to honour and respect religious freedom. Religious freedom mean “all women and men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such a way that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his/her beliefs, within due limits (Dignitates Humanae, # 2). In the words of Pope John Paul II respect for religious freedom is a sign of humankind’s “authentic progress in any regime, society, system or milieu. The curtailment and violation of religious freedom are in contrast with




the dignity and objective rights of people” (Redemptor Hominis, #17).

A. Governance and corruption

Suggested Readings on Corruption: notions and definitions, effects, consequences… (Additional Reference for the One Day Seminar-Workshop On Good Government for Barangay officials.) “Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus.Ehem! A Self-Check Manual for Combatting Corruption” Davao City: Ateneo de Davao University, Research and Publication Office, 2006.

pp. 3-6 - notions and definitions of corruption.

pp. 7-10 – cost of corruption

pp. 11-13 – daya at laya

pp. 20-21 – causes and examples of corruption

pp. 25-32 –causes and consequences of corruption

LET US “ACT/PRAY”

1. Let us now read silently and reflectively Romans 7:14-25.

2. At the end of the silent bible reading and reflection the teacher will ask the class to recite the following prayer together slowly and reflectively:

WAR WITHIN

Lord around me, there is so much corruption…

But I am also part of this…deep within me,

I know I am also guilty…

Lord you know I am struggling hard…

I know what is right, but something is pulling me back and

I continue what hurts me…what hurts other people…

Lord, remind me of the kind of person I really want to be…

You really want me to be…

Strengthen me in my resolve to do what is good…

This is what I want…but I need your help…

AMEN.

3. Designing a One day Seminar-Workshop on Good Government (8am to 5pm)




Prepared For IRED by:

Gabriel M. de los Santos

REFERENCES:

Abbot, Walter. The Sixteen Documents of Vatican Council II.

Pope John Paul II. Centesimus Annus. Makati City: St. Pauls Publications, 1991.

Pope John Paul II. Pacem in Terris: A Permanent Commitment. World day of peace message: Jan1, 2003. Pdf.

Pope John Paul II. Solicitudo Rei Socialis. Makati City: St. Paul’s Publications, 1987.

Pope Paul VI. Populorum Progressio. Makati: St. Pauls Publications, 1967. .

CBCP: Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Christian Education. Catechism of the Catholic Church. Makati: Word & Life Publications, 1994.

The New American Bible. Nashville: Catholic Bible Press,1991.
