Contextualizing Laudato si in the Philippines: Environmental Problem in Purok 1A, Hapay na Mangga, Barangay Dolores, Taytay, Rizal

Abstract

Laudato si (2015) is a landmark encyclical in the teachings of the Catholic Church concerning the environment. While the Church has issued encyclicals before on social teaching, and briefly mentioned the environment in previous encyclicals, this is the first time that social teaching has been put deeply into the context of an encyclical devoted primarily to the environment. This calls for a reassessment of the peoples’ perceptions on how they care for the environment in the Philippine context. A case study was conducted in a rural area near Metro Manila in the Province of Rizal. This paper reports the views of 47 respondents (N=47) from Purok 1A, Hapay na Mangga, Barangay Dolores, Taytay, Rizal, Philippines, aged from 18 to 60 years old. The Descriptive results of statistics and thematic analyses of respondents’ responses were based on the Care for the Environment Scale (CES) developed by the researcher in this study. The CES revealed significant differences in the perceptions of the respondents about how they care for their environment. This case study illustrates how this research can be used to inform all the people to initiate programs based on the ethics of care and the encyclical Laudato si. References Boyce, C., & Neale, P. (2006). Conducting in-depth interviews: A guide for designing and conducting in-depth interviews for evaluationinput. Retrieved on January 12, 2019, from http://www2.pathfinder.org/site/DocServer/m_e_tool_series_indepth_interviews.pdfCaritas Internationalis. (2009). Climate justice: Seeking a global ethic. Vatican City: Caritas Internationalis Press.Cobb Jr., J. B., & Caster, I. (eds.). 2015. For our common home: Processrelational responses to Laudato si’. Anoka, MN: Process Century Press.Cuomo, Ch. (2011). Climate change, vulnerability, and responsibility. Hypatia, 26: 690–714.Das, J. and B.C. Acharya, 2003. Hydrology and assessment of lotic water quality in Cuttack city, India. Water, Air, Soil Pollut., 150: 163-175. DOI: 10.1023/A:1026193514875Henson, R. (2006). The Rough Guide to Climate Change. London: Rough Guides Ltd.Leedy, P. D., & Ormrod, J. E. (2010). Practical research: Planning and design (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, PearsonEducation, Inc.Lonergan, B. (1971). Insight and method in theology. Toronto: Toronto University Press.Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (2004). Compendium of the social doctrine of the church. Vatican City: Libreria EditriceVaticana.Pope Paul VI. (1967). Encyclical Letter Populorum Progressio.26 March. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Pope Paul VI. (1976). Message for the 1977 World Day of Peace. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Pope John Paul II. (1990). Peace with God the creator, Peace with all of creation. Message for the World Day of Peace.1 January.Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Pope Benedict XVI. (2009). Encyclical Letter Caritas in Veritate. 29 June. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Pope Benedict XVI. (2010). If you want to cultivate peace, protect creation. Message for the 2010 World Day of Peace.1 January.Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Pope Francis. (2015a). Encyclical Letter Laudato si’: On care for our common home. 24 May. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice VaticanaPope Francis. (2015b). Presentation of the christmas greetings to the Roman Curia. 21 December. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana.Sandler, R. (2005). Introduction: Environmental virtue ethics. In Sandler, R., Ph. Cafaro (eds.) Environmental Virtues Ethics(pp. 1–14).Lanham, MD:Rowman & Littlefield.Sarantakos, S. (2013). Social research (2nd ed.). Australia: Macmillan Education.Schaeffer, F.A. (1970). Pollution and the death of man: The Christian view of ecology. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.Whyte, Kyle Powys and Chris Cuomo. (2017). Ethics of caring in environmental ethics: Indigenous and feminist philosophies” inThe Oxford Handbook of Environmental Ethics. Stephen M. Gardiner and Allen Thompson (eds.) DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199941339.013.2 Yisa, J. and T. Jimoh, 2010. Analytical studies on water quality index of river landzu. Am. J. Applied Sci., 7: 453-458. DOI:10.3844/ajassp.2010.453.458Yu, L. and N.N.B. Salvador, 2005. Modelling water quality in rivers. Am. J. Applied Sci., 2: 881-886. DOI: 10.3844/ajassp.2005.881.886