Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, AB-BSE, MA, EdD Graduate School of De La Salle Araneta University, Malabon, Philippines President, AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc. Makati City, Philippines dr.eth2008@gmail.com www//emilianohudtohan.com International Seminar on the Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact of Mining Paper to be delivered at the University of Pejuang, Makassar, Konawe, Sulawesi, Indonesia November 24, 2015 Edition November 10, 2015
Abstract
Social impact is seen from the view point of civil society whose interest are directly affected by the mining industry. There are internal stakeholders whose economic welfare must be addressed and at the same time as key human resource in mining production whose health and wellness must be promoted. The external stakeholders are the community and the environment. The heightened awareness of climate change, global warning and the occurrence of mining disasters like that of Marcopper and Philiex continue to haunt the mining in the Philippines. The NGOs and religious groups remain extremely watchful and active in this regard. Thus, the economic impact of mining has been deterred not only by civil society but mainly disharmonious policies of the national and local government. In 2014, the mining industry employed only 235,000 workers; its gross value of P84.2 billion contributed to merely .7 percent of GDP (Oxford Business Group reports .9 percent), a significant drop from P299.5 billion or 3.3 percent of GDP in 2013.The Executive Order issued in 2014 further restricted mining operations. The last say on mining operations in the Philippines appears to be the clearance of the local government which the city and barangay councils’ approval have to be secured. The political impact refers to governance. Politics in a young democracy like the Philippines has been used as a power to gain common interest of certain sectors and not necessarily common good. Common interest can be the alignment of the business interest with the personal gain of those who hold power and authority. The overall assessment of the mining industry in the Philippines is that it has declined because of politics and governance issues, environmental and civic issues brought about by the new mandate for triple bottom line, which highlights care for the planet. But many are hopeful that its economic potential will be achieved through tripartite effort of business, civil society and government.
Key words: sociio-economic-political impact, Maharlikhans, Spanish colonization, American governance, piloncitos
Introduction
This is my third visit to Konawe, Sulawesi, Indonesia. The first two were at Unaaha, Kendari in 2009 where I delivered a paper on creating a New Framework for Sustainable Development and in 2011 at Unaaha again I read a paper on Sustainable Mining Management and the Next Generation (Hudtohan, 2009, 2011). This kinship I feel is probably due to the close bond of the Philippines with the rest of Southeast Asia during the reign of the Sri Vidjaya Empire and the Madjapahit Empire. In fact, the island where I come from is the Visayas whose name comes from Sri Vidjaya. My father sported a bansil (gold-laden tooth with moon) and tattoo in his arm.
The mining industry in the Philippines is highly politicalized. When Benigno Aquino, Jr. became president of the Republic, he included mining as one of the eleven priority areas for foreign investment. Towards the end of his term in May 2016, OceanaGold Phils. Inc. chair Jose Leviste noted at the Mine Safety and Environment Symposium that low world metal prices and the administrations economic fiscal re\gime were the two primary threats to the industry; he likewise suggested flexing their political muscle to support candidates who are pro-mining (Inquirer, 2015e) As Philippine national election will be held in May 2016..Mining as an industry is used by our Vice President Jejomar Binay, who attended the annual summit of the local mining industry, as a campaign platform to get the businessmen and investors on his side as he runs for presidency (Inquirer, 2015a). Senator Grace Poe, another presidentiable begged off because of her national address announcing her presidency. Former interior and local government secretary Mar Roxas also begged off to speak but sent a representative in his behalf. After missing out on the economic benefits of the last five years, the local mining industry is excited to cross to the 2016 with a positive outlook under a new administration (Inquirer, 2015b).
Awareness of the plight of the miners was shown in the Europa film festival at Shangri-La Hotel Complex in Makati City (Inquirer, 2015b). Pride, the movie, is about the mining events (1984-1085) prompted the Margaret Thatcher government to shut down 20 uneconomic coal mines. On October 1, 2015, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2015c) reported that the government failed to protect the child miners. The New York based Human Rights Watch noted that nearly 5.5 million work children working in absolutely terrifying conditions in small-scale gold mines. On October 25, 2015, the Philippine Daily Inquirer (2015d) reported the four houses fell into a gaping hole that gave way in a mining town in Itogon, Benguet. This happened after international typhoon Koppol passed the Philippines.
Objective of the Paper
The objective of this paper to share the Philippine mining experience and its socio-economic and political impact on life of the Filipinos. The social aspect refers to the internal and external stakeholders of the industry; the economic aspect directly bears upon the profitability of the industry and its contribution to the national economy; and the political aspect refers to the layers of political governance and also the politics at the national and local level of Philippine Government. In addition this paper gives a brief history of mining in the Philippines and it likewise presents an update of the socio-economic-political issues related to mining.
Methodology It presents a historical review of related literature on the mining industry. History is relevant only if it is used to find solutions to current issues and problems (Torre, 2015; Skinner, 1997; Elton, 1967; Bloch, 1949). .It made use of retrospect-prospect approach (Gonzalez, Luz, J & Tirol, 1984; Hudtohan, 2005; Lei, 2015). The socio-economic impact of mining is viewed from Kanter’s (1999) perspective that all social problems are economic problems. The overall solution to the mining issues can come to a resolution by applying the tripartite principle of action (Perlas, 2005; Etzkowitz, 2008; Albareda, .Lozano, Tencati, Midttun, & Perrini, 2008).
Economic Impact
Based on the study of Patrick Caolie (2015), mining is the most logical economic driver for the Philippines because agricultural production is down and rice even cost three times more compared to imports from Vietnam and Thailand. But the Aquino government instead relied on the remittances of migrant workers and the business process outsourcing (Inquirer, 2015e).
The Economy of the Philippines is the 39th largest in the world, according to 2014 International Monetary Fund statistics, and is also one of the emerging markets. The Philippines is considered as a newly industrialized country, which has been transitioning from one based on agriculture to one based more on services and manufacturing. In 2014, the GDP by Purchasing power parity was estimated to be at $692.223 billion. [World Economic Outlook]. According to Index Mundi (2014), agriculture contributed 11.2 percent, industry 31.6 percent and services 57.2 percent. The labor force of 41.33 million (2013 est.) is distributed – by occupation in agriculture (32%), industry (15%) and services (53%).
In 2015, there are about 12 million Filipinos around the world and they contribute US$40 billion to the Philippine economy it is about 13 percent of the national GDP (Wooton, 2015). But in 2014, the mining industry employed only 235,000 workers; its gross value of P84.2 billion contributed to merely .7 percent of GDP, a significant drop from P299.5 billion or 3.3 percent of GDP in 2013 (Mining Industry Statistics, Mines and Geoscience Bureau, 2015).
About 60% of total mining production is accounted for by non-metallic minerals, which contributed substantially to the industry’s steady output growth between 1993 and 1998, with the value of production growing 58%. In 1999, however, mineral production declined 16% to $793 million. Mineral exports have generally slowed since 1996. Led by copper cathodes, Philippine mineral exports amounted to $650 million in 2000, barely up from 1999 levels. Low metal prices, high production costs, lack of investment in infrastructure, and a challenge to the new mining law have contributed to the mining industry’s overall decline.
The industry rebounded starting in late 2004 when the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of an important law permitting foreign ownership of Philippines mining companies. However, the DENR has yet to approve the revised Department Administrative Order (DAO) that will provide the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA), the specific part of the 1994 Mining Act that allows 100% foreign ownership of Philippines mines.
The Philippines boasts some of the world’s vastest precious metals reserves, valued at around $840bn at 2010 prices. In 2013 the Philippines was tied with Indonesia as the largest nickel producer in the world, producing some 440,000 tonnes each. The country’s vast and largely untapped mining potential will continue to draw strong interest from foreign and domestic actors despite decreasing investment in the short term. Although overall output and revenue are being sustained by existing operations, new investment continues to lag, as mining companies wait out the finalization of new mining regulations. The question is when will the regulatory framework catch up with the demand. (Oxford Business Group, 2015).
The Oxford Business Group (2015) reported the economic following impact of the mining industry:
1. The progress of the mining industry in the Philippines is proceeding at an extremely slow pace in 2014, posting a modest growth, contributing just 0.9% to national GDP. Contribution of mining and quarrying increasing only marginally in recent years, from P72.05bn ($1.62bn) in 2012 (equivalent to 1% of GDP) to P72.9bn ($1.64bn) in 2013 and P75.48bn ($1.7bn) in 2014, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority – National Statistical Coordination Board (PSA-NSCB). New mining investment continues to lag, as mining companies wait out the finalization of new mining regulations, which have dragged on since 2011.
2. All metallic mining has been accounted for by large-scale mines since 2011, due to a change in tax collection practices that essentially eliminated small-scale gold mining operations from the formal sector. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), the Philippine central bank, the gross production value from such operations came to just P1.2bn ($27m) in 2012 and P300m ($6.75m) in 2013 – a significant decline from the P42.9bn ($965.25m) and P34.1bn ($767.25m) in 2010 and 2011, respectively.
3. By contrast, data from the MGB saw large-scale metallic mining steadily increase its gross production value over the period, from P69.1bn ($1.55bn) in 2010 to P88bn ($1.98bn), P97.8bn ($2.2bn) and P99bn ($2.23bn) in the following years. The growth in the value of the sector in past years is thanks to higher output from existing mines, as only a handful of new mines have come on-line of late due to legislative delays that have slowed sector investment to a trickle.
4. In early 2014, there were two new commercial-scale gold-copper projects and the resumption of another precious metals output, in addition to a slight year-on-year (y-o-y) increase in production, from P7.62bn ($171.45m) in the first quarter of 2013 to P8.63bn ($194.18m) in 2014. Substantial growth in copper and nickel production helped push base metal output in the first quarter of 2014 to P13.35bn ($300.38m), up from P11.15bn ($250.88m) one year earlier. The bulk of increasing gold production is due to two new operations – the high-grade gold-copper Didipio Mine and copper-gold Padcal mine –which ramped up operations at the end of 2013. Operated by Australia’s OceanaGold, the Didipio mine – located about 270 km north of Manila on the island of Luzon
5. Established Producers. Well-established Toledo copper mine in Cebu helped to bolster output with 41.6m kg of copper concentrate in 2013, a 2% y-o-y increase from the 40.9m kg produced in 2012, according to company reports. As a subsidiary of the Australian Atlas Mining through its domestic operator Carmen Copper Corporation, Toledo is one of the country’s largest copper mines, with estimated mineral resources of 1.43m tonnes at 0.29% copper grade and 4.1m tonnes of copper metal at 0.15% cut-off grade.
6. Co-O Gold Project of Mindanao Mineral Processing and Refining increased production 19% from 494 kg to 588 kg. The output from the Benguet Corporation’s Acupan Contract Mining Project also more than doubled y-o-y, from 92 kg to 188 kg. These rises combined to more than offset declines in other areas, such as from the shuttering of Greenstone Resources Corporation’s Siana gold project and the Rapu-Rapu polymetallic project, which had been producing around 182 kg and 201 kg, respectively, as recently as the first quarter of 2013.
Social Impact
The Oxford Business Group (2015) social impact of mining:
1. The closure of the Padcal mine by Philex Mining, from April 2012 to March 2013 limited production at the site in Benguet to 99,802 oz. of gold in 2013, up from 71,297 oz. in 2012, but 29% less than the 140,113 oz. recorded in 2011. Increased throughput of higher-ore grades boosted copper output by 46% from 10.14m kg in 2012 to 14.77m kg in 2013, but was down 14% from the 17.25m kg seen in 2011. According to data from the MGB, the mine produced 28,995 oz. of gold in the first quarter 2014, a 247% rise over the 8360 oz. mined the previous year. Copper production likewise improved, increasing by more than three-fold from 4393 tonnes to 18,052 tonnes of concentrate.
2. The 2012 closure came as a result of typhoon rains that caused one of the tailing storage pits to overflow, discharging some 20m tonnes of silt into the Balog Creek and Agno River and resulting in fines of P188.6m ($4.24m). According to company estimates, the total reserves of the Padcal mine covered by mineral agreements are spread out over an area of 13,492 ha and amount to around 65.8m tonnes of copper and gold grades of 0.20% and 0.40 grams per tonnes, resulting in recoverable resources of 108.7m kg of copper and 627,000 oz. of gold.
3. The closure of Siana and Rapu-Rapu also significantly affected the country’s overall silver production, as the two projects had been contributing some 460 kg and 2709 kg, respectively, to the segment’s total output of 9629 kg as of the first quarter of 2013. The only significant silver mines to boost output over the period were Padcal, where production rose by a factor of more than three, to 753 kg, and the Carmen mining area of Toledo, which doubled output to 441 kg.
4. The nickel industry: The country’s existing nickel mines continue to ship out vast quantities of raw ore, primarily to China, where it is processed into nickel pig iron used in Chinese stainless steel plants. In 2013 the Philippines was tied with Indonesia as the largest nickel producer in the world, though the latter banned exports of the metal in 2014 in an effort to promote local industry. This was a boon for other nickel producers like the Philippines, as nickel commodity prices rose dramatically from less than $14,000 per tonne on the London Metals Exchange at end-2013 to peak at over $21,000 per tonne in May 2014 before receding. The Philippines and Indonesia each produced approximately 440,000 tonnes of nickel in 2013, according to data from the US Geological Survey. The Philippines had increased production from 424,000 tonnes in 2012, with reserves estimated at 1.1m tonnes.
5. Holding pattern: Despite the Philippines’ veritable stockpile of mineral wealth, the country has yet to take full advantage of its natural resources as a result of uncertainty over mining regulations. At the heart of the matter is Executive Order 79 (EO 79), which was first issued in 2011 with the intention of clarifying inconsistencies in existing mining regulations – primarily governed by the Philippine Mining Act of 1995.
6. However, four years on, EO 79 has yet to make a substantial impact on the sector, as its accompanying implementation legislation has remained incomplete. This is largely due to different interests struggling to reach an agreement on a host of issues, including environmental regulations, transparency, the role of local government units (LGUs), the structure of exploratory and production leases, and taxation .
7. Exploration: Despite the challenges of obtaining exploration permits (EPs), mining firms continue to show considerable interest in the sector. After the moratorium on EPs was lifted in 2013, the MGB had received some 130 applications for exploration as of October 2014, sought after as a placeholder to secure land in the hopes that the legislative morass will be resolved prior to the permits’ expiration. Depending on how accommodating the government is in approving EP applications, exploration activity could begin to pick up again after the number of active EPs fell from 53 in early 2013 to 36 by July 2014, according the MGB.
Political Impact
According to the Oxford Business Group (2015), the political impact of mining is
1. One point of contention is the need for stronger political will by the national government over the involvement of LGUs in large-scale mining projects. While LGUs have the authority to issue small-scale mining permits, they can also block federally approved, large-scale mining projects by enacting their own conflicting legislation, such as a ban on open-pit mining. While the EO 79 was designed in part to address the inconsistency between the national mining law and LGU ordinances, in practice this has not happened.
2. It is likely that a move by the national government to limit the involvement of LGUs in large-scale mining will meet with strong resistance from LGUs that hold sway over operations planned in their territories and are often backed by influential interests, including the Catholic Church and environmental groups. Several projects remain on hold as a result of local ordinances – notably, the Tampakan Copper-Gold project. Developed by Glencore Xtrata and Indofil, the mine is valued at around $5.9bn, making it the single largest foreign direct investment in the country to date. However, Tampakan remains in limbo due to an open-pit mine ban enacted by an LGU in South Cotabato back in 2010.
3. Mapping exercise: Heavy geographical restrictions are also being codified into federal regulation in the form of a “no-go” zone map, delineating areas where mining operations are forbidden owing to social or environmental restrictions. Released in mid-2013 by the Mining Industry Coordinating Council’s technical working group, the zone map reduced the total land area previously open to extractive activities by some 50%. As a result, around 4.5m ha of land with high mineral content was ruled off limits due to criteria like the presence of tourism sites, agricultural land (including non-producing land), marine sanctuaries and island ecosystems. However, after mining advocates protested that the new map effectively nullified the majority of previously approved permits for exploration, the government agreed to revisit it and was still in the process of redrawing the boundaries as of early 2015.
4. After years of debate, compromise and hand wringing over the implementation of EO79, the order could still be rescinded. Unlike laws passed by Congress, executive orders can be easily revoked. With a presidential election on the horizon, there is a distinct possibility that EO79 could be modified or scrapped altogether.
5. Transparency: One of the subjects covered by EO79 that has been gaining traction in recent years is the domestic implementation of standards from the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), designed to open up the books of both mining companies and the government to public scrutiny. As of February 2015, some 32 countries had been deemed compliant with EITI standards, while another 48 countries were in the process of implementing its framework.
6. EITI certification is intended to alleviate public distrust of the government and mining companies, which often struggle with negative perceptions arising from past incidences of pollution from mines and oil fields. It will also open up the government’s books to allow the collection and distribution of revenues derived from extractive industries to be traced. The transparency afforded by the process will facilitate more consistent benchmarking, fostering a more accurate and objective picture of the sector’s actual operations, in addition to taxes paid and government revenue streams.
7. The Philippines officially became an EITI candidate country in May 2013, and has since been working with stakeholders to compile its official validation report, which will be submitted to the EITI for review. The local response to this voluntary initiative has been largely positive, with 40 mining companies having signed a disclosure waiver as of late 2014.
History of Mining
The mining history of the Philippines is presented in retrospect from the 21st century going back to the 12th century of the Maharlikhan period. As early as the 10th century, the Laguna copper plate dated 900 A.D. attest to the fact that the Maharlikhans prior to the Muslim (1478) conquest in Southeast Asia , Spanish (1521) colonization, and American (1898) governance, the Filipino were already trading using gold as a means of business and trading transactions. Part of the Spanish and American colonization was motivated by economic pursuit and exploring the minerals in the Philippines was a major activity.
21st Century. In 2012, President Aquino signs EO79 institutionalizing reforms in the mining industry. Section 2 states that “The Government in general, and the Department of Environmental and Natural Resources (DENR) in particular, in coordination with concerned LGUs, shall ensure that environmental standards in mining, as prescribed by the various mining and environmental laws, rules, and regulations, shall be fully and strictly enforced, and appropriate sanctions meted out against violators thereof. In line with the above, only those who are able to strictly comply with all the pertinent requirements shall be eligible for the grant of mining rights, pursuant to the applicable provisions of RA No. 7942
Salient features: – The mining policy’s areas of coverage include (i) mining in general; (ii) effect on existing mineral agreements; (iii) economic provisions (revenue generation); (iv) environmental protection; (v) small scale mining; and (vi) administrative provisions. In the same year, Philiex Mining was responsible for tailings disaster, which many observers assessed as surpassing the Marcopper disaster of 1995.
In 2004, President Arroyo signs EO 270 and Section 1. Declaration of Policy states that, “It shall be the policy of the Government to promote responsible mineral resources operation, development and utilization, in order to enhance economic growth, in a manner that adheres to the principles of sustainable development and with due regard for justice and equity, sensitivity to the culture of the Filipino people and respect for the Philippine sovereignty.” In the same year, the Supreme Court declares the Mining Act constitutional
20th Century Period. In 1997, under President Ramos the Indigenous Peoples’ Right Act was promulgated to protect the rights of Indigenous Cultural Communities/ Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs). Section 2b states that “The State shall protect the rights of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains to ensure their economic, social and cultural wellbeing and shall recognize the applicability of customary laws governing property rights or relations in determining the ownership and extent of ancestral domain.” The aggressive development of the mining industry became a threat to those who lived in their ancestral domains.
1995 President Ramos RA 7942 Philippine Mining Act. Section 2 Declaration of Policy states that “All mineral resources in public and private lands within the territory and exclusive economic zone of the Republic of the Philippines are owned by the State. It shall be the responsibility of the State to promote their rational exploration, development, utilization and conservation through the combined efforts of government and the private sector in order to enhance national growth in a way that effectively safeguards the environment and protect the rights of affected communities.” This was the year Marcopper caused a disastrous environmental damage and health problems to the mining communities.
In 1991 President Aquino RA 7076 People’s Small Scale Mining Act intended “to promote, develop, protect and rationalize viable small-scale mining activities in order to generate more employment opportunities and provide an equitable sharing of the nation’s wealth and natural resources.” It also stipulated the conditions for operationalizing the people’s right to small-scale mining specifying which public and private lands can be used.
In 1984, Presidential Decree 899 established the small-scale mining as a new dimension in mineral development and defined it as a specific activity subject to rules and regulations regarding government permits and mandatory sale of recovered gold to the Central Bank of the Philippines and its authorized representatives (Israel & Astrot, 2005).
In 1974, under Martial Law, Presidential Decree 463 became the 4th mining law. From 1980 –1990, the mining industry started to decline and this was a period of the Dark Period of mining because of the control of Marcos cronies. Likewise, it did not have any provision on small-scale mining.
American Period. In the post-war era, Philippines became independent and the Parity Rights Amendment and Laurel Langley Agreement resulted to: Filipinization of mining industry, rehabilitation of gold mines in the 1940s, copper was started to be explored in the 1950s, large scale open pit mining and low-grade copper were introduced, and the period 1960-1980 was the Golden Age of Philippine Mining.
America in the 20th century has an expanding monopolistic capitalism and the dominance of the corporations. Their industrial system needed raw materials and base metals. The US Government adopted the policy of Monometallism and the Philippine Bill of 1902 became the second Philippine Mining Law. After the President Emilio Aquinaldo surrendered to the Americans, the US Military 49ers remained in the Philippines and became the vanguards of the mines in Cordillera. In 1907, Benguet Mines was established and subsequently 17 other gold mines were opened in Baguio District. In 1936 the Commonwealth Act of 136 became the 3rd Philippine Mining Law. This legislative act did not have any provision on small-scale mining since it was not yet practiced extensively.
Mahalikhan Period. Before 1478 Muslim dominance in Southeast Asia (Majul, 1999), the Philippine islands part of the Royal Kingdom of Maharlikha (www.rumormillnews.com/pdfs/The-Untold-Story-Kingdom-of-Maharlik hans.pdf) under the Srivijaya empire that ruled from 683-1286 (Munoz, 2006) and the Majapahit Empire that ruled from 1293-1500 (www.rumormillnew.com/pdf/The-untold-story-of-Maharlikans.pdf). According to the Nagarakretagama (Desawarñana, 1365), the Majapahit empire stretched from Sumatra to New Guinea and it included present day Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Sulu Archipelago, Manila, and East Timor (http://dbpedia.org/resource/ Majapahit).
The Laguna Copper Plate dated 900 AD (Postma, 1992) had an inscription that condoned the debt of the descendants of Namwaran (926.4 grams of gold) which was granted by the chief of Tondo in Manila and the authorities of Paila, Binwangan and Pulilan in Luzon. The words were a mixture of Sanskrit (Francisco, 1964), Old Malay, Old Javanese and Old Tagalog. This establishes the Maharlikan connection with the Srivijaya Empire and Majapahit Empire. (Hudtohan, 2015).
For three centuries of colonial rule, the Spaniards failed to penetrate the rich gold deposits due to the Gran Cordillera Central resistance of the Igorots of the Mountain Province. Gold diggings and gold treasures were in the hands of the natives until the coming of the Americans.
Traditional placer and lode mining and metallurgy were subsistent activities of the barangays before Spanish colonization which began in 1521. These were evidence of piloncitos. Piloncitos are tiny engraved gold coins found in the Philippines from the pre-Hispanic era. Trade among the Maharlikans [early Filipinos] and with traders from the neighboring islands was conducted through barter. The inconvenience of barter later led to the use of some objects as a medium of exchange. Gold, which was plentiful in many parts of the islands, invariably found its way into these objects that included the piloncitos, small bead-like gold bits considered by the local numismatists as the earliest coin of the ancient Filipinos, and gold barter ring
Mining Prospect
The Oxford Business Group (2015) the following points are areas of future development in the mining industry:
1. With the Didipio mine up and running and operations resumed at Padcal, only a limited number of mines now remain in stages of development that would allow them to commence operations in the coming years. At least three new mining projects with combined investments of P1.46bn ($32.85m) are expected to be up and running in early 2015 with several others also awaiting final authorization of pending permits to begin mining as well.
2. Among these is the Vitali iron ore mining project, located in Zamboanga City in Mindanao, which will produce iron along with smaller amounts of gold, silver and other associated mineral deposits over a projected mine life of 10 years. Hard Rock Mineral Trading secured a declaration of mining project feasibility (DMPF) in March 2014 to begin commercial operations through its mineral production sharing agreement (MPSA), which covers an area of 2077 ha.
3. The other projects on the horizon are two new nickel operations: Libjo nickel laterite project, developed by the East Coast Mineral Resources Company on Dinagat Island, and the Agata nickel laterite project, from the Minimax Mineral Exploration Corporation, located in Agusan del Norte. The Agata North nickel mine is estimated to have proven and probable ore (limonite and saprolite) reserves of 6.79m tonnes, with measured and indicated resources of 33.94m at a grade of 1.1% nickel, and inferred resources of around 2m tonnes with a nickel grade of 1.04%. A partial DMPF for nickel production on 600 ha was approved in April 2014 by the government, with exploration also approved in the remaining portion of the 7679-ha MPSA contract area. Commercial operations to mine chromite and nickel have also been approved for the 697-ha MPSA covering Dinagat Island which expires in November 2022.
4. In addition to these, the Runruno mine is also under development and could begin commercial operations as early as 2015 provided it is able to clear up a few outstanding social and environmental permits. The gold-molybdenum project boasts a defined resource of 1.42m oz. of gold and 11.6m kg of molybdenum according to operator FCF Minerals Corporation, with 780,000 oz. of proven and probable gold reserves.
5. The long awaited King-king Copper-Gold Project, being developed by the Philippines-based Nationwide Development Corporation (Nadecor) and Toronto-listed St Augustine Gold and Copper, was also on the verge of opening as of early 2015, pending the approval of its Environmental Compliance Certificate. If given the go-ahead, the mine would likely become the most productive in the country, producing around 110,000-130,000 tonnes of copper as well as 529,000 oz. of gold per year, according to company estimates.
6. Located near Davao City in Mindanao, the project boasts measured and indicated mineral resources of 962.3m tonnes at 0.25% total copper, 0.06% soluble copper and 0.33 grams per tonne of gold, resulting in 2.45bn kg of contained copper and 10.3m oz. of contained gold, according to data from St Augustine.
7. Other significant projects in varying stages of development include the Far Southeast copper-gold project from Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company and Gold Fields, which is expecting approval for its Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement in 2015, and Philex’s Silangan gold and copper project, forecast to begin production in 2018.
8. Outlook: The Philippine’s vast and largely untapped mining potential will continue to draw strong interest from both foreign and domestic actors despite decreasing investment in the short term. Although a few projects are moving forward, the vast majority of large-scale developments will remain on hold until the government issues the relevant sector regulations, which could feasibly drag on through the 2016 elections.
Artemio Disini, (OBG Report, 2015) chairman of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines, “Once these issues are resolved, there are many large, high-grade reserves in the country. There are large deposits of gold, copper and nickel in Eastern Mindanao. If internationals decide the risk is too great in the Philippines, large local conglomerates are already showing interest in filling the void.” The question is when the regulatory framework will catch up with demand. Timing, as they say, is everything.
The Philippine Star reported on September 15, 2013 that coal mining in Seminrara may resume this year according to the Department of Energy. Earlier the Department of Environment and Natural Resource-Environment Management Bureau suspended Semirara’ environmental compliance but restored it later after investigation showed the landslide had no adverse effect or damage to the environment in Antique.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer on September 14, 2015 reported that a mining town seeks watershed exclusion at Itogon, Benquet. The purpose of this is to urge the Department of Natural Resources to facilitate the exclusion of Braranga Tiriongdan, Loaca, Gumatdang, Ampucao and Dulupirip from the Lower Agno Watershed Forest Reserve. Itogon Councilor Arnel Bahingawan said the Republic Act No. 9003 (Ecological Solid West Management Act of 2000) requires local government to build waste disposal facilities but the National Integrated Protected Areas System (Nipas) does not allow the town to use land near a watershed for this purpose. The question is why was the big mining company allowed to build its tailings pond in the same area?” This refers to Benguet Corp. and Philex Mining Corp.
Conclusion
It appears that the economic impact of the Philippine mining industry, which was included in the 2011 mandatory list of annual Investment Priorities Plan which the Trade Department endorsed to Malacanang to further drive national economic growth, is being stunted by the resistance of civil society composed of NGOs, the private sectors and the Catholic Church in the Philippines. He was criticized by environmental activist Gina Lopez (2011) who questioned his national policy on natural resources. She eventually led a protest against mining in Palawan by securing a million signatures to stop mining. The Marcopper and Philex Mining disasters continue to spotlight the negative impact of mining.
Politically, the mining industry in the Philippines is being stunted by the non-alignment of the local government with the mining policy of the national government. Thus, the economic impact of the mining industry in the Philippines , which included mining as one of the eleven investment targets when President Benigno Aquino, Jr. started his term, is not a significant driver for progress.
The power of the local government appears to be stronger than that of the national government. It appears that the local officials, like the city or town mayor can invoke their power under the Department of Internal and Local Government. In support with the anti-mining sentiment of some local government officials are the civic environmental activists and the Catholic Church which continue to influence business leaders and civil servants. The American-style of democratic freedom is exercised by Philippine media and it is one of the strongest critics of mining, especially when it comes to reporting mining disasters and anti-mining rallies.
Historically, mining in the Philippines is traced from the Maharlikan time to Spanish colonial period and the American regime that started the corporate exploration of mining in Benguet, Mountain Province. The minerals which the pre-Hispanic Filipinos enjoy has been overtaken by the Spanish friars and conquistadores (1521-1896), then by the Americans (1898 -1935). The Philippine Commonwealth (1935-1946) allowed Filipinos to govern themselves, a transitional period prior to Philippine Independence from the United States of America. The Japanese government during World War II ruled from 1942-1845, Today, the struggle between the Philippine Government and the indigenous people (IPs) continue as lands expropriated to the mining industry continues to encroach into the domains of the IPs.
References
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Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, AB-BSE, MA, EdD Graduate School of De La Salle Araneta University, Malabon, Philippines President, AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc. Makati City, Philippines dr.eth2008@gmail.com www//emilianohudtohan.com International Seminar on the Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact of Mining Paper to be delivered at the University of Pejuang, Makassar, Konawe, Sulawesi, Indonesia November 24, 2015 Edition November 10, 2015
Abstract: The Asean Economic Community (AEC) Blueprint, which has four pillars containing 17 core elements and 176 priority actions, will be implemented by member nations in December 2015. This paper provides a heuristic insight on how the mining companies can locally strengthen their economic operation. The mindset of the mining management is invited to move from a 17th century Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm to a 21st century quantum worldview. Thus, the mining companies need to consider the AEC as a quantum organization in terms of its economic, political and leadership structure. It suggests that: a. the comparative advantage of David Ricardo be considered as an alternative to the current practice of competitive advantage and b. Martin Brown’s economic view on common wealth in contrast to commercial wealth be promoted for business sustainability. Subsequently, it proposes that the mining industry among members of the Asean superstruct locally to consolidate their resources; then regionally consider its role in the Asean region, and ultimately participate in a new global economy.
Key words: Cartesian-Newtonian physics, metaphysics, quantum theory, quantum organization, comparative advantage, common wealth, and superstruct.
Objectives of the paper
This paper seeks to answer the questions: 1. How can the New Science of quantum physics help us appreciate the AEC as a new organization in the 21st century? 2. What is the alternative economic platform which will hasten the development of the Asean Economic Community? 3. What ae the challenges facing the mining industry in the face of a superstructure that is based on a new ecology of the future? Methodology
This is an exploratory paper, using heuristic approach to develop the topic on The Impact of AEC on the Mining Industry in Southeast Asia. Heuristic research attempts to discover the nature and meaning of phenomenon through internal self-search, exploration, and discovery (Moustakas & Douglass, 1985). As an axiologist, I used my banking and insurance experience for 20 years and academic experience at the De La Salle College of Business teaching corporate social responsibility and business ethics for 10 years viewing the mining industry from a perspective of the New Science of management. My self-search, self-dialogue and self-discovery regarding mining has been ongoing for the past six years when I gave a talk on mining and social responsibility in Indonesia (2009 and 2011). In 2014, I delivered a paper on the challenges and opportunities of the AEC at the Halo Oleo State University, Kendari, Indonesia. With the implementation of the AEC Blueprint in December 2015, it is imperative that the mining industry, and similarly with other industries, be seen from a new perspective.
1. The AEC as Quantum Organization The impact of AEC For the Asean member nations to be able to manage the impact of the Asean Economic Community (AEC), it is necessary to understand the implications of the new community in terms of 21st century perspective based on quantum organization, quantum economy, quantum politics and quantum leadership. Creating a new community means new organization, new structures and new governance. On the ground, the AEC Blueprint inevitably makes an impact on existing organizations and structures of Asean members.
The word impact is defined by Google as a noun and a verb. As a noun, impact means “the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another.” It is synonymous to synonyms: collision, crash, smash, bump, bang, an knock. If the AEC is considered as concept that is forcibly coming into contact with Asean members, then there can be a collision, smashing, banging and knocking events. As a verb, it means “to have a strong effect on someone or something.” It is synonymous to consequences, repercussions, ramifications, reverberations. The AEC Blueprint will have primarily a strong effect on the economy of member nations, and ultimately on their respective political and social life.
The British dictionary sees impact as “a force or action of one object hitting another” or “a powerful effect that something, especially something new, has on a situation or person.” In effect, the Blueprint is coming forcibly into contact with the mining industry and the strong effect can be that of collision or a big bang. In the early 17th century impact means to “press closely, fix firmly” or to “driven in.”
From the various meaning of the word impact, the Blueprint can be considered a force that is driving in particular the mining industry among Asean member nations to create framework to manage the impact of the new AEC Blueprint.
The AEC Blueprint The AEC will establish ASEAN as a single market and production base making ASEAN more dynamic and competitive with new mechanisms and measures to strengthen the implementation of its existing economic initiatives; accelerating regional integration in the priority sectors; facilitating movement of business persons, skilled labor and talents; and strengthening the institutional mechanisms of ASEAN.(AEC Blueprint, II, 6, p.5)
A1. Free flow of goods
10. Free flow of goods is one of the principal means by which the aims of a single market and production base can be achieved. A single market for goods (and services) will also facilitate the development of production networks in the region and enhance ASEAN’s capacity to serve as a global production centre or as a part of the global supply chain (AEC Blueprint, p.6). Promotion and awareness: SMEs MNEs, and MNCs (AEC Blueprint, p.11)
Culture of fair competition, p. 18 Currently, only four AMCs (Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam) have their own competition law and competition regulatory bodies. Malaysia has not passed any nation-wide competition law but has, instead, relied on sector-level regulations to ensure and enforce competition in markets. 56. Mining cooperation. Enhance trade and investment and strengthen cooperation and capacity in geological and mineral sector for sustainable mineral development in the ASEAN region.
Actions: i. Facilitate and enhance trade and investment in minerals; ii. Intensify institutional and human capacity building in ASEAN geological and mineral sector; iii. Promote environmentally and socially sustainable mineral development; and iv. Encourage the participation of the private sector in mineral development (AEC Blueprint, p.22).
What is quantum organization? In order to expand our respective national consciousness to a regional consciousness, as framed by the AEC Blueprint, I am offering a quantum perspective AEC as an organization and its impact on leadership that will drive the new political economy in this region.
The concept of quantum organization is based on a new paradigm of metaphysics as a New Science (Kilmann, 2006; Dator, Pratt, & Sea, 2006; Deardorff & Williams, 2006; Wheatley, 2006; Chopra, 2008; Karakas, 2009; Beck, 2014). This is in contrast to the Cartesian-Newtonian physical science.
Hookes (c2011.) graphically explains the two paradigms in Figure 1. He says, “This rooted-tree graph represents the partition of the world into its constituent people particles, as well as the resulting hierarchical political and social structures of the bourgeois state, and that of it main economic players, the corporations.”
He continues, “As we can see in the quantum theory (QT) paradigm, the circle on the right is a topological folding of the circle on the left. The nodes can be considered as problems-solvers within a Problem-Solving Intelligent network, that is, a PSI-net or Ψ-net7. A ‘problem-solver’ node may be an individual, group of individuals, or else some intelligent software/hardware. In this case of the Ψ-net, they can be thought of as connected by an information channel with a given bandwidth. The original set is partitioned into sub-cycles (or subsets) and further into sub-sub-cycles (sub-subsets) and so on. In such structures information about the activity at each node, the collective activity of each subset (or sub-subsets) or the collective activity of the complete set of nodes can be accessed by each individual node. It just requires sufficient bandwidth. With modern technology this is in principle almost infinite (actually terabits/sec and increasing…). The important point is that relationship of each part can be consciously related to the whole. This helps to solve the problem of the alienation of the isolated problem-solver in the tree-like hierarchies of bureaucratized reason (Weber, 1978), as illustrated by the left-hand CN-net. In the latter, the problem-solver usually does not understand how her sub-sub-problem relates to the main problem or the other problem solving activities. Only those in the top layer have an overview.”
Political Economy
Hookes (c2011) explains quantum theory as an alternative to Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm. He says, “What is understood by only a very small number of the critics of modern corporate capitalism is that modern physics, and, specifically, quantum theory, provides an alternative paradigm, or framework of thinking, that can help demolish that of Cartesian-Newtonianism (CN) in the politico-socio-economic sphere as well as that in physics itself.”
In Figure 1, CN on the left side is a capitalist view of the political economy while the one on the left is a QT view of the political economy. Notice that Marxian is used and not Marxist because this is a new interpretation of Marx’s thoughts in quantum science and not necessarily dialectical philosophy. According to Hookes (c2011, p, 13), “The quantum paradigm (on the right], represents the account of the global capitalist productive process given by Marxian political economy. In this picture we can see that the labour and value produced at each node in connected to all other nodes through the global market exchange system to create both a global (universal) labor and global (universal) value system. Labour carried out locally becomes de-localized; value created locally becomes de-localized through the global market system of capital.”
I think the lesson here is that the Marxian political economy offers a social economic paradigm which allows the clustering of similar labor and products in mining, so that it becomes an efficient structure for global enterprise. It must be pointed out that the QT paradigm is non-hierarchal, non-alienating, cooperative and democratic. Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm and the New Science of metaphysics are extensively discussed by Whitely in Leadership and the New Science, Beck’s Finding Your Way in a Wild New World, Deepak Chopra’s Grace and Freedom, and Karakas’ New Paradigms in Organization Development: Positivity, Spirituality, and Complexity.
In many ways, QT paradigm supports the social innovation (Godin, 2012) which promotes structural reforms (economic, political and social) that will benefit the many (traditionally termed as common good). Here, Hooke is very selective in using the term Marxian, as opposed to Marxist which has a socialist and even worse implying communist ideology.
In the Philippines, socialism raises the spectre of communism (Murphy, 2015), which is an ongoing concern in provincial areas where insurgency continues to be a problem. In the business and marketing sector, socialist inclination of a capitalist is now labeled as democratization of the market, or the practice of social marketing. There is much acceptability in the business sector when it comes to corporate social responsibility, which is now enshrined in business school curriculum. Social innovation from the corporate sector in the Philippines is opening up towards democratizing business as the trend for social entrepreneurship gains good ground. In fact, CSR is now moving towards corporate shared value (CSV) with the community and towards corporate social initiatives (CSI). The concept of democratization and socialism in business is converging without Marxian, Marxist, socialist, and communist undertone.
Asean quantum politics
Dator, Pratt, and Sea (2006), on current political governance reforms said, “They are cosmologically inadequate because they are all based on old “Newtonian” notions of causality and intentionality. It is essential that new forms of governance be based on what the best science and humanities of all cultures can tell us about human and other systems, artificial as well as natural. 2. They are technologically inadequate because they were invented at a time when communications technologies were quite different from what they are now—initially limited to human speech and handwriting, later augmented by the very labor-intensive and slow printing presses of the day. At that time, literacy was low, books were few and rare, and newspapers little more than a few pages of local announcements and opinion.”
In an interview by Jake Dunagan for the Ten Year Forecast of the Institute for the Future, Dator (2009) describes quantum politics in terms of cosmology and technological innovations of the 21st century. He said, “[I]n a normally operating society, there is a close relationship between the dominant cosmology, the dominant technology of the time, and the social institutions and social values of the group. That relationship has characterized almost all societies up until probably the 20th century. What happened in the 20the century is that a new cosmology called quantum physics – and the new technologies of the electronic information and communications revolution – became out of sync with many social institutions and practices specifically with governance systems, which are still very much locked into technologies of 200 years ago” (Dator, 2009).
Quantum leadership
The 2013 assessment of Asian Development Bank in Asian Economic Integration Monitor states that: “The success or failure of the AEC ultimately lies in the hands of the national decision- and policy-makers who make it happen, and who have the political backing to overcome vested domestic interests that stand to lose from liberalization…The flexibility that characterizes ASEAN cooperation and institutional arrangements could give member states a pretext for non-compliance – and these are enforcements issues. This is the key challenge to be overcome in realizing the AEC as more than a political exercise in solidarity.”
As of October 31, 2015 at the 27th Asean Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Le Luong Minh, Secretary General of ASEAN reported that the overall implementation of the AEC Blueprint is 92.7 percent complete. This means that 4v69 of the506 measures have been accomplished. This is a far better performance based on March 2012 data on the four pillar of AEC showed the following accomplishments: 1.Single Market and Production Base is 66%, 2. Competitive Economic Region 68%. 3. Equitable Economic Development is 67%, and 4. Integration into the Global Economy is 86%. The overall performance of AEC reached is about 68% of its overall targets between 2008 and 2011. Le Luong Minh, Secretary General of ASEAN says as of 2014 implementation is already 80% (Oxford Business Group, 2014).
The biggest strides have been made in integrating into the world economy Pillar 4 registered 86%. This is due to the fact that that ASEAN economies trade mostly with the rest of the world. According to Hill and Menon (2013), since 1970, intraregional trade has generally been between 15% and 30% of total ASEAN trade, and while the has been trending upward, it remains low in comparison with the shares of ASEAN’s external trading partners, particularly the European Union. (Hill and Menon 2012).
According to the Asian Development Bank (ASEAN Economic Monitor, 2013), there are five key drivers to the AEC integration: 1. Political will, 2. Coordination and resource mobilization, 3. Implementation and arrangements, 4. Capacity building and institutional strengthening, and 5. Public and private sector consultations. The Asean quantum leader is expected to be the driver in AEC integration.
Deardorff and Williams (2006) say that within the quantum organization are three tiers or levels of interaction which are the self, the motions of Fluidity and the leader. The intersection of all three of these elements is the quantum node where synergy is created to produce innovation and novel, new ideas.
They argue that synergy leadership is a process where the interaction of two or more agents or forces combined effect is greater than the sum of their individual effects. In effect, there is an evolving phenomenon that occurs when individuals work together in mutually enhancing ways to achieve success by inspiring one another to set and accomplish both personal goals and a group vision. They further noted that “The easiest area to describe but hardest area to recognize in the quantum organization is the self. The self of the leader is ultimately the key to the success of the quantum organization model.
Thus, one’s personality, energy, spirit, quirks and experiences comprise the uniqueness of the Self. What is needed is a measurement rubric, tool or instrument that can create a quantum measurement capturing these features. This measurement will determine impact of the Self on quantum organization. The Self will have the ability to accept and move with chaos and dynamic change can only be channeled constructively by utilizing the Self’s ability to accept accountability for the interactions; communication and dynamic ability make transformations in a chaos filled word.
Laszlo (2006) announced that we have already reached the chaos point and Braden (2009) mathematically showed that 2012 was the beginning of a new age based on the Mayan calendar. Page (2008) averred that in 2012 Mother Galactica is entering into a black hole, where change and rebirth will be experienced thereafter. The AEC’s birth in 2015 is an opportunity to make a breakthrough for future survival. Wheatley (2006) suggests that the leader of the 21st century must take cognizance of the new science and pay attention to chaos theory. Chaos causes disequilibrium and disorder but equilibrium which stablelizes can lead to complacency and stagnation. Chaos theory has been identified by Sardar and Abrans (2004) with ancient wisdom of Chinese yin-yang creative energy, 8th century Greek theogomy of how the first chaos came to be up until modern concept of randomness and unpredictability in the universe (Mapes, 2003;Taleb, 2010).
Kilmann (2006) observed that: “What were once simple problems that could be solved by extreme specialization have become complex problems that challenge fragmented categories. To succeed in the new millennium, accordingly, requires holistic categories that will enable members and their organizations to (1) clearly see the flowing interconnections surrounding the globe, (2) consciously think about interconnected problems in comprehensive ways, and (3) purposely behave in a manner that stimulates the meaningfulness and coevolution of life and nature throughout the world and the expanding universe. Seeing, thinking, and behaving with new—holistic—categories requires a mental revolution in self-aware consciousness…. We live in an interconnected world yet suffer from acute fragmentation.”
He “provides a deep understanding of a new paradigm with self-aware consciousness at center stage and offers a completely integrated program of eight tracks for effectively—and compassionately— accelerating self-aware consciousness in complex systems. By applying these insights and tracks, it is possible to create quantum organizations and thereby achieve success, happiness, and meaning.”
2. The Mining Industry and the New Economy
Mining as common wealth
South East Asia will slowly emerge to become one of the main growth drivers in Asia’s mining sector. The total value of mineral exchanges in Asean has multiplied by 10 in the past decade, going from US$ 4.1 to 43.1 billion between 2000 and 2011. Asean made up for 10.3% (South East Asia Mining Industry, 2013). Indonesia is second exporter of coal and nickel in the world, first in Asean; its coal makes up for 9% of exports globally and 95% of exports from Asean; its turnover is from US$56.8 billion in 2009 to a projected US$143 billion in 2016; it has a repository of coal equivalent to that of the US, and its main minerals are coal and nickel.
The Philippines is fifth richest country in the world in minerals which include nickel, gold and copper; its turnover is from US$2.3 billion in 2009 to a projected US$7.8 billion in 2016; its main minerals are nickel, gold and copper. Vietnam is set to become a major player in the global aluminum raw material market with the opening of the US$460 million Tan Rai alumnina refinery in December 2012; it is estimated deposit of 2.1 billion tonnes of bauxite, and prospection has shown reserves in minerals such as copper, iron, nickel, and tungsten. These impressive figures make Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam targets of mining competition.
There is repeated use of competitive advantage thrives in a CN business paradigm but comparative advantage is more appropriate in a QT paradigm. With the clustering of mining companies, the question of monopoly and oligopoly may be justifiably raised. However, with the rise of corporate social responsivity, the movement towards corporate shared values, the proposal for corporate social initiatives and social enterprise, the negative effects of monopoly will be properly addressed for the benefit of common good (Hess, Rogovsky, Dunfee, 2002; Porter & Kramer, 2006; Kramer, 2008; Porter & Kramer, 2011; Pfitzer, Bockstette, & Stamp, 2013).
In the context of common wealth, is monopolistic economy being workable in the future? Monopoly within the purview of Marxian political economy, comparative advantage, social innovation, and corporate social responsibility need not be an economic monster of the 21st century. The question of global survival in the face of impending environmental chaos leading to the destruction of Mother Earth, the mining industry must consolidate its strategic presence in the future.
The editorial of The Philippine Star (August 30, 2015) announced, “In just four months the ASEAN Economic Community will be in place, opening opportunities in a market of 650 million but also threatening the survival of those unprepared for competition…Open competition will break monopolies and oligopolies that often lead to lousy goods and services…radical change can lead to disaster or opportunity.”
The core of the Asean Economic Community is not only economic activity. The primary focus should be on what a community is. The mining industry must be considered a mining community. Today, the concept of community in multistream management is “characterized by its emphasis on multiple forms of well-being for multiple stakeholders… [where] any group or person within or outside an organization…is directly affected by the organization and has a stake in its performance” (Dyck and Neubert, 2011, p. 16).
The AEC may consider Marvin T. Brown’s (2014) common wealth proposition. He says, “In a commercial society, what counts as wealth is what can be treated as a commodity in the market. In a common society, wealth will not be limited to what we can purchase, but will include all that we need for a good life…Instead of focusing on the accumulation of property; the focus will be on the making of provisions.
A common society will provide for one another through process that are based on shared endeavors…A common society will also allow us to recognize the planet as a living provider instead of only seeing its property value. Most importantly, instead of treating the planet as an object we control, we can see it as something to which we belong. This means that inhabitants of the planet can relate to one another not primarily as owners, but rather as members of a commons” (Brown, 2014, p.37).
The mining industry is challenged to create a civic platform for commonwealth. Brown suggests answering the following questions: 1. how should we design an economy that makes provisions for everyone? 2. How should we deal with disagreements among citizens? and 3. How should we govern a civic commonwealth? Brown (2014, p. 44) believes that “The work ahead is the work of citizens, who through civic conversations give shape to a viable relationship between the commons and the commercial. Business leaders can participate in this work by exploring the role of their business in a particular system of provision. Ethicists and others can help to facilitate such conservations, so that civic defines our commonwealth rather than the commercial.”
Community is a union of consciousness; it is about our humanity in this region. And our economic community based on material exchange must never exclude our transcendental relationships that bind us together in Asia and around the globe.
Mining and comparative advantage
David Ricardo’s (1817) theory of comparative advantage suggests that a nation should concentrate solely on those industries in which it is most internationally competitive, trading with other countries to obtain products which are not produced nationally. This means that industry specialization and international trade always produce positive results.
Philippine DTI Undersecretary Adrian Cristobal, Jr. (2014) describes the AEC a vast opportunities for growth, dynamic competition as well as complementation. I translate ‘complementation’ as a comparative advantage. Although Sec. 8 of AEC Blueprint talks about the region as a community, it in the same breath identifies the region under Item b. as “a highly competitive region.”
I believe it continues to subscribe to the Smithian theory of competitive advantage. The AEC Community has the greatest opportunity now to make Ricardian comparative advantage work in this region. Article 8 of AEC Blueprint states that “the AEC envisages the following key characteristics: (a) a single market and production base, (b) a highly competitive economic region, (c) a region of equitable economic development, and (d) a region fully integrated into the global economy. (AEC Blueprint, p. 6). In addition to the current practice of competitive advantage, there is a need to study and experiment with comparative advantage to balance individual ASEAN member’s exclusive economic growth at the ‘expense’ of other members.
The Asean region can be competitive vis-à-vis the Western global market. But regionally, it must do its homework in promoting a comparative advantage among its industrial economic engines. The question then arises: Will mergers and restricting of the companies be moving towards monopoly? We must keep in mind that the objections against monopoly is based on protecting the very core of democratic capitalism, where the concept of free enterprise and the laissez-faire principle are the guiding spirit of business.
The rise of social innovation has opened the door to socialist capitalism of China and social entrepreneurship as alternative courses of business development and practice. In a monopolistic Chinese owned business corporation, the trend now is mandated corporate social responsibility to address the plight of the poor
3. Superstructuring AEC
Local Integration
The mining industry, in the context of AEC blueprint calls for the “mineral sector for sustainable mineral development in the ASEAN region. It is the position of this paper that comparative advantage be promoted instead of the classical competitive advantage that has permeated in the business sector with a view for bottom-line profitability. The comparative advantage must first happen at the national level where some kind of integration among the mining industries will strengthen top performers and illuminate laggard performers.
By analogy, I am using the experience of the banking sector of the Philippines, when in 1991 a major decision was made by the Monetary Board of the Central Bank of the Philippines to rationalize the many universal banks in the Philippines.
The idea was to have top ten high banks with capitalization and assets comparable to the Asean and global banks. Thus, from 1991 to 2001 a period of mergers took place. In 2015 the top ten banks in the Philippines are: 1. BDO, 2. Metrobank, 3. BPI, 4. Landbank, 5. RCBC, 6. DBP, 7. PNB, 8. Chinabank, 9. Unionbank, and 10. Security Bank (http://philpad.com/).
The government policy to rationalize the ownership and operation of the mining industry can only make sense if it pursues David Ricardo’s comparative advantage theory and common wealth theory.
Today, there is initiative in Philippine congress and senate to rationalize of the mining industry in the Philippines.
The history of the SEACEN began in February 1966, as a group of governors of some South East Asian central banks met in Bangkok, Thailand, to exchange information and ideas on matters affecting their economies and financial systems. The meeting was attended by 7 heads/representatives of the central banks and monetary authorities of Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam. Since then the Conference was held annually with the member banks of SEACEN playing host by rotation.
Philippine mining status
The Philippines has to rationalize its mining operations in relation with large and small-scale. Large-scale mining. Viloria (2015) reported that in 2012 there were about 317 business establishments engaged in mining and quarrying wherein about 218 were non-metallic producers and 27 metallic mines were engaged in the production of gold, silver, copper, nickel, chromite, zinc and iron ores based on roster of the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines (2015) as shown in Table 1.
Villoria (2015), citing Philippine Statistics Authority 2014 report, noted that the mineral sector of the Philippines is basically export-oriented with Japan as its main market and other markets include China, United States of America, Canada and Hong Kong.
The mining industry, as of first quarter of 2015, has contributed 6.1% share to total exports amounting to U.S. $862 million (MGB Mining Industry Statistics, 2015). The Philippine Government collected Php376.3 million of taxes, royalties and fees from mining in first quarter of 2015. Hence, the industry plays an important part in economic development (Viloria, 2015).
Superstructuring the mining industry
The New Science of quantum theory, Hooke’s (c2011) Marxian economy, Brown’s (2014) concept of common wealth, Ricardo’s (1871; 1951) comparative advantage and Li Zhang’s (2012) cross-strait economic interdependence and cross-strait political relations based on neoliberalism and interdependency theory form a new perspective on why superstructuring the global, regional and local mining industry is most critical for its sustainable developing and the sustainability of the Earth as resource provider for mining.
Would it make sense that the global mining companies work for the comparable advantage of all by collaborating with the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Philippine mining companies? The Glencore Xtrata, followed by BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto and Vale recorded the biggest revenue from mining operations in 2013. Mining-technology.com profiles the world’s ten biggest mining companies based on revenue earned in calendar year 2013.
Indonesia has outstanding gold mining companies: PT Aneka Tambang Tbk, Aurora Gold Ltd (Indonesia), Austindo Resources Corporation NL (Indonesia), Batu Hijau copper-gold-mine, Golden Valley Mines NL, PT Antam Tbk, PT Kelian Equatorial Mining, and PT Newmont Nusa Tenggara (MBendi Information Services). Malaysia has top mining companies: Peninsular Gold Ltd., CNMC Goldmine Holdings, Ltd., PT Bukit Makmur Mandiri, Monument Mining Ltd., and Olympus Pacific Mineral, Inc. The question is how to superstruct the mining industry.
The Asean Economic Community is just a beginning of an ambitious attempt to make Asia a sustainable civilization in contrast to the weathering away of North American and European civilization. As we restructure our economy, we are challenged to further restructure our socio-political life in the region. Visionaries have suggested that we superstruct to facilitate and enable us to fulfill our dream of an AEC in 2020. To superstruct means: [T]o build new structures that extend our reach, expand our capacity, and go beyond the limits of today’s institutions.
It means to bridge, to traverse boundaries, not just of organizations, communities, or nations, but also of scale itself. It also means finding new kinds of value in new kinds of social production and new forms of social connectedness. In fact, superstructing is all about building a new level of sociability into our economic lives – and into all our projects, from securing food and shelter to governing ourselves (McGonigal and Vian, 2009). The superstructuring, however, has a direct impact on the mining industry.
Superstructuring: Regional and Global
The foundation of superstructuring the region and the global community is quantum politics. Dator (2006) According to McGonigal and Vian (2009), the heart of superstructing is “collaborating across scales, from the micro to the massive.
Superstructing is not just about big; it’s also about very small contributions by many individuals that add up to something big. We can apply practical strategies to the millions of interactions that make ecology sustainable. We can work small to create big effects. And we can leverage massive platforms to create much targeted value in select places in the ecology.”
There are five key areas which the mining industry must consider, if it wishes to be sustainably operational in the 21st century. The Insitute for the Future suggests: 1. The Appleseed Ecology which proposes ‘simfarms’ structures for securing food, repurposing wastes, and crating new forms of exchange. 2. The Natural Currency Ecology which re-envisions our capital systems as tied, not to gold or GDP or other commodities, but to environmental measures, linking sociability to sustainability. 3. The Community Works Ecology which advocates that large scale problems do not require large scale solutions; it means creating superstructures for replicating local solutions across large-scale systems. 4. The Open Fab Initiative Ecology starts a node for linking small-scale fabrications and practices to solving problems of distressed communities – creating a new local material and economic realities. 5. Quantum Governance Ecology is building a desire to create a new post-Newtonian model of governance that will help citizens make sense of the world – bridging across realities” (Superstruct Handbook, 2009).
Of the five ecologies, the most critical to the mining industry is the natural currency ecology. If gold will no longer be the global currency, will mining be economically sustainable by then?
Conclusion
The QT paradigm challenges the mining industry to step up its organizational structure in order to cope with the challenges of the AEC Blueprint. It must be address the following issues:
First, this paper poses a challenge to the corporate leaders and engineers, who are steeped in the physical science of Rene Descartes and Isaac Newton.
Are they willing to explore the new science of quantum physics as a dimension of their profession?
Second, the AEC Blueprint calls for new leadership in the 21st century. Quantum leadership posits a way to create synergy among teams, corporations, communities and member nations of the Asean.
Third, the challenge among Asean member nations is to figure out a political economy based on quantum theory of the science of metaphysics. The hegemonic nature of AEC calls for a new economic and political order that will allow implementation of the AEC Blueprint beginning December 2015. Fourth, member nations must remember that as early as in 1955 the Bandung Conference in Indonesia asserted the Asia is for Asians; then, there was the Association of Southeast Asia (ASA) formed by the Philippines, Thailand, and the Federation of Malaya in 1961; the formation of Maphilindo (Malaysia, Philippines and Indonesia) in 1963 and the creation of SEATO (South East Asian Treaty Organization) pushed by the United States America for military alliance in 1954. Fifth, Asean leaders need to create a new consciousness in this region by exploring their respective cultural values that were degraded and erased by the Western colonials. This means bayanihan in the Philippines, gotong-royong in Indonesia and Malaysia, and the Buddhist dharma in Thailand (Sharma, 2013).
Sixth, the Asean member nations must re-visit the history of the region when the Majapahit Empire that ruled from 1293-1500 (www.rumormillnew.com/pdf/The-untold-story-of-Maharlikans.pdf) under the Royal Kingdom of the Marlikhans. According to the Nagarakretagama (Desawarñana) 1365 document, the Majapahit empire stretched from Sumatra to New Guinea and it included present day Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Southern Thailand, Sulu Archipelago, Manila, and East Timor (http://dbpedia.org/resource/ Majapahit). This is a historical basis for the Asean Economic Community. Seventh, it is important to note that No.2 of superstructuring of the Institute for the Future specifically mentions a revision of capital system no longer tied up to gold. What, then, are the production and the economic implications of this projected global currency to the mining industry?
In closing, the question I ask then is: Can we steer our economic community towards a moral economic community that truly cares for every member of civil society in the ASEAN region? The answer: The Institute of the Future has a superstructuring game. I highly recommended we play it to have a foothold on the superstructure we call the ASEAN Economic Community which we are starting now. We want to operationalize the four pillars that contain 17 core elements and 176 priority actions by 2020.
Quantum Theory of the New Science of metaphysics was presented as an integrating framework for the Asean member nations to consider. It is a departure from the old way of seeing things based on Cartesian-Newtonian paradigm. The 21st century calls for a new political economy, which is based on quantum organization, quantum leadership and quantum politics.
The local, regional, and eventually global integration challenges the existing economic fundamental of Adam Smith’s construct of the Wealth of Nations. The challenge of creating a Common Wealth needs to be addressed as it is diametrically opposed to our current concept of Commercial Wealth. The threat of global warming and impending climate change will for us to think globally is we wish to have economic sustainability for a sustainable civilization, no longer as member nations but as inhabitants of the planet Earth.
References
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(January 2008) The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy, Harvard business Review. Porter, M. E., & Kramer, M. R. (2011). Creating shared value. Harvard Business Review, 89(1) Porter, M.E. & Kramer, M.R. (December 2006). Strategy and Society: The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility. Harvard Business Review. HBR.Org, Ricardo, D. (1817) On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation. In P. Sraffa (Ed.), Works and Correspondence of David Ricardo, Volume I, Cambridge University Press, 1951, p.135. Sardar, Z & Abrans,I. (2004). Introducing chaos. Tien Wah Press Ltd. Sharma, B. (2013). Contextualizing CSR in Asia: Corporate Social Responsibility in Asian economies. Singapore: Lien Centre for Social Innovation. Taleb, N.N. (2012). Antifragile: Things that gain from disorder. USA: Random House. The Superstruct Handbook. Ten-Year Forecast Perspectives 2009. www.iftf.org. The Philippine Star. (August 30, 2015). 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Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, AB-BSE, MA, EdD is a retired professor of De La Salle University, Manila College of Business; he currently teaches at the De La Salle Araneta University, Malabon Graduate School, San Beda College Graduate School and De La Salle College of St. Benilde Graduate School, Metro Manila, Philippines. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics and corporate social responsibility. He has delivered papers on mining sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the international seminar in Unaaha, Konawe and recently a paper on Asean economic integration and corporate social initiatives at Halo Oleo State University, Kendari, Sulawesi, Indonesia. He was a columnist of Manila Standard Today. He is president and co-founder of AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc.
Appendix 1
Newtonian Physics and Metaphysics [Quantum Physics: Martha Beck (2014), F. Karakas (2009), and Deepak Chopra (2008)]
Martha Beck (2014) comparative worldview on spent old world and wild new world, p. 285
Area of life
The spent old world
The wild new world
Inner experience of individuals
Dominated by fearful stories.
Saturated with the present moment
Relationships
Faithful to arbitrary social standards of various cultures.
Faithful to the truth of love within and between people.
Careers
Dependent on the repression of a human’s true nature.
Dependent on the expression of a human’ true nature
Industries
Huge organizations win by controlling destruction of goods
Individuals and small groups create win-win ideas for innovative content creation
Technical innovation
Machines designed to hoard and exploit nature, devouring resources.
Machines designed to heal and preserve nature, renewing resources
Karakas (2009)Changing Paradigms of Organization Development, p.15
Old Paradigm
New Paradigm
Old sciences Newtonian, Linear, Reductive
New sciences Quantum, Nonlinear, multiple truths, emergent
Profit orientation Competition, Economic, Short term, profit oriented
Multiple orientations Cooperation, Social, environment, economic Long term, triple bottom line
Uniformity Hierarchical, Absolute, Selective
Diversity Lateral, Contextualism, Inclusive
Command and control Top-down, controlling, doubtful and domination
Flexibility and empowerment Egalitarian, inspiring, trusting and collaboration
Certainty Clarity, order, stability
Uncertainty Ambiguity, chaos, change
Partial Atomistic, exclusionary, analysis
Impartial Ambiguity, chaos
Old metaphors Clockwork, static box, machine
New metaphors Brain or ecosystem, dynamic flow, web/newnetwork
Deepak Chopra(2008) The Old and the New Paradigm, pp. 213-218
Old Paradigm
New Paradigm
Superstition of materialism: We are separate from our source and from one another
Unified field of pur consciousness: We are connected to our source and to one another.
The world is composed of visible, solid matter and invisible, nonmaterial energy
The world is composed of one underlying unmanifest field of intelligence that manifests as the infinite diversity of the universe
Sensory experience – What we can see, hear, smell, taste or touch – is the crucial test of reality.
The field of intelligence experienced subjectively is the mind; the same field experienced objectively is the world of material objects.
Solid objects or visible clumps of matter, are separated from on another in space and time.
‘Solid’ objects are not solid at all, nor are they separate from on another in space and time. Objects are focal points, or concentrations of intelligence, within the field of intelligence.
Mind and matter are separate, independent entities.
Mind and matter are essentially the same. Both are the offspring of the field of pure consciousness, which conceives and constructs the whole world.
The body is a physical machine that has somehow learned how to think.
Infinite consciousness somehow creates the mind and then expresses itself as the body. The body-mind is the field of pure of consciousness.
Human beings are self-contained entities with well-defined edges to the body.
Human beings are inseparably interconnected with the patters of intelligence in the whole cosmos. At the most fundamental levels of nature, there are no well-defined edges between our personal body and the universe.
The human body is composed of matter frozen in space and time.
The human body-mind is a changing-pulsating patttern of intelligence that constantly re-creates itself.
Our needs are separate from the needs of other living beings.
Our needs are intrdependent and inseparable from the needs of other living beings.
The external world is real because it is physical. Our internal world is unreal because it exists in the imagination.
The external world and the internal world are the projections of one Being, the source of all creation. Both are patterns of movements of energy within infinite consciousness.
The superstition of materialism says that we live in a local universe.
The unified field of pure consciousness says that we live in a nonlocal universe.
Location in space is an absolute phenomenon.
Everything in the cosmos is nonlocal, meaning we can’t confine it to here, there, or anywhere.
Location in space exists independently of an observer.
Location in space is a matter of perception. Near or far, up or down, and est or west are only true from the vantage point of the observer.
The thinking mind is localized in the brain, and the body’s intelligence is localized in the nervous system.
The thinking mind is part of a vast field of nonlocal intelligence that extends far beyond the reaches of the cosmos. The body’s intelligence comes from the same nonlocal field.
The superstition of materialism says that we live in a time-bound universe.
The unified field of pure consciousness says that we live in a timeless universe.
Time is absolute phenomenon.
Time is a relative phenomenon. Physicists no longer use the word time, the use the term space-time continuum.
Time is local, measurable, and limited.
Time is nonlocal, immeasurable, and eternal. The fact that we can localize time is just a notion, a perceptual artifact based on the quality of our attention,
Humans are entangled in a vast web of tine that includes past, present, and future.
There is no past or future, then and now, before or after; there is only the eternal moment. Eternity extends backyard and forward from every moment.
Time exists independently of an observer.
Time only exists in the mind of the observer. Time is a concept, an internal dialogue we use to explain our perception or experience of change.
Thinks happen one at a tine. The world operates through linear cause-effect
Everything happens simultaneously, and everything is correlated and instantly synchronized with everything else.
How we interpret our experience of time has an effect on our physiology.
How we interpret our experience of time brings about physiological changes in our body. Entropy and aging are partly an expression of how we metabolize or interpret tie.
The superstition of materialism says that we live in an objective universe.
The unified field of pure consciousness says that we live in a subjective universe.
The world ‘out there’ is completely independent of an observer.
The world ‘out there’ does not exist without an observer; it is a response of the observer through the act of observation, we construct the world we live in.
Observation is an automatic phenomenon our senses are capable of interpreting an objective reality in an objective manner.
We live in a participatory universe. We learn to interpret the world through our senses, and this brings about our perceptual experiences.
Our inner world and our outer world are dependent upon our relationships, our environment, and the situations and circumstances around us.
Our inner world and our outer world interdependently co-arise depending on the level of vibration of our spirit.
Abstract The concept of community-based health and wellness center of the mining company is a convergence of three innovations. The mining company is in fact a product of economic innovation and technological innovation, which over a long period of time has progressed to what the state of art of mining, is today. If it embarks on a community-based center, then it would be a testimony to the dynamism of social innovation, which probably has lagged behind the economic and technological innovation. Because of related environmental issues that directly harm and endanger the community in which mining operations take place, it is imperative that mining companies embark towards social innovation. The framework for Community-based health center is based on: 1. CSR, CSV and CSI of companies that move from philanthropic endeavors to shared values with the beneficiaries and sustainable programs in the community. 2. Social work principles that developed communities through OD community organizing which is community centered to social innovation through entrepreneurial social development and financially sustainable communities using sweat equity of the powerless.
1. Social Innovation If mining companies envision a sustainable economic operation, it must venture into social innovation as a necessary component of its current technological and economic innovations which has lead to its successful mining operations thus far.
The history of social innovation started in 1297 as Innovation, 1500 as Novateur (innovator, trail blazer, avant-garde), 1529 as Innovator, 1803 as Social innovation, 1805 as Social Innovator, 1808 as Innovation sociable and 1834 as Novateur sociale.
In The Businessman as Social Innovator published in 1975, K. McQuaid compared Nelson O. Nelson, an American reformer of the late nineteenth-early twentieth century who was not in step with the trends of his time, to Richard Owen. Nelson had launched cooperative plans and shared profits with his employees; organized rurally-based answers to city problems, cooperative credit societies, industrial education projects; and launched a chain of grocery stores to serve the inhabitants of New Orleans’ poorer wards (McQuaid, 1975).
According to Godin (2012) after 1789, social innovation gradually achieved a positive connotation and was gradually seen as positive taking its preeminence in discourses due to moral uses. By the 19th century, socialism has made social innovation mainstream. The recent use or explosion of social innovation in related literature re-emerged as something new in a positive light in the second half of the 20th century. In the 21st century, it is resurrected as a political reaction to technological innovation and to the hegemonic discourses on technology. Significantly, social innovation today shows alternatives to established solutions to social problems or needs, namely to technological innovation and State or government-supported social reform (Godin, 2012a).
Sargant (1809-1889), English businessman, political economist and educational reformer said, “The present generation is distinguished by an honorable desire to promote the well-being of the most numerous, and least fortunate, classes of society”. “By bettering artificially the condition of the poor, [political economy] encourage[s] an undue increase in numbers” (Sargant, 1858, iii-v). To Sargant, “health of the body and of mind” are “obtained not by ease, not by indulgence, but by active participation” (p. 7). His conclusion is: Work is better aid than welfare.
In 1859, an anonymous British writer made a comment against social innovators. He said, “The first and most universal characteristic of the social innovator is a profound ignorance, and often a violent abhorrence, of political economy”(Anonymous, 1859, pp. 344-45). In short, the social innovators “ignore the limits imposed on social arrangements by economic laws” (Godin, 2012a, p.12).
In 1886, Rizal published his first novel, Noli Me Tangere (The Social Cancer), a passionate exposure of the evils of Spanish rule in the Philippines. A sequel, El Filibusterismo (The Reign of Greed (1891) the corruption of Manila Spanish society and stimulated the movement for independence. Rizal, as social reformer and in one sense an innovator used his literary talent to change Hispanic society and by 1898, Emilio Aquinaldo initiated a political innovation by leading the Philippine Revolution against the Spanish regime.
According to Godin (2012) social innovation came to be equated with political revolutions and revolutionaries. His model was the English political revolution of 1649. After 1789, the iconic image of violent political revolution was the French revolution. And almost 100 years later, this was exported to the Philippines in as much as propagandists like Rizal lived and studied in Europe as children of the European revolution. Greeley introduced the concept of social innovation and applied it to all those who have “vanquished Pauperism and Servitude”, among them the Shakers (Greeley, 1845).
Social innovation appeared after the French revolution. It meant many things then. The two main representations of social innovation were socialism (radicalism) and social reform (humanism, egalitarianism). The association between social innovation and socialism was first made by the socialists themselves in France in the 1830s and 1840s. But critics like the political economists and some Christian writers turned the concept into a pejorative category, contrasting innovation to reform (Godin, 2012).
Social innovation is “new ideas that work in meeting social needs” and more specifically, “innovative activities and services that are motivated by the goal of meeting a social need and that are predominantly developed and diffused through organizations whose primary purposes are social” (Mulgan, 2007, p. 8). This definition can be used with reference to the creation of community-based health center as a matter of social responsibility of mining companies.
2. Social Responsibility and Mining Companies If the mining companies would take the challenge of doing social innovation, it must learn to understand the development of corporate social responsibility which advanced the notion of stakeholder theory. Stakeholder theory calls for responsibility to all concerned within the corporation and be equally concerned with people and environment outside the corporation.
The origins of CSR. The history of corporate social responsibility (CSR) is almost as old as the existence of companies. The excesses of the East India Company were common in the 17th century when the sun never set on UK and her colonies. But there were benevolent capitalism in the UK for over 150 years. The Quakers [Barclays and Cadbury] and socialists [Engels and Morris] who experimented with socially responsible and values-based business. Thus, Victorian philanthropy could be said to be responsible for considerable portions of the urban landscape of older town center in UK today (Henriques, 2005).
In the late 18th century, the British completed the first industrial revolution; modern enterprises have fully developed, but the concept of corporate social responsibility has not yet appeared. In practice, corporate social responsibility was limited to the owners’ of personal moral behavior. The starting point of the corporate social responsibility idea was Adam Smith’s (1904) “invisible hand”. Based on the theory of classical economics, it was believed that society through the market can best determine the need, if an enterprise as far as possible, has efficient use of resources to provide products and services, and the consumer who is willing to pay the price. In this sense, the enterprise make its own social responsibility. At the end of the 18th Century, the social responsibility of the Western enterprises began to have a delicate change; the performance for small business owners often contributed monetary support to the school, the church and the poor.
At the beginning of the 19thCentury, the Industrial Revolution brought about the great leap of social productive forces, the development of enterprises in the number and the scale of greater degree of development. This period is affected by the influence of “social Darwinism”, where many enterprises did not take the initiative to undertake social responsibility. The enterprise was closely related to suppliers and the employees were exploited in the face of a strong social competition.
In the latter part of the 19th Century the enterprise system gradually recognized that the working class has their own rights. During this period, the U.S. government issued a series of “antitrust law” and “consumer protection law” to suppress unlawful behavior of the enterprises. At this time, the concept of corporate social responsibility appeared to be inevitable (www.cssn.cn). With the economic and social progress, the enterprise is not only responsible for the profit, but also responsible for the environment, and assume the corresponding social responsibilities (Baidu, 2015).
By the end of the 20th century, the rise of corporate social responsibility (CSR) was made prominent by Archie Carroll (1991; 1999) whose CSR pyramid of economic, legal, ethical, and philanthropic activities is now considered a classic framework for CSR practitioners. The basis of what we consider to be the modern definition of CSR is rooted in Archie Carroll’s “Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility.”
This pyramid has four types of responsibilities. The first and most obvious is the economic responsibility to be profitable. The second is the legal responsibility to obey the laws set forth by society. The third is closely linked to the second, is the ethical responsibility. The fourth is the philanthropic responsibility. It is also called the discretionary responsibility; it is best described by the resources contributed by corporations towards society. This contribution is based on the stakeholder’s theory, which includes for the community.
Kanter (1999) perceived “all social problems are economic problems.” She noted that “companies…are moving beyond corporate social responsibility to corporate social innovation. These companies are the vanguard of the new paradigm. They view community needs as opportunities to develop ideas and demonstrate business technologies, to find and serve new markets, and to solve long-standing business problems. They focus their efforts on inventing sophisticated solutions through a hands-on approach.” She initiated the term “corporate social innovation” but was overrun by corporate social initiatives (CSI).
Corporate Social Initiative (CSI). In the 21st century, corporations are challenged to involve themselves in community projects (Alperson, 1996; Hess, Rogovsk, and Dunfee, 2002, Habaradas, 2013). More than mere philanthropic dole outs CSR must have sustainable projects to address social needs (Hess & Warren, 2008).
In the Philippines, The Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP) founded in 1970 has involved 260 large, medium-scale and small businesses to alleviate poverty. It has benefited 4.5 million Filipinos and has assisted over 6,200 social development projects through more than PHP 7 billion in grants and development loans. (www.pbsp.org.ph).
The League of Corporate Foundations (LCF) founded in 1996 is promoting CSR among 78 corporation members whose foundations and institutions (Del Rosario, 2008). Homintz (2013) study indicates that the LCF are creating shared value (CSV) with the community in the Philippines. He says, “Implementing such cultural values would speed up the integration process while at the same time allow companies to become more in touch with what the community needs…to eventually create a synergetic effect in which both the company and society will benefit” (Tomintz, 2013).
Habardas (2012b) observed that “a company’s primary motive for undertaking philanthropy can shift over time, and this results into a corresponding change in its philanthropic approach. In the case of Shell in the Philippines, its philanthropic activities started with altruistic motives, but were later designed to legitimize its presence in communities in which it operates”.
CSV according to Porter & Kramer (2011) puts social issues at the heart of corporate concern. Like CSI, it is driven by competitiveness of a company that serves and creates socio-economic synergy. This vital link between societal and economic progress has the power to unleash the next wave of global growth and to redefine capitalism.
Pfitzer, Bockstette and Stamp (2013) studied Dow Chemical, Nestle, Norvatis, Mars, and Intel as examples CSV application. Their CSV model requires corporations to have: 1.social purpose, 2. defined need, 3. measurement, 4. right innovation structure, and 5. co-creation modality. They concluded that the degree to which the potential for shared value can be anticipated and aligned with the company’s financial criteria determines the optimal innovation structure forth social venture.”
CSR’s three theaters. The CSR of the future is based on five principles: creativity, scalability, responsiveness, glocality and circularity and forms the basis for a new DNA model of responsible business, built around the four elements of value creation, good governance, societal contribution and environmental integrity (Visser, 2012).
Rangan, Chase, and Karim (2015) in their research involving 142 managers studied for four years suggest that operationalizing CSR involves three areas: Theater one: focusing on philanthropy, Theater two: improving operational effectiveness, and Theater three: transforming the business model. They suggested developing a unified practice platform for CSR by 1. Pruning and aligning Programs within theaters. 2. Developing metrics to gauge performance. 3. Coordinating programs across theaters. 4. Developing an interdisciplinary CSR Strategy.
Colonized Asia needs to update its legal framework into the 21st century to meet the challenges of a globalized and regionalized ASEAN interdependent business climate where laws passed in decades were influenced by and patterned after Western colonial models. It is about time that Asia connects itself to its Asian traditions to anchor and enrich their respective CSR practices.
Sharma (2013) observes that meaning and nature of CSR in the region from the “unique cultural identity, such as the danwei in China; the Gandhian notion of “trusteeship” in India; the 17th century mercantilist responsibility as defined in the Shuchu Kiyaku in Japan; the concept of bayanihan in the Philippines; gotong-royong in Indonesia and the Buddhist dharma in Thailand (p. 13). But it is interesting to note that the emerging CSR in China and India is not going to be philanthropic; they are making CSR mandatory in order to address their enormous poverty issue (Afsharipour & Rana, 2014). But institutionally, Catholic business schools in the Philippines are vanguards of the global Catholic social teachings that promote social justice and humanistic management (Hudtohan, 2015).
Catholic Philippines colonized for more than 400 years has not fully explored bayanihan as corporate CSR value driver. Christian charity has been a hallmark for philanthropic sharing and giving that continues to encourage mendicancy and life-long poverty (Hudtohan, 2014).
3. Community Development Models Finally, if the mining companies would like to seriously address the stakeholder that are directly affected by its operation, then it must create within its organizations structure a unit responsible for the sustainable development of the community within its area of responsibility.
Mining companies who are considering a community-based CSR program can learn from Filipino social scientists whose community development approach may strengthen their programs. For the past three decades social work in the Philippines has progressed from charitable-dole outs to the financially less empowered to community work through organizational development (Cura, 1986) of Asian Social Institute to community organization (Buenviaje, 2005) of International Rural Reconstruction Institute, Phils. Then Netario Cruz (2014) introduced a social entrepreneurship model specifically addressing the funds of a sustainable enterprise. Meloto (2014) broke away from the inclusive spiritual development of Couples for Christ and embarked on a social innovation using sweat equity as capital for Gawad Kalinga (give care) whose mission is to end poverty for 5 million families by 2024.
Organization Development in community. In 1986, Dr. Nenita did a study among the Filipino fishermen and she developed an organizational development model for community development. The five stages are 1. Apathy where the beneficiaries feel there is no Problem in their midst; Stage 2: Dependency where they recognize they are part of the problem but the solution must come from the outside; 3. Pre-critical stage where there is recognition that they are part of the problem; 4. Liberation when they build local alliance and link with global assistance.
Community Organization. Dr. Orly Buenviaje (2005) recognized that the heart of community development is a long process of awakening the beneficiaries. Phase 1 is Pre-entry where the community organizer is an outsider who is doing Pakikibalita (finding out what is going on); Phase 2 is Entry into the community where the CO penetrates the outer layer through Pakikiramdam (gut feeling and empathy); Phase 3 where the CO undergoes Immersion with the people, penetrating the inner layer through Pakikiramdam (fellowship); Phase 4 is Community Organization proper where the CO enters the middle layer through Pakiki-alam (intervention); and Phase 5 is Phase-over when the CO succeeds in getting the community involved Pakikisangkot (committed action)
Gawad Kalinga Model. Tony Meloto started the Gawad Kalinga (GK) in 1995. The Enchanted Farm Social Innovation adopts the Middle Brother Model with the following three components, namely: a) The “Kuya” composed of Business, Government and the Academe, b) The “Diko” consisting of the Social Entrepreneurs, and c) The “Sangko” who compose the GK Enchanted Farm Community Residents. This group composes the army who are fully committed to eradicate poverty in the Philippines (Ocampo, 2014).
Social Optimum Development. Jean Netario Cruz, a certified integrative well-being coach, created the Social Optimum Development Quadrant of Sustainability combines is a social entrepreneurship approach to social development. The approach involves the partnership of social entrepreneurs, social investors, and the participating community. The key initiative realistically identifies funding that will roll out a seed project for human development. (http://sodqos. weebly.com/about-the-author.html).
4. Proposed Community-based Center: The mining companies venturing into a community-based health center may use the DOTS (Directly Observed Treatment Strategy) model. It believes that:
1. Health Promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and improve their health. It involves the population as whole in the context of their everyday life, rather than focusing on people at risk from specific diseases.
2. Health promotion aims to generate living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating, satisfying and enjoyable. Changing patterns of life, work, and leisure have significant impact on health. Work and leisure should be source of health for people. The way communities organize work should help create healthy society.
3. The responsibility for health promotion in health services is shared among individuals, community groups, health professionals, health service institutions, and governments. They must work together towards healthcare system which contributes to the pursuit of health.
4. The needs of individuals and communities for healthier life, and open channels between the health sector and the broader social, political, economic, and physical environmental components. Standards and guide lines are also needed for the delivery of specific programs, packaging of health services, and innovative strategies to make the health programs more responsive to the needs of the people in particular communities.
5. Target groups in TB Control Program: Health Promotion is the process of enabling people to increase control over, and improve their health. Involves the population as whole in the context of their everyday life, rather than focusing on people at risk from specific diseases. Health promotion aims to generate living and working conditions that are safe, stimulating,
6. Satisfying and enjoyable. Changing patterns of life, work, and leisure have significant impact on health. Work and leisure should be source of health for people. The way communities organize work should help create healthy society.
7. The role of the health sector must move increasingly in health promotion direction, beyond its responsibility for providing clinical and curative services. Health services need to embrace an expanded mandate that is sensitive and that respects cultural needs. This mandate should support the needs of individuals and communities for healthier life, and open channels between the health sector and the broader social, political, economic, and physical environmental components. Standards and guidelines are also needed for the delivery of specific programs, packaging of health services, and innovative strategies to make the health programs more responsive to the needs of the people in particular communities.
Target Groups in the Promotion Health and Wellness:
1. Health workers to: a. Disseminate Correct and Timely information on health and wellness, b. be more proactive in case finding, and c. promote the community-based health program.
2. Local chief executives and other legislators to: a. provide policy, financial, logistical, and human resource support to the health program.
3. Health care Practitioners to: assist in the promotion of community health ad wellness.
4. Community members who have symptoms of diseases from mining to seek immediate Consultation
5. Mining Patients to remain under the care of the Community-based health and wellness center.
6. Media to Disseminate Correct information in support of the Community-based health and wellness program.
7. Community organizations/groups to participate in case detection, treatment, and prevention activities to sustain the health and wellness of the mining community.
Community-based Health Promotion and Wellness Programs:
1. Medical Health Insurance benefits for all employees and their family 2. Hospitalization privileges for all regular employees 3. Satellite clinics composed of physicians of different specializations providing free consultations to immediate dependents of all regular employees. 4. Conduct of annual of flu, pneumonia, cervical cancer, and hepatitis B vaccinations. 5. Regular Medical Check-up 6. Education on herbal medicines 7. Signatory of the MOA on TB at the workplace 8. Free dental and EENT services 9. Free laboratory examination services 10. Free clinic and outpatient services 11. Maternal and Child Healthcare and Nutrition
Other Community Programs: 1. Environment protection 2. Hygiene and sanitation 3. Green workplace 4. waste management and waste segregation 5. Sports and leisure 6. Spirituality of workers – faith-related activities (religious services) 7. Labor education seminars integrating value formation for union members/spouses as well as for managerial employees 8. Advocacy on Gender Issues and Gender equality -Programs on gender equality, anti-sexual harassment and educational advancement 9. Stress management programs 10. Income generation, livelihood and cooperatives
Conclusion The DOTS model has been a tested model in getting the community to participate and become gatekeepers of their own health. If the mining companies will take seriously their social responsibility for the community, then it is a must that they invest in setting up a health and wellness center for all stakeholders. The internal stakeholders are the members of the mining company and the external stakeholders are members of the community when the mine is operating.
The community-based wellness model involves partnership of the mining company with the community and with the government agency. It is expected that the community-based health center be approached from the viewpoint of the mining community. This requires community organizing.
The mining company must move from a philanthropic CSR to corporate social initiatives (CSI), if it desires to have a sustainable impact on community wellness.
References
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Dr. Jeanne T. Valderrama, MD is currently physician of Assumption College, San Lorenzo, Makati City, Philippines and a consulting physician of Barangay San Lorenzo. She is a pulmonary medicine and tuberculosis
control consultant. She was former director of the Field Operations Division of Philippine Tuberculosis Society, Inc. and served as Tuberculosis Control Specialist of USAID funded “Health Promotion and Communications” Project in the Philippines. She has participated in International Medical Symposia as lecturer on TB Control. She is a director of AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc.
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, EdD is a retired professor of De La Salle University, Manila College of Business; he currently teaches at the De La Salle Araneta University, Malabon Graduate School, San Beda College Graduate School and De La Salle College of St. Benilde Graduate School. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics and corporate social responsibility. He has delivered papers on mining sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the international seminar held in Unaaha, Konawe and recently a paper on Asean economic integration and corporate social initiatives at Halo Oleo State University, Kendari, Sulawesi, Indonesia. He was a columnist of Manila Standard Today. He is president and co-founder of AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc.
Abstract This paper discusses health and wellbeing of the internal and external stakeholders of the mining company. In particular, it highlights the case of the Marcopper mining disaster. Although the tailings incident happened in 1999, its impact on the health of the affected community and the safety of the environment (land and the rivers) have had long-lasting effects years later. It cites arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper and mercury and the respective parts of the body affecting the skin, heart, gastrointestinal system, hematologic system, cardiovascular system, pulmonary system, muscoskeletal system and reproductive system. The paper concludes that the health and wellbeing of internal and external stakeholders must be undertaken through tripartite action of the mining company, the government and civil society.
Key words: health, wellbeing, community, stakeholders, corporate social responsibility, life-of-community, and life-of-mining.
Introduction Part 1 of this paper discusses the importance of health and wellbeing in the context of the threats posed by the mining companies. These threats, as discussed in this paper, are mainly due to mine tailings that expose the people and the environment to mercury and arsenic.
The case of Marcopper mining disaster is revisited in order to show the long term effects of tailings that poisoned the Boac, Mocpog and Calayan Bay that brought diseases to the residents of Marinduque. Part 2 in another paper is \ entitled, Community-based Corporate Social Responsibility of Mining Companies. It is a sequel which presents a corporate social responsibility framework as background to mining corporate social initiative to create a community-based health and wellbeing center.
Methodology in writing this article is historical research (Smith, 2015) which “involves understanding, studying, and explaining past events.” It is basically looking at the past events in order to explain the present circumstances and make a proposed solution for the future (Hudtohan, 2005; Gonzalez, Luz, & Tirol, 1984). Basically, it is a retrospect-prospect approach which re-views the past event like the Marcopper case and a prospect is made in order to correct the deliberating effects of mining. In doing this historical research, the authors relied on secondary documents propelled by Google search and library hardcopy in form of newspapers, journals, books and other publications.
1. Corporate Health and Wellness
Gillian Pillans (2014) asks, “Where does responsibility for employee health and wellbeing lie? Expectations on both sides are higher than ever. Employees expect their employer to back up the ‘people are our greatest assets rhetoric with tangible actions, quality services and support. In return, employers expect their people to engage “with wellbeing programs and take responsibility for looking after their health as best they can.”
For her, health is ‘being free from illness or injury, whereas wellbeing is much broader, bringing together physical, mental, and social health into a broader concept of ‘life satisfaction‘. There is a trend to focus not just on helping ill staff get better but on proactive steps to prevent ill-health, educate employees and build resilience.
She observed that life expectancy at the workplaces is generally much safer and healthier than 30 years ago. However, the incidence of ‘lifestyle diseases’ such as cardio-vascular disease and diabetes is rising. Mental health is one of the top two reasons for absence from work. In the UK, the cost of absenteeism is estimated at £17bn; and the annual median cost per employee is £595. Presenteeism (being at work but unable to work productively due to ill health) is rising, increasing the burden of cost on employers.
She concluded that the ultimate responsibility for health and wellbeing lies with individuals themselves, but employers are playing a greater role in creating healthy environments, helping their people to make good lifestyle choices and providing support where it is needed.
2. Mining Health and Wellness
With issues on climate change and global warming, public antipathy is increasing towards mining activities in Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, Canada and elsewhere in the world (Creamer, 2010), mining companies must maintain a reputation of strong corporate social responsibility and respond to community concerns regarding the impact of mining projects on the community. Kirsch, Viswanathan, LaBouchardiere, Shandro, & Jagals, (2013) argue that they should not only assess and plan to manage their health and well-being across the life-of-community (LOC) continuum but must be proactive in communicating the predicted socio-economic, environmental and health impact to civil society.
They also recognized that the health and well-being needs of communities, directly or indirectly associated with mining developments, may vary relative to different social degrees of connectedness to the mine inclusive of the immediate mine, workers, workers’ families, mining community, broader community, Indigenous communities and regions. They coined the term “life-of-community” (LOC) to encompass this continuum from worker to region. In addition, at varying degree of connectedness, new impacts may develop and existing impacts change over time during each life cycle stage of the “life of mining” (LOM). These complex factors are currently underrepresented in environmental, social, economic and associated health impact assessment and strategic life of mining (LOM).
The life of a mining is closely entwined with the life of a community and we encourage future research to consider the full range of impacts within the life of-mining and life-of-community LMLC framework.
3. Mining impact on workers
In the Philippines, the mining industry as of 2014 has a total of 44 companies mining metallic gold, copper, chromite, nickel and iron; and a total of 4 processing and smelter plants. But there are 999 registered mining companies and 1,684 applications are in process. The total employment in mining sector is 235,000. (DENR, 2015). This does not include small-scale mining operations, which are not registered. De Leon (2015) of the Institute for Organizational Health and Safety Development (2015) remarked that “Mining is considered as one of the most hazardous occupations. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should never be complacent in monitoring mining companies’ strict compliance with health and safety standards.” Mining poses tremendous health risks, not only to miners but to communities as well (IOHSAD, 2006; Boulanger & Gorman, 2014). According to IOHSAD, the occupational health hazards to miners include:
1. Intense heat in underground mines causes: dehydration of fluids and salty deficiency, increased stress on heart, heat stroke, opacity of the lens, and reduced fertility. Poor ventilation results to: lack of oxygen – suffocation and death and 2. Brain malfunction.
2. Vibration causing: permanent damage to bones, vibration syndrome or “dead finger” syndrome- gangrene in hands and fingers, digestive problems – constant shaking of internal organs, heart problems and disruption of the nervous system.
3. Exposure to airborne particles has systemic toxic effects due to absorption of lead, manganese, cadmium, zinc and other toxic materials Fumes emitted by chemicals being used or by machines can trigger accidents and cause death. RSI, due to overloading of particular group of muscles from repetitive use or maintenance of constrained postures, results to weakness of affected muscles, heaviness, “Pins and needles” sensation and numbness.
4. Noise or irritating and hazardous sound results to: hearing impairment, disruption of body functions like blood circulation and hormone imbalance, deafness and irreversible hearing loss, increased blood pressure and peptic ulcer due to increased gastrointestinal motility. Manual lifting of heavy materials leads to back problems and acute body pain.
According to Na-oy (n.d.), since 2005, the Federation has been campaigning against mercury use among miners Small–scale Gold Mining in Benguet, Northern Philippines ASGM takes place in 9 of Banquet’s 13 municipalities with about 15,000 to 20,000 miners. Benguet miners have long been using traditional mining methods. In the 1940s, mercury use became rampant due to high-grading of gold in large-scale mining companies. In the 80s, mercury use became prevalent among small-scale miners; In the early 90s, cyanidation emerged (carbon in-leach, carbon-in-pulp, heap leach). Amalgamated tailings were re-processed using cyanide.
Stephenson and Ahern’s (2001) review of related studies on mining show that: 1. There were more studies of occupational health in the mining sector than community health studies. Discussions include health and safety in the mines and at the stage of extraction of mineral and metals. A few studies deal with processing stages of minerals, particularly in studies of gold mining. 2. Mining remains one of the most hazardous occupations in the world in terms of short term injuries and fatalities; its long term impacts include cancers and respiratory conditions such as silicosis, asbestosis and pneumoconiosis. 3. Studies report that small-scale mining is more hazardous than large scale mining in terms of risks of accidents or injuries. But small-scale mining tends to be surface excavation or smaller scale operations employing younger less experienced workers and sometimes children. 4. Studies of mining and health by type of mine process are divided into deep and open cast mine. Deep mines produce severe problems for workers in terms of their risks of high blood pressure; heat exhaustion; myocardial infarction and nervous system disorders. Studies of surface mining focus on coal, granite and rock mining and health risks related to dust inhalation. In all levels of mining health risks occur with dust exposure. 5. Respiratory issues are the most studied and problematic of health impacts for workers. Long-term impacts include cancers, mental health impacts and some evidence of impacts on genetic integrity of workers. 6. Community health impacts of the mining and minerals sector are less well defined than those faced by workers. There are problems not only in defining ‘community’, but also in conducting the kinds of epidemiological studies that might provide evidence of links between mining activities and health outcomes. 7. The debate on the impact of the mining and minerals sector on both worker and community health is polarized. The industry tends to highlight the alleged benefits of the sector, whilst community groups and NGOs suggest that the sector is detrimental to health and sustainable development. 8. In peer-reviewed literature some studies cite adverse effects of mining on community health. Other studies are less conclusive and only one study discussed the positive impacts of mining companies on community health. 9. There were relatively few studies on policy initiatives. Health and safety improvements in mines have been developed over a long period of negotiation and struggle. Laws have come after union and management activities. Governments have supported organized labor in the improvements. 10. Scientific understanding of long-term impacts has improved “hazard visibility” and resulted to shifts in health and safety legislation. But small-scale mining sector falls outside formal legislative protection or scientific analysis. 11. Companies have provided a range of community initiatives including vaccination programs and health services. But companies rarely address the community claims for damage made against them internationally. Communities have worked with scientists to understand some of the impacts associated with living near to mines. Unions have rarely played an explicit role in support for community claims. 12. There is a need for more governance openness and transparency within the mining sector, particularly in Asia, Latin America, and Africa. There is a further need for in-depth long-term evaluation of the impacts of mining of health on workers and communities.
13. There is evidence of long-term impacts of mining on health of workers and communities. This implies that the sector’s activities currently undermine the human objectives of sustainable development, which are to protect the health of current and future generations. 14. There is still a long way to go before mining becomes a healthy work or a healthy development activity to take place in a community. There is also a long way to go before the industry, the workers and the community agree over the real health impacts of the sector and the real responsibility of each of the actors in the sector.
4. Mining and Health in the Philippines
Today, the practice has been discontinued because of the effect of mercury – cyanide interaction in amalgamated tailings. Miners in Benguet now practice traditional and modern method (e.g. Use of sluice box without Hg and cyanidation of mercury-free tailings The ASGM discourages leaching of amalgamated tailings. Amalgam poses a hindrance to the efficient recovery of gold Mercury-cyanide combination easily transforms mercury into organic mercury (methylmercury), its more lethal form.
Marcopper Case Revisited. The Marcopper case has been hailed as the worst mining disaster in the Philippines. While the mining problem occurred in 1996, it continues to be a legal battle between the Place Dome and the aggrieved parties. Likewise, the health issues continue to plaque the communities affected by Marcopper are mining operation in Marinduque.
As of August 31, 2015, the Philippine Daily Inquirer reported that the Catholic prelates have joined “calls by civil society groups to urge the provincial government of Marinduque to pursue a multimillion dollar class suit against a global mining firm over the 1996 Marcopper spill” (Inquirer, 2015). This renewed effort is a reaction to the decision of the Nevada Supreme Court on July 11, 2015, dismissing the case for lack of “bona fide connection to this state…[it] could be more readily enforced against Barrick in Canada than in Nevada” (Inquirer, 2015).
Marcopper Mining Corporation had Tapian Pit and San Antonio Mine at Marinduque, Philippines. It was 39.9 percent owned by Placer Dome who managed and guaranteed the loans for the two Marcopper Mines (1969-1996). The product and reserves were copper, with gold and silver as by-products and the mining operation was suspended 1996. The operation involved open pit at two mines, the Tapian Pit and the San Antonio Mine, metal extraction through flotation and leaching. It employed around 800 people
As early as 1956, Placer Dome, then Placer Development Limited, became involved in an exploration project on the island of Marinduque in the Philippines, undertaking extensive geological mapping and drilling. In 1964, Marcopper Mining Corporation (Marcopper) was established. In 1969, Marcopper started mining operations in Marinduque. Placer Development Ltd. secured and guaranteed more than US$ 40 million in loans for the new copper mining company from a consortium of American banks and “Placer undertook the responsibility for open pit planning, design and construction…”
The issues are resurfaced in this paper for the purpose of pursuing the health issues brought about by the mining operations of Marcopper through Placer Dome in the Philippines. Coumans (2002) made the following report:
1) Placer Dome Consistently Ignored Best Practice, Consultants’ Advice, and Government Directives. This brought destruction to the three waterways.
Calancan Bay – Surface disposal of tailings into the sea was unacceptable by “best practice” standards by 1975. As early as 1971, Island Copper in Placer Dome’s home province in Canada and the Atlas Mine in the Philippines were using submerged marine dumping systems. Placer’s consultants, Rescan (who also advised on Island Copper), advised Placer to use submerged disposal in Marinduque, off a deep coastal shelf in Torrijos. Placer Dome’s first permit for ocean dumping explicitly stipulated that the dumping had to be submerged to protect marine resources. Placer attempted a submerged system in 1975 in shallow Calancan Bay; the system failed and Placer reverted to surface disposal into the bay in violation of its permit.
Mogpog River – The earthen siltation dam built at the top of the Mogpog River, in 1991, was inadequate and burst with the first major typhoon in 1993. It was repaired with an overflow, which it had previously lacked. Within a year waste was flowing through the overflow. The dam continued to leak acidic and metal enriched waste since 1994 and was in danger of collapse.
Boac River – No risk assessments or Environmental Impact Assessment were conducted on the Tapian Pit before using it as an impoundment for tailings in 1992. No international consultants were consulted for the plugging of the tunnel at the bottom of the pit. No monitoring of the tunnel was carried out. The clean-up of the river was delayed for years because Placer Dome ignored repeated government directives to stop seeking a permit for Submarine Tailings Disposal as a clean up option and to find a suitable on-land disposal option.
Dams and Structures – June 14, 2001 five dams and structures were unstable and two posed an immediate threat to human life. Placer Dome did not act on this information. On October 11, 2001 the Philippine Government ordered Placer Dome to begin to fix the faulty dams and structures. Instead, Placer Dome left the country.
2) Placer Dome Insisted on Marine Dumping Against the Wishes of Local Stakeholders – Placer Dome delayed the clean-up of the Boac River for 6 years by insisting on dumping the tailings in the ocean against the express wishes of the people of Marinduque and the Philippine Government.
3) Placer Dome left the Philippines in December 2001 without fulfilling commitments made to the Office of the President following the tailings disaster in 1996, and in disregard of a government order of October 2001 to fix dams and structures whose collapse threatens another ecological disaster and loss of human life in Marinduque.
Health issues 12 years later. In 2008, Ilagan reported that twelve years after a major mining catastrophe toxic wastes still choke key waterways in Marinduque. There is a continued threat of mine tailings pouring into Boac and Mogpog rivers and Calancan Bay, because the mine structures were in need of repairs. As result, chronic illnesses were on the rise in Marcopper towns Her report detailed the health hazards posed by the abandoned mine wastes, and notes the lack of health personnel who could respond to the rising health needs of the affected communities. Already, medical experts have observed an increase in cases of diabetes, goiter, renal disease, spontaneous abortion, and even cancer in at least three towns in Marinduque. It is almost impossible for Marinduque to be rid of most of the toxic mine wastes that has become the legacy of Marcopper Mining Corporation in the island. The locals who used to fish for a living in the now-polluted Boac and Mogpog rivers and Calancan Bay have yet to find alternative means of livelihood. Medical professionals have observed an increase in chronic illnesses in people living near the waste sites, leading them to suspect that the toxic mining trash has been silently wreaking havoc on the residents’ health. Provincial health officer Dr. Honesto Marquez observed a rise in the number of cases of diabetes, goiter, renal disease, spontaneous abortion, and even cancer particularly in the towns of Sta. Cruz, Mogpog, and Boac. At least three young Sta. Cruz residents, with ages ranging from eight to 19, have also passed away due to illnesses believed to be related to heavy-metal poisoning. Unexplained rise of illnesses. In January 2005, a team from the United States Geological Survey (USGS) submitted to the Marinduque provincial government a commissioned report assessing the environmental and health impact of mining on the island. But the USGS team itself admitted in failing to make a significant scrutiny of the effects of mining on the health of the people, citing unavailable data, confounding variables, and lack of control groups. “The USGS report was of no use,” remarks Mogpog municipal health officer Dr. Edzel Muhi. “They say that the chemicals found in the children are possibly from the paint in houses and the school, but the most families here live only in huts.” As early as March 1998, then President Fidel Ramos had declared a state of calamity in four Sta. Cruz barangays near Calancan Bay (Botilao, Ipil, Lusok, and Camandugan) due to the high incidence of heavy-metal poisoning among the children there. In 2008, official data show that in these same barangays, the prevalence rates of illnesses considered to be symptoms of heavy-metal poisoning far outpace national figures. In fact, the four barangays have influenza and hypertension prevalence rates that are some eight times that at national level — 4,283.96 per 100,000 population for influenza and 4,079.96 for hypertension, compared to the national prevalence rates of 435 and 522.8, respectively. Metals and Illnesses. The University of the Philippines National Poison and Management Control Center shows in Table 1 the affected parts of the body caused by chemicals and metal such as arsenic, lead, cadmium, copper and mercury.
Table 1 Body parts affected by chemicals and metals.
Ilagan (2008) reported that the barangays in Marinduque post a high prevalence rate of acute respiratory infection (ARI) and upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) or cough, cold, and fever: 6,813.54 per 100,000 population, or three times more the provincial prevalence rate of 2,104.36. Health officials note as well that the barangays’ annual cases of ARI and URTI increased in 2007 to 334, from the average of 258 in the previous five years. The University of the Philippines National Poison Management and Control Center (UP NPMCC) stated that lead, arsenic, cadmium, and zinc are among the toxic substances left behind by Marcopper in Boac and Mogpog rivers and Calancan Bay. Metals affect every vital organ and it could be hematologic, it could affect the nervous, endocrine, renal, and even the reproductive system. Signs and symptoms of heavy-metal poisoning may range from minor diseases, such as skin rashes, diarrhea, and constipation, to more serious illnesses, like hypertension, blood and pulmonary disorders, and even cancer, mental retardation, or developmental delay. Community health experiences. Ilagan (2008) reported the experiences of the residents affected by Marcopper. Wilson Manuba ignored the cuts made by shellfish on his feet and legs whenever he fished at Calancan Bay. He began feeling his feet were being “pricked by needles” while he fished in the bay. In 2002, he was diagnosed as having contracted arsenic keratosis and squamous cell carcinoma that required the amputation of his right leg. At 37 then, Manuba was about to lose his other leg. In Mogpog town residents can only look wistfully at the river that used to help feed them and keep them clean. Adelina Mitante, 63, said, “The river has totally changed. Just by the color, sometimes it’s blue, yellowish, or like rust.” Milagros Muhi, 57, noted that carabaos that drink regularly from the river “become thin… our (harvest of) bananas and coffee are affected.” Evaluated cases of skin lesions and neurologic complaints from locals living near the river were noted because residents had to cross the Mogpog River despite it being contaminated. Doctors said that even if preventive measures are taken, such as applying cream or taking vitamins to block the absorption of metals in the body, symptoms of heavy-metal poisoning will keep on showing up so long as the toxic source exists. Children’s Health. In 2002, the Department of Health (DOH) with the UP Philippine General Hospital (PGH) assessed the health of Marinduque residents. Results showed that children in the exposed areas of Sta. Cruz and Boac had histories of convulsions while those from unexposed Torrijos and Buenavista towns had none. Physical examination showed that the affected communities had more undernourished children than the unaffected ones. Exposed children had blood disorders such as anemia, leucocytosis, and reticulocytosis. At Sta. Cruz, children were found to have elevated levels of arsenic and lead in their blood. Mothers also complained of headache, blurred vision, eye pain, cough, palpitations, and muscle pain. After the 1996 mine-tailings spill in Boac River, 38 residents, mostly children of Boac and Sta. Cruz were brought to UP-PGH in Manila for treatment and detoxification. They all presented elevated blood lead levels and neurological symptoms related to heavy-metal poisoning. Toxicologist said that the problem with metals Conclusion An increased focus on health and well-being impacts within a strategic LOM planning framework should directly result in reduced detrimental impacts such as chronic disease from environmental exposure, and increased benefits, such as improved health service delivery by government agencies, both of which would result in overall improved health outcomes. Improving beneficial impacts at every step in the LC continuum (i.e. improved health outcomes) will reflect positively on the mining industry in terms of social responsibility and community engagement (and their social license to operate), as well as directly enhancing the long-term economic sustainability of communities that are economically dependent on mining (Kirsch, Viswanathan, LaBouchardiere, Shandro. & Jagals, 2013).
Mining companies should seek continued improvement for health and safety in accordance with Principle 5 of International Council for Mining and Metals (ICMM, 2008) which calls for “a management of all aspects of operations that could have a significant import on the health and safety of our employees, those of our contractors, and the community where we operate.”
Elizabeth Kanter is right: All social problems are economic problems. But in the light of tripartite problem-solving exercise, I say: All social problems are socio-economic-political problem, especially in developing countries in the ASEAN region.
Recommendation Health and wellbeing is the responsibility of both of the employee and the company. While corporations have the resources to promote health and wellbeing as a matter of social responsibility for its internal stakeholders like the human resource, employees must take personal interest in maintaining good health and wellbeing.
Health and wellbeing of the community within the geographical range of mines is an issue that must be addressed by mining companies as a matter of social responsibility. The case of Marcopper mining disaster at the end of 20th century is a landmark case which calls for tripartite partnership for sustainable development. Business, government and civil society (NGOs, mining communities, religious groups and media) have to come together to work out a win-win solution.
Health and wellbeing of the mining community may be directly addressed by the mining companies by moving their philanthropic corporate social responsibility (CSR) to corporate shared value (CSV) and from CSV to corporate social initiatives that create a sustainable health program to ultimately establish a community-based health and wellness center.
The life of a mining is closely entwined with the life of a community and we encourage future research to consider the full range of impacts within the life of-mining and life-of-community LMLC framework.
References
Boulanger, A. & Alexandra Gorman, A. (Sept. 2014). Hardrock Mining: Risks to Community Health. Bozeman: Montana: Women Voices of the Earth. Carolyn Stephens, C. & Ahern, M. (November 2001). Worker and Community Health Impacts Related to Mining Operations Internationally A Rapid Review of the Literature: A Rapid Review of the Literature. Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development. 25. Creamer, M. (August 20, 2010). Attitudes becoming ‘more hostile’ to mining in 80% of jurisdictions – Fraser Institute. Mining Weekly. Africa Europe edition. Coumans, C. (April, 2002). Placer Dome Case Study: Marcopper Mines DENR, Mines and Geosciences Bureau, Mining Industries Statistics (August 12, 2015). De Leon, N. (June 20, 2015). Workplace NGO hits Semirara over workers’ deaths. Institute of Health and Safety Development. IOSAD NEWS. Gonzalez, F.S.C., Luz, J. M., & Tirol, M.H. (1984). De La Salle mission statement: Retrospect and prospect. Quezon City: Vera Reyes, Inc. Hudtohan, E.T. (2005). Fifty Years of De La Salle Catechetical Program: Retrospect and Prospect (1952- 2002). A doctoral dissertation. De La Salle University, Manila. Ilagan, K.A.M. (November 3, 2008). Chronic illnesses on the rise in Marcopper towns. Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism. http://pcij.org/stories/chronic-illnesses-on-the-rise-in-marcopper-towns/ IOHSAD (November 24, 2006). Mining in the Philippines and the effects on Occupational Health and Safety of Mine Workers. International Council of Mining and Metals. (2008). Principle 5 Kirsch, P., Viswanathan, S, LaBouchardiere, E., Shandro, J. & Jagals, P. (2013). Health Impacts Extend from the Life of a Mine to the Life of a Community – Knowledge Gaps. Life-of-Mine Conference, Brisbane, Queensland, July 10-12, 2012. Philippine Daily Inquirer. (August 31, 2015). Marinduque gov’t urged to sue mine firm. Across the Nation, A17. Smith, J. (2015). Business research methodology. New York: Arcler Press LLC.
Dr. Jeanne T. Valderrama, MD is currently physician of Assumption College, San Lorenzo, Makati City, Philippines and a consulting physician of Barangay San Lorenzo. She is a pulmonary medicine and tuberculosis
control consultant. She was former director of the field operation of Philippine Society of Tuberculosis, Inc. of the Quezon Institute and served as pulmonary consultant of USAID HealthPRO in Mindanao, Southern Philippines. She is director of AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc.
Dr. Emiliano T. Hudtohan, EdD is a retired professor of De La Salle University, Manila College of Business; he currently teaches at the De La Salle Araneta University, Malabon Graduate School, San Beda College Graduate School and De La Salle College of St. Benilde Graduate School. His field of interest and expertise is business ethics and corporate social responsibility. He has delivered papers on mining sustainability and corporate social responsibility at the international seminar held in Unaaha, Konawe and recently a paper on Asean economic integration and corporate social initiatives at Halo Oleo State University, Kendari, Sulawesi, Indonesia. He was a columnist of Manila Standards Today. He is president and co-founder of AcademiX2Business Consultancy, Inc.
San Beda College Graduate School Research and Development Journal
October 2015
Based on a review of related literature on spirituality and religiosity in general and at the workplace in particular, three spiritualities emerged: Maharlikhan spirituality, devotional spirituality, and global spirituality. The convergence of the three spiritualities resulted to: folk spirituality, social-activist spirituality, and personalist non-denominational spirituality. These six variants are suggested as elements of a spirituality-driven management framework at an academic workplace. The study made use of heuristic research in presenting the researcher’s personal spiritual insights culled from his experience with Lasallian educational management for almost six decades as student, administrator and faculty. The framework for a spiritually-driven management was traced from Lasallian humanistic education to social-activism; a review on the history of spirituality in general and spirituality and religiosity at the workplace in particular contributed to the concept of a spiritually-driven management. This study reviewed in retrospect the development of Lasallian business-liberal education in creating a prospect for a spiritually-driven management framework.
Key words: spirituality, theology, humanistic education, management, social formation, social teachings, vortex and babaylans.
Introduction
The rise of spirituality as context in the workplace is a signal that humanistic management, which is a reaction against a materialistic business worldview, has progressed towards a value-based and faith-based management. Spiritually-driven management has been practiced as purpose driven leadership and meaningfulness of work. It is extensively discussed in empirical studies as spirituality in the workplace (SW) and spirituality and religiosity in the workplace (SRW). This paper is a sequel to an earlier article, Spirituality in the Workplace: Quo Vadis? (Hudtohan, 2014).
Historically, humanistic management came about as a reaction to an extreme pursuit for wealth through bottom line profit, characterized by business in the industrial revolution period. It was the Marxist-socialist movement that mirrored the ‘inhumanity’ of business. It was the social doctrine of the Catholic Church that declared and continues to uphold ‘human’ dignity of the workforce, operationally responsible for business products and services and bottom line profit.
But Marxist-socialists and capitalists continue to debate on a materialistic business management platform. On the other hand, the Catholic Church continues to espouse the dignity of the human person in business. The idea that key players in business are spiritual beings seems to be anathema to many. On the contrary, I believe that the problem of business management is spiritual. And from a macro perspective, I join Walsch’s (2014) observation that “The problem of humanity today is a spiritual problem.”
Objectives
The primary purpose of this paper is to develop the elements of a conceptual framework for a spiritually-driven management in a Catholic business school. It seeks to review the historical roots of spiritual activism at De La Salle University that resulted to its current social activism. It revisits the pre-Spanish Maharlikhan spirituality intended to culturally anchor the concept of a spiritually-driven management. Lastly, it seeks to demonstrate the use of heuristics, historiography and storytelling as research tools in arriving at the concept of spiritually-driven management.
Significance of the review
First, this review challenges the faculty, students and administrators, who are attached to their respective institutional spirituality, to have a panoramic view of other spiritualities. A new spiritual perspective opens a worldview that is needed in a global academic and business environment. Second, academic decision-makers who wish to innovate may use the spiritually-driven management framework as platform for enhancing business curricular and co-curricular programs. Third, the spiritually-driven framework may be used to establish empirical data on the six spirituality variables in studying management and spirituality programs in a Catholic business school
Methodology
I made use of heuristic research, historical research and storytelling in narrating and exploring the concepts related to spiritually-driven management.
Heuristic research attempts to discover the nature and meaning of phenomenon through internal self-search, exploration, and discovery (Moustakas & Douglass, 1985). As an axiologist, I explored my corporate and academic experience, which ultimately led me to further explore spiritually in the workplace (Hudtohan, 2014) as driver of management practice. It helped me discover the nature and meaning of spirituality in the context of business management.
The historiography (Bloch, 1962) provides a retrospect-prospect perspective (Gonzales & Tirol, 1984; Hudtohan, 2005) on spirituality. A historical review of related literature on spirituality in the workplace (SW) and spirituality and religiosity in the workplace (SRW) by Geigel (2012 and Karakas (2010) showed empirical support in conceptualizing a spiritually-driven management framework.
Storytelling (Pillans, 2014; Brown, 2012) gets a personal message across and helps the reader’s “internal perspective and in cases where choices are unconscious, it can provide a new viewpoint that is more conscious” (Simons, 2001). Samuels and Lane (2003) assert that “Restorying reality is…changing a person’s belief system and instilling hope and spirit.” In restorying a spiritually-driven management, I experienced catharsis in articulating my views on spiritual issues.
This is a qualitative research; it integrates my experience as an axiologist immersed in business ethics and social responsibility in the graduate school of business. A heuristic-historical approach allowed me to narrate my spiritual viewpoint as experienced in the academic and corporate environment for almost 5 decades.
Related Literature on Humanistic Education and Social Activism
Christian education
I traced the humanistic education at DLSU through my experience as guidance counselor of the grade school department in 1976 before it was transferred to De La Salle Zobel, Ayala, Alabang. Had the university retained the grade school and high school departments at its Taft campus and had there been a vertical academic integration in the 70s, the implementation of K-12 would have been less cumbersome for DLSU. The evolution of Lasallian devotional-activism to humanistic social-activism could have been also vertically integrated. For almost four decades, spiritual-activism (1941-1983) at De La Salle University (DLSU) was driven by the Baltimore catechism and the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine that addressed personal holiness and sanctification. By 1983, the university entered into a phase of social activism. It was driven by Lasallian concern for the poor, a calling of the Philippine Church to give preferential option for the poor and the Roman Catholic Church’s call for social justice.
In transition, the social concern of the university may have soft-pedaled the need for devotional spiritual practices that anchor the social activist to a personal religious experience while being of service society. Personal spiritual development remains the foundational core of social responsibility and corporate social responsibility in the 21st century.
Historically, the school of business of DLSU came almost a decade after it was founded in 1911. Maison du De La Salle became De La Salle College when it was incorporated in 1912 and it served as residencia of the Brothers’ Community and student boarders and escuela for Filipino boys. Administratively, the director of the Brothers Community was primarily responsible for both the spiritual life of the Brothers, the students and the faculty. Fundamentally, the spiritual leadership was in the hands of the director who managed both the Brothers and the school.
In 1920, it offered a two-year commercial course, five years ahead of the courses in humanities. For this reason, DLSU has been identified primarily a business school. In 1925 it offered courses for an Associate in Art, Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts. In 1930, the college was authorized to confer the degrees of Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Science in Education. These non-business courses are balancing the business interest of the middle class with classical education in liberal arts. By 1961, it offered a five-year double degree: Liberal Arts-Commerce and Liberal Arts-Education. Since then, a humanistic education was enshrined. St. Irenaeus (185 AD) said, “Man fully alive is the glory of God.” And St. John Baptist De La Salle on the feast of St. Andrew, the apostle, affirmed St. Irenaeus when he said, “It is in the company of Jesus that you work for the glory of God” (Meditations, 78, 2).
When the nine pioneering Christian Brothers arrived in the Philippines in 1911, they had “a clear understanding of their primary mission…To give a Christian education to boys.” (Baldwin, 1982) The mission “to give Christian education to boys” cited in the Bull of Approbation of Pope Benedict XIII in 1724 specified that the Brothers “should make it their chief care to teach…those things that pertain to a good and Christian life… they chiefly imbue their minds with the precepts of Christianity and the Gospel” (Common Rules and Constitution).
Humanistic religious education
In the 70s, Banayad and Carillo of the Institute of Catechetics in Manila developed the human evocative approach (HEA) to catechism. The approach was learner-centered and experiential, significantly veering away from the kerygmatic, Gospel-centered catechism. It was gleaned from the conferences in Bangkok (1962), Katigondo (1964), Manila (1967) and Medellin (1968) which advocated an experiential learning anchored to an anthropocentric theology (Clarke, 1970; Ordoñez, 1970; Erdozain, 1970; Moran, 1967).
The grade schools of De La Salle-Manila and La Salle Green Hills became the breeding ground for the human evocative approach (HEA) in teaching religion (Caluag, 1972; Carillo, 1976; Hudtohan, 1972, 1976; Surratos, 1988). Fallarme (1983) noted that the social sciences shared similar HEA techniques in helping the learners relate with others at Philippine Women’s University-Jose Abad Santos Memorial School.
Hudtohan (1972) suggested using HEA as basis for integration of religion class and guidance at De La Salle Grade School. This is supported by Erikson’s (1968) epigenetic principle of personality development and spirituality indicates that each stage of human development is part and parcel of spiritual development. Fowler’s (1981) stages of faith show how the spiritual life of an individual grows over a period of time until a universal faith is attained upon maturity. Caluag (1980) assessed the humanization and Christianization in five De La Salle schools in the Philippines and concluded that the spiritual needs of the youth be addressed.
Endaya, Br. Andelino Manual Castillo FSC Education Foundation (BAMCREF) director (1983-1996), introduced the catechists to HEA teaching catechism in the public schools. In 1997, a new catechism, Modyul sa Katisismo at Kagandahang Asal series aligned with HEA was published under guidance of Br. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC and Director Louie Lacson. A humanistic religious education has found its way into the public school classrooms through professional Bamcref catechists. By this time, spiritual formation has been humanized through the HEA.
Social Formation
In 1983, the Center for Social Concern and Action (COSCA) was established by Br. Andrew Gonzalez, FSC and Juan Miquel Luz to make Lasallian education relevant and responsive to the needs of Philippine society and prepare its students to become socially responsible. This started a new era of institutionalized social-activism; it eventually eroded the spiritual-activism that focused on catechetical evangelization through Sodality of Mary members, student catechists, and professional catechists. In 1952 the student catechists in public schools were replaced by the Bamcref professional catechists. But by 2014, more than six decades later, all the professional catechists were permanently retired.
The shift from evangelization to community involvement was based on a realization that the existential need of the poor is not spiritual. This movement is supported by liberation theology (Gutierrez, 1973) that influenced many Catholic institutions to focus on social action for and social justice among the oppressed. Significantly, after Vatican Council II, a shift from theocentric to anthropocentric theology expressed humanistic maxims like: Christianity peaks in the fullness of being truly human (Schleck, 1968). This shift veered away the focus of Catholic Action (CA), which made the laity a ministerial extension of the clergy for: 1. evangelization, 2. formation of Christians, 3. spiritual renewal through piety and action, 4. defense of the Catholic faith and Christian morality, and 5. spreading of Christ’s kingdom and the common good of society (PCM II: 1997).
The CA stampita prescribed a devotional spirituality; members declared that: “It is my primary duty to strive for personal holiness. To accomplish this: I shall hear Mass daily if possible; pray the rosary daily; receive the sacraments at least once a week; make frequent visits to the Blessed Sacrament; spend at least 15 minutes a day for spiritual reading and meditation; and every year attend spiritual retreat and periodic recollection” (Hernandez, c1960).
In 1994, the DLSU mission statement declared that it considered itself a dynamic resource of the Church and Nation involved in the process of national transformation. The social activism of the university was in “solidarity with the poor.” In 2001, its vision-mission it strengthened its social responsibility by creating “new knowledge for human development and social transformation” and “building a just, peaceful, stable and progressive Filipino nation.” (DLSU, 2003).
While it updated the original religio, mores, and cultura values of the 1911 founding Brothers within the framework of human and social development, this shift may have been detrimental to the religious, and more so the spiritual, aspect of personal development of the students and faculty.
Historically, the service learning under COSCA has its roots from two Lasalian organizations: The De La Salle Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Student Catholic Action. On June 28, 1941 De La Salle College Br. Flannan Paul, FSC met with the members of Sodality of the Blessed Virgin Mary to prepare them to teach catechism in a public school in Fort McKinley (Hudtohan, 2005).
By 2011, the DLSU Community Engagement (CE) conceptual framework of COSCA advocated (a) active collaboration (b) that builds on the resources, skills, and expertise, and knowledge of the campus and community (c) to improve the quality of life in communities (d) in a manner that is consistent with the campus mission. (AUN, 2011)
The CE Framework became a guide for all Lasallians to anchor themselves to the overall DLSU vision and mission in dealing with the current social realities, using a preferential option for the poor lens. It follows a progression cycle from awareness and partnership building to actual community engagement, leading towards personal and societal change; it envisions a socially aware and active Lasallians; it works for empowered, sustainable, and disaster resilient communities (Primer on the DLSU CE Framework, 2011).
Tupas (2012), in addition to COSCA’s social engagement framework, included Vickers, McCarthy and Harris (2004) service learning framework, Brown and Keast (2003) citizen-government engagement and Stevenson and Choung (2010) TQM for the DLSU Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business social paradigm. He enumerated the various curricular subjects in business as content for service learning. The courses on Lasallian leadership, business ethics and social responsibility are being aligned with social activism through community engagement. Service learning (Hudtohan, 2013; 2014) as co-curricular program in coordination with COSCA is a major shift from the DLSU spiritual activism in the 60s.
However, the social focus of service learning has somehow lessened the personal relationship between the faculty and students in terms of coaching and mentoring them as they journey not only in social service engagements but more importantly in their spiritual formation. Lost in transition amidst the whirlwind of activities is time for personal reflection after community engagement. By sheer number of 40 plus students under one faculty member, the reflection paper is not enough and the one-time community engagement is not enough either. I am proposing a spiritually-driven management to address a sustainable spiritual development.
Related Literature on Spirituality
Challenge to Catholic Business Institutions
At the De La Salle University (DLSU) Management and Organization Department (MOD), I saw a need to move forward its humanistic management thrust to that of a spiritually-driven management. Its inclusion of faith-based management and Integral human development in the curriculum and co-curricular fora is an excellent springboard to pursue a spiritually-driven management as a business perspective. This is in line with MOD’s tagline: Bridging faith and management practice.
DLSU, like all other Catholic business schools, must renew its understanding of faith and spirituality beyond the bounds of its religious tradition in order to develop a management spirituality that is inclusive of all other spirituality and religiosity (Rahner, 1968; Ebner, 1977; Hudtohan, 2014). Culturally, it should be driven internally by the Maharlikan kalooban (Reyes, 2013; Mercado, 1994; de Mesa, 1987; Enriquez, 1992) an inner consciousness based on a personal reading of the signs of the time and a belief that God still speaks through history (Moran, 1967). Spirituality in this context need not be dictated and compliant to hierarchical and clerical authority (Helmick, 2014). Teaching globalization without addressing the corporate “heart and soul” of the individual deprives them as business students an in-depth perspective on how to deal with the local and global realities of business (Kilmann, 2001; Livermore, 2010).
What is spiritual?
According to Rentschler (2006, p.29), spiritual has at least four major usages; it refers to: 1. to the highest of any developmental and transrational cognition, transpersonal self-identity (Wilber, 1980); 2. a separate developmental line itself like that of Fowler’s (1981) faith development; 3. a state or peak experience (Maslow, 1964) like nature mysticism (Chopra, 1997; Cowley, 2009; York, 2003), mysticism (Johnston, 1970), mystagogy (Rahner, 1972) and mystery present (Ebner, 1977); and 4. a particular attitude or orientation like openness, wisdom or compassion, which can be present at virtually any state or stage (Wilber, 2000).
A spiritually-driven management makes use of any or all of the four usages of Rentschler in addition to the socio-cultural and theological dimensions as foundational concepts of this study. A management that is spiritually-driven means that the manager and corporate leader are powered by a highest level of personal development which is spiritual in fulfilling the management functions of planning, leading, organizing and controlling for relational and productive excellence in the workplace.
What is spirituality?
An open definition of spirituality is “people’s multiform search for meaning interconnecting them with all living beings and to God or Ultimate Reality. Within this definition there is room for differing views, for spiritualities with and without God and for an ethics of dialogue” (European SPES Institute, n.d.).
Dyck and Neubert (2011, p.490) define spirituality as “a state or quality of a heightened sensitivity to one’s human or transcendental spirit.” Western authors use the word ‘meaning’ to imply a transcendent value which directly or indirectly implies spirituality (Tolle, 2005; Ulrich, 2012; Kilmann, 2001; Hicks & Hicks, 2010; Pape, 2014; Craig & Snook, 2014). Warren (2002) is more direct in weaving purpose as meaningful experience of God. Fifty years ago, Van Kaam (1964, p.42) noted that “Ultimate meaning…is grounded in [man] himself, others, and the ultimate Other.”
In 2015, Unilever in London commissioned Authentic Leadership Institute (2014) to design their Purpose Drives Leadership Program 2020, a workshop intended to “make sustainable living commonplace in the UK and Ireland” (Radjou & Prabhu, 2015). Unilever’s 2020 workshop considered purpose as spirituality s crucial to the workforce. Julian (2014) in his book, God is my CEO, cites the faith-work experience of 20 executive leaders. He used the Bible as point of reference in grounding the principles and values of the chief executive officers in America.
According to Aumunn (1985, p.3) Christian spirituality in the Catholic tradition is about “the lives and teachings of men and women who have reached a high degree of sanctity throughout the ages…[that] the perfection of charity can be attained by any Christian in any state of life.” Downey (1997) opines that “Christian spirituality…is the Christian Life itself lived in and through the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. It concerns absolutely every dimension of life, mind and body, intimacy and sexuality, work and leisure, economic accountability and political responsibility, domestic life and civic duty, the rising costs of health care and the plight of the poor and wounded both at home and abroad. Absolutely every dimension of life is to be integrated and transformed by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit.” From a psycho-spiritual point of view, spirituality considered as wholeness and wholeness is equated to holiness because human and spiritual development is intertwined (Erickson, 1968; Shea, 2004; Caluag, 1980). Friel (n.d.) says, spirituality can be defined as a “fully human phenomenon, and it is a phenomenon of the fully human.”
Geigle’s (2012, pp.18-23) review of related literature on workplace spirituality listed 70 studies from Europe, America, Middle East, Africa and Asia. In Asia, studies from China, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sri Langka were mentioned but none from the Philippines. He also reported that Oswick (2009) who compared “the two 10 year periods ending in 1998 and 2008…found the number of books on workplace spirituality increased from 17 to 55 and the journal articles increased from 40 to 192” (Geigle, p.14.)
Karakas’ (2010) reviewed 140 related studies and listed 70 definitions of spirituality at work. He concluded that spirituality provides: 1. a human resource perspective, 2. a philosophical perspective, and 3. an interpersonal perspective that drives organization performance. Spirituality is a driver well-being, sense of meaning and purpose of work, and sense of community and interconnectedness. Spirituality “enhances the general well-being of the employee by increasing their morale, commitment and productivity and by reducing stress, burnt-out and workaholism” (Karakas, p.12). Spirituality “provides employees and managers a deeper sense of meaning and purpose at work” (Karakas, p.16). Spirituality provides a sense of community and connectedness, increasing their attachment, loyalty, and belonging to the organization.
Kouzes and Posner (2003) argue that emotionally, spiritually, and socially barren workplaces can turn around to become abundant workplaces by providing solutions that incorporate spirituality. The ultimate result is spirited workplaces of the 21st century that are engaged with passion, alive with meaning and connected with compassion.
Benefiel, Fry and Geigle (2012, p.184) assert that “Spirituality and religiosity in the workplace (SWR) is an emerging area of scholarly inquiry that has an atypical history in that it has its roots in philosophy and psychology of religion and spirituality.” They likewise cited Mitroff and Denton’s (1999) landmark study where “SRW has begun to experience some convergence, both theoretically and empirically, on the importance of an inner life or spiritual practice in fostering a vision and a set of altruistic values that satisfy fundamental spiritual needs for calling and community, which in turn positively influence important individuals and organizational outcomes.”
A plethora of studies on spirituality in the workplace (SW) and religiosity in the workplace (RW) led me to combine studies on spirituality and religiosity in the workplace (SRW). But Geigle (2012, p.17) observed that “There is little empirical literature concerning mystical/religious constructs many use in their definitions, such as transcendence and interconnection with non-physical entities.” He also cited the following research gap questions: 1. Is it possible to develop spirituality in employees? 2. What is the relationship between secular spirituality and religious spirituality? 3. How can work spirituality constructs differ from related constructs in organization behavior, organization development, and positive psychology?
Employees are spiritual beings
Studies in management have concluded that employees are spiritual and that spiritually-driven leaders (Pruzan & Miller, 2003; Miller & Miller, 2002) make a difference in the workplace. Empirical evidence based on studies on spirituality in the workplace and spirituality-religiosity in the workplace has established that the corporation is manned by spiritual beings, no longer machines of the industrial age, no longer labor for production, and no longer human beings with rights but spiritual beings with human corporate activities.
Maschke, Preziosi and Harrington (2008, p.11) concluded that “spirituality exists in corporations, simply because all employees are spiritual beings.” They affirmed Teilhard de Chardin (1957) who much earlier said that we are not human beings with spiritual activities but spiritual beings with human activities. To De Chardin, the human-spiritual development in Chardin’s view is powered by the same universal laws that are operative in the material world. He wrote, “[E]verything is the sum of the past [and] nothing is comprehensible except through its history. Nature is the equivalent of ‘becoming’, self-creation: this is the view which experience irresistibly leads us…There is nothing, not even the human soul, the highest spiritual manifestation we know of, that does not come within this universal law” (De Chardin, 1920).
That employees are spiritual is a giant leap from a medieval paradigm which declared that only kings are divine and have divine rights. Walsch’s 21st century paradigm considers every human being as divine. The acceptance of employees as spiritual beings forms a basis for a spiritually-driven management.
Further, before Teilhard de Chardin died in 1955, he announced that we are spiritual beings with human activities. Neale Donald Walsch (2014, p.160) courageously announced that “human beings are divine, each having the all the divine qualities within them.” Finally, after more than four decades, he echoes Rahner (1966) and Ebner’s (1977) pronouncement that “All people are divine.”
Related Literature towards a Spiritually-driven Management
Based on my review of related literature on spirituality, I classified three spiritual tenets that influenced contemporary Catholic believers in the Philippines. These are: A. Maharlikhan spirituality, B. Devotional spirituality and C. global spirituality as shown in a linear, historical development in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Conceptual Framework for Spiritually-driven Management: a linear-historical development of three spiritualities
Maharlikhan spirituality
Maharlikan ethnic spirituality was practiced before 1478 when the islands belonged to the Royal Kingdom of Maharlikha (www.rumormillnews.com/pdfs/The-Untold-Story-Kingdom-of-Maharlik hans.pdf) under the Srivijaya empire that ruled from 683-1286 (Munoz, 2006) and the Majapahit Empire that ruled from 1293-1500 (www.rumormillnew.com/pdf/The-untold-story-of-Maharlikans.pdf). According to the Nagarakretagama (Desawarñana, 1365), the Majapahit empire stretched from Sumatra to New Guinea and it included present day Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, southern Thailand, Sulu Archipelago, Manila, and East Timor (http://dbpedia.org/resource/ Majapahit).
The Laguna Plate dated 900 AD (Postma, 1992) had an inscription that condoned the debt of the descendants of Namwaran (926.4 grams of gold) which was granted by the chief of Tondo in Manila and the authorities of Paila, Binwangan and Pulilan in Luzon. The words were a mixture of Sanskrit, Old Malay, Old Javanese and Old Tagalog. This establishes the Maharlikan connection with the Srivijaya empire and Majapahit empire.
This is one of the reasons why Philippine national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, is referred to as “the pride of the Malay race” and “the Great Malayan” (Trillana III, 2014). In fact, Malaysian leader Anwar Ibrahim has recognized Rizal as the “greatest Malayan” and an “Asian Renaissance Man” (Palatino, 2013).
In 1478, the Moslems came to power and in 1521, through Ferdinand Magellan, Spain colonized the island up until 1898. But prior to the Moslem and Spanish conquest, the Maharlikans were ruled by the rajahs and the babaylans were already ministering to the spiritual life of the barangays through song, dance, healing, worship, and metaphysical connectivity with Bathala.
Nona (2013, p.8) in her research, Song of the Babaylans, retrieved and reclaimed “the ancient indigenous sounds that heal, and which have been passed from generation to generation through the present and remaining babaylans – the ritualists, oralists, and healers.” Cacayan (2005) narrated her personal encounters with the babaylans of Mindanao and their sacred tradition of worship and spirituality through dance. She concluded that the spirituality of the babaylan is wholeness.
Velando (2005) reported a babaylan art exhibit at the Kennel’s Center Commuter Art Gallery in New York City. It was noted that the babaylan knows all things; that all people and all existence are connected; and this connection is our ethnic pakikipagkapwa. Villariba (2006) cited the relevance of the babaylans in the 21st century as priestess, healer, sage and seer. According to her, the babaylan lives and breathes the Divine Source because “I Dios egga nittam nganun.” God is in all of us, as found in Mangurug, Ibanag creed and Ba-diw Ibaloi chants. She also cited the role of the babaylan in the context of contemporary justice and peace issues in the Philippines, reminiscent of the participation of the babaylans in Philippine revolution. Melencio (2013) acknowledged them as spiritual and political leadership of the babaylans who, due to Spanish persecution, eventually participated in Philippine revolution.
Vergara (2011) observed that biblical references were used to demonize the babaylans. He cited the derogatory Spanish words that referred to the babaylans as las viejas (old women), sacerdotisas del demonio (demon’s priestesses), hechicheras (sorceresses) and aniteras (priestesses using anito). Veneracion (1998) noted that the Spanish priests instituted the beaterio as a convent haven for Yndias in their effort to suppress and eventually replace the babaylans
Cruz (2002) theorized that the babaylans eventually entered the fold of Christianity and became beatas. Salazar observed, “[T]hese babaylans became part of the colonial society…as church women tasked with organizing and heading processions…who will assist the priests in their services at the altar” (Salazar, 1999, p.19)
Geremia-Lachica (2012) cited the takeover of the Asogs (male babaylans) in Panay. Kobak and Gutierrez (2002) noted in the book of Alcinas (1668) that asog means effeminate and its Bisayan synonyms are bayug or bantut. It also refers to “a man who behaves like a woman and dresses as a woman. Alcina showed that the office of the priest in ancient times was held by the asogs or effeminate men eventually became a male babaylans (Kobak & Gutierrez, 2002, p.489 & p.155).
Alcina’s (1668) Historia de las islas e indios de Bisayas describe 17th century Filipino spirituality under the leadership of the babaylans and asogs. Maharlikan culture then was declared non-Christian based on Catholic doctrines. The Jesuit evangelizers attempted to use the word diwata in reference to ‘true God.’ But the political strength of the Dominicans and the Augustinians in early Christianization of the Philippines blocked this early inculturation of Filipino concepts within the Catholic theology and spirituality.
Contemporary Filipinos “are spirit-oriented…[they] have a deep-seated belief in the supernatural and in all kinds of spirits dwelling in individual persons, places and things…Filipinos continue to invoke the spirits in various undertakings.” (Catechism for Filipino Catholics, 2002, p.15).
Filipino theologians, sociologists and anthropologist have done enormous researches in understanding the ABC of indigenous Filipino culture and Catholic paradigm, where A is Maharlikan ethnicity, B is Colonial Catholicism and C is the result of A and B factors. However, C identified in this paper a folk spirituality no longer faithful to dogmatic tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. Filipino theologians tried to retrieve the lost pre-Spanish cultural tradition but they never succeeded in presenting the imago dei of the Maharlikan period. The effort to reconcile culture with Catholic dogmas ended with views that made Catholic theology dominant. Since then, Filipino spirituality has been described as dual Filipino-Christian split-level spirituality (Bulatao, 1966), folk-Catholicism (Belita, 2006), and inculturation of pre-Spanish indigenous values and Catholicism (Ramos, 2015; Reyes, 2013; De Mesa, 2003; Miranda, 1987; Mercado, 1975).
In all these discourses the babaylan spirituality, from the point of view of mainstream Roman Catholicism, was declared pagan. Thus, the 21st imago dei of a Filipino was greatly shaped by an overpowering ecclesiastical hierarchy whose spirituality conforms to the dogma, moral, and worship prescribed by the Roman Catholic Church. For more than 400 years Catholicism has theologically and practically obliterated the Maharlikhan spirituality.
Given the current clerical and authority-centered governance of the Catholic Church (Helmick, 2014), the Mahalikhan spirituality vis-a-vis current devotional Catholic spirituality has a minimal chance to be mainstream, unless the crisis of confidence in the Catholic Church snowballs into a Copernican spiritual revolution (Hicks, 1987).
Devotional spirituality
The Catholic Church in the Philippines and the Catholic Church in Rome have articulated the importance integrating local cultural values with the universal goals of Christianity. The outcome of this glocal initiative is devotional spirituality.
The Catechism for Filipino Catholics (CBCP, 1997, p. 416) quotes the National Catechetical Directory for the Philippines (1984) which declares that the ordinary Filipino Catholic “knows Catholic doctrinal truth and moral values [which] are learned through…devotional practices.” The Second Provincial Council of Manila (1996, p.157) states that lay formation “refers to the particular spirituality of the lay person which needs to be developed …so that he or she might properly fulfill his/her functions. The spirituality to be formed should…seek to respond to the call to holiness (PCP II). The spirituality should have “a distinctly Filipino character…living out of traditional values like pakikipagkapwa-tao, pakikisama, pakikiramdam, utang na loob, lakas ng loob, hiya, bayanihan, etc.” (PCM II).
The Compendium of Social Doctrine of the Church (2004, p.335) states that “The lay faithful are called to cultivate an authentic lay spirituality by which they are reborn as new men and women, both sanctified and sanctifiers, immersed in the mystery of God and inserted in society.” As such, they contribute “to the sanctification of the world, as from within like leaven, by fulfilling their own particular duties. Thus, especially by the witness of their own life…they must manifest Christ to others” (Lumen Gentium, 78)
Devotional spirituality is church-mandated spirituality rooted in the believer’s concept of imago dei (man as image of God) in accordance with her/his religious affiliation to an institutional church. Teloar (2005) in a collection of papers on theological anthropology, reported that the ecclesial traditions of the Orthodox Church view on soteriology (doctrine of salvation) as ‘deification’ where humans participate in the divine fellowship and commune, which is based on creation in the image of God. He concluded that in theological anthropology, salvation is “understood not so much as theosis (deification) but as anthroposis: our becoming more fully and authentically human as our relationships participate in the divine koinonia” (Teloar, 2005, p.3). The World Council of Churches on theological anthropology (Teloar, 2005) in Australia affirmed the humanistic interpretation of God’s salvific action in Christ’s redemptive act which has been espoused for the past four decades (Rahner, 1966, 1968; Endorsain, 1970; Ordonez, 1970; Schleck, 1968; Ebner, 1975 & 1977).
The imago dei in the Philippines was nurtured by the Catholic-Protestant tradition during the colonial period (1521-1946). In 1593, Doctrina Cristiana was published and it became the first manual of hermeneutics that introduced to the Maharlikan culture the fundamentals of religious belief based on Catholic dogma, morals, and worship. The early Jesuit evangelizers attempted to use the word diwata in reference to ‘true God’ but the theological influence of the Dominicans and the Augustinians successfully blocked this inculturation of Filipino concepts within the Catholic theology and spirituality (Alcinas, 1668). Forever lost is the imago dei of the Maharlikhan Bathala who created Malakas and Maganda nestled in the bamboo nodes. Eugenio’s (2001) collection of folkloric literature cites the myth of Maharlikhan creation in Hiligaynon which has parallel versions in other Filipino dialects (Belita, 2006, p.111).
The massive presence of religious orders during the evangelization period brought about distinct Catholic spiritualities based on the founders of the respective religious orders in the Philippines. Thus, we still have the spirituality based on the Augustinians vita apostolica [living alone but in a community] that dates back to the monastic West of 4th century; the Dominicans of the 13th century carried a “doctrinal spirituality and apostolic spirituality” assiduously based on the sacred teachings of the Church; and the Jesuits post-Tridentine devotion moderna spirituality Ignatius of Loyola’s 1548 spiritual exercises (Aumunn, 1985).
Devotional spirituality is founded on a theology of supplication (Walsch, 2014); relying heavily on the intercessory power of a third party that links the supplicant with God. This practice in the Catholic Church is manifested by the statues and images of Jesus, the Blessed Virgin and an array of saints whose special intercessions are invoked through novena prayers, either in private or in community. In particular, Wright (1999, pp. iii-iv) published Lasallian Prayers in a University Setting, making available formula prayers seeking, among others, the intercession of 11 Lasallian saints and blessed for students and teachers in the classroom.
Catholics schools carry the spirituality of their founders: Agustinian La Consolacion College, Benedictine San Beda College and St. Scholastica’s College, Dominican University of Santo Tomas, Ignatian Ateneo de Manila University, Lasallian De La Salle University, Escrivan University of Asia and the Pacific, and Millerettian Assumption College to name a few. Vatican II has mandated the renewal of these religious orders to capture the spirit of the time. But daily, at regular intervals, Catholic schools continue a devotional practice with a short prayer and ends by invoking the name of their respective saint and everyone responds, “Pray for us.” Under the banner of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, devotional spirituality among Catholic schools, colleges and universities is systematically practiced.
Global spirituality
Lynch (2007) introduced a new strain of spirituality called progressive spirituality in the 21st century. He also introduced a variation of pantheism, which traditionally has been identified by the Roman Catholic hierarchy as worship of nature. Pan(en)theism, according to Lynch “promotes sacralization of nature as the site of divine presence and activity in the cosmos – and the sacralization of the self, for the same reasons” (p.11). He rewrites pantheism as pan(en)theism to veer away from worship in nature identified historically with paganism.
He says, “The emphasis on the ineffability of this divine presence leads advocates to progressive spirituality to regard all constructive religious traditions as containing insights that can be valuable for encountering the divine. But at the same time, progressive spirituality is highly critical of aspects of these traditions which are patriarchal and offer a ‘top-down’ notion of a God, separate from the cosmos, who seeks to order human in an authoritative way” (Lynch, p.11).
This commentary of Lynch affirms what Helmick (2014) observed that the root of crisis of confidence in the Catholic Church is due to the stranglehold of clericalism and authoritarianism that control the spiritual life of faithful and the church hierarchy. He asks, “Can we indeed have a Church without this aura of clericalism and authoritarianism?” (Helmick, 2014, p.13). Kellerman (2012, p.73) made a similar observation: “In the last decade, the Catholic Church endured a crisis in confidence. To have witnessed church officials from the pope down, succumb to the demands of the people has been to witness the diminution of political influence.”
The 21st spirituality has been driven by “1. The desire to find new ways of religious thinking and new resources for spiritual growth and well-being that truly connects with people’s beliefs, values and experience in modern, liberal societies. 2. Various initiatives to develop a spirituality that is not bound up with patriarchal beliefs and structures, and which can be relevant and liberating resource for women. 3. Attempts to reconcile religion with contemporary scientific knowledge and in particular in attempts to ground spirituality in a contemporary scientific cosmology, and 4. Moves to develop a spirituality which reflects a healthy understating of the relationship of humanity to the wider natural order and which motivates constructive action to prevent ecological catastrophe ” (Lynch, 2007, pp. 23-35).
Global spirituality is supported theologically by Ebner’s (1977) human race church, Rahner’s (1969) anonymous Christian, Schlette’s (1966) great religion as ordinary way to salvation, McBrien’s (1969) Kingdom of God not the Church as absolute, and Hick’s (1987) Copernican revolution to renounce religious superiority.
Folk Spirituality
Figure 2. Conceptual Framework for Spiritually-driven Management: a relational convergence of three
Spiritualities. Legend: (Inverted Triangle) = vortex of a sustainable spiritually-driven management.
As shown in Figure 2, Maharlikhan spirituality merged with devotional spirituality merged results to a folk spirituality; devotional spirituality with global spirituality becomes asocial-activist spirituality; and Maharlikhan spirituality with global spirituality becomes personalist spirituality. The question of change in one’s spirituality may be viewed in the context creative fidelity (Johnston, 2000). Gonzalez (2002, p.4) supports such fidelity by being “faithful to the traditions of the Catholic Church and at the same time being responsive to the current issues of the time.” On the other hand, Dyer, Gregersen and Christensen (2011) indicate that when creativity is applied to an existing reality, it becomes a disruptive innovation. Spiritual change inevitably includes disruption of existing devotional practices and mainstream beliefs.
Browning (2005) posits that the current state of a person is the result of the interplay between nature (DNA), and nurture (environment) called emergentics. She defines emergenetics as “the constantly emerging combination of genetics and environment…a pattern of thinking and behaving that emerge from your genetic blueprint” (Browning, 2005, p.31). Kragan’s (2003) biological metaphor is simple: A+B=C and C is neither A or B. Figure 2 shows that Maharlikhan spirituality is A; Devotional spirituality is B; and Global spirituality is C. The convergence of the three spiritualities is a vortex of sustainable spiritually-driven management. The convergence of A and B resulted to Folk spirituality; B and C to Social-activist spirituality; and A and C to Personalist spirituality. The creative process of combining the three major spiritualities resulted to another three spiritual variants. In the process, the two basic spiritual elements are disrupted when experiencing a new spiritual mode: folk, personalist and social-activist spirituality
Folk spirituality
Filipino spirituality is founded on folk Catholicism. Sison (2015) describes folk Catholicism as “an attempt to combine contradictory beliefs and melding different schools of thought.” Belita (2006, p.14), making a distinction between folk and popular religion, says, “The word ‘folk’ when put before ‘religion’ is intended to mean the religion of rural folks, more preliterate than literate and the phrase ‘popular religion’ is made to refer to religion that is associated with urban and literate society.” In demonstrating popular religion with popular Catholicism among Filipinos, Belita (2006) narrates Ilonggo spirituality in terms of harmony with nature (tabitabi lang), harmonization with one’s own spirit (dungan), and ginger shamanism (paluy-a).
Folk spirituality is a manifestation of split-level Christianity (Bulatao, 1966); it is inculturated Christianity among Filipino theologians like Ramos (2015), De Mesa (2003) and Mercado (1976). For them, inculturated spirituality is an integration process of interlocking Filipino values and cultural practices with Catholic doctrines and practices.
Split-level spirituality is based on the observation of Bulatao, a psychiatrist-theologian, who described the contemporary Filipino as a split-level Christian. The issue raised is about Catholic doctrines and the application of these principles in real life; the problem of faith and good moral conduct; and the question of being a totally committed Catholic. Inculturated spirituality is based on De Mesa’s (2006) theological appreciation through contextualization, which sees Christianity as a dynamic movement towards inculturation of Catholic teachings with Philippine cultural ethnic values. He is joined by Mercado (1976, 1992) who argued that Christianity must be inculturated through indigenization. Folk spiritual rituals have been observed in fiestas, processions, pilgrimages, novenas, and devotional practices either individually or communally (Ramos, 2015; Eleuterio, 1989).
The problem with folk spirituality, split-level Christianity, and inculturated spirituality is the attempt of theologians to influence the Maharlikhan ethnic culture using Roman Catholic standard of moral, dogma and worship official pronouncements. As Browning and Kagan observed when two elements are mixed, unless one overcomes the other, a new and distinct culture will emerge. In this case the phenomenon of folk, split-level and inculturated spiritualities are new spiritual realities. The reality is that Catholicism continues to dominate the cultural-social-spiritual life of the Filipinos and this has been going on for more than 400 years. This means that the Maharlikan spirituality is almost at a minimal state when the two spheres of influence intersect in Figure 2.
The Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (1992, p.76) acknowledged that “Our history shows both the fruits of inculturation and the sad consequences of its lack…to inculturate both the Church and the Gospel…We have to raise up more and more Filipino evangelizers, formed in a ‘Filipino way.’ We have to develop a catechism and theology that are authentically Filipino, and a liturgy that is truly inculturated. We have to develop ecclesial structures responsive to Filipino needs.”
Social activist spirituality
The combination of Catholic spirituality and contemporary 21st spirituality produced social-activist spirituality. Social activism in the Catholic has shifted from labor-management issues to environment-management concerns because of global warming and climate change. Pope Francis leads in Catholic social activism. He wrote Heaven on Earth in 2013 and issued an apostolic exhortation in Evangelii Gaudium (2013). He underscored the importance of saving God’s creation in the face of climate change in Laudate Si, mi Signore (2015) and connected us to Mother Earth when he said, “The violence present in our hearts…is also reflected in the symptoms of sickness evident in the soil, in the water, in the air and in all forms of life.” Pope Francis is seeking to reverse the effects of global warming and climate change by “reconnecting with the biosphere and harmonizing world industrial activities with nature” (Rockstrom, 2015). He echoes what the pristine babaylans were practicing prior to Western colonization and global industrialization in the Philippines. His leanings toward the poor reflect his own assessment as communist in nature. In his visit at Latin America he said, “I talk about this [land, roof, work], some people think the Pope is a communist…They don’t realize that love for the poor is at the center of the Gospel” (Inquirer, 2015).
For more than a hundred years, the social teachings of the Church addressed the labor-management issues and Marxist-capitalist views related to creation of profits in business: Rerum Novarum (On the condition of labor) of Pope Leo XIII in 1891, Quadragesimo Anno (After 40 years) of Pope Pius XI in 1931, Mater et Magistra (Christianity and Social Progress) of Pope John XXIII 1961, and Centesimus Annus (The Hundredth Year) of Pope John Paul II in 1991.
A number of encyclicals were written to encourage the lay members of the Church to take an active part in changing the social conditions of the oppressed. Populorum Progressio (On Development of Peoples) addressed the development of all people belonging to various religious tenets by Pope Paul VI in 1967. Laboren Excelens (On Human Work) addressed the dignity of labor by Pope John Paul II in1981. Solicitudo Rei Socialis (On Social Concerns) called the attention of Church regarding global poverty and human deprivation by Pope John Paul II in 1987. Gaudium et Spes (Pastoral Constitution of the Church in the Modern World) became a key social doctrine on how the Church should be part of the modern society after Second Vatican Council was held in 1965. The Octogesima Adveniens (A Call to Action) cited the involvement of the laity as pastoral partners by Pope VI in 1971.
The hierarchical mandate and exhortation of the Catholic Church on social issues are voluminous. Rifkin (2003, p.19) says, “Roman Catholic teachings are a distinct blend of doctrines often viewed by outsiders as conservative on lifestyle issues and liberal on social welfare issues.” But as Helnick (2014) observes, the crisis in the Catholic Church today is that of clericalism and authoritarianism. While the pastoral encyclicals and exhortations are trumpeted as directional guidelines and framework for social activism, the Catholic Church to simply doing a pastoral activism. The logic seems to be that the Church hierarchy makes announcements; the Church laity implements the mandate and the invitation to action.
On the ground, the laity has accepted the responsibility passed on to them by the ecclesiastical hierarchy but the Catholic hierarchy and its attendant representatives like the religious orders are not ready to share their power politically, and much more financially, in joining the laity perform the task for concerted action.
Personalist spirituality
The outcome of Maharlikhan spirituality and contemporary 21st century spirituality is a non-denominational spirituality, no longer founded on church-based or religion-based spirituality. This spirituality according to Ebner (1977) is founded on contemporary theology which is both personalist and existentialist. It is personalist because it relies on self-revelation in contrast to Church-based revelation regarding theological dogma and truth, and existentialist because it addresses the current experience of the believer.
The theology of application, in contrast to Catholic theology of supplication, encourages that “we apply in our lives what we know to be true about our relationship to God, that God lives in us, through us, as us, and that the qualities of divinity are ours to apply in our daily lives, including wisdom, clarity, knowledge, creativity, power, abundance, compassion, patience, understanding, needlessness, peace and love” (Walsch, 2014, p.90).
Two Filipino personalist non-denominational spiritual advocates: George Sison (2009) and Tato Malay (2014). They are also metaphysical-spiritual writers whom I consider as modern asogs, male babaylans (Alcinas, 1668) of our ethnic past and modern urban shamans (Samuels & Lane, (2003).. They profess the innate power of human nature in the tradition of Page (2008), Edwards (1999, 1997), Walsch (2014), Bushnell (2005), Ferguson (2010), Boorstein (2007, 1997), Nemeth (1999), Vitale (2007), Day (2007) and Ohana (2005) who advocate the relevance of consciousness in the 21st century in the fashion of Grabhorn (1992, 2004), Williamson (2008), Dyer and Hicks (2014) and Hicks and Hicks (2010).
In Ebner’s (1977) paradigm, a non-denominational spirituality is a personalist-existentialist expression of God present as mystery. His Human Race Church embraces all beliefs and faith traditions, and here I must say, the Maharlikan spirituality is included “For not all men, presumably, are called to be Christians or Buddhists, but all men are called to be Godians and mysterians. He explains mystagogy as “the approach of the missionary who goes not to benighted pagans but to people already in touch with the divine” (Ebner, 1977, p.44). Rahner’s (1972) mystagogy reaffirms the pristine value of Maharlikhan spirituality whose God is Bathala. Walsch explains this new spirituality as “simple but startling acknowledgement that our Ancient Cultural Story contained so many inaccuracies…Might it be that God who is continuing to send us the Original Message, and continuing to invite us to hear it and receive it over and over again through the millennia, each time with new and maturing ears?” (Walsch, 2014, p.18)
Sison (2009), as an asog, advocates reinventing one-self. In more ways than one, he is teaching his readers to become a babaylan or asog, whose power to perform miracles come from a realization of that power from within which is a gift from Above. He says, “Fine tune your imagination…get rid of your dislikes,” which Hicks and Hicks (2008) and Walsch (2014) likewise proclaim that we must state and claim our preference. His discussion on Have Your Ways of Reaching Out says that giving advice is really adding vice. Therefore give alternatives, but don’t add vice because miracles of healing come from within. His discussion on Acclimatize Yourself to Affluence is akin to Hicks’ teaching that desires have a frequency and vibration. He recommends moving towards the frequency of our dreams. And finally, his discussion on Reawaken to the Truth is a celebration of our divinity, because the truth that “You are God as you.” will set you free as you meditate on “I am becoming me.”
Malay (2014) is a reincarnation of an asog of Maharlikhan tradition. From his book, Lessons I Never Learned in School, his chapter on Universal Laws of Success summarizes 21st century spirituality discussed by Neale Donald Walsch; he reechoes the teachings of Sison that God is within us. He explains in a more doable way the teachings of Beck (2012) and Esther Hicks and Jerry Hicks (2010) on how to manifest desires and it illustrates in a practical way the universal laws as explained in Real Energy by Phaedra and Isaac Bonewits (2007).
The chapter on I am Kamalayan ends with a personal truth, rather than a mere truism: What one can conceive, one can create. He knows very well how he can make this world a reality. He says, “A kamalayan learner believes that one’s level of consciousness is the power that creates one’s reality.” (Malay, 2014, p.36). Like a guro and guru for and of the 21st century spirituality, he mentors people to reconsider their beliefs. He says, “If what you are experiencing now is not exactly favorable, examine your beliefs and you’ll get an idea where it is coming from and why it is there. Why are you not achieving and living your dreams?” (Malay, 2014, p.92).
Inside the vortex
The vortex of a spiritually-driven management is the convergence of all the six variants of spirituality. According to Hicks and Hicks (2010) inside that vortex is the vibration of energy of life itself, defining Who We Really Are. Getting into the vortex “means focusing your mind upon the thoughts that allow your alignment with the broader part of who-you-really-are. And who you really are…is already in the Vortex” (Hicks & Hicks, 2010, p.xii).
Inside the vortex is “vibrational energy [that] can resonate within you about your essence, about finding yourself in the deepest level” (Samuels & Lane, 2003, p.18). Walsch asserts “In the moment that we accept that we are, each of us, individuated expression of The Divine, we realize as well that nothing can happen to us, and that everything must be happening through us…but at our mutual spiritual behest…we might collectively create and encounter conditions allowing us to announce and declare, express and fulfill, experience and become Who We Really Are. It is in this condition that God is made flesh and dwells among us” (Walsch, 2014, p.123).
According to Pillans (2014, p.11), “Wellbeing is comprised of the mutually supportive relationship between the physical, psychological and social health of the individual.” But Dyck and Neubert (2011), Karakas (2010) and Robert, Young and Kelley (2006) refer to wellbeing as a dimension of work spirituality. On the other hand, Hicks and Hicks (2008, p.311) define well-being as “The universal state of feeling good.” They go on to explain it, metaphysically and spiritually, that “The basis of All-That-Is is Well-Being. There is no source of anything that is other and Well-Being. If you believe you are experiencing something other than Well-Being, it is only because you have somehow chosen a perspective that is temporarily holding you out of reach of the natural Well-Being that flows” (Hicks & Hicks, 2008, p.307).
The babaylans and saints have discovered this vortex long time ago but their art of true living has been obscured in modern society. . Ancient wisdom describes the vortex in the words of Walsh (2007) as “The kingdom of heaven is within you.” in Christianity; “Those who know themselves know their Lord.” in Islam; “Those who know completely their own nature, know heaven.” in Confucianism; “He is in all, and all is in Him.” in Judaism; “In the depths of the soul, one sees the Divine, the One.” in The Book of Change; “Atnan [individual consciousness] and Brahman [universal consciousness] are one.” in Hinduism; and “Look within, you are the Buddha.” in Buddhism.
Inside the vortex is a higher state of spiritual life and energy “known by many names: enlightenment, liberation, salvation and satori, fana and nirvana, awakening and Ruah Ha-qodesh, Different names, but all point to the highest human possibility, which, paradoxically is simply a recognition of who we really are” (Walsh, 2007, p.28)
Conclusion
In 1911, the pioneering Brothers came to the Philippines and opened a residencia for the Brothers and school boys and an escuela. Their mission was simple: Christian education of Filipino youth. From that mission, they granted a diploma for a course in business and later a diploma in liberal arts. Historically, the Brothers had kept a human touch in business. As it is today, DLSU has Liberal Arts-Commerce double degree, humanizing business as it were.
Spiritual formation
The call to provide a Christian life among the students did not end in the De La Salle classroom. Spiritual development was further developed in co-curricular organizations of the Sodality of Mary and Student Catholic Action. They served as an evangelization arm of the Church and at the same time a modality for personal spiritual formation. After Vatican II and after the EDSA revolution, the COSCA was born in response to local social needs. As it is today, COSCA leads DLSU in community engagements.
The spiritual pendulum swung from a personal spiritual concern to a social concern driven by corporate social responsibility and Catholic social teachings. The emphasis on individual spirituality has been momentarily interrupted. The proposal for a spiritually-driven management for MOD is an attempt to redirect its focus on the original mission of the Brothers: Spirituality in the 21st century must go beyond faith-based management because of globalization and technological connectedness. Most critical is the the challenge is to rediscover our pre-Spanish consciousness in the pristine Royal Kingdom of Maharlikha in Southeast Asia.
Spiritually-driven management Spiritually-driven management is relocating oneself at the vortex of the three spirituality spheres in conceptual framework Figure 2: Maharlikhan spiritual DNA, Catholic devotional spirituality, and Global 21st century spirituality. Operating from that vortex, one is able to recognize experiences as a result of the convergence of these spiritual phenomena: folk practices (Maharlikhan DNA-devotional spirituality), social-activism (devotional-global spirituality), and personalist spirituality (Marhalikhan DNA-global spirituality).
Sustainable spiritual management An educational leader who is immersed at the vortex of a spiritually-driven management can develop for herself/himself a sustainable new spirituality by applying the situational leadership matrix of Hersey and Blanchard (1988). Leadership in a Catholic institution should recognize that a spiritually-driven manager deals with three spiritual modalities with three spiritual variants. As these six elements of spirituality are personally nurture, a spiritually-driven management at the institutional level would have truly embraced a local and global spiritual environment.
Recommendation
For the De La Salle MOD, the spiritually-driven management framework can be used in redesigning its business curriculum in coordination with COSCA’s co-curricular activities for community engagements. First, using the spiritually-driven framework, MOD’s current programs in “bridging faith and management practice” may be reviewed and studied to provide an empirical data on the strength and opportunities of MOD as a spiritual agent in business management. Second, COSCA may review its role in promoting a social-activist spirituality in coordination with all the stakeholders its serves within the university. Finally, the De La Salle Campus Ministry may wish to promote Maharlikhan spirituality, social-activist spirituality and global spirituality among the students, faculty, non-teaching staff and administrators going beyond its current focus on Lasallian spiritual formation and services.
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