A new take at honesty
August 30, 2008 – 9:34 pmFrom COMMotion: The Official Magazine of the Ateneo Association of Communication Majors (”http://acomm.org/commotion/?p=53″)
A new take at honesty
How does ASLA’s “Honesty Store” test a person’s sincerity?
By Gel Galang, photos by Bianca Redoblado
AT THE corner of the MVP Center for Student Leadership basement is a closet full of snacks and goodies. Similar to a café in Batanes, this establishment’s policy is to pay for what one takes, with no one to answer to the item’s payment.
Indeed, the Ateneo Student Leaders Assembly’s “Honesty Store” is almost like a cookie jar lying in wait. Hungry students can take a treat anytime they wanted to, with no consequences to worry about. Or are there?
Hand in the cookie jar
Perhaps the worst possible time to steal something is lunch time. Everyone is situated in their own little corners at the MVP basement. It didn’t help that there was a considerably long line leading to the Honesty Store, with students readying their money to insert into a tiny cash box.
After loitering at the end of the line, I finally got a handful of mints (the smallest, most unnoticeable goods to steal), paid half my bill, and disappeared into the crowd with my friends.
However, the plan was to steal something, not chicken out and pay half the price. This wasn’t a discount sale.
I didn’t know what I was more bothered with: the fact that I had deviated from the plan and paid a 50% discount price, or the more disturbing thought that I was actually trying to fool my conscience by trying to lighten my crime.
Cookie crumb values
“My tito (uncle) got this concept from the Boodle Bar, [which is] a system in the [Philippine Military Academy],” says Eric Smith (IV BS CTM) on the beginnings of the Honesty Store. “It also [functions] the same way, but there, they write their names and how much they got, so it’s still an honesty system of logging in how much you took.”
The idea was inspired by Ateneo de Manila High School batch ‘89 alumnus Ensign Phillip Pestaño. Pestaño sacrificed his life by disallowing corruption to prevail in the military.
As the story goes, Pestaño discovered a cargo with logs which were cut down, shipped, and about to be sold through illegal means. Along with it were 50 sacks of shabu and several military weapons that were to be sold to the Abu Sayyaf.
Pestaño felt that it was his responsibility to stop the transaction from pushing through. He was found dead on the 27th of September, 1995, lying in his room at the ship where the illegal cargo was located. The case was dismissed as a suicide, and the Pestaño family had not been able to redeem justice for Phillip’s death.
Eric says that the Honesty Store is one way of attaining this justice. “The Honesty Store [is] not after profit. It’s more of [promoting] the intangible aspect of value formation as well as [letting other people know] about the cause that Phillip died for,” he says.
He added, “In the Ateneo, when you’re being men for others, you have to be honest yourselves first.”
To steal or not to steal
According to social psychologist Arlene Lozano, the effects of the Honesty Store on the student population can be considered revolutionary. She says, “The Philippine culture is generally dishonest.”
Coming from an anti-corruption network, Lozano explains that this type of attitude is not confined to a certain age group. “The culture is that they will tend to make palusot [try to get away with it],” she says. Lozano adds that even among children, there are basic forms of cheating.
Most of these assumptions are based on the corruption level of the Philippines, which very much relates to Phillip’s story. If no one is looking and no one will tell, people are likely to try and get away with being dishonest.
Putting the lid back on
But not me. After an hour and a half of waiting for the experiment to be over, I went back to pay for the other half I owed. Maybe I was just ashamed of getting caught stealing mints from a place called “Honesty Store,” or maybe it was the thought of defiling the cause of the store that made me feel the guilt.
Even though the Ateneo Honesty Store is just a pilot project, Eric hopes that if all goes well, they could expand to other schools.
He recalls that on the first day, their total earnings amounted to P3, 400, which was against the inventory that showed they should have earned P3,500. “That means may umutan g (someone loaned),” Eric laughs.
However, since the organizers insist that the Honesty Store is not after profit, Eric agrees that it is indeed serving its purpose. “[So far, the Honesty Store is] doing a good job,” he says. “When we practice honesty in these little ways, then it would engender such goodness.” COMMotion
Visit www.phillippestano.com to know more about Philip Pestaño’s case.
With reports from Aussy Aportadera
From COMMotion: The Official Magazine of the Ateneo Association of Communication Majors (”http://acomm.org/commotion/?p=53″)
Tags: asla, ateneo, eric smith, honesty store, phillip pestano