Advocacies

Updated January 2022

What I care about.

Some of these advocacies, I espouse by my choice of lifestyle. Others, I support in my capacity as a patron.

This page in split into two parts:

• In principle — Intangible lifestyle choices, if you will
• Patronage — Putting my money where my mouth is, quite literally

 In principle

Free and neutral information; traditional journalism

I believe in the rich quality of long-form journalism that social media can only hope to emulate. I put money into subscriptions to news sites I find worthwhile, and also keep paper subscriptions when I can.

That besides, I stand behind Wikipedia.org, both as a donor and contributor. Wikipedia gets a lot of flak for being ‘editable by anyone’, but they are actually rather strict. See if you can try editing a page, especially a major one.

I have tried my hand at editing a wiki page: I added the entire ‘Characterization‘ section to the page on Maria Clara. I used primary sources—the excellent translation of the Noli by Soledad Lacson-Locsin.

I keep the following subscriptions:

• The New York Times — I keep a digital subscription. While it is heavily US-based, they do cover world news and have a morning briefing for Asia-Pacific. They maintain a centre-left slant, albeit with a conscientious, non-sensationalist tone.
• Reader’s Digest — Keep print alive. I have been an avid RD reader, from my grandparents.
• The Big Issue — While not a subscription per se, it’s a weekly publication that helps people who are at risk of homelessness, help themselves. I keep a ten-dollar note with me at all times, so that I can purchase the next issue from the next vendor I meet.

Minimalism, sustainability, and zero-waste

I believe that we are living in a time of excess consumption. The industrial revolution, coupled with the strides we’ve made in modern medicine has made us the planet’s number one invasive species. Our activities will drive the planet to ruin and we’ve only started to realise it. Some things I do in this area:

Rejecting mindless consumerism

• Resisting buying cheap trinkets and souvenirs ‘just because’
• Gifting mindfully, not just for the sake of it.
• Refusing freebies I know in my heart I will not use
• Refusing flyers—I notice I spend a few minutes reading, at best, before looking for the nearest bin. If I wanted more information, most of it can be looked up online.
• Being intentional about my purchases—In terms of consumerism and options, there is no better time to be alive. Most of your purchases can wait.
• Not observing excessive consumerist holidays, such as:
  • Halloween as popularised by the US
  • 11.11 ‘Single’s Day’ sales in Southeast Asia
  • Christmas gift shopping, ‘just because’
  • Boxing Day sales
• Practicing ‘no spend’ periods:
  • During Lent—from Ash Wednesday until Holy Saturday
  • During Advent—from the first Sunday of Advent until the Epiphany

Keeping the spirit of Sabbath

2185 On Sundays and other holy days of obligation, the faithful are to refrain from engaging in work or activities that hinder the worship owed to God, the joy proper to the Lord’s Day, the performance of the works of mercy, and the appropriate relaxation of mind and body. Family needs or important social service can legitimately excuse from the obligation of Sunday rest. The faithful should see to it that legitimate excuses do not lead to habits prejudicial to religion, family life, and health.

2186 Those Christians who have leisure should be mindful of their brethren who have the same needs and the same rights, yet cannot rest from work because of poverty and misery. Sunday is traditionally consecrated by Christian piety to good works and humble service of the sick, the infirm, and the elderly. Christians will also sanctify Sunday by devoting time and care to their families and relatives, often difficult to do on other days of the week. Sunday is a time for reflection, silence, cultivation of the mind, and meditation which furthers the growth of the Christian interior life.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

In line with avoiding mindless consumerism, I am conscious as a Catholic to be mindful of my power and behaviours as a consumer. I avoid activities that demand other people to work when they could be resting—I avoid dining out, ordering in, or even going idle shopping on Sundays as well as important family holidays such as Christmas and New Year’s. Since 2021, I have made the decision to avoid unnecessary shopping beginning the first Sunday of Advent until the Epiphany. The pandemic has exacerbated what has always been a fact—that retail workers are stressed, overworked and forced to work through the holidays to keep up with rising consumer demands, especially during the Christmas holidays.

Closing the loop

Between covid and the many changes in my personal life, this area has taken a backseat. Mental health is more important.

Before zero waste was trending, I was deeply fascinated by its much more unattractive, older term—solid waste management. I knew that ever single thing I threw out had to go somewhere, and I wanted to mind my part by doing the following:

• Rejecting single-use plastic
• Seeking plastic alternatives where possible (such as glass, wood, or tin)
• Buying things package-free, and refusing additional bags
• Reusing packaging when I get them
• Following recycling guidelines, meaning I wash and dry plastic food packaging before binning them!
• Refusing cutlery when ordering in
• Composting kitchen scraps at home

Minimising impact

How do we save the world from global warming, ocean acidification, and the rapid depletion of natural resources? How do we minimise our carbon footprint? Here are some things I do:

• Not upgrading an otherwise working smartphone—phones and devices use up two particular high-value resources: gold and lithium. We have not quite figured out what to do with all the e-waste we’re generating—or the heavy metals they tend to leach.
• Being mindful about my energy usage—energy use is still the number one driver of CO2 emissions.
• Buying gadgets secondhand (laptops and digital cameras in particular have a thriving secondhand market)
• Walking or taking public transport
• Carpooling with friends or (pre-covid) using carpooling services.
• Buying local
• Shopping for seasonal produce to support local farmers

Ethical fashion

Vivienne Westwood said it best:

Buy less, use it well, make it last.

You do not take care of what you do not value. What you do not value is cheap.

In this vein, I don’t buy into fast fashion, and actively avoid buying cheap garments. For one, they’re cheap because they’re made of plastic (polyester, nylon, rayon) and for two, they were likely made using sweatshop labour. A lot of fast fashion brands make their items dirt-cheap because they exploit garment workers in poorer countries.

If you’d like to know more about ethical fashion, see the following:

• Clean Clothes Campaign
• Fashion Revolution

I understand that good-quality clothing made with natural fibres and paid with living wages cost an arm and leg. It’s not affordable and it’s a process that you can start slowly. Consider the following statistics:

• Clothing production has roughly doubled since 2000. People bought 60% more garments in 2014 than in 2000, they only kept the clothes for half as long. (Source)
• The average American woman owns 30 outfits—one for every day of the month. In 1930, that figure was nine. (Source)
• While the average American throws away 65 pounds of clothing per year

When you think on what you have in your wardrobe, you really do not need more. A few things I can share with you:

• I have worn the same ‘date night’ dress to my engagement dinner and subsequent birthday and anniversary dinners with my husband. It was a dress my mom originally wore, which she lent to me way back in 2011.
• I have a go-to peach dress and matching shoes that I’ve been wearing since 2015. It has since seen three weddings and one baptism.
• Where they’re available in my size and style, I buy clothes and accessories secondhand.
• I also regularly sell and donate clothes I no longer wear—this includes my wedding gown, which I had given away.

Slow living and intentionality

I no longer fear missing out. I couldn’t care less about the latest must-see movie, TV series, or gadgets. I recognise the inherent harm and addictive nature of social media platforms and seek to be intentional with my usage. Some things I do in this area:

• Cooking at home and preparing meals from scratch.
• Reducing screen time
• Prioritising rest and protecting my mental health. This includes:
  • Getting enough sleep—my husband and I have a realistic winddown time in the evening and get at least 7.5 hours of sleep on most days. We let ourselves sleep in when we’re tired.
  • Getting regular exercise—this is proven to help improve and maintain your mental health. Even a daily 15-minute walk can lift your mood. We do not take this for granted.
• Protecting the boundaries between my work and personal life.
• Seeking deliberate periods of rest and ‘do nothing’ days.

Slow growth

I do not subscribe to the ‘hustle culture’. This doesn’t mean that I’m not driven. I am quite the go-getter, for people who know me in my career.

What I mean by slow growth is that I believe in organic engagement and providing value to society. I’m a consummate consumer and will quickly get behind brands who live and espouse values—anything good and praiseworthy—rather than simply exist to make money.

I also believe in responsible finances—get out of debt, don’t spend more than you earn, put some money towards savings, and invest in your retirement. When done right, these four things are enough to give you a happy life.

Almsgiving

A tenet of the Catholic teaching is charity. The following are what we call the ‘corporal works of mercy’:

• Feed the hungry.
• Give drink to the thirsty.
• Shelter the homeless.
• Clothe the naked.
• Visit the sick and imprisoned.
• Bury the dead.

Focussing on the first four, I try to do my part. The world is full of people who are hungry, thirsty, cold, and needy. Since I cannot give them exactly what they need, I give them money.

You might protest and tell me I’m being naïve or gullible, but I only have one question—the dirty man appealing to passengers on the bus, or the woman carrying a child in the street—would you trade places with them? Would they make such poor use of their time, if they have access to something far less tedious, and much more rewarding?

I have learned this from r/Catholicism—if you give to those who deserve it, then that’s justice, not charity. Charity is giving precisely to those who have done nothing to deserve it.

Protection and conservation of native rainforests

I say rainforests in particular because I grew up in the Philippines, whose natural climate lends itself to rainforests. But really, any conservation effort where you live is worth getting behind.

It’s not enough to indiscriminately plant fast-growing mahogany (which is an exotic tree and contributes nothing to the local ecosystem) or manufacture a man-made forest. We need to restore our rainforests with native trees, which cultivate native wildlife and biodiversity. Forest succession can be expedited, but only if we carefully plant the right trees.

Wherever you live, it’s important to understand your locality’s conservation efforts to protect the environment from deforestation, erosion and loss of species.

The Philippines in particular is vulnerable to deforestation, and has lost most of its forest cover in the last century. There are plenty of rainforestation initiatives locally, a few of which I have been a patron both in the past and presently.

Patronage

Personally, I do not care to tell you which causes I’ve donated to. Nonetheless, it does help make the act of charity more relatable, more attainable, when you know someone who does. I hope that by sharing these I’m able to spread awareness. Overall, I spend roughly 2% of my income on the following:

World Food Programme

So many children and families are starving. Consider what is happening in Yemen, where people are dying of hunger. Famine and strife has struck the country and we’re no longer hearing about it. Consider all the other thousands of souls only longing for a bite to eat.

St. Mary’s House of Welcome

Homelessness happen even in wealthy countries like Australia. St. Mary’s House of Welcome seeks to give homeless people dignity by providing hot food and showers to anyone who might come at their doors at Brunswick.

Habitat for Humanity PH

You only need to walk outside any city in Metro Manila to see the homeless—street children. Mothers. Old people. Sometimes they have slippers. Often they’re barefoot. People who live crooks and corners. Several years ago there was some discussion on whether people in shanties should be driven away for ‘better’ infrastructure projects. Many people pointed that a lot of people that keep Metro Manila running—clerks, cashiers, store attendants, labourers—live in informal housing.

Habitat for Humanity works with local governments to develop low-cost housing and makes these attainable to the people who need it most.

Gentle Hands, Inc.

Habitat helps families who can, in a way, help themselves. Children born in the street cannot always help themselves, or understand what their lives should look like beyond being hungry, barefoot, and barely clothed.

Gentle Hands seek to protect, rehabilitate, shelter, and give these children a loving environment to grow up in, with the end-goal of adoption or reunification with their relatives.

Unlike the other organisations I’ve listed here, Gentle Hands receives donations in kind. If you’re interested, skip ahead to ‘Our needs’ here.

Philippine Parks and Biodiversity

Philippine Parks and Biodiversity seeks to conserve Philippine biodiversity through the sustainable development of parks, protected areas and the restoration of ecosystems. They works closely with grassroots communities and apply a multi-stakeholder approach to their credo.

After supporting other local organisations and eyeing the activities of a few, I was a bit tired of seeing the primary activities being only social media engagement and discussion forums. I wanted to back an organisation that actually does tangible things and reports back on the timelines and numbers of seedlings planted, local communities engaged with, and so on.

CARA Welfare Philippines

If you’ve ever walked through Ayala Triangle, or Greenbelt Park, you may have noticed the population of healthy-looking cats living there. This is made possible by CARA. They practice trap-neuter-vaccinate-return (TNVR) and continually feed cats in areas they work with.

TNVR works two-fold: it gives street cats a better quality of life, and it prevents future populations of cats from suffering neglect and abandonment.

They also focus on dogs, but I am a cat person and tend more towards them.

CARA Philippines accepts volunteers as well as donations in kind. If you’re interested in adopting, fostering, or just volunteering your time, do have a look at their website.

Wikimedia Foundation

I’m a regular donor to Wikimedia Foundation. My very first donation was in 2014, as a one-off. I resumed donating in 2018. I forego the price of a few cups of brewed coffee every month to help keep the Wikimedia Foundation afloat.

My contributions are not limited to these, and I seek to help or get involved in small ways where the opportunity is presented to me—at work, at my church, or face-to-face with a person in the street.

I am not trying to brag, and I’m sure there are people who give much, much more than I do. This is a slow and continual process for me, after careful consideration of my values and, more importantly, after consideration of what has been given to me. You may not feel like you’re in a position to give, or that you’re not ready. That’s okay. Everyone’s circumstances are different. I just wanted to share what I believe in, and the actions I take to substantiate them.