Indigenous and Sustainable Environmental Virtues in St. John Paul II Village in Infanta, Quezon (Philippines)

Abstract

To illustrate the practical application of the concept of sustainable development in the context of ecological crisis, this paper used a phenomenological method that is centered on the understanding of prevailing philosophies, orientations, and experiences existing in the locus of study—St. John Paul II Village in Infanta, Quezon. The St. John Paul II Village mainly houses the poor victims of the 2004 flash flood. These victims consist of families whose heads are mostly subsistence farmers and fishermen. Almost 1000 people died and at least 450 others went missing as huge logs and other forest debris rapidly flowed down from the Sierra Madre mountain range and bulldozed entire communities. Moved by the people’s depressing condition, the local church of the Prelature of Infanta sought help from individuals and organizations to build St. John Paul II Village and help people regain their livelihoods. The people live with a common aspiration: to live in a harmonious community far away from environmental tragedies and problems. The researcher listened and reflected thematically on the indigenous environmental virtues that emerged and were articulated out of the lived experiences of his co-researchers. The researcher’s eidetic insight recognized his co-researchers’ practice of indigenous environmental virtues as a way to holistic spirituality which finds its expression towards sustainable development, and hence, contributes to the implementation of the SDGs.