[Corruption in the Philippines] A Theological Understanding of Power for Poverty Alleviation in the Philippines #7/82

44For exploring and analyzing the data collected from the ethnographic research, I used power theories for ontological reflection, a theology of power for critical evaluation, and diaspora missiology for missional transformation (see Table 1and Figure 1).

The first step is to phenomenologically study power structures in the Philippines, and power perceptions (power and powerlessness) of Filipinos, through ethnographic interviews with Filipino American Protestants. In this process, I began by learning to see the world as the people I served do. It was important for me to reserve judgment until I was able to “fully study and understand the categories, assumptions, beliefs, worldviews, and logics the people used, and then understand how these shaped the way they think.”45

Table 1. Four Steps of Analytical Framework

The second step is to ontologically reflect on the collected data from ethnographic research, by exploring, projecting, and analyzing them through power theories like power-over, power-to, power-with, and power-within (see the section of Literature Review below). In this process, the “objective reality” of powerlessness was tested. Chapter 3and chapter 4have an extensive description on how the objective reality of powerlessness in the Philippines is reflected by the power theories.

Figure 1. Four Steps of Analytical Framework

The third step is to critically evaluate the collected data in the light of a theology of power (see Literature Review in chapter 2). This process is very significant in a way to figure out the alternative models that are biblically based and theologically sound. In the endings of chapter 6, I conclude by offering a critical evaluation on two major causes of powerlessness, in light of a theology of power.

The fourth step is to bring about missionaltransformation. Through the lens of Agency Theory and Diaspora Missiology, this study explored the potential models of “mission through” and “mission by/beyond” Filipino American Protestants for the transformation of the Philippines. Diaspora Missiology shed light on the missional agency of Filipino American Protestants.

Theoretical Framework

Transformational Development

The term transformational developmentreflects my ultimate goal for this study. According to Bryant L. Myers, transformational development seeks “positive change in the whole of human life materially, socially, psychologically and spiritually.”46Therefore, in transformational development, we need to explore not only the external causes that interplay “between the physical and social causes of poverty,” but also “the largely internal contribution to poverty resulting from mental and spiritual causes.”47This understanding helped the entire frame of this study: chapter 3discusses the external causes of powerlessness and chapter 4explores the internal contributors to powerlessness. Chapter 3reveals and tackles socio-political-economic-religious structures which cause and perpetuate a sense of powerlessness, and therefore, need to be transformed. Moreover, chapter 4challenges Filipino socio-cultural-psychological practices which also cause and perpetuate a sense of powerlessness. Furthermore, chapter 5deals with this issue of powerlessness in a spiritual point of view, that is, Diaspora Missiology and Missional Agency, and then showcases how everyday people can transform these structural evils and fatalistic cultural practices not only by their faith and spiritual power but also by their organizational networks. This spiritual perspective is also supported by a theology of power (described in chapter 2), and some theological understandings of power by different scholars, like Robert Linthicum and Walter Wink (refer to chapter 2). In this regard, transformational development as a theoretical framework underlies this entire chapter of the study.

In the adjective transformational, we are reminded, “True human development involves making choices, setting aside that which is not for life in us and in our community, while actively seeking and supporting all that is for life.”48Thus, transformation implies “changing our choices.”49I believe that the word choiceincludesan implicit meaning of how to use power or agency. For this reason, the transformation of a sense of powerlessness starts from recognizing the different choices in wielding power, and discerning which choice empowers or disempowers everyday people. For this purpose, this study offers some extensive descriptions about what kinds of power are in play (refer to power theories in chapter 2), how the fallen powers can be named and made visible (see chapter 3and 4), and then ultimately the ways through which power should be transformed (chapter 3, 4, and 5).