Case Study Ethical Dilemma
I. Case Analysis
A. The Situation
As earlier mentioned, the case involves Mr. Romulo Bernas, a staff assistant in Prime Shipping Inc., who earns a salary enough to support his family. He is directly reporting to a manager and has no fixed job description. He also works closely with Mr. Jose Narciso, a former New People’s Army member and is now a bodyguard of a politician connected to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Mr. Bernas has been given several credits for his work. As such, he was assigned to provide some order and system to the shipments loading and unloading in the pier. As he is performing this task, he saw the intervention of custom officials in the shipments of textiles in the port area. The next day to his surprise, newspaper headlines showed six men who were allegedly involved in this textile smuggling, which he knew were fall guys.
After this event, Mr. Narciso offered Mr. Bernas fifty thousand pesos (Php50,000) to remain silent on what he saw and start a new life elsewhere.
B. The Ethical Dilemmas
An ethical dilemma exists when there is a conflict between what is perceived as right or wrong. In the situation presented, there are two identified ethical dilemmas. First, is on letting fall guys be victims of injustice on the issue of smuggling and second, is whether to accept the bribe being offered which constitutes remaining silent on what was witnessed and start a new life elsewhere. The ethical dilemmas however are interconnected in such a way that the action taken to address the first will have an effect on the other or vice versa.
The dilemmas involved deal with the values of honesty, integrity and citizenship. Honesty in this situation is associated to both telling the truth as best as we know it and honesty in the context of playing by the rules, without cheating or stealing. Integrity is also in question because we should always act based on what we is right and what is expected of us, consistently. Lastly,
A. The Situation
As earlier mentioned, the case involves Mr. Romulo Bernas, a staff assistant in Prime Shipping Inc., who earns a salary enough to support his family. He is directly reporting to a manager and has no fixed job description. He also works closely with Mr. Jose Narciso, a former New People’s Army member and is now a bodyguard of a politician connected to the Bureau of Customs (BOC).
Mr. Bernas has been given several credits for his work. As such, he was assigned to provide some order and system to the shipments loading and unloading in the pier. As he is performing this task, he saw the intervention of custom officials in the shipments of textiles in the port area. The next day to his surprise, newspaper headlines showed six men who were allegedly involved in this textile smuggling, which he knew were fall guys.
After this event, Mr. Narciso offered Mr. Bernas fifty thousand pesos (Php50,000) to remain silent on what he saw and start a new life elsewhere.
B. The Ethical Dilemmas
An ethical dilemma exists when there is a conflict between what is perceived as right or wrong. In the situation presented, there are two identified ethical dilemmas. First, is on letting fall guys be victims of injustice on the issue of smuggling and second, is whether to accept the bribe being offered which constitutes remaining silent on what was witnessed and start a new life elsewhere. The ethical dilemmas however are interconnected in such a way that the action taken to address the first will have an effect on the other or vice versa.
The dilemmas involved deal with the values of honesty, integrity and citizenship. Honesty in this situation is associated to both telling the truth as best as we know it and honesty in the context of playing by the rules, without cheating or stealing. Integrity is also in question because we should always act based on what we is right and what is expected of us, consistently. Lastly,