“ATENISTA KA ba?”
This was one of the reactions on the poster taped to the Ateneo Student Leaders’ Assembly (ASLA) Honesty Store. The poster allowed for student comments regarding the P17,236.60 profit deficiency of the store.
From the P119,336 amount used as capital, a total of 90,600.20 was collected, according to figures from ASLA.
The Honesty Store, launched on August 1, is an unmanned cabinet containing goods. The store is initiated by the Ens. Phillip Andrew A. Pestaño Foundation, and hosted by ASLA. It is located in the MVP Basement.
The store officially closed on September 20. However, Project Head Joshua Kyle Tan (III AB MEco) said that the store’s shutdown was not due to the deficiency, but due to the moratorium that there will be no student activities during the finals.
There are a total of four Honesty Stores around the campus. Apart from the one in MVP, there are stores in the University Dorm, and in the Cervini and Eliazo Residence Halls. The latter three, managed by the Pestaño Foundation, are still open.
Combined, all Honesty Stores had a total inventory worth P170,219.75. However, only P119,085.70 was collected, according to figures from ASLA.
To pay or not to pay
For Eric Paolo Pestaño Smith (IV BS CTM) of the Pestaño Foundation, the fact that people can take money from the store and pay the amount back within the year was one of the factors of the deficit.
“It kind of encouraged people to say, ‘I can make a loan, I can pay it later, as long as it won’t reach a year,’” he says in a mix of English and Filipino.
Smith says it was possible that people deliberately don’t pay or that they don’t pay enough. “Let’s say that they take out chips worth P15 and they pay just P5. Then they tell themselves that ‘I’ll pay tomorrow,’ but then they forget.”
It was also possible that only few people commit the dishonest behavior, said Psychology Department Assistant Professor Ma. Elizabeth Macapagal, Ph.D.
A “social experiment?”
Macapagal said that the deficit in the Honesty Store was mostly on the concept of the situation.
Because of the perception of the Honesty Store as merely a social experiment, it created the opposite reaction, says Macapagal. “It sort of created a perception like, ‘Why are you experimenting on us?’”
Macapagal says that people commit more dishonest behavior when no one is looking. “Sa MVP, mas nakikita ka doon. Sa dorm, wala masyadong tao (In MVP, you are more seen. In the dorm, there are less people).”
“So the tendency to comply is greater if there are people around watching you,” she adds.
People may also be justifying their actions, according to Macapagal. “You’re justifying na it’s okay not to give the prescribed amount kasi you feel that the cost of the product isn’t that much. So to them, it’s not really stealing,” she said.
Macapagal says the announcement of the deficit of the store gave the opposite effect. When ASLA posted a notice of the P12,000 deficit, the deficit increased to P17,000.
“By showing the amount, people realize, ‘Some people actually do it! So it’s okay pala!’ Parang na-encourage pa sila na gawin yun (It’s like they were even encourage to commit dishonest acts),” she says.
Disparity
“I think it’s really sad,” says Justin Randall Tan (I AB Philo) regarding the deficit. “I guess people are not that honest after all.”
Michelle Frances Mañosca (I BS CTM) also found the deficit very alarming. “It seems that the Honesty Store defeats its purpose,” she says.
Smith says that it is unfortunate that Ateneans see the Honesty Store as a social experiment. He also said that there is a “disparity between what we learn in class…and what we do in life.”
“We talk about being men and women for others, but then we don’t walk the talk—we don’t actualize what it is we’re here in school for,” he adds.
Project Head Tan considers the Honesty Store deficit as “affective” on what Ateneans are.
“Not that we’re dishonest. But that we don’t take these efforts seriously. I think that’s what’s going on—that people aren’t receiving this as we hoped they would,” he says.
Somewhere else
Macapagal suggests that the Honesty Store be located somewhere were many people stop by.
“Nahihiya ka to do something bad kung maraming tao, maraming bystanders. Pero kung isolated yung Honesty Store, mas madali mangupit (You’ll be ashamed to do something bad if there are a lot of people and a lot of bystanders. If the Honesty Store is isolated, it’s easier to steal),” she says.
Despite the deficit, ASLA will be establishing another Honesty Store in Matteo Ricci Study Hall. “We acknowledge that the people hanging in MVP are different from the people hanging in Matteo,” says Tan.
Smith wishes Ateneans will practice little things, such as paying the right amount of money, in the future. “When we do this every time, just by in connection to its mission, it will help us even after Ateneo to be better people, men and women for others.”
