Instructions:
Please, read the following article. Once you have read the article, type your analysis (single-spaced) below the article and submit it on the relevant Turnitin link by the due date.
1. Apply the utilitarian analysis. Explain how a utilitarian would evaluate the actions of the government and why. Your answer should take into account all the relevant audience members and engage in a brief utility calculus (300 words)
2. Apply Respect for Persons theory to the case. How would a respect for person’s theorist evaluate the actions of the authorities? Your answer should take into account the negative and positive obligations/rights of all the relevant parties (300 words)
During analysis, make reasonable assumptions and approximations where you lack quantifiable information (do not research anything). You do not need to formulate a rule for testing, your analysis should provide an answer to the following question:
You analyses should justify an answer to the question:
“Is it morally permissible/obligatory for the Philippines authorities to create the buffer zones?”
Article:
Philippines President Benigno Aquino will restrict construction on some of the country’s coastline after Typhoon Haiyan destroyed half a million homes and killed 6,300 people, a move that could dramatically improve the country’s resilience to the next major storm. “Part of the President’s orders is to establish a ‘no-build zone’ along coastlines to ensure the safety of those living in resettlement areas,” Herminio B. Coloma, the President’s communications operations secretary, said in a radio interview on Sunday.
With climate change raising sea levels and possibly contributing to other extreme weather events that occur far from coasts, whether to reconstruct flooded areas, and how to do it, has become a subject of global debate. President Aquino’s decision runs counter that that of many developed nations, including the United States, who have opted to rebuild after recent floods, including Hurricane Sandy, despite warnings these floods could happen again.
With over 7,000 islands, more than 22,000 miles of natural coastline, and sea levels that are rising at four times the global rate, a huge number (around 67 million) of the Philippines 97 million people live in areas that could be considered future flood zones. Coloma did not provide additional details about what kinds of construction will be banned. He added, however, that the president has ordered a large-scale, urgent planting of mangroves along the coast. The trees can slow down inland tidal surges, cutting 70 to 90% of a wave’s impact. These measures are meant to protect the millions of people living in the flood zones.
Similar “buffer-zones” had been introduced in Sri Lanka, Maldives, Thailand, and India after similar disasters (e.g. 2004 Tsunami). The buffer zones will remove local populations who traditionally lived and fished in the coast-line areas. (Note: not the 67 millions but the thousands whose homes were destroyed by the hurricane). Failed attempts to remove these populations had been made in the past as part of an effort to develop the seaside areas as luxury resorts. They were met with protests from the affected groups.
Developing the tourism industry had been the central focus of the program (developed by such organizations as IMF and World Bank) for the Philippines’ economic development, aiming to attract foreign investment and ensure the countries future prosperity. The IMF and World Bank see the development of the tourism industry as the best way of raising standards of living and eliminating poverty in the Philippines.
Since buffer-zones do not preclude development of resorts and luxury hotels, critics argue that such policies are thinly veiled land-grabs aimed at developing tourism industry. Such policies displace local populations, deprive them of livelihood, and sometime lead to high poverty and even starvation (according to some reports, 150 women who survived Tamil Nadu tsunami in India were driven to sell their kidneys).
Although justified by security in the interests of the local populations, the ultimate ground for such policies is economic development in the national interest.
ANALYSIS (Write your 2-part analysis below):