By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

For two weeks now, I have been  hounding anti-RH Bill advocates in an Internet forum to reconcile the interference of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)  in the legislative process with I Peter 2: 13, 14 to no avail. Here are the last exchanges on the subject I had with them:

Me: HERE’S THE QUESTION FOUR ANTI-RH ADVOCATES IN THIS FORUM TRIED BUT  FAILED TO ANSWER  IN THE LAST FOUR DAYS. LIKE IN THE CASE OF THE RH BILL, IT IS ALSO RELEVANT IN THE DIVORCE BILL BECAUSE IF THE CBCP BUT FOLLOWS THE TEACHING OF ST. PETER CONTAINED IN THE PASSAGE QUOTED HEREIN, THEY WOULD SUBMIT AND NOT RESIST GOVERNMENT AUTHORITY AND THEREFORE WOULD NOT INTERFERE AT ALL IN THE LEGISLATIVE PROCESS

What is the teaching of the RCC on the declaration of Jesus Christ that we should give to Caesar what is due Caesar and to God what is due to God? Does it give room for RC clergy to try and bully governments to desist from making laws that is contrary to RCC teachings? Pray tell me if there were instances in the New Testament when Christ and the Apostles tried to interfere in government matters. When did Christ and the Apostles acted as if they know more how to run the government than the emperor and his representative? If there is none, what is then the basis for the local RC clergy to be doing what it is doing in the case of the RH Bill? The RCC claims that Peter is the successor of Christ but why does the CBCP act as though his teaching that church people should be subject to secular authorities does not exist? I Peter 2:13, 14 states “Therefore submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme. Or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good.”

Anti-RH Bill Advocate 1: RH Bill is NOT A LAW of the Philippines. It is a bill being discussed. Not approved yet. Have you realized that? Therefore the Church being part of the Philippines has all the right to voice it's opinion. Take note, the church has been granting the sacrament of marriage long before the Philippines was discovered. God has been creating babies for thousands of years long before our constitution was drafted. Who do you think is meddling with whose affairs?

Me: Your answer is contradictory. First, you say that one side of the coin belongs to the Republic of the Philippines and then you change your mind and declare that the whole coin belongs to the church, in this case the RCC. In saying that the RCC, being a part of the nation, has the right to speak its mind on a proposed legislation, you recognize the role of the government to enact laws. Had you stopped there, you would been home dry and we could have started discussing whether or not the employment by the RCC of  its powers to frustrate the legislative process is mere expression of opinion. But you went ahead and declared that since the RCC has been granting the sacrament of marriage before the republic came into being, then, in attempting to pass a divorce law, the state is encroaching in the territory of the church. Which means, according to you, the Republic of the Philippines has no part in the coin at all. Since the RCC came ahead of the government, the later has no right to pass a law on divorce. Now you make up your mind which is which then you can come back and we could continue the debate.

Anti-RH Bill Advocate 1 stopped entertaining the question after this. This was eight days ago. But the following day, Anti-RH Bill Advocate 2 gave this reply: What is “every ordinance of man” that you are trying to force your meaning on? If it's the RH Bill, it is not yet an ordinance! It is still being debated! Do you refer to governors or those sent by him? Clearly, your quotation is inapplicable; for, the purpose of such are "...for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good." The RH Bill does not fulfill any of these purposes!

I really hope that discussions should be on a more mature level, less emotionally/hostilely driven and backed by relevant citations, if any, not questionable or ill-quoted.

Me: You go back to my post again. I was not referring to the RH Bill but to the practice of the CBCP of wanting government to only pass laws to its liking. It is you who are misterpreting the passage. The second part of I Peter 2:14 does not refer to the word “ordinance” but to the phrase “those who are sent by him.” You go over  the  verses anew on the Online Catholic Bible:  

“13 For the sake of the Lord, accept the authority of every human institution: the emperor, as the supreme authority,
14 and the governors as commissioned by him to punish criminals and praise those who do good.”

Now that we have a clear reading of what the Biblical passage really means, you comment on my original post. And also this question: Is interference in government legislation your way of complying with the instruction of Apostle Peter, the first pope, as contained in this passage?
 

Anti-RH Bill Advocate 2 also kept mum on the subject from then on. But the  following day, Anti-RH Bill Advocate 3 took the cudgels for him with this: The context on which 1Pt2:13 ff should be looked at 1Pt2:12. "Maintain good conduct among the gentiles." In other words, 1Pt2:13 says be a good citizen. But, 2:12 says the action is to glorify God. So, 2:13 is subject is to the glorification of God. If it does not, then man cannot follow the earthly authority. Christian cannot be blind followers, but have to use reason together with faith. Which is exactly the Catholic Church. It has to use reason with faith. For faith without reason is superstition, and reason without faith is arrogance. Peter died in the colloseum martyred by Roman authority for standing up to his faith.

Me: Granting but not accepting that you are correct in your interpretation, does the passage allow for believers to try and preempt the passage of laws which they perceive to be contrary to the law of God? Indeed, does the passage approve of believers encroaching into the law-making role of the state by attempting to bludgeon the state into passing only laws that they approve of? Granting that as citizens of the republic, believers have the right to express their opinion on proposed laws, does this particular instruction of Apostle Peter give room for insolence and arrogance towards government officials? Does the passage give room for use of diatribe and intimidation? You mentioned that Apostle Peter was martyred for standing up to his faith. Has the filing of the RH Bill brought the CBCP and other RC clergy to a situation remotely resembling that of the Apostle Peter before he was martyred so as to justify their open defiance of local officials pushing for the passage of the bill?

Total silence from the anti-RH advocates in that Internet forum from that day on. I still saw the three in the forum after that commenting on other topics but when I remind them of the unanswered question, they would ignore me.   

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

The things  Rep. Roilo Golez  would say in his determined effort to abort the RH Bill one more time.  It does not matter when what he is saying is the exact opposite of the truth and he is already insulting the intelligence of the public with his presumption that they would accept his falsehood  hook, line and sinker. Take his statements during the recent anti-RH Bill rally in Bulacan. He was quoted in the media as saying among others that the contention of  RH Bill proponents that a large population and poverty go together cannot be borne by realities because in Paranaque “we have a huge population, but the people are not impoverished”  and  countries like Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, and Korea have higher population densities but are more stable economically than the country. (At 13,999 in 2006, the population density of Paranaque per square kilometer is roughly double that of Singapore.)

Given his position as a congressman of his city, it is quite impossible that Golez is unaware of the existence of official documents in the Internet which gives the lie to his  tall tale that residents of his city are better off than most Filipinos despite being crowded. First, we have the  report of the Department of Health Center for Health Development on January 17, 2008 (http://www.chdmm.doh.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=40) which states  that the urban poor population of his city is at  41.8% and that one of the leading causes of infant mortality there is malnutrition. Granting that the urban poor data is inaccurate, do the children of people who are not impoverished die for lack of nutrition?

We also have the 2009 Local Government Performance Management System report  of Paranaque (http://www.blgs.gov.ph/lgpmsv2/appshome/report/rpt_eSLDR.php?frmIdLgu=1734&frmIdDcfCode=6)  – the LGPMS is a yearly self-assessment by LGUs  which is required by the Department of Interior and Local Government – which says that infant mortality  rate in Paranaque  “is considerably high”  and  “ Unemployment rate is alarming.” Do these data support Golez’s glowing description of the economic state of the people of Paranaque?

Based on his contention that the country does not need the RH Bill and his above-cited statements, Golez is saying that  there will be no serious problems even if the population of his already crowded city will still significantly increase.  That means that Golez is shutting off from his consciousness  adverse realities in his city which are directly connected with its big population.  The LGPMS report cited above  continues that the city’s ecosystems  is in advance state of deterioration with the “Tree cover in urban areas falls short with the desirable condition. Air quality is at stake;”  the coastal marine ecosystem is in the same state with high mangrove loss and marine productivity at risk  as “Coastal fish catch has decreased for the past five years.”  The report also  described water in the bodies of water in the city  as “intolerable” and “worthless.”

In short, going by its online definition which is “Excessive population of an area to the point of overcrowding, depletion of natural resources, or environmental deterioration,” overpopulation is already a reality in Paranaque. And here is one of its leaders boldy and incessantly proclaiming to the country that overpopulation is something that needs not concern us.

Regarding his contention that since the economies of the  Asian countries he cited are robust despite their higher population densities,  what we need in the country is not the RH Bill but “right leadership and right economic strategy,” at his age, Golez already knows that that is asking for the moon but keeps repeating it nevertheless. We have been independent for 113 years now and never in our history did we have a leader who had the good intentions and the will to carry them out of a Lee Kuan Yew. Personally, the prudent thing to do is to pass the RH Bill while waiting for  our Lee Kuan Yew because if we listen to the likes of Golez and we delay putting a rational population management measure in place, not even the  emergence of an exceptional leader will avail us if by then, the country will have turned into one wide Paranaque.

What is worse is if through the two official documents one can force Golez to admit the realities in his city, he would insist that the  huge population of his city has nothing to do with these. He would say like he did to  me when I pointed out the effects of a large population on the environment in my Facebook debate with him (http://northnotes.posterous.com/golez-versus-goye-68373) that to blame for death of the Pasig River and other rivers in Metro  Manila  are defective government  environmental policy and deficient implementation of the same. Like the rest of the anti-RH Bill crowd, Golez  makes believe that none of the ills of the country, present or future,  has anything to do with  its large population. It would be alright if he keeps the belief to himself but the trouble is at every chance he gets, he attempts to spread the lie to the whole country.  

FOR ADELROSARIO WHO  IS SUGGESTING THAT WE LOOK INTO A GOOGLE WEBSITE WHICH CLAIMS OVERPOPULATION IS A MYTH AND WHO SAYS IF ONE LOVES THE COUNTRY, HE COULD NOT BE PRO-RH BILL:

adelrosario, of course sa mga loyalista ni Padre Damaso na kagayo mo, wala kayong pakialam sa mga nangyayari dito sa bansa natin on the ground. Parehas nyo rin si Pacquiao na masyadong literal ang pakaintindi sa mga bagay-bagay. Komo's may word na divided doon sa sentence na United we stand, divided we fall, dinivide naman.. Ang gusto nyo seguro sabihin e para matawag na overpopulated ang Pilipinas, ang situation sa Divisoria tuwing bago pasukan e maduplicate mula Batanes hanggang Julo. Ang overpopulation sa tunay na buhay e kung mas marami ang tao kaysa doon sa resources, economic opportunities and services available sa isang lugar. For example, ang income ng mag-asawa e kasya lang para sa dalawang anak at ang barong-barong nila e kasya lang para sa dalawang anak at ang actual na anak nila dahil nakikinig sila sa turo ni Padre Damaso e lima, may overpopulation sa pamilya nila. Palagi nyong sinasabi na marami pang vacant space sa Pilipinas na kung saan dapat maredistribute ang mga tao para even at walang overcrowding sa ibang lugar at bakante naman sa iba. Kung sabihin namin na lilipat kayo sa Sahara Desert dahil maluwang doon at very low ang population density, gusto nyo? Yong ang punto dito adel. Dito sa Pilipinas lahat ng puedeng makasustain ng buhay na mga lugar okupado na maliban na lang kung gusto mong manirahan at maghanap ng ikabubuhay sa mga lugar na walang tubig at di tumutubo ang halaman dahil infertile ang lupa. Kung kayo kayang mga anti-RH irelocate namin sa mga lugar dito sa Pilipinas na bakante pa kagaya ng mga matatarik na bundok sa Cordillera? Kayong mga alagad ni Padre Damaso, wala sa google at pacland ang reality on the ground dito sa bansa natin. Buksan niyo ang mga mata at puso nyo. Huwag lang si Padre Damaso ang isipin at mahalin nyo. Bigyan din nyo ng puwang sa puso nyo ang mga milyongmilyong mga Pilipino na hindi pa nga alam kung ano ang google dahil sa kahirapan. Bakit, may makukuha ba tayong ikabubuhay sa mga detached from local realities na mga websites na yan?  Ang igoogglemo minsan e kung ilang Pilipino ang living below the poverty line. At minsan mapadaan ka sa DSWD sa inyo, itanongmo sa kanila yong result ng 4Ps survey. Total nagiispendka naman ng time sa google para maghanap ng ammunition kontra sa RH bill, for a change go actual. Tignan mo doon kung ilan sa mga 4Ps beneficiries diyan sa inyo na may anak na lima kompara doon sa may mga anak na dalawa. Pero bat kita linilekturan at halata naman na nabilog ni Padre Damaso ang utakmo? Talking about Padre Damaso, di niya alam na maski ang RC e overpopulated. Ganito yon adel na may rosario. Ang mga schools ang ratio per teacher ata e  something like 1 to 50 students. Doon ay education lang ang pakay. Sa RC na ang pakay e para maligtas kaluluaw ng mga tao sa  impierno, ang ratio yata per Padre Damaso e 1 is to 10,000 kaya tuwing misa lang sila nagkikita at ni hindi kilala ng mga pare ang kanyang mga parishioners. So anong expectmo na mangyari? Ang moralidad ba e maituromo sa 30 minutes sa isang linggo? Yong Thou shalt not steal na commandment ba e kaya mong ituro sa 30 minutes sa isang lingo? No wonder natatakot ang mga pari na pag libre na ang contraceptives,  maging mas laganap ang immoralidad at yong tinatawag nilang promiscuity kung anuman yon dahil alam nila sa kanilang utak na kulang ang turo nila sa mga Katoliko. At paano naman e di naman sila Wonder Woman.  Tao lang naman sila pero iba yata akala ni Bishop Bacani pero ibang usapan na yon.  Ratio Filipino priest to parishioners 1 is to 10,000!   Tignan naman natin sa INC at ibang churches, yong mga churches na di takot na maski babaha ng condom dito sa bansa e maapektohan ang moralidad ng kanilang miembro, mas mababa ang ratio per preacher to members na di hamak. Wala kang makita doon sa google noon kaya ang advise ko sa iyo pagkagaling sa DSWD, daan ka sa isang simbahan ng INC or Methodist o Baptist. Tanungin mo sa pastor kung kilala niya lahat ang mga nagsisimba sa church niya. Libutin mo simbahan niya. Wala kang makikita na screen sa labas ng simbahan para sa mga di makapasok sa loob di kagaya sa Quiapo Church niyo. Meaning sa kanila, hindi overpopulated. Katamtaman lang. Itanongmo kung binibisita nila ang mga members nila  maski hindi pa sila may sakit o namatay at sasabihin niya oo. Alam ko yong dahil di kagayo nyong mga antiRH, nagoobserve ako. Tongkol naman sa mga nagkakasala ng mga member nila ang tanungin mo. Kagaya ba ng isang priest nyo na noong nakitang mas nakakarami ang mga artista na kumampi sa amin e siniraan sa media ang mga artistang iyon na mga dati na raw sila immoral kaya ang tendency e punta talaga sila sa RH Bill?  Hindi na niya inisip na mga Katoliko yon at dapat din niyong tulungan para maituwid ang landas at di siraan sa media. Malamang na sabihin sa iyo na binibisita at kinakounsel at pinipray over or something like that. Basta may attempt sa part ng simbahan nila para ituwid ang landas noong troubled member.  Kaya segurado ko na kung may survey na gaganapin yong mga makasalan sa church nila at makasalan kina Padre Damaso, yong percentage e iba in favor sa kanila. Ngayon siempre seguro pag di close na close ang utak mo, di ang sunod na puntahan mo ngayon ay ang pari niyo. Sharemo yong finding mo na dapat pala binibisito ang mga miembrong  nagkakaproblema dahil epectibo pala yon para di mapariwara ang mga miembro. Ang segurado ko adel maski makita ng pari ang punto mo, sahibin niya na imposible dahil mag-isa lang siya at kayo ay 10,000.  Hindiko sinasuggest na magpasa ng RC ng RH Bill para sa kanilang simbahan dahil ibang kuento yon. Pero puede nyong ikonsider kung gusto nyo.  Ang gusto ko lang na imartilyo sa kukutemo e, hindi density ang measurement ng overpopulation kundi yong avaiability of adquate services for all the people in the given location. Kung kagaya sa RC na ang pari lang e sabihin natin e 10,000 sa buong Pilipinas, ang kaya lang seguro nila para magabayan ng husto ang mga Katoliko e 3,000 per priest. So that means 30,000,000 lang na Katoliko ang maserve.  Yon e kung walang inaatupag na iba yong mga ibang pare kagaya ni Fr  Robert Reyes na always running away from what he should really be doing o kagaya ng iba diyan na ginawa ng fulltime ang pakikipaglaban sa RH at may talagang itinalaga na yata ang CBCP para mag-isip 24 hours a day ng kung ano anong paninira at pananakot kay Pinoy. Siempre hanggang di matapos itong RH issue na ito, medio masakrpisyo muna yong spiritual welfare ng 3,000 parishioners nila. Ngayon adel sino naman ngayon ang aasikaso sa ispiritual na panngangailangan noong natitirang 30,000,000 na Katoliko na di kaya noong 10,000 na pari nyo? Napalayo na yata sa original issue pero don't give us this crap na dahil sinabi ng google ang ganito ganyan, di na namin mahal ang  ating bansa dahil naniniwala kami sa RH Bill. Hindi kami sa computer tumitingin pero sa tunay na situasyon. Kung minsan seguro sama kayo sa amin. Bring your mga possessions already and we relocate you to the remaining vacant areas in the country of your choice dahil gospel truth naman sa iyo yong sinasabi nga google at pacland na malayong maluwang ang bansa natin kaysa Singapore at Macau na di hamak na mayaman sa atin. Baka ang pagkaintindi pa niyo seguro sa population density data sa google e kagaya ng sinabi ni Joey Lina sa Harapan na sa bansa daw natin e mas marami tao kagaya Manila, mas mataas na per capita income. Kung andoon lang ako sinabi ko sana sa kanya na ilipat natin ang mga taga-Bicol at Batangas sa Laguna para maging Singaporena ang kanyang probinsiya.  To end this morning lecture to the loyalists of Padre Damaso, I just want to warn you that defending the anti-RH position is dangerous to the IQ. Hindi lang si Lina na hinahangaan ko pa mandin dati due to his phenomenal rise in politics and apektado kundi si Congressman Roilo Golez. Ang talino pero noong dumating ang RH Bill e medyo kaunti na lang ang angat niya sa kakampi niyang si Congressman Pacquiao. Biruinmo sabihin sa national television during sa Harapan na bakit daw isusulong ang RH Bill e ang yayaman lang naman diyan e yong mga gumagawa ng contraceptives. Parang ang ibig sabihin e dahil kikita ang mga arms dealers pag bumili ng AFP ng armas, huwang ng magbudget ng pera ang Congress para sa modernization ng AFP at hayaan nang manatiling Jurassic ito. Kung sabihinko kaya na kikita rin ang mga kontratista sa Paranaque pag may mga infrastructure project doon?   

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

Honestly, I quaked in my boots when Manny Pacquiao started mouthing anti-RH Bill statements like the proposed law being a violation of the divine command to go and multiply and that corruption and not population is the cause of poverty in the country and other such nonsense.

The day before his fight with Shane Mosley, a Facebook friend who is one of the most visible pro-RH Bill advocates in the social networking site,  made the novel suggestion that we should not give up on Pacquiao but instead try to convince  him that to win his fight against poverty, he should support the RH Bill instead of oppose it. I was very skeptical but afterwards I told myself why not. The reason for my change of mind was the awareness that as a boxer, Pacquiao is a very reasonable man so there is the possibility that if properly briefed on the merits of the RH Bill, he will see the light. So I suggested to the friend that we appeal to the boxer-legislator’s reason by giving him data which proves there indeed is a compelling reason to pass the legislation. One data that should be submitted to the congressman-boxer is the comparison of  the incidence of poverty between small families and large families in Sarangani.

To answer Pacquiao’s argument that had his parents used condoms, he would not have come into existence, I suggested to the Facebook friend that we also show him statistics on  how many of the No. 4 child of poor families in Sarangani have been able to escape from poverty like he has as against the number of those who have not. The purpose is to make it clear to the boxer-congressman that his case is not really that  common and that the more children a poor family has, the lesser their chances of  graduating to a higher economic  status.  

But when he got back home and reiterated his position during the thanksgiving mass at the Quiapo Church, I knew that the idea of the Facebook friend was like asking for the moon.  He might be very reasonable when it comes to the purpose of  besting another boxer but when it comes to things that touches on his religious beliefs, his reason fails him. My impression was not helped by the fact that on his way to the plenary debates in Congress on May 17, he had lunch  with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

What  sort of dispelled my gloomy thoughts was Senator Miriam Santiago when at around this point, she all but declared that the boxer was out of his depths in the legislative ocean  and should therefore stay off the RH Bill issue. 

And more so when  the CBCP, who would not lose a second to lash back  at any statement or action adverse to their position, kept mum on the tirade of Santiago against Pacquiao. I was thrilled by the observation that the belligerent CBCP does not want to  mess up with the feisty and articulate RH Bill proponent.  Worthy of note here  is that they gang up on President Benigno Aquino, Jr. at every remark he makes in favor of the RH Bill but do not want to cross swords with Santiago. I told myself that  we now have an answer to the CBCP.

But what  totally banished my fear of Pacquaio as an anti-RH force was his execrable performance in his interpellation of Congressman Edcel Lagman. For those who admire him for all his stellar accomplishments as a boxer, it was painful to watch him essay a performance that was the exact opposite of his brilliance in the ring. I am sure many of even his most avid fans cringed as he read from his script and could not fashion his own follow-up questions, unlike atop the ring when his punches come in combinations. He  repeated questions that were already  answered the day before, showing to all and sundry that he was not following the proceedings, and made a citation sans complete research which bared  to the world he takes boxing more seriously than his legislative work. He opened up the mismatch with the naïve question why Congress should not just pass a law to solve poverty instead of  spending its time on the divisive RH Bill.  Had Lagman been as unkind to opponents  as the RC bishops are to supporters of the RH Bill, Pacquiao would  have been beaten black and blue so that he regretted the inclusion of his name in the list of interpellators..

He was such a colossal letdown regardless of what his fellow anti-RH Bill congressman say about his performance that I will not be surprised if the CBCP and other anti-RH Bill advocates will now distance themselves from him.

Actually, if they know what is good for them, they should just drop Pacquaio as an indorser like a hot potato. The more he opens his mouth with the intention of  articulating the anti-RH Bill position, the more his unfitness for the role  becomes apparent and as a result, he will end up turning away even his own fans instead of convincing them to join the resistance to the bill.  And does the CBCP think the damaging information that his wife Jinky admitted using pills is lost on the masses? Do the bishops think Filipinos forget things like that  specially so  in this case when  Pacquiao did not give a convincing answer when the media asked him about the matter?   The possibility that the legions of admirers of Pacquaio will resent the CBCP’s selfish action of shoving the boxing hero into the jaws of  a lion is also there. Because whether they admit it or not, Pacquiao wading into RH Bill issue is like a welterweight boxer trying to campaign in the heavyweight division.

What I am trying to say is that the presence of Pacquaio on the other side  enhances instead of lessens the chances of the RH Bill  getting finally enacted.   He is a windfall to the pro-RH Bill movement and more so when he opens his mouth. 

Wait until Floyd Mayweather hears how Pacquiao made a fool of himself  in Congress yesterday. He will have more unflattering things to say against our boxing hero and  unlike in the steroid accusations, the latter cannot take him to court because the  cutting observations will not be entirely way off mark.

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

(NOTE: This piece was written in February 2005 but it is still as relevant as when it is written because the Running Priest, Fr. Robert Reyes, and thousands of other clergymen in this country still think and act as though their mission is outside, not inside their churches. Particularly, it is directed  to Reyes and  Father Amado Picardal who were in the news recently for their walk across the  Philippines intended to try and convince President Benigno Aquino III to turn his back on the RH Bill and likewise to thousands of their fellows who think it is a part of their calling to frustrate the state’s legislative process.)

           I read with bated breath that story in the last issue of this paper about Fr. Robert Reyes, the Running Priest, taking his cause for simple living and environmental consciousness to the Cordillera  last week of this month.  The reason was that I wanted to find out if his itinerary includes Kalinga so that I will have a chance to confront one of the most visible symbols of what the clergy in this country has degenerated into in recent years.   But alas, Tabuk will not so honored by the soles of  his running shoes.

            Given the chance to face this personality whose appearance on television prompts  me to switch channels, I would ask him pointblank what he thinks is the real mission of men of the clothe and if he is accomplishing this by spending his time running on the streets and roads advocating secular causes. Prior to his Cordillera marathon, he was seen on the streets of Cebu City calling for the review of a celebrated rape case there if I am not mistaken.  Relative to this, I would also ask him about the current spiritual health of the people in the parish he is assigned to. My personal opinion is that a priest has no business outside of his fold if there are spiritually sick or lost members in his flock. What I mean is that priests just like other people should first do their assignments before trying to take on other tasks. If simple living is his concern,  Fr. Reyes should ensure that all people in his parish live simple lives before coming to the Cordillera or going elsewhere to spread that particular gospel.

            I would also ask him if what he is doing has precedents in Christian history.  Of course the New Testament did not record all the activities of the Apostles and other Christian preachers in the early days but by any stretch of the imagination, I could not see St. Paul or St. Peter taking up advocacies other than the spiritual salvation of men. And in that they were correct because people who are spiritually sound are free from the attitudes, vices and way of life which Fr. Reyes and his ilk are fighting against in their  own strength. For one, I do not think a real Christian would be so greedy and irresponsible to decimate the trees in the forest knowing that such will endanger the community and deprive future generations of their resource.  The Apostles believed in the power of the gospel in bringing about fundamental changes in the way men lived. For one, St. Paul declared in II Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have  passed away; behold, all things have become new.” When he said that, St. Paul was not making a wish. He was stating the truth because how else would the enemies of the Gospel say of him and Silas: “Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too”? (Acts 17:6)

            Which brings as to the point which I raised sometime back that every time Roman Catholic priests in  this country rail publicly against jueteng, corruption, etc., and in the case of Fr. Reyes run against this or that, they are just proclaiming to the world their inutility as preachers of the Christian religion. As could be seen from the Biblical record, Christianity is not helpless against evil. History also tells us that during the spiritual upheavals in Europe brought about by the powerful preaching of  people who deserve to be called men of God, there was evident change for the better in the morality of the people. The mere fact that Fr. Reyes and his fellows in the Catholic Church still use venues other than their churches  to denounce this or that is enough proof that the transforming power of the Christian religion still has to be felt in this country. I will ask Fr. Reyes who he thinks are to own most of the blame for that given the fact that this country is 85 percent Roman Catholic.

            What the Running Priest is doing has similarity with what the tribes of Israel did against the city of  Jericho in that in both cases, the feet have been used for a purpose other than that of getting people someplace.  The Israelites also marched around the Jericho for a cause. But the similarity ends there.  I will point to Fr. Reyes that there are stark differences. First, the tribes accomplished the objective because on the seventh day, Jericho fell in their hands. By contrast, I do not think all that mileage of the shoes of Fr. Reyes has brought this country any  concrete good and even if he keeps running until his retirement, I do not think it will make this country any better. Second and more importantly, the tribes got their instructions to march around Jericho from God. I will ask Fr. Reyes where he got his orders to run for PAYAK and the convicted rapists in Cebu City because I do not believe God would want priests to dissipate their strength and dilute the Gospel by taking on causes other than what they were called for which is the salvation of the souls of men  

           As far as I am concerned, clergymen should remain in their parishes and do their real homework because in the first place, if they are ineffective in their churches, what gives them the idea that they could be effective elsewhere?

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

Today, we examine the favorite Bible verse of the anti-RH Bill advocates. I refer to Genesis 1:28  which reads as follows:  “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’”  I caught at least two Roman Catholic  (RC) bishops citing the verse to bolster their anti-RH Bill position and perhaps to  make it look like God is on their side on the controversy. In quoting the verse in the context of the RH Bill, these clergymen are merely exposing their inability to properly understand that particular verse. Either that or they are knowingly twisting  the Word of God to suit their purposes which is even worse.

The RC priests who  use the verse against the RH Bill want to make it appear that the command is still in effect which, if true, would make the  proposed legislation contrary to the Scriptures.  They conveniently forget that God gave the command to man when the latter was still the garden of Eden. The earth then was perfect. Whatever man needed was provided. There was no want of anything. That I suppose was the reason God gave the command. Now, if  the condition in this country is Edenic, I am sure nobody would have thought of proposing a measure intended to rein in  its  runaway population growth. However, the sad truth which I have no doubt even the most rabid anti-RH Bill people will allow, is that there is stark contrast between the situation when the command was given and the situation we in this country find ourselves.    

If only the RC clergy would care to read their Bibles a bit farther, they would come upon the story of the Fall and how Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden of Eden as a consequence. There was a drastic alteration in their situation. In Genesis 3:16-19, God told Adam and Eve that because of their disobedience, Eve will experience pain in childbirth, the earth is cursed  and that Adam will have to sweat and toil in order to eat. After condemning the human race to such a condition, does God still encourage man to go and multiply? There is no verse in the Scriptures reiterating the command after the Fall and neither is there one which says God has reconsidered it. It’s up to us to use our God-given intelligence to decide whether or not the command is still in effect even after the earth has been cursed  by God.  

As far as this country is concerned, the answer to the question whether or not that particular divine command still holds can be found in the later part of Genesis 1:28  which, remarkably, the RC clergy leave out when they cite the verse:  “fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” This has already been accomplished in this country. The earth and the wildlife  in this country have already been subdued for quite some time.  Consider the denuded mountains, the dry or dead rivers, the  numerous species of flora and fauna which have already become extinct  and are becoming extinct due to the improvident activities  and sheer number of Filipinos. Our resources could hardly sustain the present population so how much more when all the babies the RC clergy and their blind followers want to be born join us?  

The land in this country has already been saturated by human beings. Go to the most remote barangays and you will see that all habitable areas are already owned and occupied.  The RC clergy and their fellow anti-RH Bill advocates would point out that the Philippines is not really overpopulated because some rich countries like Singapore have population densities  that are way above ours. But the argument is fallacious.  It’s  only  when Singapore turns  agricultural or   we have become industrialized that this comparison of population densities has meaning. The argument does not put into consideration the simple fact that  in industrialized countries, people do not need a lot of space to make a living while Filipinos require a wide plot of land in order to produce barely enough food for their families. If we follow their logic, we will find ourselves believing that the Sahara Desert is underpopulated because of the very few people who live in its  vast expanse.  

Now, if there are no more wildlife to have dominion over and no more living space remains to be filled, are Filipinos still to go and multiply as though they are in the garden of Eden? 

And in the face of current rash of conflicts, natural calamities and widespread hunger in many parts of the world,  in determining whether or not God’s command to go and multiply is still in effect, it would be wise to consider the words of Christ while He was describing the situation preceding  His second coming in Matthew 24. He said that among other signs, there will be wars, famine, plagues and earthquakes such that the magnitude of  human suffering  during those days will be unprecedented. In verse 19, Christ stated: “But woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies during those days!” Does that sound like an encouragement to go  and  multiply?

The RC clergy will be quick to  respond that the advice implied in the statement of Christ does not still apply as nobody can tell the exact time when the great  tribulation which Christ foretold will start.  Precisely, since nobody can predict when it will, the prudent thing to do is act as though it will happen anytime because it can happen anytime.  

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

Two recent developments in the RH Bill issue has placed the Roman Catholic (RC) clergy and  their  blind  followers in an unfamiliar spot.  In the past, they always had the upperhand when it comes to the matter of which brand of family planning method  this country should follow. In fact, they succeeded  in pressuring the past four Congresses to abandon the RH Bill.   Thanks to the twin developments, their control of the situation has loosened somewhat.  The first event was President Benigno Aquino’s fresh  commitment for the passage of the bill albeit in a sanitized version. In the fight over the RH Bill, Malacanang has  been on their side so with  President Aquino now declaring his all out support for the measure, they are disoriented.  They know that this alters the equation  because in this country, the stand of a president on a bill is a key factor in the fate of the proposed measure.

Then of course, this week, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) and a host of  Protestant churches, declared their support for the RH Bill. The RC clergy know that this is a serious  blow to their cause because they are aware that while Catholics  far outnumber INC members,  it’s the INC which makes presidents and even barangay captains in this country. It is not hidden from them  that during the election period, politicians from presidentiables down to barangay kagawad bets determinedly  seek the blessings of the INC hierarchy. This is something the RC clergy still have to experience and might be dreaming of.  

In the end, it is the politicians who will decide the fate of the RH Bill and among local politicians, it is always safer to be on the side of the incumbent president and of  the INC. With President Aquino and the INC now ranged against them, the RC clergy and their followers know that   things are no longer as they used to be.   By just listening to their shrill and sometimes, discordant pronouncements in the wake of the two events,  you will not miss the sense of desperation and the new depth of irrationality pervading their minds at the moment.    

The President’s reiteration of support  for the RH which might have caught them by surprise because of the perceived softening of his stance  on the issue in recent months reduced their reasons to such state all they were capable of doing was to call the President names.  For starters,  Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz called the President “anti-Christian” and Fr. Jerry Oblepias,  Diocesan Family Life Director of Laguna, branded him a “bad Catholic.”  Oblepias went on to  express   doubts whether President Aquino has studied thoroughly the controversial  bill when he said  that  he is against  abortion but at the same time is strongly pushing for the approval of the bill. Oblepias  declared that  by definition “reproductive rights may include some or all of the following: the rights to legal or safe abortion, the right to birth control, the right to access quality reproductive healthcare, and the right to education and access in order to make reproductive choices free from coercion.” The priest concludes that since the definition of reproductive rights embraces safe abortion, the RH Bill now pending in Congress and the version which the President is supporting also promotes  safe abortion.  That to me is like contending that since the word “priest” is sometimes used interchangeably with “man of God,” even Padre Damaso is godly. More insulting and way off mark  is the statement of Oblepias that the President said he is against abortion “perhaps just to please the Catholic hierarchy.” President Aquino who is ready to be  excommunicated for his stand on the RH Bill wanting to please the RC clergy?  

Talking about religious fervor, it  has obviously robbed Francisco Tatad, one of the most ardent RC lay in the fight against the RH Bill, of the brilliance which gave him the distinction of being the youngest Cabinet member during the time of President Ferdinand Marcos  (I do not know if the record still holds.) and later, two terms in the Senate. Let’s look at his latest statements.   One:  “If Aquino’s stubborn support on the RH bill is being done to prop up his sinking popularity as what the recent survey is showing, he is committing a grave mistake and it would not do any help for him.” The RC clergy and their supporters keep denying that more people in this   country favor the passage of the RH Bill and here comes Tatad admitting that the surveys are correct. Two: "If you don't pass this bill, you will not be offending other churches because they will continue to practice the use of contraceptive because there is no law that prohibits contraception."  This was one of his statements after the INC and company announced their position on the RH Bill. The zealot does not realize that the same could be said to anti-RH Bill groups because  with or without a law on reproductive health,  the remaining “good” Catholics in this country could go on not touching contraceptives. 

Back to the prelates, some  of  them have not  heard or have disregarded the official statement of the CBCP regarding the entry of the INC and the other denominations into the  RH Bill controversy.  Fr. Melvin Castro, executive secretary of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Family and Life, had told the media  "The reproductive health bill is a moral issue so everybody has the right to speak on the matter regardless of religion" adding  "We don't want a word war between religions [and] we also don't want a 'divide and conquer' between religious groups." But on April 26, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma, CBCP vice president, declared that advocates of the reproductive health bill are no better than terrorists because the measure could lead to the death of innocents. But the pronouncement of two Laguna prelates,  Bishops Leo Drona  and  Melchor Barcenas of the San Pablo Diocese,  published in the online CBCP  News  take the cake. They both declared that  the enemy are not the people  endorsing the RH Bill  “but Satan who is behind them and seducing these people to spread the lies and make people believe that abortion is not allowed in RHB.”  If that is not spoiling for a fight, I do not know what is. Imagine branding  the entire INC and the other Christian denominations as  instruments  of Satan and terrorists! If there is going to  be a religious conflict arising from the RH Bill, don’t blame it on the INC and company.  Blame it on the RC clergy who, in their desperation, think they are doing their cause a lot of good by making irrational, careless and baseless statements left and right.

But do you know why the local RC clergy and their minions  act as though there is no tomorrow if the RH Bill is passed?   In this country, Padre Damaso has been accustomed to getting his way all the time ever since he first  set foot on this land  centuries ago. For so long, he has been used to Filipinos paying obeisance to him so that this groundswell for the RH Bill is shocking him no end. The truth of the matter is that to them the RH Bill issue is not really about the rights of the unborn nor about morality but about whether or not they will now relinguish their stranglehold on this country.  With President Aquino, the intrepid  proponents of the  RH Bill in  both houses   and the small but terrible INC now boldly standing up to him, Padre Damaso is thoroughly  befuddled.  I am saying this because if it were true that fanatical insistence on untenable RC dogmas even if it divides the nation and the RC flock itself comes with the territory,  why do we not hear of their counterparts in other countries crusading against  condoms and how come  the Pope himself is silent on the easy  access to contraceptives in Italy?    

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

In his piece titled “Individuals, Not circumstances” in the March 27,2011 issue of this paper, fellow columnist Ben Feken claimed that in my writings on the population issue, I intimate that the Roman Catholic (RC) clergy are in no position to talk about family planning because they are celibates and are prevented by their vocation to raise families of their own. I deny that. First, as a rule,  I do not resort to argumentum ad hominem.  Second, personally,  I have nothing against a bald barber or a basketball coach who does not know how to play the game himself provided they know their jobs. 

Since Manong Ben did not supply specific samples of my writings  to prove that I am guilty of the fallacy, let me cite the only time I remember I referred to RC priests being celibates  and it’s up  to readers to judge if the reference was relevant to the issue or not:

“A survey conducted by the Catholic for Free Choice, an international group, found that 77 percent of Filipino Catholics believe that condoms could do them good instead of bad as their clergy are insisting. Perhaps these local Catholics have finally seen the foolishness of allowing celibates to dictate on their sex and reproductive lives. Personally, I do not see any logic in someone with dead sexual life talking about abstinence and safe periods. They cannot begin to imagine what ordinary people – those who have no seminary experience nor solemn vows to abstain from sex – are up against when sexually awakened. If it makes these priests feel any better, I strongly believe that there are even instances when Filipino couples caught in the situation do not use condoms – because in the frenzy of the moment, there is no more time to look for one.

(A month after the column was printed, I found out that I was not alone in the subject criticism of the RC clergy. Dr. Rosendo Roque, a full professor at the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the RC-run University of Santo Tomas,  a past president of the Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society (POGS) and a devout Catholic,  who led a team of  obstetricians and gynecologists which conducted a medical mission in the province on October 8,2010 said to me: “The church is adamant on refusing to accept artificial contraction methods and yet there are no strong moves on its part to immerse in the community to strengthen natural family planning methods. If you talk, you offer options and alternatives to what is offered by the other side so you will offer an equal choice so that the population can make a decision on their own.” (Headline news, October 10,2010))

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

(This was my column in the Cordillera newspaper Zigzag Weekly on April 3,2011. It’s only now I got down to posting it.)

In response to the misguided action of overly zealous Roman Catholic (RC)C barangay officials in Ayala-Alabang in Muntinlupa City and in seven barangays in Balanga, Bataan who passed ordinances against the sale of contraceptives in their jurisdictions, Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo recently directed LGUs not to follow suit saying  such matters are  beyond their province. He said that under the law, the Board of Pharmacy  “is the exclusive body authorized to regulate, supervise and control the practice of pharmacy in the country”  and that the Food and Drug Authority is the “proper agency to classify whether a drug or chemical product or device is indeed capable of provoking abortion or preventing conception and to determine what drugs and devices can be sold with or without a prescription.”

Their action only shows these people do not care about breaking the laws to impose their religious beliefs on others.

****

Eight-time world boxing champion and Philippine Congressman Manny Pacquiao who believes that bashing the RH Bill is one of his talents mistakenly thought  that in declaring that he would not have come to being  had his father used condoms he was boosting the anti-RH Bill position. In his thinking, his coming into the world is one incontrovertible proof that contraceptives serve no good purpose because they prevent the birth of worthy individuals like himself.

I would agree with him if all Filipinos born in poverty have native talents that could enable them to surmount their situations to become productive individuals and even world class in their chosen fields like himself. But the painful  truth is that for every Pacquiao, Charice Pempengco and Efren “Bata” Reyes,  there are millions of Filipino babies who are destined never to be able to break free from the yoke of poverty due to, among others, mediocre or below average natural endowments.

****

Of course Davide knows the difference between the meaning of the word “chance” in the ad and in his statement. However, for want of any argument against the point of the  ad that planned families really do have better future that those who still believe that the “Go ye and multiply” command of God to Adam and Eve  is still applicable in this day and age, like a true rubble-rouser, he twisted the meaning of the word to suit his purpose.

**** 

Predictably, in all his tirades against the RH bill, Davide never talked about the right of those born to adequate shelter, clothing, food and education. To him and other anti-RH zealots, what is important is for Filipinos to get born.  Never mind what happens after that.

True to his demagogic streak, Davide pictures the population management measure as far worse than all natural and man-made calamities known to man. He conveniently disregards the fact that overpopulation has condemned and is condemning thousands of people in this country into situations which forces them to wish they were never born.

****

President Benigno Aquino III who to begin with is being perceived by some people to have  softened in his advocacy of the RH bill is courting disaster by resuming the dialogue with RC prelates on the bill. That’s because no dialogue could change the position of zealots which means that if any change will come as a result of the exercise, it will be on his side. The clear purpose of the prelates is to make him as pliant in their hands  on the issue of population control as was his mother.

In dealing with the RC clergy, Aquino and the RH bill legislators should learn from Senators Claro Recto and  Jose Laurel, authors of RA 1425 which mandates that the works of  Jose Rizal specially his novels  Noli Me Tangere and the El Filibusterismo be required teaching material in  all the country’s private and public schools. When they proposed the law in the 1956, the RC fiercely opposed it and threatened to close down all its schools if the bill was turned into law. The two senators called the bluff and the RC failed to halt the passage of the law.

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

I had a chat with Bishop Renato Abibico and Fr. Denver Marrero at the Episcopal Diocesan Center this morning and confirmed my belief that  Governor Jocel Baac has strong support from the ranks of the  local clergy in his stand that the image of the province is an internal issue that only residents could resolve. They both agreed that it was foolish for the province to seek the intervention of the Regional Development Council on the alleged unfair depiction of the province as a conflict and crime-ridden place by some individuals and by some members of the media.

“Nobody can change our image for us. Nobody can tell us what to do to change the image. It is us who will look for the remedy because in the first place, it was we who created the bad image. We are the ones destroying the image of Kalinga. A new image of Kalinga will come from us. Show the best of Kalinga by our attitude and actions and the result will be a good image of Kalinga. But if we just blame the media and other people for saying bad things about Kalinga, it will not help us. It’s good to be sensitive but please accept that there is a some semblance of truth in the allegations. The tribal wars, the killings and highway robberies taking place in Tabuk are not the handiwork of the media nor of outsiders. They were perpetrated by people in the province.  While it is true that the bad image is being perpetrated by  a few, the problem is that we do not say anything against it to correct our people. Probably the cause is cultural or we are afraid to talk about it or we simply don’t care,” the bishop said.

For his part, Fr. Marrero said that the instances which proves that the allegations that Kalinga is unpeaceful are many but just to give recent samples, he mentioned the recent hold-up of a store around 100 meters from a police outpost  in Bulanao at around 4 PM, the noonday shooting which resulted to the killing of one person near the police outpost at the White Carabao rotunda and the motorcycle-riding men who are sowing terror along the road to Pinukpuk by shooting  people along the way.

Fr. Marrero related that he has already experienced being inconvenienced by the image which has resulted from all these unfortunate incidents. In 2001, he planned to enroll in college in Tuguegarao City.  Although accompanied by his mother who was then a councilor of Tabuk, none of the boarding houses he approached accepted him. Among the reasons given by the landlords are previous experiences with Kalinga boarders who run away when their tribes get involved in a war.  Fr. Marrero said that had it not been for the family of the friend of his cousin agreeing to take him in as boarder, he would have studied in another place. He does not believe that things have changed for Kalinga students hunting for boarding houses in Tuguegarao City and Baguio City since then.

But Fr. Marrero believes that there is hope that one day things would change for Kalinga students studying in the two cities as well as for all residents of the province who are being inconvenienced by the bad impression outsiders have of the place. According to him, that especially so now that the governor has accepted that resident are responsible for the image of the province.  He said that it’s is only when people accept they have a problem that they can begin to find solutions for the same. But he cautioned that changing the image of Kalinga is not going to be easy.

Bishop Abibico also said that what is important is to accept that the allegations are not totally baseless “so that we can start from there.”  He continued:  “That’s because nobody could alter the image of Kalinga except us. Even if the media will keep saying that Kalinga is a peaceful place if it’s not true, then in reality it is not.”

While they laud the governor for taking the first step, they are hoping that he will not stop there but go ahead to do something concrete for the re-imaging of Kalinga. When I asked them what they think should be done, Bishop Abibico answered: “First, the bodong should really be made to work. We should laud the bodong for keeping peace in Upper Kalinga but it should also be made effective in the center of the province where most of the crimes happen. Second, the law enforcement arms of the government and the courts should also work. The pillars of justice should perform their respective responsibilities effectively. Instead of being divided, religious groups should cooperate and work for the common good. We should be ecumenical.”

What I liked most was when the bishop talked about the need for a cultural paradigm shift to occur in order for the image change to take place. He said: “I heard from Kalingas themselves that among them, it’s a practice to invest in guns because they feel naked when unarmed. No wonder guns proliferate in Kalinga.  I also heard from them that the original meaning of Kalinga is warrior and somehow this has affected their temperament. No wonder the culture itself glorifies the macho, the people who have the guts to kill. It’s a bad signal for the young generation. It is important that we give the young generation the right signal because they are our hope.  It should now be those who are industrious, who know how to make a living and who are assets to society who should be exulted and not the violent men. Unless this cultural practice of admiring the violent man is changed, things will never improve in the province. If we could change this perception and these values, there is hope.” 

I am in full agreement with the two clergymen on this score. I hope you too are.

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

I seldom cover Regional Development Council (RDC) meetings. Prior to the one held last Valentine’s Day here, the last I attended was sometime in 2006 or 2007 at the Pastoral Center. The only other RDC meeting I covered was sometime during the term of Governor Macario Duguiang. The main reason RDC meetings do not excite me enough to make me endeavor to catch them whenever they are brought to town is that nothing seems to really result from all the talk that takes place during the occasion, a contention I could discuss in a future column.

For now, I just want to zero in on the  item presented by Assistant Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Gerry Donaal in the Issues and Concerns portion of the host province’s report which refers to the peace and order situation in the locality. Going under the title “Unfair, unpleasant commentaries/remarks on the peace and order situation of the province,” the item read as follows: “Kalinga is perceived by outsiders as a dangerous place to travel and visit not only by personal expressions but even by some Media practitioners. Very insulting is the report of many Kalinga students in Baguio and other provinces in region II that they hardly find a boarding place when they are identified as Kalingas. Tribal war coined by the media is being exaggerated in news items. Even common crimes committed by lawless elements are pictured in the media as tribal wars. The year end report of the PNP shows that commission of Index crimes was decreased by 74% and non-index crimes by 65%. The AFP also reported that the insurgency problem is under control. Accordingly, there is only one barangay under NPA influenced and six barangays as less influenced. These unfair and unpleasant commentaries have negative effects in our efforts of promoting Kalinga as a tourism destination and an investment potential.”

When RDC Chair and Kalinga Governor Jocel Baac asked members to react to the issue, Tourism Regional Director Purificacion Molintas advised that residents should avoid creating the impression the tribal war practice is still prevalent in the locality by  not showcasing the war dance. Governor Nestor Fongwan also commented: “We do not hear of tribal wars. The PNP and the Army should put that in their report for media to pick up.”

Newsman Ramon Dacawi said something about cultural sensitivity that I was unable to follow. What I was able to pick from his reaction was the one on it being wrong to say tribal war it being that Kalinga  is a tribe and that the term inter-village war would be more like it. He went on to say something like mediamen could help the situation much better by focusing on the peace efforts instead of highlighting the violence that is taking place.

Atty.  Betty Lourdes Tabanda next asked Mayor Mauricio Domogan to clarify whether wars between tribes or between families still happen in Baguio City and Benguet because during the last autonomy consultations in Baguio City, the mayor had mentioned about the two places being a peace zone. Domogan said that there indeed were tribal wars “but that was yesterday.”  He related that a peace covenant was forged “at the Easter School Compound during the time of  Regional Director Aguana” because  at that time tribal violence in Kalinga were spilling over into the Benguet and Baguio City area which, according to him, was a pity as it forced Kalinga students to stop going to school. He ended his comments by saying that there are developments in this respect and that’s “what they want to correct.”

Baac effectively closed discussion on the issue by declaring that before asking the RDC to intervene on the matter, locals should deal with it “at our level.” He said: “It starts with us. It is our attitude. May I suggest we go to other agenda.”

That effectively ended my vacillation over standing up to say something or not in favor of silence. I had been thinking of going to the microphone and daring Donaal that if indeed he thinks that the impressions on the peace and order situation in Kalinga were the product of false or exaggerated information being peddled by individuals and by the media, he should lead the people in the presidential table to walk across Bulanao at night, say at 9 PM, sans guards. I was also thinking of telling Domogan that if  he is convinced that tribal violence in Baguio City courtesy of people from Kalinga was a thing of the past, then he should scrap the declaration of Baguio City and Benguet as a peace zone. I also wanted to comment that  no matter how you call it, the inter-village vendetta taking place in Kalinga most of the time still results to murder, economic stagnation and disruption of educational pursuits. That’s even if you refer to it euphemistically as “inter-village misunderstanding.”     I would have ended my short speech by saying I do not feel any remorse for reporting on the violence and calling the event tribal war.

Two days after the RDC meeting, I chanced upon Baac and found that he does not regret not making the RDC act on the concern either. He said: “The RDC cannot give the answers to the problem. The matter is within us. If we do not improve the peace and order situation in the province, no investors and tourists will come in. Development is a dividend of peace and order. Changes and reforms should come from us first. The impression of outsiders regarding Kalinga will only be changed if we start within us as a people. We need to discipline ourselves, change our attitude and see to it that the laws are implemented.”

Amen to that.

30

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

You don’t have to be acquainted with Malthus  or even read anything  on the population issue  at all in order to realize that overpopulation will spell the premature doom  of this planet. Roderick Dumallig, 39, married and resident of Bulanao Norte, Tabuk City, who I recently discovered  to be on my side in so many causes including on the RH Bill, said that to arrive at the conclusion that if we cannot bring under control the rapid population growth,  the world will end earlier than scheduled  all he needed to do was to exercise his keen observation and common sense.

“It does not take a lot of intelligence to realize that the world is not growing while the human race keeps multiplying. In order to keep up with the growing population, the earth should grow also which, of course, will not happen. Definitely, as population grows, our resources are depleted.” That is Roderick’s conclusion. It did not come to him like a light bulb being switched but through a long process though.

After graduating from high school in 1989, Roderick went to study at the Philippine Aeronautical Technical School in Pasay City. He boarded in the Baclaran area and passed the bridge linking Baclaran to the Domestic Road nearly every day. The sight of the shanties encroaching on the banks of the river opened his eyes to the reality of overpopulation. He remembers asking himself that if there was available land for everyone, then how come those people  reside where they are not supposed to?

This reality of  crowding becoming worse  as more people come into existence was further impressed on his young mind in the next episode of his life. Unable to pursue his dream of becoming a pilot due to shortage of funds, Roderick came home to Tabuk in 1990. With his father abroad, his mother already dead and he being the eldest of the brood, the responsibility of tilling their nine-hectare farm fell on him. He shares that all the time he knew that the good fortune of being the sole tiller of the family ricefields would not last as very soon, the land would be divided among the siblings bringing his share down to only a little over two hectares. Looking ahead, Roderick thought that the land would be parceled further indefinitely as the Dumallig clan grows.

Roderick says that this phenomenon of constricting space is more pronounced in his native Mallango, Tinglayan where the mountains no longer allow expansion of the residential and agricultural areas. He comments that if the population of the tribe continues to grow, there will come a time when members will fight over land and will steal the fruits of each other’s plants. Although there is always the option of migrating to other places, the question, according to Roderick, is where in the country would someone now go and there is plenty of land to be had. Roderick is certain that the situation in Mallango as far as the constriction of space is concerned is true to all parts of the country.   

About food, Roderick comments that for  a long time now, the Philippines has never been self-sufficient in food. He continues: “That was said many years ago when many subdivisions and commercial areas in the country were still under the plow. So how would you expect the country to be able to feed its people without the importing rice now and in the future considering that land for agriculture is fast vanishing and the population is doubling?

Later, Roderick drove a passenger jeepney plying his native Tinglayan town and this capital town. As a driver, Roderick could not help but hear the myriad complaints of the people he served whether in conversation with him or among themselves.  He recalls: “Day in and day out, I heard my passengers share their stories of their hardships, about there being nothing to feed the family and send to the child in school, about the ricefield that was not wide enough for the needs of the family, etc.  The bottom line of nearly all the problems of my passengers was there being too many people sharing in limited resources.”

An  ardent environmentalist – one of his passions is planting trees –, Roderick says that inseparable with the problem of overpopulation is pollution. He explains: “It is axiomatic that with more people, there will be more wastes.  For example, there will be more vehicles and machines emitting pollutants into the atmosphere hastening the deterioration of the ozone layer. Also the rapid population growth will hasten the further denudation of our remaining forest as the  demand for fuel will naturally increase. We learned in grade school that for man to exists, there should be plants to produce oxygen for him to breath and to absorb the gases that are toxic to him. With the continuing degradation of our plant life brought about by our increased  need for fuel and raw materials for construction and other purposes,  the symbiotic relations between man and other animals on one hand and plants on the other is being irreparably impaired to the detriment of man.”

Roderick says that in the context of the impending reality of overpopulation, war and disease are good as they have delayed  and are delaying the end of the world.  He elucidates: “Assuming that there was no Second World War and that the millions killed during the conflict did not die, then there would have been more people in the world fighting to live. To my mind, war and disease were designed by nature to prolong the life of the earth.”

Roderick does not think that to save the country from the bomb shell of overpopulation, there is an immediate necessity to pray for war and for plagues. That’s because he has high hopes that the RH Bill now pending in Congress could set the country in the right direction in as far as its population is concerned. If the bill becomes a law, it will help prolong the life of the earth because it will bring down the population growth rate of the country to manageable levels and thereby conserve resources and minimize the generation of pollutants.

By Estanislao Albano, Jr.

            My blood boils every time I hear or read the reasoning of the enemies of the efforts to  put under control the runaway population growth of this country which as things stand, is already the 12^th most populous country in the world despite its minuscule area. I just can’t understand why people would want to use their intelligence to make sure that in a few years, this country will sink under the weight of excess humans.

            Just look at the lady lawyer spokesperson of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines as though that group of noisy people still needs someone to do the speaking for them. During the Debate episode over Channel 7 tackling the two-child bill in Congress, she tried to sidestep the issue of overpopulation by saying that the cause of the hardships of this country is not too many mouths to feed but  unspeakable corruption in government. She calls herself a lawyer and she cannot even figure out that corruption in government is directly proportionate with the population. If the country has double the population it now has, corruption in government would be worse because there would be more people to steal and more people to steal for.

            In one gathering to express opposition to the bill and other bills on population which they perceive as anti-life, Manila Mayor Lito Atienza cited an alleged research finding that there are countries which experienced economic growth during surges in their population growths. That the mayor of a place where all the problems caused by overpopulation such as high crime rate and polluted environment should ever open his mouth against attempts to curb the population growth is already indication enough that there is failure of reason in the man. By the way, Manila is not only overpopulated with humans but with colored giant photos of its mayor.  

            Atienza failed to consider that if that were true with the country, we would have progressed long time ago because our population has been growing by leaps and bounds for decades now. What has been happening here is that we are not moving forward because of the too many mouths to feed and too many bodies to clothe and shelter and send to school. Atienza also failed to take into account that the Philippines is not in the league and mold of countries like the United States and Singapore where the baby booms meant growth in the economy. To begin with, it can be presumed that all those babies were made by productive citizens in enviable economic situations unlike here where most of the babies are born in sub-human conditions. Does the mayor think that making babies in the squatter areas a prelude to improvement in the economy? 

            But the allegations of Fr. Emeterio Barcelon in his column “Voice from the South” in the Manila Bulletin March 5,2004 takes the cake. He mentioned some statistics which tended to show that the population growth is not really as rapid and alarming as pictured by the advocates of population control. I do not know why statistics should still be cited when we see all those people living under bridges, sleeping on the sidewalks, selling their vital organs so they could continue to live their miserable lives.

            He also cited that the population density of the Philippines is only 252 per square kilometer while Japan and Singapore which have 336 and 6,499 are encouraging their people to have more babies. The priest seems to think that the population as against the area is the only consideration in determining if a country is overpopulated or not. He does not understand that overpopulation means having more people than what present resources and the economy can support. In the eyes of this priest and his fellow pro-population explosion advocates, the Sahara Desert is underpopulated because no one lives there.

            According to Fr. Barcelon, the real danger is not population explosion but population implosion or population decline which he said is happening in 87 countries at the moment. The priest does not again understand that the population explosion will not happen in one big bang for the whole world. Rather, it’s like cooking popcorn. The corn do not pop simultaneously but one after the other. Not since the Flood did was there a calamity which engulfed the whole world all at one time. There were countries which were spared hostilities during the two world wars. And the religion of Fr. Barcelon   cannot be found in many parts of the world either. Even in this country alone, the population implosion Fr. Barcelon is talking about could be happening in the enclaves of the rich like Forbes Park and Dasmarinas but outside of those few places, this country is being overwhelmed by excess humans regardless of what these fools say.

            Population control advocates including Senator Panfilo Lacson and Congressman Edcel Lagman have an incontrovertible argument: Two families with the same income one with two children and the other with four children live different lives. I never heard those on the other side of the fence answer that but I imagine that if you press them to do so, they would try to wriggle out of it  by saying it all depends on the sort of parents involved which of course is not the real issue. I gather that misleading reasoning is common among these people and that includes the lawyers among them. 

            Yes, just like I showed in the first part of what now looks is going to be a series  several weeks ago, the enemies of population control would do anything except admit that the galloping population growth in this country is  like a heavy millstone around its neck. One of their favorite arguments which they say is backed up by studies of economists is that the poverty of this country is not really caused by the excess mouths to  feed but by the bungling of the government.

            This is a flawed argument. First, population control advocates never said that overpopulation is the only cause of the poverty in this country. Second, the government cannot make people who are determined to be poor, rich. I do not think any government in the world could provide a situation where people wracked with vices and saddled with laziness and scatterbrains would better their lives. That’s the very reason that even in the so-called first world countries there are also hobos. Governments could only do so much for people. Third, the government does not prevent people who are determined to be rich and have the wherewithal to become rich from becoming rich. My proof of that are the Chinese in our midst. I never heard of anyone complain that the government had a special bias for these non-native Filipinos but they practically own this country and they have only been here for several generations, while we were here since time immemorial. It’s just that for one, the Chinese, unlike majority of Filipinos, have enough sense to sire only children they could provide for.

            Granting that  the reason why the Chinese ride in airconditioned cars while we all ride in jeeps and breathe the air polluted by their airconditioned cars is that the Chinese make as many children as Filipinos do, but work harder than Filipinos, that only shows that the government is not solely to blame for the poverty of Filipinos.

            I know why the enemies of population  control insists that overpopulation is not a problem. Once they admit it, they will be forced to face what is unthinkable to them – artificial family control methods. That’s because even they know that there is no other means of controlling the legendary Filipino ability to procreate except by artificial means. Imagine being the 12^th most populated country in the world despite its puny size. If that’s not runaway libido, I do not know what is.

            Granting that education could control the population of this country, the question is how soon can we do it? Based on the experience of priests who stay in seminaries for a decade to learn to keep off women and yet some of whom still get accused of sexual harassment and actually sire children, that will take a long time indeed especially when you consider that to begin with, candidates for priesthood are already not the common run of males in this country. It is my fear that if the government will continue to toe the line of the Roman Catholic priests that education can rein in the population of this country, by the time we have started the process, we would be giving up simply from the realization of the sheer number of the people to educate.  And by the realization of the impossibility of drilling into their heads the desire to control their sexual urges.

            And it would be good if the advocates of this lunatic solution have already begun   the task. I still have to hear of priests and church workers going to the child factories of my town bearing the news of the small family. As in many of the causes they preach and rant about ad nauseum, they are deplorably lacking in action. 

            Just like Fr. Emeterio Barcelon who I mentioned in the first  installment of  this piece, these people even go as far as say that the Philippines is not really overpopulated. These people refuse to accept realities. They put down the monstrous traffic jams to the rich buying too many vehicles, the poor street people in Manila to government neglect. They do not even see that more people now stand outside the church doors during masses. They still think that the command of God to go and multiply is as valid now as when the world began. What priests and their fellow population explosion advocates  do not realize or simply refuse to see is that God gave the command when there was still a world to subdue unlike now when all natural resources are already in advanced degradation and at the verge of extinction.

            Listening to this people defend the untenable, I could hear again echoing through the ages the desperate attempts of the clergy and their minions to discredit the discovery  of Galileo that the earth revolves around the sun instead of the other way round. I could hear them tell their congregations that Galileo is a fool because he cannot see that the sun travels through the sky while the earth is inert.

            My conclusion is that these people be they priests or lay are more concerned with the perpetuation of a church dogma than with reality  and with it, the real interest and welfare of this country.  It took them centuries to accept that they erred in condemning  Galileo for his iconoclastic discovery and if it takes that long before they would accept that indeed the condom solution is the only salvation of this country from perdition due to overpopulation, then may God help us. That’s because they can browbeat the government into toeing their line which is the subject of yet another column.

By Estanislao C. Albano, Jr.

            (NOTE: This piece was written some years back but it is still as relevant as when it is written because Fr. Robert Reyes and thousands of other clergymen in this country still think and act as though their mission is outside, not inside their churches.)

I read with bated breath that story in the last issue of this paper about Fr. Robert Reyes, the Running Priest, taking his cause for simple living and environmental consciousness to the Cordillera  last week of this month.  The reason was that I wanted to find out if his itinerary includes Kalinga so that I will have a chance to confront one of the most visible symbols of what the clergy in this country has degenerated into in recent years.   But alas, Tabuk will not be so honored by the soles of  his running shoes.

            Given the chance to face this personality whose appearance on television prompts  me to switch channels, I would ask him pointblank what he thinks is the real mission of men of the cloth and if he is accomplishing this by spending his time running on the streets and roads advocating secular causes. Prior to his Cordillera marathon, he was seen on the streets of Cebu City calling for the review of a celebrated rape case there if I am not mistaken.  Relative to this, I would also ask him about the current spiritual health of the people in the parish he is assigned to. My personal opinion is that a priest has no business outside of his fold if there are spiritually sick or lost members in his flock. What I mean is that priests just like other people should first do their assignments before trying to take on other tasks. If simple living is his concern,  Fr. Reyes should ensure that all people in his parish live simple lives before coming to the Cordillera or going elsewhere to spread that particular gospel.

            I would also ask him if what he is doing has precedents in Christian history.  Of course the New Testament did not record all the activities of the Apostles and other Christian preachers in the early days but by any stretch of the imagination, I could not see St. Paul or St. Peter taking up advocacies other than the spiritual salvation of men. And in that they were correct because people who are spiritually sound are free from the attitudes, vices and way of life which Fr. Reyes and his ilk are fighting against in their  own strength. For one, I do not think a real Christian would be so greedy and irresponsible to decimate the trees in the forest knowing that such will endanger the community and deprive future generations of their resource.  The Apostles believed in the power of the gospel in bringing about fundamental changes in the way men lived. For one, St. Paul declared in II Corinthians 5:17  “Therefore, if anyone be in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have  passed away; behold, all things have become new.” When he said that, St. Paul was not making a wish. He was stating the truth because how else would the enemies of the Gospel say of him and Silas: “Those who have turned the world upside down have come here too.” (Acts 17:6)?

            Which brings as to the point which I raised sometime back that every time Roman Catholic priests in  this country rail publicly against jueteng, corruption, etc., and in the case of Fr. Reyes run against this or that, they are just proclaiming to the world their inutility as preachers of the Christian religion. As could be seen from the Biblical record, Christianity is not helpless against evil. History also tells us that during the spiritual upheavals in Europe brought about by the powerful preaching of  people who deserve to be called men of God, there was evident change for the better in the morality of the people. The mere fact that Fr. Reyes and his fellows in the Catholic Church still use venues other than their churches  to denounce this or that is enough proof that the transforming power of the Christian religion still has to be felt in this country. I will ask Fr. Reyes who he thinks are to own most of the blame for that given the fact that this country is 85 percent Roman Catholic.

            What the Running Priest is doing has similarity with what the tribes of Israel did against the city of  Jericho in that in both cases, the feet have been used for a purpose other than that of getting people someplace. They marched around the city for  seven days.  The similarity ends there, however.  I will point to Fr. Reyes that there are stark differences. First, the tribes accomplished the objective because in the seventh day, Jericho fell into their hands. By contrast, I do not think all that mileage of the shoes of Fr. Reyes has brought this country any  concrete good and even if he keeps running until his retirement, I do not think it will make this country any better. Second and more importantly, the tribes got their instructions to march around Jericho from God. I will ask Fr. Reyes where he got his orders to run for PAYAK and the convicted rapists in Cebu City because I do not believe God would want priests to dissipate their strength and dilute the Gospel.

            Now, if after these questions, Fr. Reyes would still listen to me, I would suggest that if he wants to inject something from the Christian religion into his PAYAK demonstration and thereby achieve results from his exertions for a change, he should borrow  what Christ told the scribes and Pharisees who wanted the adulteress stoned. Instead of inviting all comers to run with him, he should limit it to only the people who are already practicing the ways of the PAYAK.  

            The news item gave me an idea. Why should not I, ala Fr. Reyes, buy a running shoes and start running for a cause, too?  That is for priests and pastors stop running away from but instead go back to their original and real  calling – looking after the spiritual well-being of their flocks – and leaving the secular concerns to secular authorities and other sectors. Not that I have hopes that the subjects would take heed because usually, fools do not change their minds. It is just to make the public take a critical look at the clergy running away from their mission and possibly, build up pressure on them to remain in their parishes and do their real homework because in the first place, if they are ineffective in their churches, what gives them the idea that they could be effective elsewhere?

By Estanislao C. Albano Jr.

Shortly after I came home for good in 1985 ending an 11-year stay outside the province, several of my college friends came to visit Tabuk. One of the things I proudly pointed out to them about my hometown was that it does not have paupers on the streets in stark contrast with other urban centers in the country which abound with beggars.

Twenty-four years later, I could still tell outsiders that Tabuk is one place where families take care of their own so that no member has to go out on the street with a pan in his hand just to keep body and soul together. Except for two mentally ill persons who you could see walking or sitting in public places in the city, the streets are clear of vagrants. And these two vagrants do not stretch their hands to people either. I guess they have places to go home for food when they are hungry and also to rest when they are weary because you do not find them on the streets after nightfall.    

While it is true that we still do not see beggars on the streets of Tabuk these days, I  now hesitate to claim to visitors that the city is beggar-free in a sense. That’s because some years after I came home, I have found out to my dismay that a culture of mendicancy has crept into the place and taken deep roots while I was away. I say that because during my childhood, the shameless practice was not yet in evidence. I have discovered that the culture of depending on others for ones needs has become hopelessly ingrained among a sizable portion of the population of Tabuk.  

A  local politician I have had the chance to discuss the matter with lamented that there is no way the attitude of mendicancy in Tabuk can be cured.  From his own experience, the politician said that Tabuk is one place where people would cadge cigarettes and then later ask for fare home and not just to an address in the city but to a place like Tinglayan which is more than P50.00 away.  He also related that during the last barangay election, someone who claimed to be his political supporter went to his house and asked for P10,000.00 so that he could run for kagawad.

“There are people here who have the nerve to go solicit money to pay for the multa or penalty of someone who has killed or harmed someone. A recent case was when a member of one tribe got drunk and mauled someone. After the amicable settlement, the tribe went around soliciting for the multa. There was also one time when a group of people came to me to solicit for barbed wire to fence a land which they grabbed. In fairness to the people in the center of the city, it’s those in the outskirts who take the act of asking others for one’s needs to a weird level,” the politician said.

The politician said that the mendicant culture of Tabuk comes into full bloom before and during elections when individuals and groups troop to the houses of the candidates to ask for things like vats, kitchen utensils and even spray cans.  “This is what induces politicians to commit corruption because people expect them to have much money when their paychecks are just good enough for their family.  On the other hand, many politicians feed the mendicant mentality of the people by offering them money and goods in exchange for votes. That’s the reason why elections in the city are expensive. It’s a vicious cycle. The people think politicians are providers and the politicians think the people could be bought. So one of the effects of the culture is that good leaders with no money cannot be elected,” the politician said. Speaking from his own experience, the politician added that there are even people in the city who have the nerve to go solicit from winning candidates they did not support.

According to the politician, at the bottom of the reprehensible practice of many Tabukenos are as follows: the natural desire of people to get something for nothing;

disinclination to exercise one’s creativity and industry to obtain something; and the attitude of wanting to get something from politicians before the elections on the belief that once elected, the politicians will be beyond reach. 

The politician said that Tabuk is also one place where people plan celebrations and then go around soliciting the wherewithal for such occasions. Guilty of this are  barangay officials who go panhandling before their fiestas some of whom admit to people they ask assistance from “Awan ngamin ti ipakanmi kadakayo.” (We have no food to serve you.) Why plan an activity you yourself cannot fund, the politician asks. Why indeed.  Personally, until people fund their own celebrations, the same will  be hollow and meaningless. Where is the old Kalinga practice of hospitality when it’s the guests who will produce the food and drinks for the hosts?

The politician clarifies that there are good and worthy causes to solicit for such as the sportsfests of  Kalinga youth organizations outside the province. According to him, the occasions afford students a chance to ease their yearning for home and at the same time enjoy the benefits of sports. “The important thing is they should have a counterpart which could come in their seeing to it that the event is successful,”  he said.

That reminds me that during his two terms as presiding officer of the Sangguniang Bayan, ex-vice mayor Marquez Sal-ao has initiated the policy that the body will only respond to solicitations for assistance to the sick and victims of disasters. When I brought this up to the politician, he pointed out said that most of the begging taking place in the city are for the immediate gratification of those soliciting and not really meant to answer a worthy need they themselves could not provide for.

The politician said that even teachers are infected with this mendicant mentality when they solicit for medals for practically the whole class. Personally, not only does that negate the role of teachers as good examples for the public but also cheapens rewards for school children at the end of the school year as almost all members of the class gets a medal. But that’s another topic.