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 I MPACT November 2007 / Vol 41 • No 11

CONTENTS
IMPACT welcomes the new Papal Nuncio, Arch-
bishop Edward Joseph Adams, who arrived on All EDITORIAL
Souls Day amid warm welcome by well-wishers led
by His Eminence Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and Nationalism vs. Partnership ................................. 27
seven other bishops representing the Catholic Bish-
ops’ Conference of the Philippines. COVER STORY

The Vatican Ambassador came at a time when the

political turbulence in the country is impacting a
heavy toll on the lives of people, especially the poor
whose preferential escape for now, at least for those
who can, is to leave the country in search of a decent
job, albeit the risks. The alarming millions of Filipi-
nos leaving this country annually are proof enough.

This socio-political decadence has been fueled of

late with a battery of corruptions and anomalous
transactions publicly perceived, if allegedly, to be
the handiwork of the incumbent government ad-
ministration. (And one does not even say about
syndicated gambling operations proudly managed
by the government). In the papers, one would even
read of a country that is heavily divided—piercing
even the Catholic Church, or so the perception goes.
Division, of course, is a trademark of a healthy
democracy especially when contending political
sentiments, philosophies and persuasions are The Millennium Development Goals in RP:
lodged in the free market of ideas in view of build-
ing up the country and in the service of the common Missing Out on a Millennium Opportunity? .. 16
good.
ARTICLES
In the Philippines, however, this is not the case.
Debatable as it may be, but the division in this part
Undermining a Nation ............................................ 4
of the world is drawn between those who have
received financial favors from gigantic political
Keeping children safe online .................................. 7
leaders and those who did not. Sadly, this is not Mindanaoan, minority and peacebuilder ............ 9
democracy, because when a person is bought hardly
can he or she be free to philosophize—or even Poor countries need freedom and children ........ 11
moralize for those who are overtly religious.
Weakening the rights of children ......................... 13
Hopefully, the good Papal Nuncio will make a
difference. DEPARTMENTS

This issue opens with the article of Kawagi Andres Quote in the Act ...................................................... 2
Fernan, “Undermining a Nation”. Interestingly, in-
stead of alleviating the poverty situation in this
News Features ......................................................... 14
country, the mining industry seems to be working Statements ................................................................ 21
for the opposite.
From the Blogs ......................................................... 26
Atty. Jo Imbong writes our cover story, “The Millen-
nium Development Goals in RP: Missing Out on a From the Inbox ........................................................ 28
Millennium Opportunity?” Planning for the future
development of this country and the world should Book Reviews .......................................................... 29
be encouraged and lauded. But scheming for subtle
ways of population deduction through means that
CINEMA Review .................................................... 30
are immoral is definitely not about development. Quotes in Quiz ........................................................ 30
Read on.
News Briefs .............................................................. 31

Volume 41 • Number 11 3
ARTICLES

By Kawagi Andres Fernan

S
ituated in the middle of the Philip-
pines, Sibuyan Island is called the
country’s equivalent of the
Galapagos. The Philippine archipelago is
every bit the tropics; a land of rainforests,
rugged mountain ranges, and extensive
coral reefs, but even so, Sibuyan Island
stands out in terms of raw biodiversity.
Flora and fauna that exist nowhere
else in the world call Sibuyan home. Hard-
wood trees that have since vanished from
the rest of the Philippine islands make up
its towering forests. The waters of the
island are so clean that its people can drink
from the lines that irrigate their rice fields.
On October 3rd 2007, Sibuyan Island was
the site of a murder.
Local councilor Armin Marin, who
was protesting the entry of several mining
firms into Sibuyan’s pristine landscape
was shot dead by the head of security of
one of the firms. The councilor was un-
armed, while the security man should not
have been armed—a prevailing gun ban
made his possession of a firearm illegal.
Eyewitnesses described the incident as a
verbal tussle that ended with gunshots,
and the councilor fell to the ground bear-
ing bullet wounds in his head, while his
killer fled the scene.
The saga of mining in the Philippines
is one of shattered lives, of lost people,
lost towns, lost islands. It is a tale of
choices colliding, of what a government
wants and what people and communities
want and how these two things may be at
complete odds.
Mining has been a part of Philippine
life for centuries. Hundreds of years ago,
Chinese traders sailed from the mainland
to trade their goods for the gold of the first
Filipinos. The artisanal techniques which

Undermining
extracted this gold are still practiced to this
day. But mining in the modern sense truly
boomed in the early twentieth century
with the arrival of the Americans. The
industry thrived for decades until a global
downturn of mineral prices saw compa-
nies cut their losses and abandoned their

a Nation
mines across the Philippines. In an attempt
to revitalize the mining industry, the Phil-
ippine Mining Act of 1995 was written and
passed.
Touted by the government as a mar-
vel of modern legislation, the Mining Act
liberalized the country’s mining industry,
working around protectionist clauses in
the Philippine constitution and allowed
(among other things) for 100% foreign
ownership of mining firms and 100% repa-

4 IMPACT • November 2007

 Undermining a Nation

massive public outcry, and the global spot- which is official, lawful recognition of their
light on the “Marcopper Disaster” forced claim to the lands they have inhabited for
the Mining Act into limbo and the centuries.
country’s mineral industry shrank to al- Subanen tribal leader Jose Anoy,
most nothing. whose title is Timuay, chieftain, saw his
Soon afterwards, a series of academic people’s long struggle for land come to an
studies explored the great failure of min- end when President Gloria Macapagal-
ing. The areas of the Philippines which had Arroyo handed him an ancestral domain
hosted mining for the longest were found title to the lands around Mt. Canatuan.
to remain among the poorest parts of the The handover was documented and the
nation. True economic development had photo of Timuay Anoy meeting the Presi-
skipped these places, and mining towns dent is one of his prized possessions. A
quickly became ghost towns once the handful of years after President Arroyo
firms exited. Marinduque was held up as gave Timuay Anoy his land title; it was her
the ultimate example: after being home to policies which allowed that title to become
Marcopper for thirty years, in the after- null and void to serve the interests of a
math of the disaster, the company fled foreign miner.
from its responsibilities and returned to The Canadian mining company TVI
Canada, paying Resources Devel-
only a fraction of opment (TVIRD)
the damage costs, sought to convert
and leaving behind "The saga of Mt. Canatuan into a
a river choked with
toxic sediments. To
mining in the mine. The Subanen
refused, as this
this day, the health Philippines is one would desecrate
of shattered lives,
of the people of their holy mountain.
Marinduque is In response TVIRD
compromised by
what is left in the
of lost people, lost recruited Subanen
tribes people from
river. towns, lost other areas, and
But in these
times, mining has islands. It is a tale manipulated them
to craft a false writ
made a resurgence. of choices of consent for the
colliding, of what a
The primary author mining operation.
of the Mining Act In the battle
became President
of the Republic and
government wants over authenticity,
and in the face of all
An open pit mine of Atlas Mining located in Central
in 2004, President and what people the facts, the gov-
Cebu, with coordinates: 10°20'1.79"N,
123°44'48.67"E. Photo courtesy of Earl,
Arroyo’s policy on
mining shifted from and communities ernment decided
against Timuay
www.flickr.com/photos/storm-crypt.
“tolerance” to “ag- want and how Anoy despite his
these two things
gressive promo- possession of land
tion.” In line with rights to Canatuan,
triation of profits. The Philippine Chamber
of Mines calls the act superior to similar
this, 23 priority min-
ing sites were iden-
may be at and the President’s
own recognition of
mining laws in the USA, Canada and Aus- tified; places where complete odds." his status as tribal
tralia in terms of the standards it sets for the country’s un- chieftain.
safety and environmental protection. tapped mineral TVIRD, with
A year after the passage of the Mining wealth—believed the permission of
Act in 1995, the single worst mining disas- to number in the billions of dollars—could the Philippine government, then ejected
ter in the country’s history occurred. A be exploited for the country’s economic Timuay Anoy from his home in the area
tailings’ dam of Marcopper Mining Ltd. on gain. One of these places was Siocon. and have since ringed their mine site with
Marinduque Island burst; spilling several Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte could steel fences and armed guards. The re-
million tons of toxic waste into the island’s be called the shame of the mining industry maining Subanen have been brutalized by
prime river system; obliterating its capa- of the Philippines. The homeland of the TVIRD’s guards and have had their homes
bility to sustain life. indigenous Subanen tribe since time im- demolished and belongings destroyed in
To be fair, the Mining Act could not memorial, the tribes people live in the foot- order to force them out of the area. Mt.
have done anything about the situation. hills of their holy mountain, Canatuan. Canatuan has been deforested, and is on
An investigation of the accident revealed Like many tribes across the nation, its way to being leveled entirely. Timuay
that Marcopper had been practicing un- the Subanen fight to be legally recognized. Anoy has traveled the world to appeal his
safe dumping practically since their arrival Under Philippine law they can apply for case, and while even the UN has heard him,
in the Philippines in the 1960s. But the and receive an “ancestral domain title”, the President of the Philippines has turned

Volume 41 • Number 11 5
Undermining a Nation
a deaf ear to his plight.
Instead, President Arroyo has called
TVIRD’s mine the flagship operation of
the Philippine mining industry.
“Development aggression” is the term
coined for development done against the
common will and to no benefit of the people
it affects. In the face of this aggression, the
Philippines has birthed some of the fierc-
est anti-mining campaigners in the entire
South East Asian region. Far from a
marginalized minority, the anti-mining cam-
paign has drawn support across the board,
though its strength lies in the actions of
communities with a direct stake in mining.
The Alyansa Tigil Mina (Alliance to
Stop Mining/ATM) network was formed
to counter the government’s all out pro-
motion of mining. With a base of former
and current mining communities—count-
ing groups from both Marinduque and
Siocon—the ATM clearly states that its
opposition is to the government’s wooing
of mining in the hopes of reaping profits
rather than development. The nationwide
network counts among its numbers mem-
bers of the academe, indigenous peoples,
various government officials from all lev-
els and, perhaps most importantly, the
religious. In the majority Catholic nation,
6 IMPACT • November 2007
the Church, manifested in the Catholic
Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines
(CBCP) is a major force, perhaps the pre-
eminent social force in the country.
The Church’s stance on mining is
both cautious and hardline. While the
CBCP releases carefully worded, though
powerful statements; warning of the dan-
gers of pursuing economic goals, while
ignoring community progress, the
church’s people: bishops, nuns and
priests, are frequently directly involved
with hot button social issues.
In July of this year, the hinterlands of
Nueva Vizcaya bore witness to a mass
action of concerned citizens. A thousand
locals barricaded their town road against
the entry of the heavy equipment of Oxiana
Philippines Inc. (actually an Australian
company) set to begin exploratory mining
work in a nearby area. For several months,
the barricade was kept up, as the issue was
taken to the courts and the area’s local
government units declared their support
both for and against mining.
In September, blood was nearly spilled,
as the tense standoff exploded into a melee
between villagers manning the barricade
and Oxiana’s security people. Local tribal
leaders threatened to wage open war
against the company which they saw as
encroaching on their land without permis-
sion.
The area’s bishop, Most Rev. Ramon
Villena, raised the alarm in the nation’s
capital of Manila, while Sister Eden Orlino,
SPC, kept heads cool at the barricade. The
media attention and ensuing public outcry
forced the authorities to temporarily sus-
pend Oxiana’s exploratory work.
While the government’s promises of a
rich and bountiful future thanks to mining
are everywhere, so too is growing evidence
of perfidy and corruption. In the lull after the
events at the barricade, the ATM sent an
investigative team into Nueva Vizcaya. The
team discovered a map that had been ma-
nipulated to make it seem as though Oxiana’s
targeted mine area was far away from the
nearest town, instead of nearly on top of it
and would clearly compromise the town’s
water supply.
Though business observers fre-
quently state that mining would receive a
warmer welcome if it spread the wealth
more evenly, anti-mining campaigners ar-
gue that mining is inappropriate for the
Philippines due to issues of ecology and
geography, not to mention policy.
“Scrap the Mining Act of 1995” is one
of the main campaign
thrusts of the ATM.
Meanwhile, the gov-
ernment has expanded
the initial 23 priority
mining sites to a total
of 32, with no slow-
down seen.
In the same week
as Councilor Armin
Marin was shot dead,
Maoist rebels attacked
a mine site in the south-
ern Philippines.
Mining in the
Philippines is a set of
choices. To the par-
ties concerned, the
choices are easy: they
have to do with pov-
erty, land, wealth,
health, the past, the
present and the future.
And no one con-
cerned believes they
have made a wrong
choice. I
(Kawagi Fernan is a graduate
of the University of the
Philippines, Diliman, and a
volunteer for the Alyansa
Tigil Mina (ATM). He has
been with ATM for 2½ years.)
 ARTICLES

It hardly restricts our

freedom to filter pornog-
raphy out of the web in
schools and libraries.

Keeping children safe online

By John Bambenek

T
he merits of filtering out internet
pornography in schools and librar-
ies is an issue which will not die. In
the United States, the Children’s Internet
Protection Act passed in 2000 by Con-
gress has been the subject of several legal
challenges. The objection to keeping porn
from children revolves around two issues:
the accuracy of the filtering mechanism
and free speech rights.
Few will argue against the need to
protect minors online. Cyberspace is a
hunting ground for sexual predators. The
less savory the website, the less savory
the people who run and frequent the
website. No sane person would argue that
pornography should be available to six-
year-olds. So how do we protect children
online outside the home?
As with any piece of technology, web
filters are not perfect. They are software
designed by humans using data entered
by humans. In the infancy of web filtering
software, correcting such problems was
difficult. With today’s software, the task
borders on trivial.
Errors in web filtering are of two kinds:
false positives and false negatives. False
positives are websites that register as
pornographic without being pornographic.
The usual example is a breast cancer
website. False negatives are pornographic
sites which slip through the filter unno-
ticed. The stricter the filtering, the more
likely false positives become. The laxer the
filtering, the more likely false negatives
will get through.
Those irritated by the notion of internet
filtering often assert that because the soft-
ware is not perfect, it should not be used.
Women might die because they can’t find
information on breast cancer on the web.
This argument is absurd. Taken to its logi-
cal conclusion, we would have to ban police
officers because crime still happens even
though they are on the street. We would
have to ban the judicial system because
judges and juries sometimes get it wrong.
Let’s not even talk about what would have
to happen with the United States Congress.
The point of protection mechanisms
is to “raise the bar” for would-be attackers.
Most would not bother and those who try
have to work so hard that they get caught.
Modern web filtering software makes
it very easy to “whitelist” or “blacklist”
websites. Sites that are incorrectly filtered

Volume 41 • Number 11 7
Keeping children safe online
ARTICLES
can be entered into a “whitelist” so they
will be let through. Sites that need to be
filtered can be “blacklisted.” The process
varies between the specific pieces of soft-
ware but it is not difficult. Imperfections
can be overcome.
The question of free speech is more
difficult. Since the US Supreme Court has
decided that prurient imagery is a consti-
tutionally protected form of speech, re-
stricting it is difficult. However, most tax-
payers feel that schools and libraries are
not in the business of producing and dis-
tributing pornography. The purpose of
schools is to teach children. It is not un-
constitutional to not give children access
to Playstation 3s in school. The purpose of
libraries is make information available to
patrons. It is not unconstitutional for them
not to perform colonoscopies. Simply put,
taxpayers did not found these institutions
so perverts can get pornography on the
public dime. They surely do not pay for
internet access into schools so these per-
verts can inculcate young people with a
pornographic mentality.
Regardless of what parents, schools
and libraries filter out, pornography will
8 IMPACT • November 2007
still be available. The mentality being dis-
played by those who oppose filtering goes
beyond “freedom means I can do whatever
I want to.” What they are saying is “free-
dom means I can do whatever I want to and
you need to pay for it.” Convenience is not
a constitutionally protected right.
It seems that schools and libraries are
the only institutions where this “right to
look at porn” is controversial. Other gov-
ernment agencies fire workers for looking
at pornography while working. In fact,
according to human resources people,
looking at pornography is the only thing
that will get you instantly fired from a job
with the US federal government.
One could argue that filters are an
attempt to legislate morality. However, busi-
nesses also ban pornography viewing at
work. It is a stretch to suggest that busi-
nesses are driven by a sense of morality.
The reason most corporations ban pornog-
raphy isn’t prudishness. It is fear of legal
liability. With sexual harassment laws,
women who work in an environment where
they see men looking at pornography have
recourse in the court system. Furthermore,
when on the company dime, corporations
expect employees to be working.
A quick Lexis-Nexis search showed
about a dozen teachers and administrators
running afoul of the law for viewing por-
nography in school. Most of these cases
involve child pornography. The Children’s
Internet Protection Act, as interpreted by
the court, allows an adult user to request
that filtering be turned off while they ac-
cess the internet. The result has been that
perverts end up viewing child pornogra-
phy on the public dime.
Web filtering, while not perfect, helps
stop accidental viewing of pornography by
minors. If children are in danger of falling
into the clutches of online sexual predators,
not putting in place solutions that are 98 per
cent accurate because of the 2 per cent of
errors is unthinkable. The idea that such
filtering is a threat to free speech is simply
a red herring that distracts people from the
real issue. Our children’s safety is more
important than a pervert’s access to por-
nography at the expense of taxpayers. I
(John Bambenek is, among other things, a freelance
columnist. He also writes for his own blog, Part-Time
Pundit, and contributes to six other popular blogsites
such as Blogcritics. This article is lifted with permission
from MercatorNet)
© Randy Faris/Corbis
 ARTICLES

Mindanaoan,
minority and
peacebuilder
By Diwa Aquino-Gacosta

17 year old Rehoney, a moslem girl from

troubled Mindanao, was invited to share her
experiences as a World Vision child
peacebuilder at the Civicus World
Assembly. Here she talks about the
pressures of growing up in a community
divided by generations of violence.

M y name is Rehoney. I am 17 years old. I am

a Moslem.
Peace remains elusive in the land of my birth.
I’m used to conflict, prejudices and biases. I have
lived it all through the 17 years of my life.
Being a Moslem in this predominantly Chris-
tian nation is not easy… it never has been, espe-
cially because Moslems are often regarded as
sources of conflict, troubles and violence.

Mindanaoan

The tensions in Mindanao have existed

for so long and the Mindanaoan—
Muslims, Christians and Lumads
(indigenous people)—have
been enduring these ten-
sions with much
apprehension.

© Denz Dayao / CBCP Media

Volume 41 • Number 11 9
Mindanaoan, minority and peacebuilder
I believe the problems in
Mindanao are more than politi-
cal, more than religious. I be-
lieve the core of the continu-
ous conflict in Mindanao is the
lack of effort of one another to
understand each other. This
comes from a long history of
hatred and prejudice that has
been passed from generation
to generation. What makes it
even worse is the fighting over
land or for self-determination
by Islamist separatist groups.
Land ownership has
caused a huge gap between
the Lumad, Muslims and Chris-
tians. It is such a sensitive
issue that any chance of mis-
understanding would defi-
nitely cause another war in
Mindanao.
This gap has existed for so
long. It has passed from one
generation to another and
caused most of the attitudes
and behavior of Mindanaoans
today.
When there is also pov-
erty, differences in faith and
culture, lack of regard for the
rights of children, a poor politi-
cal system and lack of political
will, the conditions of people,
especially children, in
Mindanao continue to worsen.
It also makes me feel sad
10 IMPACT • November 2007
when I hear that Christians from
Luzon and Visayas also regard
Muslims as a threat to national
security—not just Mindanao.
Minority
I may not have experi-
enced actual war happening.
The tensions I see may not be
the same tensions my parents,
and grandparents, witnessed
during their time, which I be-
lieve were too painful to erase.
But every time a person judges
me for what I am not… I feel
pain.
People in the community
where I live have been putting
labels on people. Muslims,
Christians, Lumads… each has
its own labels on each other.
Sadly, children, like my self,
often imitate what elders do,
adopting and practicing the
culture of bias and discrimina-
tion. We think that’s just the
way it is.
I remember one day when
I was in class, there had been a
bombing incident in General
Santos City. The majority of
my classmates were Christians.
While I believe that I have a
fairly good relationship with
my non-Muslim classmates, I
still heard them say that the
bombers were Muslims, un-
mindful that there are five
Muslims, myself included, in
our class.
Another incident of this
culture of bias and prejudice
against Muslims was when I
and my friends went out to eat
in a restaurant in the city. One
of my friends jokingly predicted
that the restaurant would be
spared from bombing because
“there is a Muslim around,”
apparently referring to me.
Often, we are insensitive
with our comments and ideas
in relating to one another, think-
ing that it is normal… it is ok.
Now, I know better.
However different we seem
to be, we all deserve to be re-
spected and regarded for who
we are. We do not have to fight
or look down on each other just
to prove that we are different.
Peacebuilder
The children in ADP
Saranggani have identified the
culture of bias and discrimina-
tion as a barrier to peace. (ADP
- Area Development Program,
“a child-focused approach
that seeks to partner with chil-
dren and their families and
communities in selected or
neighboring areas in the pur-
suit of development or specifi-
cally, transformational devel-
opment”.)
We know that we cannot
solve the complex problems in
Mindanao, but we know that
we can do something to bridge
relationships among ourselves.
I can say that the children
in ADP Saranggani have really
been helping with the peace
process in our community, in-
fluencing not only children like
ourselves but adults as well.
I was invited to speak on
peace-building and children
during the CIVICUS World
Assembly last May. I talked
about our initiatives, how we
recognize our differences but
respect them. We want to end
the culture of bias and discrimi-
nation! We want to eliminate
the wrong perceptions we have
of one another.
Erasing the stains of bi-
ases and discrimination in our
culture is not going to be easy.
There are families who refuse
to allow their children to join
our activities. There are chil-
dren who have adopted these
attitudes so much that they
won’t listen. Personally, we
have to consciously balance
our time spent with the activi-
ties in the ADP, our studies,
and our obligation to our fami-
lies.
But then, there are so
many things to be thankful for.
Promoting the culture of peace
in our community has helped
bring out the best in me and of
the other children in our com-
munity. We have learned so
many things about peace, love
and respect of one another.
Peace does not come with
age. That is why we as children
should not demand it, but in-
stead work out what we can do
to help achieve it. I
(Diwa Aquino-Gacosta is an Internal
and Partnership Communications
Specialist at Advocacy and
Communications/World Vision
Development Foundation, Inc.. which
is a development, relief and advocacy
organization dedicated to working with
children, families and communities
worldwide to reach their full potential by
addressing the causes of poverty and
injustice).
 ARTICLES

By Oskari Juurikkala

T
he great wonder of over-popula-
tion is that people actually believe
in it. Less developed countries
(LDCs) are suffering from over-popula-
tion, goes the common mantra. If they
wish to advance economically, people in
parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America
must be content with fewer children. In
fact, LDCs have not too many people, but
too few. Overpopulation is a myth, and a
silly myth at that. Just look at the real
world. 50 years ago, Hong Kong,
Singapore and South Korea were under-
developed spots with significant unem-

© James Leynse/Corbis
ployment problems and practically no
natural resources. Now they are thriving
and affluent, with no obvious resource
problem in sight. This is in spite of some
of the highest population densities in the

Poor countries
world. In contrast, Africa and Latin
America are among the most sparsely
populated areas on the entire globe, and
endowed with the greatest natural wealth.

need freedom
The population control lobby

Unfortunately, if the overpopulation

theory is not backed up by reason and
evidence, it is supported by plenty of
cash. At least since the 1974 Kissinger

and children
Report of the United States government,
billions of dollars have been poured into
funding any kind of activity that supports
the population control message, ranging
from academic publications to media pro-
grams, films and even popular music. Popu-
lation control thwarts development and The World Bank is out to destroy the most
advances US economic interests. valuable economic resource: people.
Piles of money come from the US State
Department’s Agency for International De-
velopment (USAID), the UN Fund for Popu-
lation Activities (UNFPA) and the World
Bank. They also channel funds to private
organizations like the International
Planned Parenthood Federation, Path-
finder, and the Population Council. Their
policy goals—abortion, contraception,
lower fertility rates—are masked by eu-
phemistic language, including “family plan-
ning” and “reproductive health.”
There is nothing wrong with planning
and health, but plenty wrong with legaliz-
ing and funding the killing of innocent
children yet unborn. Occasional forced
sterilizations in rural areas are a dismal
reality, too.
© Lynsey Addario/Corbis

These methods are well known. But

there is a more subtle form of population
control. It is called pension policy and
arguably it is even more effective.

Volume 41 • Number 11 11
Poor countries need freedom and children
Old-age security and pensions
What do pensions have to do with
population control? A lot, actually. As sev-
eral economists have shown, the establish-
ment of public pay-as-you-go (PAYGO)
pension schemes is among the main rea-
sons for the rapid decline in birth rates
during the 20th century. Cultural reasons
played a role in that development, but pub-
lic pensions sealed the coffin.
What a public PAYGO scheme does is to
transfer money from current workers to cur-
rent grannies. This is something that families
and extended families have done for millennia.
In the modern welfare state, the government
has quite simply replaced the traditional fam-
ily. The family is no longer necessary. Be-
sides, compulsory pension payments penal-
ize those who have more children, because
they must finance the contributory base of
future pensions. Having few or no children
gives a cheaper free ride.
In Europe or the US low fertility rates may
have been an unintended consequence of
benign welfare policies. However, one coun-
try is known to have used pensions deliber-
ately in its anti-family battle: the People’s
Republic of China. In the early 1980s, China
self-consciously instituted formal pension
schemes in rural areas so as to fortify its
infamous one-child policy. Ironically, the
Chinese pension system is now a big mess,
and rural areas continue to be the strongest
rebels against the one-child policy. Large
families are essential to their economy and
social security.
That is also true of other LDCs, espe-
cially in Africa. Despite a forceful push for
contraception and abortions, these countries
take pride in high total fertility rates and
population growth. External technologies only
go so far, because people in LDCs are just too
keen to have kids.
United Nations, New York.
12 IMPACT • November 2007
They want large families, because it is
economically rational. Raising children has
short-term costs but long-term benefits. In
LDCs, children start earning soon and will do
so for years to come. Most importantly, chil-
dren are the prime source of social insurance
and old-age security for the vast majority. In
most LDCs, more than 90 per cent of the
population has no formal pension coverage.
As the population economist Julian Simon
once put it, Westerners who think poor people
cannot make rational fertility choices are sim-
ply ignorant, arrogant or both.
Anti-family World Bank
This is what the World Bank wants to
change. As long as 20 years ago, the Bank’s
1984 World Development Report explicitly
stated that social and old-age security is a
major reason why people have large families
in LDCs. If the Bank wished to see a perma-
nent reduction in birth rates, it must alter the
socio-economic conditions.
The World Bank has now devoted sub-
stantial resources to this end. In the past 10
years, it has become the single most influen-
tial player in global pension reforms. It is
pushing for wider pension coverage and for
providing tools for long-term pension poli-
cies in a wide range of countries.
Of course, not everything the World
Bank does is evil or harmful. Indeed, its
contributions to pension reforms have often
been very valuable. There is just one defect:
the approach of the Bank undermines the
family.
More specifically, what the World Bank
proposes for governments is a three-pillar
model of old-age security. It comprises a
public PAYGO system, a mandatory savings
system, and voluntary savings. In this model,
families play no role. This is rather surpris-
ing, given that the extended family is the only
source of social
and old-age secu-
rity for about 90
per cent of indi-
viduals in LDCs.
This was noticed
by the Bank’s In-
dependent
Evaluation Group
which criticized
the pension re-
form agenda for
failing to under-
stand and respect
the ordinary
socio-economic
conditions of
LDCs.
It could be just an accident. There is no
doubt that many individuals at the World
Bank have the best intentions in the world
and are genuinely concerned about poverty
in LDCs. At the same time, the Bank’s track
record on the global low-fertility agenda is
beyond doubt.
Towards a pro-family future
A different, pro-family approach is
needed. It will not seek to replace the existing
and well-functioning family-based system of
social insurance. It will instead build on and
reinforce those social structures and customs
that work. It will also help people to save, not
by forcing people to participate in unreliable
public schemes, but by providing the neces-
sary legal and institutional framework.
The experience so far with formal pen-
sion schemes in LDCs has been dismal. In
many countries they have been associated
with mismanagement, corruption and fraud.
In India, the public sector scheme is running
a massive implicit debt. In Nigeria, various
groups have suffered hardship and poverty
as the government has failed to pay their
promised pensions. There is no need to ex-
tend such systems further. In fact, countries
would be better off without them.
The World Bank is now promoting com-
pulsory savings schemes as an alternative to
governmental schemes. Unfortunately, this
is a recipe for disaster. Savings schemes can
only work in an environment of developed
financial markets and most LDCs lack the
institutional capacity to cope with them. The
risk of bubbles and unstable markets is a minor
concern in comparison with a bigger one:
whenever there is a large pile of money sitting
somewhere, one can expect troubles ahead.
The cause of these troubles is the same
as the cause of general poverty in LDCs. This
is what reforms should target. These people
do not need grandiose Western-style schemes
that do not work. They need an environment
that fosters initiative, enterprise and private
wealth accumulation. They need more trade
and less government, more private property
and fewer public programs. When these are
achieved, LDCs will have higher incomes and
better old-age security—not by having fewer
children but by having more of them.
Smaller families will not help these coun-
tries, because the greatest economic resource
in the world is man, his creativity and ingenu-
ity in the face of life’s challenges. This re-
source is yearning to be set free. I
(Oskari Juurikkala is a research fellow at the Institute
of Economic Affairs, UK, and legal counsel of
Magnus Minerals, Finland. This article, reprinted here
with permission, was written as part of the IEA
Empowerment through Savings program.)
 ARTICLES

S
candinavian countries have high
rates of parenting outside marriage.
Living together, or cohabitation, is
socially acceptable. In countries like Swe-
den and Denmark, marriage and cohabita-
tion have become practically indistin-
guishable, although de facto couples with
children actually dissolve their relation-
ship at two to three times the rate of married
parents. In Denmark, around 45 per cent of
births take place outside marriage.
In the United States, there is less co-
habitation, and more marriage, but the mar-
riages have a higher failure rate. The end
result is that in both the US and Denmark,
family breakdown is high and many children
do not live with both biological parents.
An interesting approach to this modern
problem comes from Dr. David Blankenhorn,
from the Institute of American Values. In a
recent address to the Danish Institute for
Human Rights, he used the language of
human rights, as it applies to marriage and
the family. Looked at from the point of a child,
the picture is not so good: as adults assert
their rights, children may suffer. Sure, adults deserve to have their fundamental human rights
Dr. Blankenhorn said that the global
human rights revolution, which largely stems
protected. But why don’t we set the same standard for their children?
from the 1948 Universal Declaration of

Weakening the
Human Rights, is radically transforming the
way we think about ourselves as individu-
als, as citizens, and even as family members.
The results are mixed, he said, with the

rights of children
human rights revolution producing prob-
lems as well as successes. But overall, he
sees it leading to more freedom and a more
universal respect for human dignity.

Rights and obligations

There is a tendency, even a tempta-

tion, said Blankenhorn “to treat each spe-
cific right as if it stands alone, in splendid
isolation and reigning in absolute mas-
tery, conveniently disconnected from other
rights that may conflict with it.”
He said that rights can be discon-
nected from an overriding system of values
that allows us to understand rights in rela-
tion to duties and obligations. “The obvi-
ous danger in this take-your-pick, cafeteria-
style, essentially decontextualized ap-
proach to human rights is that each right, in
its isolated supremacy, tends to get ex-
pressed in absolutist, totalising terms”.
Americans, he said, are particularly prone
to this temptation.
From the viewpoint of the institution
of marriage and the family, Blankenhorn
pointed to two basic human rights. “The
first is the right to marry and to found a
family—a right that was formally articu-
By Gerald Mercer
lated in Europe as early as the 12th Century
in Christian canon law, and a right that is
enunciated explicitly in both the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the Char-
ter of Rights of the European Union.”
The second right is the right of the child,
as far as possible, to know and to be raised
by his or her own two biological parents,
except when it is contrary to the best inter-
ests of the child. He said this is clearly implied
in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
when it insists that the family is the natural
and fundamental group unit of society. It is
explicitly spelled out in the UN Convention
on the Rights of the Child.
“The right to marry and to found a
family” as the Universal Charter puts it, is
a compound right, according to
Blankenhorn: “the institution of marriage
is intrinsically connected to the institution
of parenthood and to the values, norms,
and social expectations connected to bear-
ing and raising offspring.”
Far-reaching implications
But in the US, and in many Western
countries, this basic human right is being
re-conceptualized and expanded in ways
that will have far-reaching implications for
society. The essence of this, he said, “is
that all persons have the right to form the
families that they choose and to bear chil-
dren in the way that they choose.”
Three distinct trends are behind this
development, he said. The first is the rapid
scientific development of assisted repro-
Weakening / p.20

Volume 41 • Number 11 13
N E W S
FEATURES
Communists against the bishop,
Church in the streets to protest
THIRUVAMBADY, India, Oc-
tober 22, 2007—No reaction
yet from the Communist Party
of India-Marxist (CPM) follow-
ing the protest march of 30,000
people in Thiruvambady, in
the southern Indian state of
Kerala, demanding formal
Islamic extremism targets
foreign tourists
MALE, Maldives, October
23, 2007—A rise in Islamic
militancy poses an unprec-
edented threat to the
Maldives’ status as South
Asia’s most upmarket holi-
day destination.
The first concrete
sign of trouble came on
September 29 when 12 for-
eign tourists, including a
honeymooning British
couple, were wounded in a
bomb attack. The govern-
ment however is deter-
mined to beat the extrem-
ists.
Maldivian President
Maumoon Abdul Gayoom
issued a decree whereby
foreign clerics should not
be allowed entry without a
special permit, barred
women from covering
themselves from head to
toe, and ordered that edu-
cational qualifications
from foreign madrassas, or
Islamic seminaries, would
not be recognized.
Former Education
Minister Mohamed Zahir
Hussain said a minority of
people in the moderate
Sunni Muslim nation of
14 IMPACT • November 2007
apologies from the Commu-
nists for derogatory remarks
made against Mgsr. Mar Paul
Chittilappilly.
There were bishops,
priests, men and women reli-
gious as well as lay people,
including members of other
330,000 believed that tourism
was against Islam because it
leads to the importation of
practices contrary to their re-
ligion like the sale of liquor.
However, “we can deal
with the problem because of
the geography of the
Maldives,” Mr. Hussain said.
Only 200 of the 1,192 is-
lands are inhabited, and tour-
ist resorts are kept separate,
with foreigners not allowed
to spend the night on any
inhabited island except the
capital Male.
Maldivians are employed
in resorts, but cannot work as
bar tenders.
“There is no popular sup-
port for them,” Tourism Minis-
ter Mahamood Shougee said.
religions, from 106 parishes of
the local diocese. Schools and
hospitals run by the (Syro-
Malabar) diocesan council
were closed in protest.
The protest was sparked
by the CPM state secretary
Pinarayi Vijayan when he
Tourism is the main-
stay of the archipelago’s
economy. This year the
Maldives hopes to wel-
come 650,000
holidaymakers, about 10
per cent up from last year,
the minister said, adding
that the industry earned
the country US$ 200 mil-
lion to 300 million annu-
ally.
Earlier this month, the
government raided the
stronghold of radical ex-
tremism on an island some
100 kilometers south of
Male and detained more
than 50 people who clashed
with police and security
forces. (AsiaNews/Agen-
cies)
called the bishop a “wretched
creature” for his “lie” and reit-
erated his view later, saying:
“A lie is a lie, and just because
it is uttered by a bishop it does
not become a holy lie.”
The insulting remarks
were in turn caused by a speech
Mgsr. Chittilappilly made last
September at a rally in support
of minorities’ rights.
In it the prelate said that a
former Kerala Communist
leader, Mathai Chacko, sup-
posedly called for priest in or-
der to have the last sacraments
administered as he lay dying.
He is also supposed to have
contracted marriage in church.
For Vijayan, such remarks
were nothing but an act of
support for the opposition
United Democratic Front
(UDF), which is trying to re-
gain the ground it lost in the
last elections.
In making such remarks
against the late Communist
leader, who lived a “rich Com-
munist life”, the bishop por-
trayed the late Communist
leader as a man of contradic-
tions in order to carry out po-
litical propaganda.
According to Fr. Paul
Thelakat, from the Syro-
Malabar Synod, “what is strik-
ing is not so much the content
of the debate, but the hatred in
the tone Vijayan used. There
are practicing Christians,
Muslims and Hindus in the
party. Is there no space for
faith in the politics?
If it so, then people with
faith cannot engage in politics
according to Communists and
perhaps cannot vote for them.
In India we consider this party
like many others, secular but
not atheist. But is it all a mask,
that of democracy which they
claim they want to serve?”
(Nirmala Carvalho /
AsiaNews)

Talibans attack Catholic schools in Swat Valley
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Oc-
tober 23, 2007—The process
of “talebanization” of Pakistan
continues despite formal
pledges by the central govern-
ment and local authorities. Is-
lamic extremism has in fact
reached the Swat Valley, once
known as the Switzerland of
the Orient, this according to a
report by Minorities Concern
of Pakistan, a local organiza-
tion which monitors the situa-
tion of minorities and viola-
tions of the human rights of the
population.
One of the cases cited in
the report involves a Catholic-
run public high school in
Sangota, in the Swat Valley. In
a recent letter, a group calling
itself Janisaran-i-Islam (Sacri-
fices of Islam) attacked the
school administration for al-
legedly “forcibly converting
students” and “encouraging
un-Islamic behavior.”
The fundamentalist group
calls for the firing of all Chris-
tians employed by the school
and their replacement with fer-
vent Muslims. It also threatens
suicide bombers “if its orders
are not followed.”
Instead of finding out what
the school had to say, the local
government agreed with the
letter, and issued an order that
all female students cover their
heads in the school to preserve
local Islamic morality from con-
version and atheism.
N E W S
FEATURES
Worried by the turn of boring Afghanistan.
events, many parents pulled In an editorial article, the
their daughters from the school, Daily Time says that the “gov-
which was forced to shut down ernment seems unable to con-
till next week when local au- trol the militant groups, who
thorities will send security have been controlling the dif-
agents to enforce security. ferent areas in the province and
However, only half of all non making people’s lives miser-
Muslim students are planning able,” opposed to everything
to come back. Many are actu- that makes Pakistan a modern
ally thinking about leaving the country.
country to avoid further vio- On September 26 various
lence. Christian and Muslim non-
What is happening does governmental organisations
not worry the Christian minor- operating in the country dem-
ity alone. In the Swat Valley, a onstrated in Islamabad against
Extremists enthusiasti- region much loved by Paki- the rising tide of violence. They
cally welcomed the order, cit- stanis and one of the country’s warned the government that if
ing the case of the three young richest areas, greater Islamist Islamic extremism is not
Christian women in Indonesia pressures show that the gov- stopped, humanitarian aid of
who were decapitated for not ernment has failed to stem the any kind will dry up. (Qaiser
wearing the veil. flow of Talibans from neigh- Felix / AsiaNews)
Tibet monks celebrate the Dalai Lama, arrested
DHARAMSALA, Tibet,
October 23, 2007—Chinese
police have violently
quashed celebrations by
Buddhist monks in Tibet
for the conferral of the Gold
Medal award by the US
Congress on the Dalai
Lama. A group of Tibetans
in exile in India have de-
nounced the episode.
According to their re-
ports, police arrested
scores of monks and Ti-
betan activists, over four
days in Lhasa last week.
The clashes were centered
at the Drepung and Nechung monasteries in award by President George W. Bush had
Lhasa which were sealed to keep the thou- “gravely undermined” US-China relations,
sands of monks inside and away from the defining the religious leader “a dangerous
public. The initial clashes began after police activist for independence”.
questioned monks who were ceremonially The Dalai Lama has been out of China
whitewashing the walls of Drepung monas- since 1959 when he fled Tibet following a
tery a ritual which expresses “joy and puri- failed attempt at a revolt against the Chinese
fication”. army who had invaded the region nine years
The exile sources said internet services before. Following the flight he settled in
in Lhasa were cut on October 17, the day the Dharamsala, northern India, where the exiled
award was presented and reports of the government and parliament also have estab-
clashes filtered out slowly. Beijing said the lished themselves. (AsiaNews/Agencies)
Volume 41 • Number 11 15
C O V E R
S T O R Y The Millenniu

The Millennium
Development
Goals in RP
Missing Out on a Millennium Opportunity?

16 IMPACT • November 2007

um Development Goals in RP: Missing Out on a Millennium Opportunity?
© Photo courtesy of Reuel Mark Delez - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamalayan

By Atty. Jo M. Imbong

I
n Year 2000, taking advantage of the turn of the millennium, then United
Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan proposed a government framework
for development for member countries, particularly for developing and
least developed countries.
At the United Nations Millennium Summit in September 2000, 189 nations
adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration, embodied in General
Assembly Resolution No. 55/2. As a member state, the Philippines was a
signatory to the Declaration
The eight targets of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) are:
1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
2. Achieve universal primary education
3. Promote gender equality and empower women
4. Reduce child mortality
5. Improve maternal health
6 Combat HIVs/AIDs, malaria and other infectious diseases
7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8 Develop a global partnership for development
Notably, due to conflicts among country delegations on the definition
and framework for Maternal Health during the negotiations on Goal No. 5,
Reproductive Health was removed from the MDG general goals.
Contemporaneous documents in the U.N., however, do not rule out the
old and interminable agenda of population control and reproductive health in
the implementation of the MDGs. Various Task Force Reports of the Millen-
nium Development Project include clearly stated references to reproductive
health matters in several places. 1

Volume 41 • Number 11 17
C O V E R
S T O R Y
It is in fact believed that “women’s
reproductive rights are central to any sus-
tained poverty-alleviation strategy, and
even if the political language of the repro-
ductive health agenda is temporarily
shelved for strategic reasons, the MDGs
and the reproductive health agendas are
each the means and the ends of the other.
Each requires, sustains, and promotes the
other2 ... A number of important non-gov-
ernmental organizations, private founda-
tions, and national governments … remain
loyal to the reproductive health paradigm
and to the idea that women’s reproductive
rights are central to any sustained pov-
erty-alleviation strategy.3
This perception is shared by Adrienne
Germain4 and Ruth Dixon-Mueller of
International Women’s Health Coalition,
who wrote that “although reproductive
health is not specifically named as a goal,
it is widely acknowledged that universal
access to reproductive health services,
including family planning and sexual
health, is required for the achievement of
the MDGs (Sachs 2001; Singh et al. 2003;
United Nations Millennium Project 205;
WHO’ 2002 and 2004)” 5
An independent advisory body was
commissioned to advise the UN on strat-
egies for achieving the Goals. Known as
the UN Millennium Project, its FINAL
REPORT speaks of a “demographically-
related poverty trap” and “attributes to
population a significantly causal role in
development.” 6 The MILLENNIUM
PROJECT REPORT in fact declares that:
(1) Rapid population growth continues to
be recognized as creating a demographic
18 IMPACT • November 2007
poverty trap in the poorest countries, re-
flecting the impact of poverty on the
ability to make investments, as well as the
treadmill effect of ever-increasing levels of
expenditure required for the provision of
basic social services; (2) Sexual and repro-
ductive health and rights are recognized
as central pillars of gender equality; (3)
Sexual and reproductive health are recog-
nized as essential to progress against ill-
ness and mortality among mothers, in-
fants, and populations at risk of acquiring
HIV/AIDS; and (4) Population dynamics
are recognized as a background driver to
climate change.”7
The MILLENNIUM PROJECT RE-
PORT also states that “sexual and repro-
ductive health is essential for reaching
the Goals. It entails healthy, voluntary,
and safe sexual and reproductive choices
… Maternal mortality takes some 529,000
lives a year. Of those deaths, around 68,000
are due to unsafe abortion, a sign of the
need for better access to higher quality
family planning services to prevent un-
wanted pregnancies and (where permitted
by law) to safe abortion practices.” 8
How will the eight MDG’s be
achieved? TheMILLENNIUM PROJECT
REPORT defines very clear strategies:
• To eliminate Extreme Poverty and
Hunger (Goal 1), “smaller families and
longer birth intervals, a result of con-
traceptive use, allow families to invest
more in each child’s nutrition and health
… At the national level, voluntary
reduction of birth rates may enable
faster social and economic develop-
ment.
The Millenniu
• To achieve Universal Primary Educa-
tion (Goal 2), “families with fewer
children, and children spaced further
apart, can afford to invest more in each
child’s education... girls who have
access to contraceptives are less likely
than those who do not become preg-
nant and drop out of school.”
• To promote gender equality and to
empower women (Goal 3), “control-
ling whether and when to have chil-
dren is a critical aspect of women’s
empowerment.”
• To reduce child mortality (Goal 4),
“children in large families are likely to
have reduced health care, and un-
wanted children are more likely to die
than wanted ones.”
• To improve maternal health (Goal 5),
“preventing unplanned and high-risk
pregnancies and providing care in preg-
nancy, childbirth, and the postpartum
period save women’s lives.” In the
Philippines, Goal 5 has a secondary
target which is to increase access to
reproductive health services to 80%
by 2010 and 100% by 2015. 9 This
means, contraceptive prevalence must
be at 100% for all women of reproduc-
tive age (or at least for married women).
As of 2006, contraceptive prevalence
is at 48.9%.
• To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and
other infectious diseases (Goal 6),
“sexual and reproductive health care
includes preventing and treating sexu-
ally transmitted infections, including
HIV/AIDS. In addition, reproductive
health care can bring patients into the
health care system encouraging diag-
nosis and treatment of other diseases
and conditions.”
• To ensure environmental
sustainability (Goal 7), “providing
sexual and reproductive health ser-
vices and avoiding unwanted births
can help stabilize population numbers
in rural areas, slow urban migration,
and balance natural resource use with
the needs of the population.
• And finally, to develop a global part-
nership for development (Goal 8),“af-
fordable prices for drugs to treat HIV/
AIDS and a secure supply of contra-
ceptives would greatly advance re-
productive health programs in all de-
veloping countries.” The REPORT
acknowledges that “there are numer-
ous channels (entry points in the
MDG) to integrate sexual and repro-
ductive health services in a strength-
ened health system. 10
um Development Goals in RP: Missing Out on a Millennium Opportunity?
In the Philippines, the MDG agenda
has been put in place by DILG Circular 152
which sets clear and specific targets such
as increasing access to reproductive
health services to 60% by 2005, 80% by
2010 & 100% by 2015. This entails strong
and funded advocacy and services on all
methods of population control including
voluntary sterilization service (VSS) and
adequate supply of contraceptives for all
men and women of reproductive age. (If we
consider girls, the reproductive age is
normally from 14 – 45 years.)
This strategy in Circular 152 is to be
expected considering that “the entire ado-
lescent population” 11 is a major target
identified in the Millennium Project Re-
port, where adolescents are closely eyed
for “literacy and numeracy training, and
nutrition and health information... includ-
ing that of reproductive health”, 12 inte-
grated into the school curriculum,13 and to
be introduced “in primary schools and
continue through the secondary level”, 14
because “they also have a higher unmet
need for contraception… “ 15
For this country, it must be noted that
the Task Force on Child Health and Ma-
ternal Health of the Millennium Devel-
opment Project has recommended that
“for abortion as for other areas of sexual
and reproductive health, governments
and other relevant actors should review
and revise laws, regulations, and practices
that jeopardize women’s health.” .16
If DILG Circular 152 comes from the
‘kindness’ of the State for the general
welfare, the State can kill the family by
kindness. It will kill by kindness if we allow
it to treat families like they are Kindergar-
ten kids—nagging them not to have many
children much like one would nag an over-
weight kid to stop eating too much; entic-
ing us with contraceptive drugs as one
would force a spoonful of medicine into
the mouth of an unwilling toddler.
If not stopped and rewritten to truth-
fully address the real roots of extreme pov-
erty, Circular 152 can only deal the utmost
injustice to the poorest people in the country
who look to the new millennium for new hope
towards a better life. On the other hand, by
navigating with the rudder of population
control, the developed and affluent coun-
tries miss out on a millennium opportunity of
ushering in an environment that will be truly
“conducive to development and to the elimi-
nation of poverty”17 I
(Atty. Jo M. Imbong, Executive Secretary of the
CBCP Legal Office, teaches at the Ateneo de Manila
University.)
(Footnotes)
1
See Report of the MDG Task Force on
Gender Equality at the later part of this
Paper.
2
Professor Alaka Malwade Basu, Associ-
ate Professor, Department of Sociology,
Cornell University 323 Uris Hall, Ithaca
© Reuel Mark Delez - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kamalayan
NY 14853-7601 ab54@cornell.edu,
STUDIESINFAMILYPLANNING,vol.
36, No. 2, June 2005,
3
Ibid.
4
Adrienne Germain is President, Inter-
national Women’s Health Coalition,
333 Seventh Avenue, Sixth Floor, New
York, 10001, agermain@iwhc.org. Ruth
Dixon-Mueller is a consultant.
dixonmueller@yahoo.com
5
Adrienne Germain and Ruth Dixon-
Mueller, “Reproductive Health and the
MDGs: Is the Glass Half Full or Half
Empty?”,STUDIES IN FAMILY PLAN-
NING, vol. 36, No. 2, June 2005, p. 137.
6
Ibid.
7
Stan Bernstein, ‘The Changing Dis-
course on Population and Develop-
ment: Toward a New Political Demog-
raphy”, STUDIES IN FAMILY PLAN-
NING, vol. 36, No. 2, June 2005, p. 130.
8
Ibid., p. 146.
9
See DILG Circular No. 152, series 2004.
10
Stan Bernstein, Ibid., p. 147.
11
id., p. 154.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid.
14
Report of the Millennium Task Force
on Gender Equality, Ibid., p. 154.
15
UN TASK FORCE ON EDUCATION
ANDGENDEREQUALITY, Ibid.,p.148.
16
United Nations Millennium Project
Task Force on Child Health and Mater-
nal Health 2005 page 74, Ibid., p. 139.
17
U.N. Millennium Declaration, III-12.
Volume 41 • Number 11 19
ARTICLES
Weakening / p.13
ductive technologies, such as the sale or
donation of sperm or eggs; surrogacy and
other developments on the horizon.
The second is in the area of family law,
where there has been a steady lessening,
and in some cases nearly the full elimina-
tion, of the distinctions between married
and unmarried persons in the eyes of the
law. The third trend, also in the area of family
law, is the establishment of equal marriage
rights for homosexual and lesbian couples.
“To a significant degree, these three
trends hang together. They largely comple-
ment and reinforce one another. They are
all defended by proponents who depend
almost entirely on the language of human
rights. The essential rights claim is that
modern individuals have the right to form
families of their own choosing and bear
children in the way that they wish, without
restriction or interference from society,
and with the full support of available medi-
cal and scientific technologies.”
Dr. Blankenhorn cited a number of
developments in different countries. Two
contradictory moves in Canada may be
amongst the most amazing. Under Cana-
dian law, it is now the right of an adopted
20 IMPACT • November 2007
child to know the identity of his or her
biological parents. But in the case of do-
nor-conceived children, it is a federal crime
to reveal to the child the identity of his or
her biological parents.
Furthermore, the federal government,
in its policy of equal marriage rights for
homosexual and lesbian couples, proposes
to remove the term “natural parent” from
all Canadian laws, and replace it with the
term “legal parent”.
Personal autonomy
This social change carries with it a
number of important likely consequences
for families and society, said Blankenhorn.
These include an increase in personal free-
dom and autonomy, greater recognition of
the rights and dignity of homosexuals and
lesbians, a weakening of marriage as a pro-
child social institution, and direct strides
towards the mercerization and
commodification of human reproduction.
Each of these likely consequences, he
said, deserves serious consideration.
One consequence is a fundamental
redefinition of what it means to be a parent,
and how we decide who are a child’s par-
ents. “Specifically, I am re-
ferring to the phenomenon
of erasing the biological ba-
sis of parenthood from law
and replacing it with the idea
of the state-defined legal par-
ent. This erasure not only
represents a dramatic trans-
fer of power from private life
to the state, but is also, I
believe, contrary to the best
interests of children.”
The right of the child to
know his or her own two
natural parents is just as
much a right, said
Blankenhorn, as the right of
the adult to marry and found
a family. “As a sociological
matter, we know that, for
children, biological parents
matter. The social science
evidence on this point is
overwhelming.”
This results in a clear
case of rights in conflict.
Making one right stronger
almost necessarily means
making the other weaker. Dr.
Blankenhorn said there
should be some develop-
ment of the rights of chil-
dren with respect to mar-
riage and the family, and put forward four
propositions.
(1) Every child has the right, in so far as
society can make it possible, to know and
be raised by its two natural biological
parents, except when it is contrary to the
child’s best interests. The implication of
this right is that society should recognize
and support the institution of marriage,
since marriage is our only social institu-
tion that seeks fully to unite, in the per-
sons of the spouses, the biological, so-
cial, and legal dimensions of parenthood.
The great good and goal of marriage is to
give to each child the gift of the two
persons who brought the child into the
world. For this reason, marriage is
society’s most pro-child social institu-
tion and probably ultimately society’s
single most important protector and guar-
antor of the rights of children.
(2) Every child has the right to a natural
biological heritage, defined as the
union of the father’s sperm and the
mother’s egg. Society should typi-
cally refrain from actions that would
efface or deny the child’s natural bio-
logical heritage.
(3) Every child has the right to know his
or her biological origins. Individuals
and society should typically refrain
from creating genetic orphans, or chil-
dren who do not and can not know
their natural origins.
(4) Children have the right to be heard.
Today, the rights claims of adults tend
to come through loud and clear.
Children’s voices are much harder to
hear.
To illustrate this last point, Dr.
Blankenhorn read out a poignant letter
from an Australian, Narelle Grech. She
describes herself as “a 22-year-old donor-
conceived adult”. In her letter she goes on
to say “we are bargaining and trading
human beings here as though they are
items on supermarket shelves! Creating
donor-conceived people who all of these
consenting adults know will be unable to
trace their biological mothers is, to me,
ignorant and cruel.”
Ms. Grech speaks of the possibility of
half-siblings she will never know, and writes
“How dare someone take away someone
else’s freedom to know themselves? It is
one of the most de-humanizing experiences
I have had to face in my life. To look in the
mirror on a day-to-day basis and question
so much is one of the worst feelings.” I
(Gerald Mercer is editor of the Australian magazine
Social Action. This article is lifted from MercatorNet
with permission).

The Bigger Picture in the
Presidential Pardon
A
president granting ab-
solute pardon to a
convicted and im-
peached predecessor is his-
toric indeed. It will give people
today and future generations
the opportunity to debate and
evaluate. The pardon covers
a multitude of sins which are
now left to Divine Justice—
cum—Mercy to resolve. In a
death-bed scene, a dying per-
son might hear God saying: “I
will forgive you, I know you
have already suffered, but you
should be purified some more
in purgatory.”
On this occasion we are
thinking of the many prison-
ers whose crimes of lesser
gravity have not been proven
and yet continue to suffer
from the fact of “justice de-
layed justice denied.” Will
they be given the same privi-
lege or consideration? The
pardoned president could not
be more privileged, consider-
ing the many prisoners with
lesser crimes of plunder and
injustice who are rotting in
jail only because they have
no influence with the gov-
ernment, justice system and
even with the media. No won-
der the statue of justice has
covered eyes, ‘para walang
favoritism.’
The pardoning presi-
dent has spoken; the case
ends there. But where is “re-
storative justice?” Where is
the justice capable of restor-
ing harmony in social rela-
tions disrupted by the crimi-
nal act committed (cf. Com-
pendium of the Social Doc-
trine of the Church, No. 403)
We appeal for the many
prisoners who may also de-
serve the same clemency for
the sake of their poor families.
A president pardoning a con-
victed president may have
bigger implications than meet
our eyes now. And so reflec-
tion must continue, but this
time with civil society. May it
bear the desired fruit of unity
and reconciliation. I enjoin all
the faithful to pray that our
country will be guided along
the path that is “maka-tao,
maka-bayan at maka-Dios.”
MOST REV. ANGEL N.
LAGDAMEO, DD
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
October 26, 2007
Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral
Conference (MSPC) XIII
Statement
The Call for
Restoration of
Moral Values
W
e, the 208 delegates
composed of arch-
bishops, bishops,
priests, religious and lay lead-
ers, representing the 21 local
churches in Mindanao-Sulu,
gathered together for the 13th
Mindanao-Sulu Pastoral Con-
ference held at Pope John
XXIII Pastoral Complex in the
Diocese of Surigao, Surigao
City from October 22 to 26,
2007, convey this message to
all the faithful and people of
goodwill.
We now find ourselves
within the era of globalization.
Conscious of the identity, vo-
cation and mission of the
Church, we have been reflect-
ing on the restoration of moral
values through the Basic
Ecclesial Communities (BECs).
In Mindanao, we are con-
fronted with issues such as
environmental degradation
and corruption in political gov-
ernance. We are facing the
truth about our pastoral situ-
ation: the opportunities and
challenges, success stories,
and painful realities about our
shortcomings—the erosion of
moral values in Church and
society.
It is in this light that we
thereby reiterate the impor-
tance of BEC as locus, focus,
and strategy of integral evan-
gelization. We reaffirm our
commitment and our resolve
to support the BEC in collabo-
Volume 41 • Number 11
STATEMENTS
ration with other Church insti-
tutions and agencies. We are
committed to truly make it a
catalyst of moral renewal in
Church and society by trans-
mitting the faith and perform-
ing it through Christian vir-
tues and moral values. Despite
some lapses and limitations,
we strongly affirm the impor-
tant role of the BEC as a new
way of being Church, helping
to identify, intensify and cul-
tivate the core Gospel values—
a potent force for social trans-
formation.
We challenge ourselves,
all the faithful and people of
goodwill in Mindanao-Sulu to
recover and protect the Gospel
values of love, peace, justice,
life, and the common good. We
also challenge all the BECs to
become real moral agents of
productive dialogue, uphold-
ing the virtues of truthfulness
and honesty, solidarity and
compassion, simplicity of life
and servant-leadership arising
from the imperatives of the
Christian faith.
May Christ the head of
the Church, who calls us to be
salt (Lk. 14:34-35: Mt 5:13; Mk
9:50), light (Mt 5:14-16), and
leaven (Mt 13:33; Lk 13:20-21)
of the world, make us witness
to this real presence in the call
for spiritual and moral regen-
eration. May Mary Mother of
the Church and of BECs inter-
cede for us.
21
STATEMENTS
Our Firm Stand
Against
Contraceptive
Mentality
W
e hope it is not true
that congress plans
to appropriate one
billion pesos for the purchase
of condoms, birth control pills
and other “reproductive
health” products to control
population growth. It if is true,
we categorically object to it
and instead strongly recom-
mend that the one billion pesos
be directly appropriated and/
or added for hunger and pov-
erty alleviation projects, as well
as for free education of ex-
tremely poor children.
The use of abortifacients,
contraceptive pills and de-
vises, sterilization, directly
willed abortion are wrong in
themselves. They are against
nature and God’s law. They are
wrong not because the Catho-
lic Church forbids them; rather
the Church forbids them be-
cause they destroy the fruitful-
ness of human reproductive
capacities given by the Creator
and hence are morally wrong.
(CBCP said this already in 1990
and at other times!). It is not
just a matter of being conser-
vative, but also of being mor-
ally upright.
The church advocates
Natural Family Planning as the
only morally acceptable way of
practicing responsible parent-
hood. The Church does not
forbid the advocacy of the in-
crease or decrease of popula-
tion provided the freedom of
22 IMPACT • November 2007
the couple to exercise sexual
and family morality according
to their religious conviction,
are respected. Since the Church
objects to the use of artificial
contraception, the church like-
wise objects to their dissemi-
nation, creating thereby a con-
traceptive mentality towards a
culture of death.
It is not true that the Phil-
ippines growth rate is 2.36%.
The United Nations using the
same census data has arrived
at a very much lower rate. The
National Statistics Office has
already projected a Philippine
population growth rate of
1.99%. These notwithstand-
ing, we do not subscribe to the
allegations that population
must be controlled because it
is the main cause of poverty;
there are other grave factors.
We will not join countries with
collapsing population growth
rate.
We exhort our clergy to
proactively preach the doctrine
of the Church on principled
population control. We
strongly encourage and sup-
port our legislators in Congress
and the Senate who promote
the moral teachings on life, fam-
ily and population.
MOST REV. ANGEL N.
LAGDAMEO, DD
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
October 6, 2007
Cash Gifts or Bribes?
“THE more people and social groups strive to resolve
social problems according to the truth, the more they
distance themselves from abuses and act in accordance
with the objective demands of truth…The unscrupulous
use of money raises ever more pressing questions, which
necessarily call for greater transparency and honesty in
personal and social activity” (Compendium of the Social
Doctrine of the Church, No. 198).
In the News too many question marks surround the
recent distribution of 500,000 pesos each to governors
among whom, appearing like a hero, is Pampanga Governor
Ed Panlilio. What was the purpose of the cash gifts? Where
did they come from? Who was the personal source of the
cash? Were they for local government projects? Were they
for the forthcoming Barangay Elections? Why were they
distributed only to pro-administration local officials? Why
not also to the opposition? Who ultimately will profit from
these cash gifts? Are they really gifts or bribes?
“The unscrupulous use of money raises ever more
pressing questions, which necessarily call for greater trans-
parency and honesty in personal and social activity” (Com-
pendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, No. 198).
Bribery is not an acceptable word even to culprits: so,
it is better called “gifts.” And so, in order to feel good and
escape the blame of conscience …bribe is also called a “gift.”
With this sort of thing happening, our country is not
only suffering from economic bankruptcy but also moral
bankruptcy, disappointingly being shown by our leaders.
We are very much concerned with our youth who are
looking at our leaders for models in honesty, integrity, and
transparency.
From the moral standpoint, one should not accept
money about which questions can be asked because it
renders responsibility, accountability, and transparency a
dubious subject matter.
I encourage and support the plan of our respectable
senators to make the appropriate inquiry on the matter of
distributing said cash gifts.
MOST REV. ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DD
Archbishop of Jaro
President, CBCP
October 16, 2007

Pastoral Letter
Indigenous Peoples Sunday 2007
“ In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1-2, 14)
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
T
his coming 14th of October, we will
celebrate INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
SUNDAY. We consider this year
particularly important because it is the 30th
year of the creation of the Episcopal Com-
mission on Indigenous Peoples (ECIP).
The ECIP embodies the official and con-
scious Apostolate of the Church, together
with the Dioceses and Religious Congre-
gation, for our Indigenous brothers and
sisters. For thirty years, the Church has
lent her moral authority and her human and
material resources to support the struggle
of our Indigenous Peoples for justice and
self-determination.
Last September 18-21, 43 dioceses all
over the Philippines participated in the 25th
ECIP-IPA National Convention in Baguio
City, reflecting on the theme: The Word of
God and the Indigenous Communities.
We realized that the Word of God is alive in
our indigenous peoples’ life and culture as
manifested in their relationships with cre-
ation, their ancestors and their community.
These relationships are living witnesses to
the ways they feel and hear the presence of
God articulated in epics, chants, prayers,
and the community’s way of life particularly
through life-giving customs and traditions.
In the Convention, we saw the many
significant advances that IP communities
have gained since thirty years ago. As our
country’s IPs continue to listen to the
wisdom of their ancestors and heritage,
they have been asserting their views about
the detrimental effects of development
aggression and irresponsible extraction of
our natural resources. They have been
involved in bringing these concerns into
the national consciousness and the Church
has partnered with them in advocating for
more environment friendly practices.
In the legal arena, they have pushed
for the recognition of the distinctiveness
of their communities in the 1987 Philippine
Constitution and successfully lobbied for
the passage of the Indigenous Peoples
Rights Act in 1997. Through this law, as
well as through the UN Declaration on
Indigenous Peoples Rights that was re-
cently approved by the United Nations
General Assembly, IP communities in our
country have gained recognition to their
rights as peoples and have been able to
assert their title to their ancestral domains.
In the socio-economic arena, there is
a growing effort to protect and recover
indigenous knowledge which can be used
in the present times to be a basis of their
economic activities. There is also greater
awareness now about their need for a kind
of education that is appropriate for them.
Despite these gains, the deep seated
prejudices and biases against IPs that
have been instilled in us over the centuries
continue to inflict neglect, deprivation,
injustice and even death to many indig-
enous communities and cultures. These
situations of violence have uprooted IPs
from their territories, severing their life-
giving relationships and sense of identity.
Until today, acts of aggression continue in
the form of land-grabbing, human rights
violations, militarization and displacement
of IP communities.
A few of the demands of IPs that
surfaced during this convention are these:
• that the National Commission on Indig-
enous Peoples (NCIP) speedily pro-
cess and award the Certificate of An-
cestral Domain Titles (CADTs) to the
Ati of Boracay and similarly situated
IP communities;
• that the armed forces of the Govern-
ment and the New Peoples’Army re-
spect the dignity of the indigenous
peoples and stop their widespread
recruitment as Citizens Armed Forces
Geographical Units, CVOs or “Bagani”,
and that their areas be proclaimed as
Peace Zones;
• that everything must be done to stop
the injustice done to the Subanon
community of Mt. Canatuan in Siocon,
STATEMENTS
Zamboanga del Norte due to the
- failure of NCIP to register their CADT
with the Register of Deeds,
- procurement of an invalid Free Prior
and Informed Consent (FPIC) by a
mining company, namely, Toronto
Ventures Inc. (TVIRD SCAA),
- food blockade and forced eviction of
the communities by TVIRD SCAA.
Historical circumstances have created
the mindset of majority of us of looking
down on our indigenous brothers and
sisters, bringing about their
marginalization and oppression. This same
mindset has erased from our historical
memory the fact that all Filipinos alive
today have an indigenous heritage. Only
recently are we learning to remember this
heritage and to appreciate that the seeds
of God’s Word are present in the IPs’ way
of life and culture. The Word of God is
enfleshed, albeit unknowingly, in their con-
nectedness to and deep respect for cre-
ation as they care for their ancestral do-
mains. It is also present in their rituals and
community life, which is their way of ex-
pressing their connectedness to God and
to one another.
In this year’s celebration of IP Sun-
day, therefore, I am inviting you first of all
to value our own indigenous heritage as
Filipinos. Instead of condemning and judg-
ing our IP brothers and sisters as back-
ward or pagan let us learn to listen to the
presence of God in their lifeways and cul-
ture. Let us condemn the injustices they
are subjected to and support their legiti-
mate struggle for self-determination. Let
us, above all, strive to live out God’s love
in whatever culture and expression of faith
we find ourselves.
For the Episcopal Commission on Indig-
enous Peoples:
+MOST REV. SERGIO L. UTLEG, DD
Bishop of Laoag and ECIP Chairperson
October 14, 2007
Volume 41 • Number 11 23
STATEMENTS
ECIP-IPA National Convention
A call to discover September 18-21 2007
Sta. Catalina Spirituality Center, Baguio City
the face of Christ STATEMENT
among the
W
e the 93 representa-
prisoners tives of the 43 dio-
ceses, who partici-
pated in the 25th ECIP-IPA Na-
tional Convention held on Sep-
tember 18-21, 2007 at Santa
Catalina Spirituality Center,
I
n every society, crime and issues of law and order loom Baguio City, Philippines, have
large in public consciousness. The Philippines is no reflected on the theme “The
exception. Fair and just dealings between and among Word of God and the Indig-
people constitute the heartbeat of a good society. We all enous Communities”, and are
need to feel safe in our homes, on our streets, in our united in declaring that:
communities. The Word of God is alive in
Recent events show that crime has escalated. Murder, indigenous peoples’ life and
rape, robbery, drug trafficking, and graft and corruption culture as manifested in their
have become more widespread. Yet the traditional means relationships with creation, their
of dealing with such crime seem unable to bring about ancestors and their community.
reconciliation and healing. The prison industry is expand- These relationships are living
ing. Fear of crime dominates too many lives. witnesses to the ways they feel
The CBCP-ECPPC in celebration of the 20 th Prison and hear the presence of God
Awareness Sunday on October 28, 2007 re-affirms that articulated in epics, chants,
from our Christian perspective criminal justice system must prayers, meaningful silence and
not be built upon a philosophy of retribution, focusing the community’s way of life par-
primarily upon punishment flowing from feelings of re- ticularly through life-giving cus-
venge; a negative philosophy that produce negative re- toms and traditions.
sults. An adversarial system by definition does not seek Over the centuries, deep
always to find the truth of a particular matter, but rather seated prejudices and biases
seeks a victory for one or other party. Such a system does against IPs have wrought ne-
not encourage offenders to take personal responsibility for glect, deprivation, injustice and
their actions and can leave victims feeling that they are on even death of many communi-
trial too. It does not bring peace in the community. ties and cultures. These situa-
The CBCP-ECPPC challenges this philosophy of ret- tions of violence have uprooted
ribution on the basis that it is negative and usually coun- IPs from their territories, sever-
terproductive. We hold that compassion, mercy, healing, ing their life-giving relationships
sanction where appropriate and forgiveness leading to and sense of identity.
reconciliation lie at the heart of a fair and just criminal justice Until today, these acts of
system. Even the worst of offenders remain children of aggression continue in the form
God. We are called to discover the face of Christ among of land-grabbing, human rights
them. violations, militarization and dis-
The CBCP-ECPPC believes that victims need to be placement of IP communities.
more actively engaged in the criminal justice system, pro- We, therefore, protest the
vided that healing and reconciliation are the focus of such following incidents:
engagement. The slow implementation of
The CBCP-ECPPC strongly urges our society to adopt the resolution on the CADT
a more restorative intervention in our criminal justice application of the Ati commu-
system and work for justice that heals. nity in Boracay;
The systematic recruitment
+MOST REV. PEDRO ARIGO, DD of the indigenous people to be-
Bishop of Apostolic Vicariate of Palawan come members of the CAFGUs,
Chairman-ECPPC CVOs and other para-military
groups like “Bagani”;
24 IMPACT • November 2007
The case of the Subanon
communities in Siocon,
Zamboanga del Norte against
Toronto Ventures Inc. (TVIRD
SCAA)
• Failure of NCIP to register the
CADT of the Subanon com-
munities with the Register
of Deeds;
• Procurement of an invalid
FPIC by TVIRD SCAA;
• Food blockade and forced
eviction of the communities
by TVIRD SCAA.
And strongly support:
The demand of the Ati of
Boracay and similarly situated
IP communities for a speedy reso-
lution by the NCIP in favor of the
processing and awarding of their
CADTs;
The call on the government
and the NPAs to respect the
dignity of the Indigenous
Peoples, who are sons and
daughters of God, by stopping
their widespread recruitment;
The efforts of IP communi-
ties to make their areas Peace
Zones;
The filing of the case of the
Subanon community of Mt.
Canatuan, Siocon, Zamboanga
del Norte, on racial discrimination
and human rights violations in
Geneva, Switzerland adopted by
the CERD on its 71st session held
from 30 July to 17 August 2007;
Let us recognize that Jesus,
the Word of God, identified Him-
self with the IPs when he said
that: “Whatsoever you do to the
least of my brothers and sisters,
you did it to Me.” (Mt. 25, 40)
For the participants of the 25th
ECIP-IPA National Convention,
+Most Rev. Sergio L. Utleg, DD
Bishop of Laoag
ECIP Chairperson

W
e, concerned Church people from
the Association of Major Reli-
gious Superiors in the Philippines
(AMRSP), the Catholic Educational Asso-
ciation of the Philippines (CEAP-NCR),
the Manila Archdiocesan Parochial School
Association (MAPSA) and the Parish
Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting
(PPCRV) gathered today, October 4, 2007,
at the Sta. Isabel College, Manila to reflect
on the present turbulence in the Philippine
society caused by the unfolding of events
in the on-going Senate hearings. We gath-
ered credible information on the events
and issues and sought to reflect on these
in the light of our faith.
The present controversy has af-
fected us deeply and awakened many
feelings:
• Confusion because amidst charges
and counter-charges, the truth behind
the latest NBN controversy still elude
us, and government leaders involved
refuse to be accountable and transpar-
ent to the people who have a right to
know
• Anger and outrage at the potential
harm done to the Filipino people, by a
contract, now mercifully already
scrapped, that would have placed an
enormous economic burden on the
Filipino people, for the sake of the
vested interests of a few.
• Even greater anger when we glimpse,
that this project, carried out with great
secrecy, involved corruption on a very
large scale, apparently among leaders
in very high places. How high this
corruption goes still remains to be
discovered.
• Deep dissatisfaction and loss of trust,
because this is but the latest instance
in a long series of still unresolved
cases of apparent corruption among
public officials, in which the truth is
hidden from the people who have the
right to know.
• Sadness and disillusionment, because
this new controversy, is just the latest
manifestation of the culture of corrup-
tion, non-accountability and impunity,
which plagues government but also
much of our Philippine culture (and
indeed the Church) and which exacer-
bates the already terrible poverty of
our people.
Moved by our Christian faith in the
Lord who is Truth and our adherence to
the Catholic social vision which calls all
and especially those in public office to
work for the common good, we commit
ourselves to the following:
‘Watch and Pray’
October
October4,4,2007
2007
1) ADVOCACY FOR TRUTH AND
ACCOUNTABILITY:
Despite our weariness, we resolve to
advocate the continued search for truth
behind what seems like a cover up aimed at
misleading the Filipino people. We refuse to
“move on” in the name of a promised
progress, because we know that unless a
culture and the protocols of transparency
and accountability are in place, no progress
will be real and lasting. This resolve includes
a demand to bring to justice those whom a
credible process of inquiry reveals to be
guilty of crimes against the Filipino people.
2)CULTURALREGENERATION:
We acknowledge that corruption is
ingrained in our culture, indeed in our-
selves. We commit ourselves and our In-
stitutions to cultural renewal. We will
examine ourselves in humility and hon-
esty and find ways to heighten our aware-
ness of the taint of corruption in our lives
and institutions as well as finding ways of
correcting that which we find to be cor-
rupt. We will proactively promote a culture
of integrity and practices of transparency
and accountability in our own lives and in
our institutions. We will reinvigorate and
strengthen values formation and educa-
tion at all levels.
3) ENGAGEMENT TOWARD GOOD
LEADERSHIP:
We will help train leaders, work to-
ward the emergence of alternative leaders
and work so that the electoral exercises of
2007 and 2010 will result in honest elec-
tions that will place in power leaders who
STATEMENTS
are accountable, competent and commit-
ted to the real service of our people espe-
cially the poor. This will involve working
toward electoral reform and revitalizing
voters’ education and advocating a cred-
ible COMELEC. This also means educat-
ing the young towards political participa-
tion and holiness.
Despite the magnitude of the chal-
lenges we face, we dare to hope extrava-
gantly, because we believe in the good-
ness of our people and the power of the
Lord working in and among us.
We call to mind the teachings of the
Church: “Men and women have the spe-
cific duty to move always towards the
truth, to respect it and bear witness to it.
Living in the truth has special signifi-
cance in social relationships…” (Com-
pendium of the Social Doctrine of the
Church #197). Bearing this in mind and
carrying hope in our hearts, we will seek to
create “islands of excellence and light”
amidst a sea of darkness in our country.
However modest these beginnings, we
believe that when these “islands” are joined
together in a network, we will have built up
a country of excellence and light, of integ-
rity and truth.
- Association of Major Religious Supe-
riors in the Philippines (AMRSP)
- Catholic Educational Association of
the Philippines-the National Capital
Region(CEAP-NCR)
- Manila Archdiocesan & Parochial
Schools Association (MAPSA)
- Parish Pastoral Council for Respon-
sible Voting (PPCRV)
Volume 41 • Number 11 25
FROM THE
B L O G S
Forgive Us
D
o forgive us please,
young people of today.
Our national hero said
with hope and pride that you
were the hope of the country.
One very distinguished and
much loved Pope also affirmed
that the young people of the
world were the strength and
hope of the universal Church.
This truth has acquired spe-
cial relevance during these
times when we your elders
have failed in teaching you by
the lives we live, by the ex-
amples we give. We have
wronged you in so many ways,
for so many years.
We have made lying,
cheating and stealing as stan-
dard actuations of supposedly
educated individuals. You see
us making graft and corrup-
tion, bribery and callousness
as our daily bread. We teach
you that might is right, that
wealth and power are all that
count, that money buys not
only values and principles but
persons as well. And in addi-
tion to all these, you behold
how human lives have become
cheap, how human rights are
only true for those who can
afford to pay for them.
As the youth of the coun-
try, you have all the reasons to
look down upon us, your el-
ders, to hold us in disdain and
contempt. You are well aware
of how we sell your natural
patrimony, how we success-
fully divide the people and im-
poverish your families. Many
of you have no means even to
go school, to have sufficient
meals, to look forward to your
future. In fact, some of the
members of your families even
sell their organs in exchange
for some food, clothing and
shelter. Our greed has impov-
erished them and made their
26 IMPACT • November 2007
lives really miserable.
In your goodness, please
do not be afraid of us as we are
not worth your fear. Do not
tolerate us much less allow us
to exploit the people much
longer, to pocket more of their
hard earned money paid as
taxes. We are prepared not to
expect much less demand your
respect when we are down-
right disrespectable, for you
to honor us when we have
become so dishonorable and
even despicable.
Would that once fallen from
our self-made glorious pedes-
tals and brought down from our
empty and deceiving visionary
projections, we your corrupt and
corrupting elders would find the
opportunity to return what we
stole, to tell the truth as it is, and
to make amends for our practi-
cally countless misdeeds
against you, your beloved fami-
lies, you dear country. Would
that you continue to hold on to
the saying that, “Hope springs
eternal.”
You cannot and should
not indulge in despair. This is
bad for your present and fatal
for your future and that of the
country. Otherwise, you
would prove our national hero
as well as the saintly Pope all
wrong if you lose hope—you
who are precisely the hope of
the country and of the Church
as well. No matter how evil and
odious we your elders are, no
matter how powerful and
wealthy we have become
through vicious means, we go
by the wayside and eventu-
ally die sooner or later, con-
verted from our sins or pre-
cisely condemned in them.
And then you take over.
Meantime, forgive us!
ovc.blogspot.com
The Makati Explosion
T
he pacing of the dis-
gusting and disturb-
ing events in the coun-
try that infallibly involves
Malacañang is too fast that
people hardly have enough
time to think and make rea-
sonable conclusions about
them. It all began in May
2004 and the list of such
messy and nauseous hap-
penings goes on. And there
are no promising signs so
far that such moral, social
and political gross aberra-
tions will stop soon.
Even but a brief look at
the recent past is enough for
many concerned citizens to
feel depressed, to pity the
country, to ask questions.
The ZTE fiasco. The ques-
tionable cyberspace educa-
tion. The much over-priced
Call Center Lab. The unac-
counted multi-million Palace
Fund, The Malacañang brib-
ery adventure. And all these
were immediately followed
by the destructive and
deadly explosion. It killed or
hurt innocent men and
women, helpless young
people and children. Need-
less to say, the nation cries
with their families, relatives
and friends, as people pray
for the eternal repose of
those who died and for the
full recovery of those hurt in
the big blast.
Meantime, the ques-
tions:
What was really used to
kill and hurt people, to blow
up and destroy the place, to
cause much commotion and
apprehension? Even the offi-
cial answer given is in fact
more appalling and much
frightful: Military ordinance!
No. It is not a bomb made here
and there. It is not even ordi-
nary explosive that is used
every now and then, it is a
downright war material kept
and used by the armed forces.
Who were the charac-
ters who had in possession
the devastating bomb, who
deliberately carried, carefully
planted and decidedly staged
its deadly explosion? Were
they but thugs and ruffians?
Were they merely publicity
hungry individuals, plain
mentally disturbed persons
or highly paid mercenaries?
Or were they in fact chosen
members of the military or
para-military personnel?
Why was the bombing
and killing, the burning and
destruction done? Was it to
simply prove that murder
and devastation were a reli-
gious commitment? Was it
purely accidental, inciden-
tal or coincidental? Or was it
in truth but to stage a cover-
up, to engage in a basically
diversionary tactic? The
way the investigations are
going on, there might not be
a really acceptable answer
to the said questions.
One thing is certain:
there are those who are in
effect blessed by the explo-
sion in no less than the busy
place and business center
of Makati. For the moment
at least, they deflected the
attention of people whose
sound value system and ba-
sic sense of decency have
been long offended and in-
censed by big successive
Malacañang money scan-
dals.
Terrorism! If this were
the real reason behind the
bombing and devastation,
while people in general would
have reasons to be afraid,
Malacañang on the other
hand might find the rationale
to rejoice. This is the big para-
dox of the Makati explosion.
ovc.blogspot.com

Nationalism vs. Partnership
A
truly big and often fatal enemy of nationalism is
political partisanship. This can be readily equated
with partisan biases and prejudices, given political
concerns and interests. While the principle of nationalism
is basically to think, speak and act for the benefit and
development of the country, the norm governing partisan-
ship is primarily to consider, decide and move in favor of
the advancement of the political party—over and above
the public welfare, outside and beyond the common good.
Partisanship is a way of life of a political community.
Political parties come and go in terms of the majority and
the minority, the pro-administration and opposition party.
As such, the political system is a blessing to a country
when purely political issues are concerned, if simply
partisan questions are raised. This reality is specially
relevant to and significant for general advantage of the
country when partisan politics serve by way of checks
and balances in the resolution of secular matters.
There are however distinct and significant problems
that should be responded to beyond partisan politics
particularly when nothing less than the national present
and future of a country are already at stake. This is
specifically true when such questions already enter the
sphere of ethics or the area of morals. Between lie and
truth, integrity and corruption, honesty and thievery—
these and similar social concerns should be responded to
by adherence to basic principles of right living—not
merely according to political partisan affiliation.
EDITORIAL
“My loyalty to my party ends when my fidelity to my
Country begins.” This known pronouncement of a distin-
guished political leader says it candidly and well. The
wanton disregard and repeated violation of the substance
and implications of the admirable maxim are precisely the
causal factors of profound division and dissent, the
pervasive misery and poverty, the pitiful and critical
situation now obtaining in the Philippines.
A concrete case in point is the serious issue of
impeachment. The way partisan politics presently work
in the country, any and all impeachable complaints are
considered fully resolved merely by the count of hands
raised in favor or against them. As of now, no impeach-
ment complaint submitted to the Lower House of
Congress would prosper no matter how meritorious it is
in substance and how perfect it is in form. In other
words, what is right or wrong, what is according or
against the Fundamental Law of the Land, gets decided
by sheer partisan politics.
Politics are not beyond the rule of good or evil, above
the norm of what is virtuous or vicious. Politicians for that
matter are neither exempted from the socio-moral man-
date against lying, cheating and stealing. Thus is it that
partisan politics still remain subordinate to the elementary
principle of right over wrong, honor over profit, truth over
injustice. In instances such as these, “crossing party
lines” becomes in order. Otherwise, partisanship be-
comes a curse to nationalism.
Volume 41 • Number 11 27
FROM THE
I N B O X

A trip to Israel

Learning
from
Mistakes
T
homas Edison
homas Edison tried
tried two
two thou-
thou-
sand different
sand different materials
materials in in

A
Jewish businessman in Chicago home a Christian.” Perhaps we should go search of
search of aa filament
filament for for the
the
sent his son to Israel for a year to see the rabbi. So they did, and they ex- light bulb.
light bulb. When
When none
none worked
worked sat-
sat-
absorb the culture. When the son plained their problem to the rabbi. isfactorily, his
isfactorily, his assistant
assistant com- com-
returned, he said, “Papa, I had a great time “Funny you should ask,” said the plained, “All
plained, “All our
our work
work is is in
in vain.
vain.
in Israel. By the way, I converted to Chris- rabbi. “I, too, sent my son to Israel, and he We have
We have learned
learned nothing.”
nothing.”
tianity.”” also came home a Christian. What is hap- Edison replied
Edison replied very
very confidently,
confidently,
Oy vey,” said the father. “What have pening to our young people?” “Oh, we
“Oh, we have
have come
come aa long
long way
way and
and
I done?” And so they all prayed, telling the Lord we have
we have learned
learned aa lot.
lot. We
We now
now that
that
He took his problem to his best friend. about their sons. As they finished their there are
there are two
two thousand
thousand elements
elements
“Ike,” he said, “I sent my son to Israel, and prayer, a voice came from the heavens... which we
which we cannot
cannot useuse toto make
make aa
he came home a Christian. What can I do?” “Funny you should ask,” said the good light
good light bulb."
bulb."
“Funny you should ask,” said Ike. “I too, voice. “I, too, sent my son to Israel.” rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net
sent my son to Israel, and he also came rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net

A
young lady was
waiting for her
flight in a board-
ing room of a big airport.
As she would need to
wait many hours, she de-
cided to buy a book to
spend her time. She also
bought a packet of cook-
ies.
She sat down in an
armchair, in the VIP
room of the airport, to
rest and read in peace.
Beside the armchair
where the packet of
cookies lay, a man sat
down in the next seat,
opened his magazine
and started reading.
When she took out
the first cookie, the man
took one also. She felt
irritated but said noth-
ing. She just thought:
“What a nerve! If I was in
the mood I would punch
him for daring?”
For each cookie she
took, the man took one too.
This was infuriating her but
she didn’t want to cause a
scene. When only one
cookie remained, she
thought: “ah… what this
abusive man do now?”
Then, the man, taking the
last cookie, divided it into
half, giving her one half.
Ah! That was too
much! She was much too
angry now! In a huff, she
took her book, her things
and stormed to the board-
ing place. When she sat
down in her seat, inside the
plane, she looked into her
purse to take her eyeglasses,
Cookies
and, to her surprise, her
packet of cookies was there,
untouched, unopened!
She felt so ashamed!!
She realized that she was
wrong… She had forgot-
ten that her cookies were
kept in her purse.
The man had divided
his cookies with her, with-
out feeling angered or bit-
ter. While she had been
very angry, thinking that
she was dividing her cook-
ies with him. And now there
was no chance to explain
herself… nor to apologize.
There are four things
that you cannot recover. The
stone… after the throw. The
word… after it’s said. The
occasion… after the loss!
And the time… after it’s gone.
rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net

28 IMPACT • October 2007


Alfredo
Verzosa,
Obispo
Ericson M. Josue
“‘Alfredo Verzosa, Obispo’ was
the pastoral and spiritual
guide of his auxiliary, the Ser-
vant of God, Bishop Ma. Obviar,
the “holy fruit” of his ministry in
Lipa. If such was the fruit what
must the vine have been? Both
were catechists ‘of the high-
est caliber,’” thus comments
Archbishop Angel Lagdameo,
CBCP president on the book—
which maybe a good way of
telling what this biographical
work is all about. Fr. Ericson
Josue started his research out
of mere curiosity which was
triggered after noticing a for-
gotten tomb at the crypt in the
Vigan Cathedral which turned
out to be that of the “Obispo”.
Writing as a fulfillment of a
seminary requirement, this
has earned him a degree in
theology—and enthusiasm
among those pursuing the
cause of Bishop Obviar which
graduated from a research
paper into a full-blown bio-
graphical book. Bishop Alfredo
Verzosa, the fourth Filipino
Roman Catholic Bishop, is
exceptional, notes Cardinal
Gaudencio Rosales in his
Foreword. He was chosen
from among many to become
the second bishop of Lipa af-
ter Msgr. Giuseppe Petrelli
who concurrently held the of-
fice of Apostolic Delegate to the
Philippines.
Loving, Our
Way of Living
Bp. Teodoro C. Bacani, Jr.
At his foreword, Gaudencio
Cardinal Rosales of the Arch-
diocese of Manila aptly says
that this work is the author’s
“suggested ‘small-small
steps approach to the life of
love,’ to be lived easily by any
and everyone. The numerous
examples cited…truly encour-
age the reader to discover that
in daily life there are golden
opportunities to give
love…that Jesus was sent to
show us that love is easy to
practice, if done in little acts
and lived in simple ways.”
Love, of course, is the most
talked-about topic across the
centuries so that one would
agree with Qoheleth that noth-
ing more is new under the
sun. But what makes this vol-
ume different from all the oth-
ers is that it moves at the
breath of Deus Caritas Est and
Sacramentum Caritatis of
Benedict XVI and finds con-
crete expressions in the ex-
periences, however modest,
of “ Pondo ng Pinoy”. At the
end of the book, the author
renders his personal credo
and concludes with a prayer
“that God-Love will consume
all my selfishness, pride, in-
difference and hatred, and
turn everything in me to love,
so that like God-Love I may
always love, always be in love
with Love.”
The
Martyrdom of
Lorenzo Ruiz
A historical Novel
Susan Tan
There are many ways in writ-
ing history. The traditional his-
toriography unfolds with the
chronology of events, the
movement of the times, and
the achievements and failures
of its leaders. Another is to
approach history from the
point of view of the philosophi-
cal interpretation of protago-
nists as in the case of the Marx-
ist theory of class struggle.
Susan Tan uses none of
these. She presents the mar-
tyrdom of Lorenzo Ruiz with the
literary vigor of a novelist and
the historical accuracy of an
obsessed researcher. Not un-
like the Jewish midrash, the
purity of the historical truth is
recreated and sustained with
the depth of a master story
teller. The story opens on a
bleak autumn that symbolically
caricatures a 17th century Ja-
pan characterized by a closed
shogunate (Closed Country
Edict of 1635) that expelled
missionaries and executed
numerous converts to Chris-
tianity. Published by Paulines
publications, this one is an in-
teresting read.
Volume 41 • Number 10
B O O K
REVIEWS
Tickle your
Soul
Anne Bryan Smollin, C.S.J.
With a doctorate in counsel-
ing, the author is an interna-
tional lecturer on wellness
and spirituality. That may be
a handy assurance that all the
entries in this volume are
battle-tested, coming as they
probably are from years of
experience and interaction
with warm bodies. This vol-
ume can easily become the
“soundtrack” of her career as
a family counselor. She
writes: “There is nothing like
a good laugh. It tickles our
very souls. Laughter is an ac-
tivity of the heart. We scrunch
our souls with negativity and
a lack of enthusiasm, but
laughter smoothes them out.
Laughter makes a noise so
others can hear our feelings.”
This obviously is an easy
reading that can be tucked in
one’s pocket on the way to
the airport or simply a light
companion on some lazy
rainy days. Simple, crisp and
short, each chapter is clad
with anecdotes and real sto-
ries and a punch line that al-
lows you to pause before
navigating on to the next
pages.
29
ENTERTAINMENT
CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
FOR E NLIGHTENED
MOVIE APPRECIATION
Title: Knocked Up
Running Time: 132 min
Cast: Robin Seth Rogan,
Katherine Heigl, Paul
Rudd, Leslie Mann
Director: Judd Apatow
Producers: Judd Apatow,
Shauna Robertson,
Clayton Townsend
Screenwriter: Judd Apatow
Music: Joe Henry, Loudon
Wainwright III
O n the day she got pro-
moted as an on-cam
host of E! Television
Network, 24-year old Alison
Scott (Katherine Heigl)
spends the night in bar with
her sister Debbie (Leslie
Mann) to celebrate. She ac-
cidentally meets Ben Stone
(Seth Rogan), a 23 year old
slacker and bum who is also
in the same bar with his
equally jobless friends.
They Chat, get drunk and
enjoy the night dancing and
eventually end up for a one
night stand. Come morning,
they discover how different
their lives are and decide
that this is about how far it
will go. Eight weeks later
though, Alison realizes she
is pregnant after several
morning sickness episodes
ANSWER TO THE LAST ISSUE: I WANT YOU TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR
NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR. DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEXT DOOR NEIGHBOR? -
- MOTHER TERESA
30 IMPACT • November 2007
Editors: Craig Alpert, Brent
White
Genre: Comedy
Cinematography: Eric Alan
Edwards
Distributor: UIP- Solar
Location: LA. California
Technical Assessment:
zzz
Moral Assessment: 
CINEMA Rating: For mature
viewers 18 and above
and a series of pregnancy
tests. She decides to con-
tact Ben whose phone num-
ber she didn’t even bother
to get. Ben’s initial response
of shock and anger mixed
with Alison’s frustration
creates tension, resulting in
Ben agreeing to take Alison
to the OB-GYN to confirm
the pregnancy. Once con-
firmed, they decide to live
together and try to make a
relationship happen. But
their differences soon sur-
face and create friction and
complexity throughout the
pregnancy.
The movie is funny and
entertaining technically with
its bittersweet realism. The
performances are likeable and
the director portrays their
shortcoming, fear, and inse-
curities truthfully, not mali-
ciously. Although well told
and developed, the movie
could have tightened up a
little bit more especially in
the middle part. The perfor-
mances are well delivered and
characters are convincingly
truthful. However, presenta-
tions of some scenes sup-
posedly for comedy are done
in poor taste. The movie has
its moments, but not enough
of them to make it great.
The movie illustrates
how parenthood, now mat-
ter how well it works out in
the end, is a frightening pro-
cess, and childrearing if
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guaranteed to challenge the
most stable of couples, much
less a duo who’ve only re-
cently become acquainted.
On the positive side, the
movie shows that despite our
flaws, weaknesses, and
struggles, there remains in
every person the capacity to
love unconditionally, forgive
when we are wronged, rec-
oncile when there is division
and, ultimately, to rejoice in
the gift of life. It demon-
strates the downside of be-
ing too liberated in having
intimate relations and the
struggles and difficulty of
trying to create a relation-
ship because of a pregnancy.
It also presents the complexi-
ties of married life and how
at the end of the day, couples
who are truly in love and are
determined to make the mar-
riage work will always find a
way to stay together despite
personality differences and
biases. However, the film
comic scenes are a bit vulgar
and offensive. Repeated ref-
erences to drugs, pre-mari-
tal sex, nudity, pornography,
abortion, living-in although
done for humor may offend
sensibilities of the Filipino
culture and give bad role
models for the young.

BURMA
Suu Kyi in talks with Communist Party Delhi’s monkey menace Olmert to have sur-
gov’t unveils leadership Thousands of mon- gery for cancer
Generals here have kept line
their promise to hold talks
with the country’s oppo-
sition leader, Aung San
Suu Kyi. Labour Minis-
ter, General Aung Kyi has
been given the task of im-
proving relations with the
opposition. What was said
remains unknown, al-
though it was seen as a
positive step. Pro-democ-
racy activists, however,
remain cautious.
THAILAND
A third of primates
endangered
Almost a third of all
apes, monkeys and other
primates are in danger of
going extinct due to ram-
pant destruction of their
tropical habitat, the com-
mercial sale of bush meat
and the trade in illegal
wildlife, a report said. 25
of the most endangered
primates are singled out
in the report, which was
to be presented at the In-
ternational Primatological
Society in Hainan, China.
Among those most at risk
are the Miss Waldron’s
red colobus of Ivory
Coast and Ghana and
Chi-na’s Hainan gibbon,
whose numbers have
dwindled to 17.
CHINA
keys are making life dif- Israeli Prime Minister
China’s Communist
Party has unveiled the
leadership line-up that
will steer the country for
the next five years. Presi-
dent Hu Jintao has won a
second term as party and
army chief. The four new
members of Chinese
cabinet include only one
obvious supporter of
President Hu. That has
left observers wonder-
ing if he will be able to
alter China’s economic
policy in any drastic way.
VIETNAM
Selective abortions
blamed for glut of
sons
Authorities are wor-
ried about a growing im-
balance in the ratio of
boy to girl children. A
new study has found the
number of surviving male
children compared to
girls is considerably
higher than the interna-
tional average of 104
boys for every 100 girls.
There are concerns Viet-
namese parents are re-
sorting to selective abor-
tion to make sure they
have at least one son.
INDIA
ficult in the Indian capital
as they roam free, rou-
tinely invading govern-
ment buildings. But city
planners are yet to de-
cide what to do about
the scourge of violent
monkeys, especially af-
ter the city’s deputy
mayor died this week
while fighting off a horde
of wild simians.
PHILIPPINES
HRW urges gov’t to
stop ban on critics
The Arroyo adminis-
tration should stop
blacklisting peaceful
critics and banning them
from entering the coun-
try, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) said. The group
has obtained the
government’s blacklist
banning 504 people from
entering the country in
July and August with, ac-
cording to the document,
“Al-Qaeda/Taliban
Link.” HRW said the
government has rights to
protect its people “but
labeling peaceful critics
as Al-Qaeda or Taliban
only serves to sap public
confidence in counter-
terror measures and ex-
poses them as a cover
for suppressing dissent.”
Volume 41 • Number 11
N E W S
BRIEFS
ISRAEL
Ehud Olmert said he had
been diagnosed with an
early stage of prostate
cancer and would un-
dergo surgery, but re-
portedly his condition
was not life threatening
and he would stay on the
job. Mr. Olmert said that
surgery was planned “in
the next few months.”
Olmert, 62, took office
in January 2006 after his
predecessor, Ariel
Sharon, suffered a mas-
sive stroke.
PAKISTAN
Benazir’s niece criti-
cal of her homecom-
ing
The Pakistan govern-
ment is proposing ban-
ning large rallies ahead
of January’s parliamen-
tary elections to avoid a
repeat of last week’s
deadly suicide bombings
during Benazir Bhutto’s
homecoming. Ms. Bhutto
has now suggested tak-
ing her campaign online.
But her opponents, in-
cluding members of her
family, say that will not
wipe away the blood on
her hands from last
week’s carnage.
31