THE DOING OF JUSTICE

We have just finished another year of crisis in our political institutions. These days, it seems, we are being asked to choose between justice and mercy as we witness the unfolding drama of the case against Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

There is the appeal to the culture’s sense of empathy, as well as talk of a constitutional crisis as the Executive branch tangles with the Supreme Court in the effort to pursue justice.

In the Old Testament, we are told that God requires both justice and mercy. The prophet Micah tells the people of Israel: “What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?” Justice and mercy are meant to be together. Without justice, a nation becomes soft and the law simply becomes a convenient tool for those in power to dominate the weak and powerless. Without mercy, we become merely hard knights of justice, blind to the demands for sympathy and the complexities posed by human weakness.

The pursuit of justice does not happen in a vacuum. Judges, rulers and lawmakers all operate within a social context of power and relationships that make them subject to influence.

Even in ancient Israel, they were not above corruption, as we see in the prophet Isaiah’s denunciation of the leaders of his time:  “Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees or deprive the poor of their rights and rob my oppressed people of justice, making the widow their prey, and robbing the fatherless.”

The prophet Ezekiel cried out against oppression by the powerful, “You have gone far enough, O princes of Israel…stop dispossessing my people, declares the Sovereign Lord.”

Jeremiah, living among the poor that were left in Jerusalem after the first Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem, likewise refused to be silent before the king and the judges.

The Apostle Paul famously called Christians to submission to authority. However, when Peter and John were forbidden by the Jewish authorities to preach the Gospel, they replied: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”

Especially in a democratic context, the people are duty-bound to hold judge and ruler accountable to our highest laws, as enshrined in the Constitution. Understanding that all earthly authority has been instituted by God, Christians should take this to heart, but should be ready to speak out as well when earthly laws directly conflict with the laws of God as contained in Scripture.

This editorial was translated by Rei Lemuel Crizaldo from the original article entitled “Saan Napunta ang OFW Remittances” written by Atty. Ome Candazo. Ome is ISACC’s Fellow on Media and Politics.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Economic Impact of the Filipino Diaspora

Last year, the country received 18.76 billion dollars worth of remittances from our OFWs. This year, the Central Bank of the Philippines forecast a total of 20.21 billion dollars of remittances to flow into the country. Next to Mexico and India, we are now the third largest remittance- receiving-country in the world. Also, did you know that these remittances form 13.5% of our total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and half of our national budget?

Our OFW remittances are higher than all the combined revenues from the garments and mining industry, computer hardware production, and exported products. There is nothing like this in all the world. The Philippines now has the largest remittances in proportion to domestic economy. Yet given the immensely large amount of remittances, we wonder about its actual benefits to the national economy.

First, we often hear that remittances raise the power to purchase consumer goods, resulting in a multiplier effect that can uplift the economic condition of the country. However, this has yet to be proven and is disputed by various studies, including studies from government agencies. Moreover, the supposed multiplier effect does not trickle down at all to the poor. Our poverty level remained at 30% last year; now, it has worsened to 35%. OFW remittances do not have much impact as far as alleviating poverty is concerned.

Second, it is said that the remittances increase the dollar reserves of the country. They say that this is really the positive side of the OFW phenomenon. In other words, this is the bright star. If not for this, the Philippine economy would have crashed a long time ago. While the currencies of the other nations are in disarray, the peso continues to be stable because of the remittances. This protected us from the recent financial crisis that hit the various regions of the world.

But did you know that 30% of our national budget goes to paying the amortization of our foreign debts? And that it is the OFW remittances that cover the principal and interests of these debts? “The only country in the world to do so,” said the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Isn’t it paradoxical that the remittances that our OFWs earn from foreigners are in turn used to pay our foreign creditors?

Third, it is said that some of our OFWs are able to save and start business enterprises. However, the kinds of investments available for small businesses are limited and largely comprise pedicabs, tricycles, food trays and franchising. The Department of Trade and Industry noticed this alarming lack of entrepreneurial activity and flat rate of investments. The immense capital that flows into the country does not at all go to businesses that actually promote production.

So, the pressing question is: How can we maximize the 20 billion- dollar remittances such that it will help grow our local economy?

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Can the Church or the State Legislate Morality?
Does the RH Bill necessarily lead to free-wheeling sexual license and the acceptance of abortion as a legal recourse when contraception fails?

A sub-text to this moral question is the issue of social control: who has the right to exercise gatekeeping on morals in a pluralistic society ? Can a legal instrument such as the RH bill really influence the level of morality of a society?

A related question is, should the Church or the State interfere in a question best left to the conscience of individual citizens? Who should make decisions about family size, and what is the role of the state in influencing that choice?

Theologically, Christian tradition—particularly Protestantism, with its emphasis on the ‘priesthood of all believers’—puts the weight of moral choices on the individual conscience. ‘Freedom of choice’ means the freedom to exercise one’s will for good or ill. It is a terrible gift, one that requires a tremendous sense of responsibility to exercise properly.

Neither the church nor the state as institutions have the right to encroach in those realms where people are given freedom to be sovereign and directly accountable to God, things like raising a family, or artistic, scientific, or academic freedom in general. Theologians call this ‘sphere sovereignty.’ For instance, no one should take away from parents the primary responsibility for birthing and raising a  child.

The state as an orchestrating institution does have the right to either delimit or enhance the freedom of all the other spheres, depending on whether its exercise is detrimental or beneficial to the common good. Giving the poor access to cheap contraceptives, thereby allowing them to exercise the option of limiting the size of their families, is part of the state’s duty to provide an environment for the flourishing of its citizens.

What the state rewards or punishes with legal sanctions is an indication of what the society recognizes as acceptable norms. The fact that abortion remains illegal in this country means that the majority of our people are not secularized; we retain a measure of fear before God and do not feel that people have a right to make decisions over the life or death of an unborn child.

It is time to recognize that the Church can no longer compel obedience by mere papal decree. The idea of ‘Christendom’ has long crumbled, and in its place are pluralistic societies that have many voices. Today, the main gatekeeper of the discourse in public space is media, with technology as mediating instrument. Sociologically speaking, what shapes morals and public behavior these days, especially of young people, is neither the church nor the state but media.

It is futile to think that we can legislate morality. The high rate of illegal abortion in this largely Catholic country attests to this. If the Church is worried about the moral fallout of this Bill, it can only stem the tide by doing what it does best – commend its values to the conscience of people, believers and unbelievers alike. It should do this, not by either thwarting or harnessing the coercive powers of the state,  but by winsomely and cogently setting forth its case before a skeptical public.

This editorial is adapted from the original article written by Dr. Melba Padilla Maggay entitled “Battle over RH feels like proxy culture war.” Dr. Maggay is the President of ISACC.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Development that Violates the Constitution

There have been many discussions on which development model will best work for the Philippines. There are those who  look to the successful experiences of Singapore and Malaysia. There are also those who prefer that we instead craft an economic policy that is rooted in the internal configuration of the country. Perhaps, only a few know that our Constitution has an economic program. Article XII Section 1 of the 1987 Constitution states:

“The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of human and natural resources, and which are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets.”

This is the development model that the Constitution prescribes for our country. But from the time of Mrs. Aquino to Mr. Ramos, to Mr. Estrada to GMA, this is not the development model that the government has been following. Whenever the MTPDP (Medium Term Philippine Development Plan) is drafted every 5-6 years, our leaders have neglected and violated this constitutional principle.

Agriculture and agrarian reform should have been the basis of industrialization, but over the years the agricultural sector has been grossly neglected.

How about industrialization itself?  Industrialization produces jobs. When there are many factories and plants, there is a thriving job market. Well, almost half of the factories which were put up in the 60s and 70s are closed now. We replaced our industries with the services sector. Our country now is a service economy; moreover it is one that services not our national need, but the needs of other countries.

One look around Metro Manila will show anyone what we have a lot of: shopping malls. What are the jobs here? In selling or retail. With all our excess labor, we have been compelled to export jobs abroad: We are now selling our skills. All we do is sell. Meanwhile, we produce less and less. We have a country that can provide enough food for our people; we even have the resources to export food.

There is a need to develop an economic system based on the geography and terrain of the land. The Apostle Paul said in Acts 17 that “God made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place…” May we be wise in the stewardship of this dwelling place that God has sovereignly assigned to us.

This editorial was adapted from Mr. Ric Reyes’ speech at the 8^th ISACC Fellows’ Gathering. Mr. Reyes is the President of Freedom from Debt Coalition.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

The Poor Among You

Our history as a people is littered with stories of the painful and agonizing conditions of the poor. They lack even the most basic requirements of day-to-day living. They have limited opportunity for rising above their condition. They seem to be trapped in a hopeless cycle of suffering, oppression, deprivation, frustration, exploitation, and even crime.

It is cold comfort to know that we are not the only country facing this persistent problem. For this reason, eleven years ago, the United Nations launched the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a global campaign to reduce poverty by half by 2015.

But with less than five years remaining, it seems that we are losing the war on poverty. Social Watch Philippines (SWP), in their 2010 Shadow Progress Report, stated that “The picture of inequality has hardly changed since 2000. The poor live in rural communities far from Manila—in Bicol, Visayas, and Mindanao. They are the landless, homeless, jobless, underemployed, uneducated, sick, malnourished, discriminated Filipinos. Many of them are women, Muslims, Indigenous Peoples and tribal Filipinos.”

Monitoring the MDGs since 2001, Social Watch observes that the government did not spend enough for the MDGs. It points to the urgent need to look carefully into what they describe as “the hindrances to the move towards justice and sustainable development”. Among the hindrances identified are “high inequality between the rich and the poor, rising population, persistent corruption, unsustainable debt.”

The war against poverty is full of complexity and defies simplistic solutions. Not even an anti-poverty campaign as expansive as the United Nation’s MDGs is assured of success. Might this be the reason that in the Bible Jesus says “the poor will always be among you?”

However, this is not meant to dismiss the poor and poverty as simply part of our reality. No! Jesus seems to be telling us here about a challenge and a standard in the way we live our lives. Actually, his words reference God’s ancient command to His people, re-emphasized by Moses at the end of 40 years in the desert: “For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore I command you, ‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to the needy and to the poor, in your land” (Deuteronomy 15:11 ESV). In many other passages in Scriptures, we are called to give importance to the least, the helpless and those who have less in life. And as the Good Samaritan did, we are expected to provide care, help and guidance to our neighbour.

Let us pray for long-lasting systemic change: Over the remaining five years, President Noynoy must take full advantage of his political capital in leading the government and our people in fulfilling our commitments to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). And may the Lord imbue us with an ever fresh and enduring excitement as we continue to actively participate in the lives of the poor.

This article is a translation by Rei Crizaldo of the original version in Filipino written by James S. Mante. Mr. Mante is a Fellow of ISACC.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

How Do You Pray About a Tsunami?

You have probably seen videos of the disaster in Japan – not only the devastation caused by the earthquake, but also pictures of the tsunami – a wall of water racing across the landscape, swallowing everything in its path.  And now the news is full of doomsday messages about nuclear radiation.  Does Scripture have something to say in such situations? It does.

Firstly, God is at their center. “Nature” is a euphemism – God is the reality.  Nature does not control the movement of tectonic plates, the displacement of billions of tons of sea water.  But God does. Consider Isaiah 40: 23-24,

“He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.”

Does the thought of God at the center of disaster make us uncomfortable?  It should.  Though we can have an intimate friend in Christ, the Godhead is infinitely more than this. He is also majestic, unfathomable—the God of tsunamis and earthquakes. This is something we need to be reminded of. Frequently.

Secondly, the right posture for us to take is one of humility. We are frail creatures, destined for death from Day One. In our pride, we easily forget how fragile and dependent we are.  Scripture rebukes: “…you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”(James 1:14)

Thirdly, such events should bring to our minds the reality of our sin and our need to repent of the selfish ways in which we have abused the environment, which is God’s creation. There is a powerful metaphor in the image of the tsunami racing across the landscape, growing in destructive strength with the engulfment of yet more cars and buildings. Our greed and covetousness are doing greater damage—both to people, and the Creation that God has placed in our care. The materialistic economic systems we have built are destroying us, more slowly, but just as effectively as a tsunami wave. Without question, we are to heed Jesus’ command to “go and sin no more”. As a global society, how can we best do this?

Finally, we remember that even in this tragedy there is hope for our God is full of compassion. Lamentations 3:19-24 has this to say to us,

“Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.’”

To this end, tragedies become victories for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. God has given us…Christ. Let us approach Him in repentance and throw ourselves upon his mercy and love.

This editorial is written by Ed Brown. Ed Brown is the Executive Director of Care for Creation -a Christian environmental organization based in the USA.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Afterthoughts on the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT)

Judging by the blare of trumpets and hymns of ecstatic praise, it appears that the Conditional Cash Transfer Program is the centerpiece of P-Noy’s national budget and poverty alleviation program. As such it has been attacked from all quarters—civil society, media, academics, and members of Congress

Conditional Cash Transfer or CCT is considered so important that the original Ph5billion allocation of former Pres. GMA has been quadrupled to Ph21 billion and the budget of the DSWD doubled.

The CCT budgetary allocation is double that of the entire budget of the DENR.  For all the talk about climate change, loving the environment and doing something about the “inconvenient truth,” the reality is that one program allocation is double that of a major department.

Miraculously, after expensive vitriolic debates in both houses on the vulnerabilities of CCT, it emerged intact, unscathed and untouched when the budget was finally signed. Many are wondering: How much did it cost the administration to protect CCT from the clutches of both houses of Congress? What happened during the last hours—or is it early morning hours – when Congress finally passed the CCT? What happened in the Senate? And most curious of all: What happened during the Bicameral Committee meetings to which the public is not privy?

The merits and demerits of CCT have been discussed. It must be admitted that both the Lower House and the Senate have exposed serious flaws in the program. Social Watch Philippines has a position paper on the CCT.

It is clear that giving away cash will not solve poverty, nor will it improve health services or the quality of education in this country. Jobs will.

Besides, one of the main requirements of an effective CCT plan is a clear exit strategy.

It will not take long before people get used to receiving dole-outs. It will not be long, either, before they begin to expect it permanently.  With mounting deficits and insufficient revenues, it is more than obvious that non-stop CCT is not sustainable. An exit strategy is clearly needed. But is there one?

We should also consider the World Bank announcement that in 2012, the CCT program will be expanded further.

It is time for the government to take very great care. The prophets of old, under a divine mandate, warned that “just as the rich rule the poor so the borrower is servant to the lender.” (Proverbs 22:7). An expanded CCT budget demands a more elaborate exit strategy and a larger resource base to finance it. Won’t this require additional loans for government? Our leaders should take heed that in helping the poor, we do not get ourselves even more deeply indebted to foreign banks.

This editorial is adapted from the article “A Reform Budget for 2011?” by Dr. Leonor “Liling” Magtolis Briones of UP-NCPAG, a former National Treasurer and currently the convenor of Social Watch Philippines.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Our Stake in the National Budget

The present administration deserves to be commended for the timely passage of the 2011 national budget. Worries about a reenacted budget and all its attendant evils were laid to rest. Also, the administration featured the use of zero-based budgeting (ZBB) as a basis for increasing, decreasing or even eliminating budget allocations for this year.

However, the 2011 budget still faces a major challenge, and that is —  monitoring its proper implementation.  As it is laden with special purpose funds, lump sum appropriations, automatic appropriations and all sorts of features which cannot be penetrated by the magic sword of ZBB, media, civil society and the public have to take up the challenge of monitoring actual implementation.

Where are the entry points for public participation and monitoring in the budget?

First, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) has already announced that projects for 2011 will already be front loaded and funds will be released. This is a rich area for public monitoring and budget tracking. Networks like Social Watch Philippines have member organizations which monitor programs in education, health, environment and agriculture. Locally-based organizations can monitor projects implemented in their own localities.

Second, there is the upcoming challenge of the 2012 budget which DBM is already starting to prepare. DBM has been convening a round of consultations among various departments and civil society organizations.  Participating agencies include the Departments of Health, Agriculture, Education, Public Works and Highways, and Social Work and Development. The event is a precursor of more opportunities for public participation in the budget process.

The budget process is not the exclusive turf of one department. Budget preparation requires the strong hand of the President, especially in the identification of priorities. Nonetheless, the public has to be consulted in the determination of such priorities. Since budget debates are generally associated with the legislature, the budget only comes to the attention of the public when the documents are submitted to both houses of Congress. It is unfortunate that the crucial process of budget preparation is largely unnoticed by the public.

We stress that the budget is too important to be left to the government alone. Beyond zero-based budgeting, there has to be participation of the people. After all, the budget is the articulation of what a country wants for itself, where it wants to go, and what kind of development it aspires for the people. This is what governance is all about.

Written by Dr. Leonor “Liling” Magtolis Briones of UP-NCPAG, a former National Treasurer and currently the convenor of Social Watch Philippines.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

THE NEED FOR A REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL

The CIA World Fact book puts the Philippines as the 12^th most populous country in the world today with 94.3 million people. Some sectors welcome this growth in population as potential human resource for the country. But it is also alarming in light of other data.

According to UNICEF, the country is among the 68 countries which contributed to 97% of maternal, neonatal and child deaths worldwide in 2009. Also, the Guttmacher Institute in 2009 reported that 3.4 million pregnancies occur every year: Half are unintended, one third of which end in abortions. The Philippine Legislator’s Committee on Population and Development ( PLPCD) revealed that in 2010, eleven Filipino women died every day due to pregnancy and childbirth- related complications.

The Family Planning Survey of 2006 reported that 2.6 million Filipino women would like to plan their families but lack information and access to do so. The poorest have an average of six children—three times their desired number. The NDHS in 2008 said that 54% of married women did not want an additional child but that 49% of them were not using any form of family planning method, leading eventually to miscarriages, induced abortions, unwanted births, and mistimed births. The lack of any kind of family planning translates to 85 pregnancies per 100 women.

What do these figures mean for the nation?

One, unless there is decisive intervention, it is very likely that we will not achieve our commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goal to reduce infant mortality and improve maternal and child health.

Two, given the continuing lack of access to safe methods of contraception, our poor married women will most likely continue to have unwanted pregnancies and resort to abortions. Already, more than half a million abortions are performed every year in this country, usually in back alleys and unsafe conditions, many ending in complications and death for the mothers.

It is this kind of situation that the Reproductive Health Bill seeks to remedy by providing access to a range of family planning options. Data from other countries show that the higher the use of contraception, the fewer the number of abortions.

On the economic front, studies show that controlled demographics yield a dividend of 15 to 20 percent increase in growth. Thailand, which had more or less the same Gross National Income per capita as the Philippines in 1969, has been able to reduce its population growth rate to a quarter of ours. It now has income that is at least 30% higher than that of the Philippines.

The five RH bills filed in the 15^th Congress may not be all that we need to reduce poverty and maternal and infant mortality. But they will likely slow their dizzying climb.

Adapted from Dr. Christopher Joseph L. Soriano’s presentation during the 7^th ISACC Fellows’ Gathering. Dr. Soriano teaches at the Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health.

Downloads
Program Transcript - MP3 Audio

Forced Payment

Towards the end of the 1970’s, while the country was still under Martial Law, the Automatic Appropriations Act was put into effect. This law, crafted by Former President Marcos through Presidential Decree 1177, mandated the government to automatically allocate funds for paying the country’s local and international debts.

People Power came and the dictatorship ended. With the restoration of democracy, the people did get freedom from many forms of harassment. But not from the ills caused by the automatic debt servicing. The succeeding governments of Presidents Cory, Ramos, Estrada and Arroyo continued to carry on the spirit of PD 1177. Up to now, the government is obliged to prioritize the country’s debts. This is a stark contrast to the position of other nations that pay only as they are able or as their economy allows.

Today, because of the requirement of the law, 20 to 25 percent of our national budget goes to debt servicing. This is a big burden for Filipinos to carry. Unfortunately, even those debts that are considered fraudulent and illegitimate and can be easily cancelled are guaranteed to be paid in full. A glaring example is the loan for the 2.2 billion US dollar Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. We made the full payment, amounting to 64 Billion pesos, inspite of the fact that it was never used because it was defective and was built under corrupt dealings.

Part of the reason for automatic debt servicing is to maintain the good credit rating of the government with financial institutions. But we must also remember that the money used for paying these comes from the pockets of ordinary Filipinos through taxes like the E-VAT. If such huge amounts of money would be channeled instead to basic social services it could translate to more salaries for overworked teachers, more classrooms and educational materials for poor students, and increased health benefits for all.

There are several ways to approach the debt situation and rechannel the money for the welfare of the people. One, there ought to be a debt audit, especially of those debts incurred by the private sector but given sovereign guarantee by the government. Two, illegitimate debts should be cancelled. Three, a debt moratorium ought to be put into effect, and the automatic servicing of interest payments revoked. Four, in our debt servicing, proper attention should be paid to meeting our commitments to the Millenium Development Goals of the United Nations.
But before we can speak of strategies, our leaders first need to gain true resolve to address the worsening conditions of our people. The practice of coldly appropriating funds for automatic debt servicing at the expense of more urgent priority needs must be stopped.

Adapted and translated from Jenny Romero Llaguno’s Sa Ganang Amin Editorial entitled “Sapilitang Pagbabayad.” Mrs. Llaguno is a Fellow of ISACC.