CBCP calls for better effort vs corruption

MANILA, Philippines – A top Catholic cleric called yesterday for an intensified effort to rid the country of graft and corruption in 2011.

In his New Year’s Message, Bishop Nereo Odchimar, Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president, said graft and corruption is the primary cause of poverty.

“I would like to agree that corruption is the radical cause of the misery of Filipinos,” he said. “Therefore, it is but proper to reject what is base and dishonorable. Let us then intensify and sustain this righteous effort of eradicating graft and corruption.”

The bishop of Tandag, Surigao del Sur said after the New Year merrymaking, people would awake to the reality of of poverty, injustice and a continuing quest for peace.

“The late venerable Pope John Paul II once spoke that there are negative repercussions for peace when entire populations live in poverty,” he said.

“Poverty is often a contributory factor or a compounding element in conflicts, including armed ones. In turn, these conflicts fuel further tragic situations of poverty.”

Odchimar said others have resorted to means opposed to the very conscience of Christian Filipinos on the belief that overpopulation is the cause of poverty.

“There are those who believe that poverty is often a consequence of demographic change,” he said.

“For this reason, there are international campaigns afoot to reduce birth rates, sometimes using methods that often fail to respect even the right to life.”

Odchimar said the passage into law of the Reproductive Health Bill would promote the use of contraceptives, some of which are believed to be abortifacents.

“The Holy Father Benedict XXVI, in his address on the occasion of the World Day of Peace, wrote: ‘The extermination of millions of unborn children in the name of the fight against poverty actually constitutes the destruction of the poorest of all human beings. And yet it remains the case that in 1981, around 40 percent of the world’s population was below the threshold of absolute poverty, while today that percentage has been reduced by as much as half, and whole peoples have escaped from poverty despite experiencing substantial demographic growth’,” he said.

“This implies that we can combat poverty even without depopulation.”

Odchimar said God, through his own ways, has initiated the work of transformation.

“God is doing something new – perhaps something better than what we see around,” he said.

“This boldly expresses God’s loving concern with the plight of His people. Here, God assures us that social transformation can happen. Peace and prosperity is within our reach. And the certainty of its realization lies in the fact that we are not alone in this task. God is with us!

“Hence, at the very outset of this new chapter of human history, we are invited, more than ever, to discern which work is God’s and eventually collaborate with Him.”

Speaking over Catholic Church-run Radio Veritas, Archbishop of Jaro, Iloilo Angel Lagdameo, firmer CBCP president, said after all the events that took place in 2010, he could only thank God because the Filipino people has been able to surpass these challenges.

“This is an old-time lesson that we have to learn through the years, in spite of the many problems and crises that we experienced in government, in Church and in our family, thanks be to God that we are still standing up,” he said.

“So many problems that we had to face. Some of them are not completely solved and yet at the same time thanks be to God we are still standing up.”

Calookan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, CBCP-Public Affairs Committee chairman, said speculations that 2011 would be an unlucky year for some people is mere superstition.

“The fate of our lives lies on our hands,” he said.

“We are the ones that decide on our own direction based on our convictions and in doing the right thing. We should always be optimistic because something new is given to us and it is up to us if we would do it for good.”

Iniguez said people should not lose hope “because in spite of what we experienced, the good that is in every person, the good coming from God, is always more powerful than the evil that exists.”

Bishop Efraim Tendero, Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches (PCEC) national director, said, “Whatever uncertainties and daunting challenges that we face in 2011, the aforementioned qualities of the Lord Jesus Christ will help us surmount them all when we put our trust and confidence in Him. As He sustains the whole universe by His power, then we can be sure that He will carry us through.” –Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star)