APRIL 2005 Vol 39 • No 1
“
IMPACT
ISSN 0300-4155
Asian Magazine for Human Transformation
Through Education, Social Advocacy and Evangelization
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©
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2 IMPACT • April 2005
Quote in the Act
“I found it so deceptive, highly immoral, and
so revolting… the worst corruption ever, as
it is not only corruption of money, but
corruption of human lives. It is nothing but
the provision of contraceptives and
sterilization devices...”
Ligaya A. Acosta, former DoH media relations officer for Eastern
Visayas, in a forum organized by the Human Life International-
Asia in Quezon City last March 14, 2005. Recently, she openly
denounced DoH’s P150-million “Ligtas Buntis” Campaign after
“
she was relieved as Family Planning program manager because
of her position against contraceptives and population control.
‘Petty power invested in men who cannot
live on their salaries is an invitation to
misuse that power.”
Lee Kwan-Yew, former Prime Minister of Singapore, from his
book “From Third World to First: The Singapore Story 1965-2000,”
recounting how Singapore eradicated the problem of corruption
in the government.
“These statements about our population
doubling are propaganda tools used by
population controllers to frighten us – they
are statistically false.”
Dr. Bernardo Villegas, economist and senior vice president of
the University of Asia and the Pacific, on assailing claims that
the Philippines has a ‘run away’ population growth rate.
“
“One million people will march to streets to
reject this non-peaceful invasion law… only
the great Taiwan people can decide the
future of Taiwan’s freedom, democracy, and
peace.”
Taiwan President Chen Shui-Bian, on China’s passage of its
anti-secession law poised against Taiwan’s move for
independence from China.
“In Asia alone, the number of English users
has topped 350 million, roughly the
combined populations of the United States,
Britain and Canada. The globalization and
adaptation of English- Englog, Japlish or
Hinglish, anyone? - will revolutionize it in
“
ways we can only begin to imagine.”
Carla Power, author and journalist, from her article “Not the
Queen’s English,” on the globalization of English language paving
for non-native English-speakers to outnumber native ones.
“Despite burdens of poverty, political
conflict, corruption and environmental
destructions, Filipinos tend to be happy
…for Filipinos, happiness isn’t material –
it’s social. We’re happiest in a group: family,
LAYOUT BY DENNIS BALDOZA DAYAO
friends, immediate community, even
strangers.”
Alan C. Robles, writer for South China Morning Post and lecturer
at the International Institute for Journalism in Berlin, in his
article “It Doesn’t Take Much,” on why the Philippines is a
consistent top scorer in various ‘national happiness level’
surveys.
I MPACT April 2005 / Vol 39 • No 1

INSIDE

I MPACT at 39
EDITORIAL

Anachronism ........................................................... 2 5
COVER STORY

'Unchanging Truths' Amid Changing Times ..........1 6

ARTICLES
The National Secretariat of Social Action (NASSA),
God and the Tsunami ............................................... 4
which is the present Secretariat of the Episcopal
CAP Crisis Imperils .7M Plan Holders ..................... 6
Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace of
The Word of God and the Christian Family ............ 8
the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philip-
House Bill 3773 Stirs Debate ................................... 1 0
pines, published Impact following the enthusiasm
DoH “Ligtas-Buntis” .............................................. 1 8 of the clergy who attended the Priests Institute of
Last Witness to Fatima Apparition Dies at 97 ....... 2 7 Social Action (PISA) held in Hong Kong in August
STATEMENTS of 1965.
Statement by the Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese of Its maiden issue came shortly, if not indeed, simul-
Borongan on Mining in Manicani Island, Homonhon
Island and the Whole Samar Island ....................... 2 0 taneously with the birth of NASSA in 1966, bran-
Nature is Groaning: A Statement on the dishing the euphoria of the social teachings of the
Revitalization of Mining in the Philippines ........... 2 1 Church that came trendy with the new perspectives
i FOCUS
of the Second Vatican Council.
The Family: Showcase of Universal Solidarity at the It was the flag bearer of the National Congress for
Center of Human Development ............................. 1 1 Rural Development which was organized by the
Divorce & Question Marks ...................................... 1 4 Philippine Catholic Hierarchy in 1967. It became
FROM THE BLOGS the official organ of the National Social Action and
New Disease ............................................................ 2 4 Economic Development Year, proclaimed by then
Duplicity ................................................................. 2 4 President Ferdinand Marcos the following year.
DEPARTMENTS After his stint as Executive Secretary of NASSA,
Quote in the Act ....................................................... 2 Fr. Cornelius Breed, MHM, the Impact’s editor,
Vanilla Bytes ........................................................... 2 8 could not contain the magazine which already had
CINEMA Review ..................................................... 2 9 gained a life of it own as it tackled issues on land
News Briefs .............................................................. 3 0 reform, rural development, cooperatives, and the
concretizations of Paul VI’s Populorum Progressio
not only in the Philippines but throughout East Asia.
SUBSCRIPTION RATES It withstood the Martial Law, and witnessed the
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HongKong-China, 1 year US$ 30.00 US$ 45.00 Now, Impact is 39. It is still not too old, and not too
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Volume 39 • Number 1 3
 GOD and the
TSUNAMI
By Msgr. Lope C. Robredillo, STD
T hree months after the worst disaster in
memory struck Southeast Asia on De-
cember 26, 2004, the survivors of the tsu-
nami still go on with rebuilding their lives. In
this process of recovery, massive interna-
tional aid keeps pouring in. But beyond the
problems of survival, and of economy, sci-
ence and psychology that they have to
resolve in order to make their lives whole
again, there remains a question that baffles
not only most of the survivors who believe
in a God who cares for human beings, but
even us who were spared: where was God in
that catastrophe? Why did the tsunami
have to occur, and devastated thousands
of Asians?
In a letter to the editor, Sen. Aquilino
Pimentel, Jr. of the Philippines asked: “Was
the tsunami that hit and killed tens of thou-
sands in Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Thai-
land, Maldives, Myanmar and other na-
tions an act of God?” (Philippine Daily
Inquirer, Jan. 20, 2005). Not so long after
the disaster, Imams in Indonesia, Pimentel
went on, were quoted as saying that the
tsunami was a wake-up call from God who
was displeased because people were not
faithful to their duties as set forth in the
Koran. Another Imam claimed that it was
God’s punishment, since Muslims were kill-
ing Muslims in Aceh. However, Sen.
Pimentel finds the view of a chief rabbi,
Jonathan Sachs of the United Hebrew Con-
gregation of the Commonwealth preferable.
According to this Jewish rabbi, the tsunami
was a natural calamity that is a consequence
of our having been placed in a physical
world. But the Senator decried that he has
yet to read a Catholic theologian speak on
the matter.
Truth to tell, though, they may not have the
tsunami particularly in mind, a number
4 IMPACT • April 2005
Catholic scholars have wrestled with prob-
lems of that nature. Admittedly, however,
there has never been a solution proposed
that adequately satisfies. Just to illustrate
how difficult it is to give a definitive answer
to a problem like it, one can single out the
proposal of Teilhard de Chardin, a Catholic
author, priest and scientist.
For Teilhard who looks at the universe in
convergent evolution toward Christ, such
calamities as earthquakes and tsunamis are
but an inevitable condition, the price of
evolution. The universe, he says, under-
goes a process of arrangement and “in such
a system which advances by tentative grop-
ing” toward a higher form of complexity, it
is inevitable that there are failures, disinte-
grations and discordances. “We are realiz-
ing,” he says in his book, Activation of
Energy, “that within the vast process of
arrangement from which life emerges, every
success is necessarily paid for by a large
percentage of failures. One cannot progress
in being without paying a mysterious trib-
ute in tears, blood and sin.”
Evil, like the big quake or the tsunami, is
thus a by-product of evolution. Says
Teilhard in his book, The Phenomenon of
Man: “Indeed, if we regard the march of the
world from this standpoint (i.e., not that of
its progress but that of its risks and the
efforts it requires) we soon see under the
veil of security and harmony… a particular
type of cosmos in which evil appears nec-
essarily and abundantly as you like in the
course of evolution—not by accident
(which would not much matter) but through
the very structure of the system. A uni-
verse which is involuted and interiorized,
but at the same time and by the same token
a universe which labors, which sins, which
suffers. Arrangement and centration: a
doubly conjugated operation which, like
the scaling of a mountain or the conquest of
the air, can only be effected objectively if it
is rigorously paid for—for reasons and at
charges which, if only we knew them, would
enable us to penetrate the secret of the
world around us.”
But, if one may ask, why is there a need for
God to create a world that has to undergo an
evolutionary process at such a price? If the
tsunami were a condition for progress, who
is the man, were he given the choice, who
would accept this bargain in the name of
evolution? By what logic does one justify
the occurrence of such a disaster in order to
succeed in the arrangement and centration?
The point raised is a bit similar to Fyodor
Dostoevsky’s, in his book, The Brothers
Karamazov: “Imagine,” says Ivan to
Alyosha, “that you are creating a fabric of
human destiny with the object of making
God’sor
God’s orNature’s
Nature’sScourge?
Scourge?Thousands
Thousandsofofbodies
bodiespile
pileupup
in Banda
in Banda Aceh,
Aceh, Indonesia,
Indonesia, as
as Tsunami’s
Tsunami’s total
total death
death toll
toll
reached over 200,000 high in Asia.
reached over 200,000 high in Asia.
men happy in the end, giving them peace
and rest at all, but it was essential and
inevitable to torture to death only one tiny
creature—that baby beating its breast with
its fist, for instance—and to found that
edifice on its unavenged tears, would you
consent to be the architect of those condi-
tions?”
How much wisdom, then, one would ask, is
there to creating a world that has to evolve
from a less perfect state to a more perfect
one? One cannot, for sure, maintain without
blasphemy that God is such a sadist who
enjoys himself at seeing the failures and
suffering of men. To do so would lead one
not just to doubt or deny his wisdom, om-
nipotence and providence, but even, more
particularly, to question the discrimination
it would engender. What is wrong with a
world not subject to continuous changes, a
world in its highest state of complexity right
from the start of creation?
Probably, it would make more sense to ac-
cept the view that evolution must exact its
price, if those who pay it are only those who
have turned against God. In that sense, one
could agree with the Imam who said about
the tsunami being God’s punishment for
Muslims who kill their fellow Muslims in
Aceh. In fact, this is how some Old Testa-
ment texts view misfortunes that befell on
Israel. In the book of Judges, for instance,
God would raise up an enemy to punish the
people for their sins. The friends of Job held
the same conviction. For them, God would
never have allowed Job to suffer adversity
if the latter had never defied him. If Job
suffered, he must have done something to
deserve it, even though he refused to admit
it. But if the victims of the tsunami deserved
it, were they more sinful than the people of
Europe and America? Were the poor people lem, but it sorely fails in its other dimen-
in Indonesia worst off than the rich who sions. It leaves several questions unan-
control the economy of the Third World? swered, like the inclusion of the innocent
Thieves, criminals, terrorists, and swindlers children in that tragedy. It seems, however,
should be in jail—and yet where does one that the problem is not one of lack of solu-
find many of them if not in the parties of tions. Rather, it is about the inadequacy of
the rich and famous, or gracing in tools. Logic, in this matter, is a
the society page? One can al- failure, because it does not have
ways ask why the greedy and "When one enough tools to get into the
kernel of the matter. There are
the very corrupt prosper, while abandons realities in life where logic
the honest, the meek and the
humble are often damned. himself to the fails, like the experience of
beauty, the ecstasy in sex
Voltaire, who was per- incomprehensibility and love, the drawing
plexed at the Lisbon earth- power of the innocent, or
quake that killed more than of God’s wisdom, the language of love. Love
30,000 people and hap- knowing that God is defies logic. When one
pened, ironically, on All makes it logical, one de-
Saints’ Day, November 1, God and not man, it prives oneself of the ex-
perience.
1755, has a point, when he
asks in his poem, “The would not be The same is true of finding
Lisbon Earthquake”— difficult to find God in the tsunami. One
has to go beyond logic. In
Was there more vice in God even in the the face of Asia’s worst trag-
fallen Lisbon found
Than Paris, where tragedy of edy, probably the real ques-
tion is not about why God al-
voluptuous joys aboud? tsunami." lowed it to happen, or where
Was less debauchery to was he when it struck, but about our
London known, approach to it. For a Christian, one has to
Where opulence luxurious holds share the experience of Job in the Old Tes-
her throne? tament. Because his friends failed to ac-
count for his suffering adequately, he
Earth Lisbon swallows; the light
wanted to hear what God had to say about
sons of France Protract the feast,
it. But when he spoke, God, far from justi-
or lead the sprightly dance. fying his action, merely overwhelmed Job
No doubt, Teilhard’s cosmic vision sheds with his power and omniscience. Job’s en-
much light on the problem. Tsunami, for counter with the Almighty’s power and
him, has to be understood in terms of evo- knowledge made him realize how futile hu-
lution, the general good which conditions man logic was; he had to retract his rational
it. Perhaps, of this tragedy that hit South- approach. “I heard of you by word of mouth,
east Asia, he may speak as a condition for but now my eye has seen you. Therefore I
the order and arrangement of the evolving disown what I have said and repent in dust
universe, whose value is far greater than the and ashes.” (Job 42:5-6).
evil it conditions. The tsunami must be What does this imply? Since there are no
taken not as an isolated phenomenon but adequate rational approaches to the prob-
as a structural part of the total ensemble of lem of tsunami, a Christian must learn to live
stages in evolution. “Provided the peak is with realities that defy logic. Even more
actually there,” he says in his book, Activa- important, he has to transcend it. Following
tion of Energy, “and the game is worth the Job, one can only stand in awe at God’s
candle, what mountaineer is surprised or wisdom, realizing how incomprehensible his
complains at having to be injured as he system that governs the world. His omni-
climbs, or at having to risk a fatal fall? Taken science and man’s knowledge are unbridge-
as static facts and in isolation, pain and able. Like Job, one must surrender to God’s
mystery. One must trust him, even if he does
perversity are meaningless. Taken as dy- not understand. When one abandons
namic factors, in a system that is fluid and himself to the incomprehensibility of God’s
feeling its way, they are both vindicated wisdom, knowing that God is God and not
and transfigured.” man, it would not be difficult to find God
Even so, Teilhard does not adequately solve even in the tragedy of tsunami. A man of
the issues his proposal raises. But if his faith knows that God is not absent in such
solution fails, like all other explanations, it an event. He is there in the victims. As Hans
is because, to get into the heart of the Kung puts it, in his book, On Being a
problem, one has to go beyond the cerebral. Christian, “suffering, too, is encompassed
Rational explanations are doomed to conk by God: suffering, too, even though it seems
out. Teilhard’s theory is acceptable in like being forsaken by God, can become the
shedding light on some aspects of the prob- God and the Tsunami / p.26
Volume 39 • Number 1 5
 A ling Flora, 41, a single parent from
Southern Mindanao, left the coun-
try in 1984 to work as an OCW in Doha,
Qatar in a desire to give her family a
decent life. Then she decided to get
educational plans for her two children to
“assure their academic future." The first
plan was fully paid early last year and
she’s about to finish yet paying the
other one.
She’s just one of about 780,000 CAP plan
holders who enormously fear of the
present controversies that surround the
company. If things are not resolved the
sooner, it will mean losing all her hard-
earned savings while working abroad and,
more painfully, the education of her chil-
dren.
But what is the real score about CAP? Is
it really vanishing due to fund misman-
agement or to some external economic
factors? What peril is awaiting these plan
holders? In terms of future enrollment,
how much actuarial burden will it cause to
private schools? Can the government do
anything about it—the students, most
especially?
From boon to bane
Two decades ago, it was labeled as the
pioneer, leading and largest pre-need com-
pany in the country. Today, the titanic
College Assurance Plan (CAP) is bom-
barded with left and right accusations,
rightly or wrongly, of fund mismanage-
ment and malicious intent.
Shortly after its birth in 1980, CAP has
since expanded to other business ven-
tures and established subsidiary compa-
nies which, according to cursory opin-
ions, may have overstretched invest-
ments or, as a matter of strategy, may have
been intentionally structured as “catch
basins” of growing investment portfo-
lios.
Reportedly, the CAP’s present problems
could be traced three years back when the
Securities and Exchange Commission
(SEC) imposed a new ruling that the Ac-
tuarial Liability Reserve (ARL)—a nu-
merical estimate of the plan holder ben-
efits over a period of time—be included in
the financial reports of pre-need compa-
nies.
According to the troubled CAP, the
present headache of liquidity resulting to
the delay of the payment of tuition fees is
6 IMPACT • April 2005
CAP Crisis Imperils
.7M Plan Holders
By Roy Q. Lagarde
a result of various fac-
tors that ruined the cash
flow of the company,
such as the predicted
ARL that made the com-
pany appear to have in-
sufficient funds to
cover the future needs
of its plan holders.
They also added that
said setback scared pro-
spective clients from
buying plans and
caused many subscrib-
ers to stop paying their
installments and the low
cash flow resulted to
low liquidity and delay
in payment of tuition
fees. While CAP buildings have sprouted all over, its coffers have profusely bled.
The problem became more complicated
when the SEC ordered for cancellation of CAP’s entire assets cried off from P18.5
billion in 2003 to P17.08 billion last year.
CAP’s license last year to sell more pre-
On the other hand, liabilities grew from
need plans. P23.93 billion of 2003 to P26.28 billion in
According to the unaudited report it filed 2004. As of December 31 last year, the
with the SEC, the company acquired a net company’s trust fund in banks set aside
loss of 3.81 billion in 2004, greater than the for plan holders posted only at P8.5 bil-
P2.74 billion of the preceding year; and its lion. According to some reliable experts in
unprecedented increase in the amortiza- the industry, CAP's total ARL could very
tion of annual payments or ARL which well reach to a staggering P18 billion this
soared to P3.4 billion last year more than year -- an almost 100% increase from P11.9
exacerbated its losses. billion in 2003.
Gross revenues from its trust fund, inter-
est and realized gross income declined to Not off the hook
a low P957.6 million from P1.33 billion in Aside from criticisms hurled on the pre-
2003; and while operating expenses, in- mature disclosure of the alleged financial
cluding the ARL amortization, ballooned difficulties of CAP to the media which
from P3.395 billion in 2003 to P4.4 billion even paved for more complicated troubles,
last year. The CAP also stated that its former SEC Chairman Perfecto Yasay fur-
deficit doubly increased from P4.9 billion ther fueled the blame to the SEC. He lam-
in 2003 to a whooping P8.3 billion in 2004. basted the SEC over its harsh treatment or
handling of CAP’s problem. According to
him, the regulatory body is burying the
pre-need firm down and killing the future
of the company and its plan holders.
“The alleged regulatory requirements im-
posed by the SEC appear to be a ruse to
a more sinister scheme to favor one indus-
try over another,” said Yasay. He argued
that actuarial consultants placed at the
SEC by USAID-funded Agile, had earlier
recommended to the SEC requiring pre-
need companies to operate under rules
and principles appropriately applicable
to life and accident insurance business.
Yasay also charged that said SEC actu-
arial consultants are allegedly batting for
the interest of some US insurance compa-
nies who are eyeing to monopolize the
pre-need industry.
Conflicting comments
Amid the brouhaha that plagued CAP, a
cacophony of conflicting opinions, specu-
lations, comments, and even advices—
solicited or otherwise, sprouted from all
over.
“Mr. Palengke,” Sen. Mar Roxas, and
other government officials discouraged
plan holders not to pay their amortization
dues. The beleaguered CAP, however,
countered by saying that if plan holders
stop paying, they would eventually for-
feit their plans as well as the accrued
benefits plans as particularly stipulated
in the plan contract. Obviously, this will
certainly push subscribers or plan hold-
ers to the losing end.
On the advice that fully paid plan holders
surrender their plans, CAP answered that,
again as provided for by the contract
plan, this will inevitably compel subscrib-
ers to settle for a lower surrender value—
all the same, to the detriment of plan
holders.
Mr. Bobby Café, CAP spokesman, said in
news reports that the company continues
to commit itself to helping make the cost
of quality education a reachable dream for
every Filipino. “We would like to assure
the public, particularly our most valued
plan holders, that the College Assurance
Plan is not bankrupt and has no plan,
whatsoever, of closing shop contrary to
what our critics have been saying in the
mass media,” he said. Café also made an
appeal to the government, media and plan
holders saying, “Sobriety is called for in
this situation. Let due process take its
course without any undue influence from industry—now indeed on the brink of a
individuals with hidden agenda.” He looming collapse?
added, “we refuse to believe that CAP’s Admittedly, hardly anyone could have
woe is a simple problem of cash flow. given any credence, nay even have imag-
There have been strategic errors in the ined at the very least, for any eventual
past, like CAP’s investment in the MRT or downfall of the now beleaguered CAP—
in its investments in the Fil-estate and big not, unassumingly, with its living show-
projects in Boracay and Baguio. But all case of having built those CAP buildings
that is past now.” inconspicuously seen in almost all locali-
ties in the country; not certainly with its
Enough assets? strong 780,603 or more subscribers or
But still, in a statement, the CAP reiterated plan holders. What, if not who (?), caused
they have sufficient assets to pay for the the coffers to vainly bleed—till death to
plans, or that they could yet properly come?
shoulder the long term financial require- And while CAP officials have repeatedly
ments for all the plan holders—in fact, insisted, to umpteenth times, that the com-
they claim, they have increased their pany remains financially safe and sound
capitalization from P300 million to P8 bil- and thereby belying speculations of plans
lion. for closing shop, several thousands of its
In its trust fund portfolio, CAP has a trust plan holders—who have relentlessly
fund worth P8.7 billion, real estate invest- flocked and have kept vigil at its corpo-
ments worth P2.7 billion, stocks worth rate headquarters and offices—are yet to
P2.25 billion and MRT bonds worth P3 receive their educational benefits for the
billion. And only recently, CAP reported, tuition and school fees of their sons and
they are talking with possible investors daughters.
for the sale of its Likely, while not pre-
shares in Fil-Estate empting a grim prog-
Management Inc. nosis for what lies
and System Tech- ahead, an unprec-
nology Inc. worth edented closure of
P1 billion. CAP could inevitably
Last January 25, accommodate dire
2005, the company consequences of mag-
nified proportions—
signed with the
First American In- particularly for its ex-
isting .7 million plan
vestment Bank
and with the Phil- holders.
ippine Veterans CAP Chair Sobrepena takes the hot seat amid Verified reports show
Bank as well a searing accusations on CAP’s downfall. that from 1980 to 2003
Memorandum of CAP had a total of
Agreement and Loan Agreement for 780,603 plan holders being fully served.
CAP to convert to cash some of its More importantly, 382,483 plan holders
Trust Fund assets by way of a loan are fully paid but had not yet availed
package amounting to $300 million. themselves of their benefits as of end of
Similarly, it was also reported that the 2003. These plans will mature in the next
Green Square Properties and Green few years. And, there are still 164,000 plan
Circle Properties and Resources have holders who are actually paying their plans.
offered properties worth P6 billion Now, what is in store for the almost .8
transferable to CAP in exchange for million plan holders should CAP close
shares in the pre-need company. And shop? Perhaps, in ways we can only imag-
finally, CAP was also reportedly in ine.
talks with the US’s First American In-
vestments Ltd. for $300-million loan— Very likely, CAP’s downfall will take a toll
but again this was fussed anew with on tertiary private education. As mani-
festly observed, almost all of CAP’s plan
manifest skepticism.
holders are enrolled, or are due to enroll,
in private tertiary schools—precisely, it
What’s next? has been observed, parents opted to ac-
Is CAP—the once touted indomitable gi- quire CAP plans to afford or provide ter-
ant that towered it all in the pre-need CAP Crisis / p.23
Volume 39 • Number 1 7
 i Focus
T hat the Word of God is none other than
Jesus Christ is a core New Testament
teaching. So say Christians of various tra-
ditions. It does not seem too hard to follow.
Jesus Christ is the Word of God: as such, he
reveals God to us and us to ourselves. On
the other hand, Catholic tradition sees this
revelation as taking place through Scripture
and Tradition as well as through the events
of our history, both individual and collec-
tive (or, if we will, personal and global). This
essay will reflect on the Scripture or the
written Word of God as it relates to the
Christian family, the special focus of the
Church this year.
To my mind the following points deserve
our attention (1) The Word of God reveals
God to us as Family; (2) The Word of God
reveals the family to itself; (3) The Word of
God nourishes and sustains the family; (4)
The Word of God challenges the family.
The Word of God Reveals God to
us as Family
Scripture tells us that God effected creation
by the power of his word. From Genesis we
learn that God just “said” the word and the
intended creatures came into being (Gen
1:3,6,9,11,14,20,24,26). And from the very
beginning the ruah or the wind, breath or
spirit was “hovering over” the abyss and
the primeval waters (Gen 1:2). We do not
8 IMPACT • April 2005
THE WORD OF
GOD AND THE
CHRISTIAN
FAMILY
By
By Fr.
Fr. Euly
know what to make of this account in the
Hebrew Scriptures. We next hear of God
speaking to himself (or is it to a heavenly
court? as some biblical scholars say) with
the words “we”, “our” or “us”. A number of
texts come to mind. “Then God said: ‘Let us
make man in our image, after our likeness’”
(Gen 1;26). “Then the Lord God said: ‘See!
The man has become like one of us, knowing
what is good and what is bad!” (Gen 3:22).
“Then the Lord said: “…Let us then go
down and there confuse their language, so
that no one will understand what another
says” (Gen 11:6-7). “Then I heard the voice
of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send?
Who will go for us?’” (Is 6:8). Although
Church Fathers considered these texts as
intimations of the Trinity, many scholars
suggest a more cautious stance since these
pronouns could be cases of the so-called
“majestic plural” (or “plural of majesty”) or
of “stylistic plural of deliberation”.
Still we hear the book of Proverbs speaking
of God’s Wisdom as though it were a Person
distinct from God (Prov 8). We also hear of
how the Divine Word is spoken of as a
Person (Ps 119:89; 147:15ff; Wis 16:12). In
addition, Scripture also speaks of the Divine
Spirit or Ruah with the same distinctiveness
(Hag 2:5; Neh 9:30; Is 63:10). God is also
depicted as manifesting in the form of three
figures, such as the appearance of God to
Abraham in Mamre through three beings
Euly Belizar
(Gen 18) or the incidence of the praise of God
by angels by means of the triple ‘holy’ (Is 6:3:
‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!’). Since
the whole Old Testament underlines the
uniqueness and oneness of God (Dt 6:4; Ex
20:5; Dt 5:7), the preceding texts are therefore
a bit odd except when seen from the perspec-
tive of the NT.
The appearance of Jesus Christ provides a
forceful explanation. He reveals God to us
as LOVE (1 Jn 4:8, 16) which tells us that
God must have an “appropriate vis-à-vis”
or katapat that cannot be a creature since
that would have to be necessary and not
from grace (Walter Kasper, The God of
Jesus Christ, 243f). The NT says that this
katapat is precisely the Son (the Divine
Word?) with whom the Father has a loving
communion in the Holy Spirit (the Ruah?)
(Lk 10:21f; Mt 11:27; Jn 5:20). Moreover, in
Jesus’ baptism which is a continuation of
his epiphany or manifestation to the world,
he also does a theophany or a revelation of
God. God is manifested as Father (the voice),
the Son (Jesus) and Spirit (the dove) (Mk
1:10; Mt 3:13-17; Lk 3:21-22). The same
revelation of God also occurs during the
transfiguration of Jesus. God likewise is
manifested as Father (the voice), the Son
(Jesus) and Spirit (the cloud) (Mk 9:2-8; Mt
17:1-8; Lk 9:28-36). This way of introducing
God certainly speaks of intimate relations
existing among Father, Son and Spirit. The
word Son referring to Jesus and the word
Abba that Jesus himself uses to address
God/the Father can only be understood
within the context of family. In other words,
a possible implication of the words in Gen-
esis, “Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness” (Gen 1:26) unavoidably as-
serts itself. If God is Father, Son and Holy
Spirit eternally living in love and informed
by love, then this one God can be said in a
manner of speaking to be the first and
quintessential family.
The Word of God Reveals the
Family to Itself
If we can speak of God as the Divine Family
of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and if this
same God created us in his image and like-
ness , then our very being is inextricably tied
to the family. We see it in the fact that Adam
needed to go beyond himself. “The Lord
God said: ‘It is not good for man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner to him” (Gen
2:18) and thus was created the woman (Gen
2:22) of whom the man said: “This one… is
bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”
(Gen 2:23). The book of Genesis proceeds to
describe beautifully the beginning and the
essence of marriage and family. “That is
why a man leaves his father and mother and
clings to his wife, and the two of them
become one body” (Gen 2:24). If the Father,
Son and Spirit are distinct persons and yet
one and unique God, and if the human being
is created in his image and likeness, then
this is best reflected in the family that begins
with husband and wife, being two, yet be-
coming “one body”. This is the foundation
of what Pope Paul VI calls the unitive aspect
of marriage in which there is a mutual self-
gift of husband and wife tending towards
“the communion of their beings in view of
mutual perfection…” (Humana Vitae, nn.11,
12).
But Genesis also refers to God commanding
the male and female species of humanity:
“Be fertile and multiply; fill the earth and
subdue it” (Gen 1:28). This points to the
procreative aspect of marriage (HV 12) that
then completes marriage by the presence of
offspring or children. If the family is to
reflect the Trinity, then parents reflecting
paternity are complemented by their child or
children pointing to filiation as Jesus was
child and Son to the Father.
It is also the Word of God that opens the
family to what defines its “essence and
role” which is love (John Paul II, Familiaris
Consortio, n. 17). “Beloved, let us love one
another because love is of God; everyone
who loves is begotten by God and knows
God. He who does not love knows not God The Word of God Nourishes and
for God is love” (1 Jn 4:7-8). In the context Sustains the Family
of the family Scripture also sets forth how
The Gospel of John opens with the words
this is to be practiced. Sirach recommends that mysteriously speak of the preexistence
obeying, honoring and respecting parents
of the Word. “In the beginning was the
together with the corresponding blessings.
Word, and the Word was with God and the
“Children, pay heed to a father’s right; do so
that you may live. For the Lord sets a father Word was God” (Jn 1:1). Then it states that
this same Word “became flesh and dwelt
in honor over his children; a mother’s au-
thority he confirms over her sons. He who among us”, identifying the same Word as
honors his father atones for sins; he stores “the Son coming from the Father, filled with
up riches who reveres his mother. He who enduring love” (Jn 1:14). The identification
honors his father is gladdened by children, of the Word with Son is especially important
and when he prays he is heard. He who because it brings up the Divine Family, the
Trinity, in which Jesus Christ is identified as
reveres his father will live a long life; he
obeys the Lord who brings comfort to his the Son. The Son, for his part, is the one who
mother.” (Sir 3:1-6). In the NT St. Paul con- promises: “But whoever drinks the water I
cretizes love in the family by the mutual give him will never be thirsty; no the water
submission of wife and husband to one I give shall become a fountain within him,
another, the obedience of children to par- leaping up to provide eternal life” (Jn 4:14).
ents and the sensitive rearing of children. Then later in chapter six Jn makes us see that
“Wives should be submissive to their hus- Jesus the Word will feed people with the
bands as if to the Lord because the husband bread of Life which has two meanings: bread
is head of his wife just as Christ is head of which refers to his teachings as object of
his body the Church… faith and bread which speaks of his flesh
Husbands, love your and blood, a reference to the Eucharist.
wives as Christ loved
the Church. He gave
himself up for her, to
make her holy, puri-
fying her in the bath
of water by the power
of the word, to
present to himself a
glorious church, holy
and immaculate, with-
out stain or wrinkle or
anything of that
sort… Children, obey
your parents in the
Lord, for that is what
is expected of you.
‘Honor your father
and mother’ is the first
commandment to
carry a promise with it –
‘that it may go well with
you, and that you have a long
life on earth. Fathers, do not anger
your children. Bring them up with the train- Of the first he says: “I myself am the bread
ing and instruction befitting the Lord” (Eph of life. No one who comes to me shall ever
5:22-23,25-27; 6:1-4). In his letter to the be hungry. No one who believes in me shall
Colossians he recommends the practice of ever thirst” (Jn 6:35). Of the second Jesus
the virtues of “compassion, kindness, hu- declares: “Let me solemnly assure you, if
mility, gentleness and patience, bearing with you do not eat the flesh of the Son of Man
one another and forgiving one another… as and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
the Lord has forgiven you, so must you also He who feeds on my flesh and drinks my
do” (Col 3:12-13) blood has life eternal and I will raise him up
In other words, the family is seen by the Word on the last day. For my flesh is real food and
of God as a community of faith, hope and my blood real drink” (Jn 6:53-55). In other
charity. As such, it assumes importance in the
Church (Eph 5:31-32; Col 3:18-21; 1 Pet 3:1-7). The Word of God / p.13
Volume 39 • Number 1 9

House Bill 3773
Stirs Debate
By MALOU MAHILUM
O nce again, not only we are a ‘House’
divided but a nation as well.
The controversial House Bill 3773 or Re-
sponsible Parenthood and Population
Management Act of 2005 sparked anew
strident debates not only in the halls of
Congress but have reverberated even to
almost all corners of the country. The
hotly-disputed bill, which was approved
by the House Committee on Women last
February 16 is the consolidated version
of four different bills previously filed in
Congress on reproductive health and
population management. It seeks to en-
dorse, among others, a comprehensive
responsible parenthood and reproduc-
tive health program to address popula-
tion growth and poverty problems.
As the strident debates continue to esca-
late and opposing arguments are ex-
changed, prominent players have taken
their positions for and against the bill.
On one hand, the bill’s authors or propo-
nents have readily put forward their com-
pelling reasons for the bill.
They contend, first and foremost, that the
bill will address the urgent problems of
population growth and reproductive
health concern of women, children and
couples. In a statement released to the
media by the Philippine Legislators’ Com-
mittee on Population and Development
(PLCPD) Foundation dated February 16,
it said that the passage of the bill “is a
major step towards the legislation of a
policy addressing the country’s runaway
population growth while at the same time
providing reproductive health services
for women and couples.”
Likewise, the bill’s authors said that HB
3773 will provide couples a wider latitude
of options or ‘free choice’ with regards to
responsible parenthood and family plan-
ning methods. Las Pinas representative
Cynthia Villar said she supported the bill
because couples are given a free choice to
10 IMPACT • April 2005
cents of ages 10-19, as provided for by
Sections 10-11 of the bill, is precariously
dangerous and wrong, and will seek to
produce “sexually liberated children who
can demand their sexual rights being free
from coercion from their parents and from
moral norms.”
Another, the anti-bill advocates oppose
the bill’s prescription of artificial family
planning methods. Unlike natural family
planning, they said, artificial means of
family planning is against the laws of
nature and stifles the natural generative
functions.
Also, opponents say, the bill will discrimi-
nate children of large families (of more
either use natural or artificial family plan-
ning methods. “It’s optional. The choice
is up to the couple,” Villar said.
than 2 children) from availing of a tax
funded government program with its pref-
erential grant of college scholarship for
Also, the authors say that the bill is clearly children from smaller family number (of 2
against abortion. “The bill is very explicit. children or less) as provided for by Sec-
It’s black and white. It does not change tion 12 of the bill.
the prohibition on abortion,” Akbayan
Representative Anna Theresia Still, opponents claim, that while the bill
Hontiveros-Baraquel, one of the bill’s au- explicitly prohibits abortion, its package
thors, said. of reproductive health services which in-
cludes contraceptives can inevitably lead
Another, the authors contend that ado- to abortion.
lescents have the right to access “accu-
rate and age-appro-
priate information
and education on
sexuality, sexual be-
havior, reproduc-
tive health and fam-
ily planning.” Fam-
ily planning and
sexual education
for adolescents will
not result to promis- A House divided: After its approval by the House Committee on Women (last
cuity, they said. February 16), Congress halls await the fate of HB 3773 for plenary deliberations.
And lastly, the proponents claim that the And lastly, opponents say, the bill con-
bill is not simply a “two-child policy.” tains striking violations of the Constitu-
Though the ideal family size of two chil- tion. Particularly, the bill will undermine,
dren is encouraged, it is “neither manda- among others, the fundamental rights of
tory nor compulsory and no punitive ac- the family, of spouses, and of parental
tion may be imposed on couples having responsibility acknowledged in the Con-
more than two children,” said the authors. stitution. The bill will also violate, oppo-
On the other hand, opponents to the bill nents say, the equal protection clause
have likewise expressed their equally com- and the imperatives of social justice pro-
pelling reasons and suspicions against vided for by the Constitution.
the bill. Meanwhile, as the on-going debate over
One, they argue, the bill will not readily the disputed bill have already polarized
address the real problem that is poverty opposing sectors of society, Malacanang
and not overpopulation. “Effective and stands firm on its population policy urg-
good governance would solve poverty, ing responsible parenthood enlightened
not the population control legislation or by birth spacing and free choice. Presi-
HB3773 that would destabilize the family dent Arroyo has pledged to curb the
population growth rate from 2.3 to 1.9
and disregard the sanctity of life,” said percent. The government however has
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, chairman of urged parents and families to space their
Pro-Life Philippines. children two or three years apart, saying
Likewise, the anti-bill advocates say that such method is healthier than the pro-
Mandatory Sexual Education for adoles- posed two-child policy in Congress. I
i Focus

H uman development is the magnifi

cent obsession of government to-
day. At one end of the development
spectrum are the poor undeveloped coun-
tries, otherwise known as G-7, whose need
for development aid is so desperate they
prostitute themselves or even sell their
soul for pittance. At the other end are the
rich, powerful and overdeveloped coun-
tries, also known as the G-7, that are
forever in search of ways and means to
spend their extra dollars in the guise of
helping poor countries but which, in fact,
exploit and dominate them.
This may sound a hard saying. But it is the
truth. The truth hurts. But we have to
expose it, if we want to be free. “The Truth
shall make you free.”
There is no such thing as a free lunch. It

The Family:
is a well-known fact that for every dollar
invested in our country by foreign do-
nors, by way of dole-out, grant or loan,
they derive a $4.00 profit, not to mention

Showcase of
the fringe benefits in the form of tax ex-
emptions, banking privileges and perhaps
also, kickbacks that they enjoy as privi-
leged investors.
Most foreign aid for development is tied
to an anti-natalist agenda. A noted pro-
fessor of political philosophy at the Uni-
Universal Solidarity
at the Center of
versity of Louvain in Belgium, Dr. Michael
Schooyans, has noted:
“We are witnessing the dramatic spread-
ing of so-called ‘development programs’
for the Third World. Within these pro-
grams demographic reduction is priori-
tized… Such (programs) do not aim at
‘helping’ the poor countries in their de-
Human Development
velopment, but aim instead at containing
their population through dynamics of
demographic reduction.”
By Bishop Jesus Y. Varela, DD
The development espoused by the rich
nations is premised on the neo-Malthu-
sian fallacy that poverty is caused by
what they call “overpopulation.” Over
population is a scare word that has no when population is reduced to what they this new ‘Ideology of Demographic Secu-
precise definition. It is the whipping boy ambiguously described as manageable rity,’ men and women of poor countries
used by the rich nations to justify their levels. are ‘educated’ (read: Indoctrinated) to
anti-natalist development aid. From their I agree with Professor Schooyans when believe sterilization and abortion should
refracted perspective, all development he declared “that the present aggressions be made available as their ‘new human
programs should start with population (by the rich nations) against human life right.’ This neo-Malthusian thesis is a
reduction. Progress can only be achieved are a key aspect of the geopolitical strat- flat-out lie. The sole function of this lie is
egy of world domination… Today, the to hide the real truth that the primary aim
richest people of the world make us of of the rich is – following Malthus’ recom-
(Editor’s Note: This piece was a speech much more discreet but efficient means of mendation – to check the growth of the
delivered during the International Inter-Faith mass reduction than nuclear armaments. poor population.”
Conference on the Family held at the Philippine
International Convention Center, Pasay City Biology, medicine, demography and In 1974 – that is, 25 years ago – a top-
on March 27-28, 1999. With the particular agronomy, and their respective technolo- secret classified document known as the
reference intermittently made on the U.S.’s
1974 “Kissinger Report” to the present gies, are being used as weapons against National Security Study Memorandum
population debate, Bishop Varela’s speech is the poor rather than against poverty. The 200, or the Kissinger Report, was com-
timely and relevant.)
ideology of this new imperialism inspires
the ‘New World Order.” According to The Family: Showcase / p.12

Volume 39 • Number 1 11
 i Focus
‘The Family: Showcase / from p.11
pleted. Authored by the U.S. State
Department’s population specialist, Phi-
lander Claxton, the title of that document
is “Implications of Worldwide Popula-
tion Growth for U.S. Security and Over-
seas Interests.” The Memo noted that the
continued growth of the peoples of the
Third World was a threat to the security
of the U.S. and other rich nations. The
threat was not only military but also eco-
nomic and political. The developing coun-
tries constituted a potential challenge to
the superpowers for world domination.
To check this challenge, the Memoran-
dum recommended with “primary empha-
sis” systemic population control in 13
“key” countries, among which are the
Philippines, India, Thailand and Indone-
sia in Asia, Nigeria and Egypt in Africa,
and Mexico and Colombia in Latin
America.
The Memo further recommended that the
U.S. Government support the U.N. agen-
cies, such as UNICEF, WHO, FAO and
others in their promotion of the “World
Population Plan of Action” strategies.
As an indication of the close relationship
between the U.S. and UNFPA (United
Nations Fund for Population Activities),
the U.S. contributed about 50% of all the
funds contributed to UNFPA.
Shortly after the release of the Study
Memo, it became an implemented pro-
gram through the instrumentality of the
network of U.S. embassies. Now, all de-
velopment aid comes in a carrot-and-stick
package: no population control, no aid.
They work on local officialdom to con-
vince them, often times through bribery,
of the need to reduce population as a
precondition to development and
progress.
The document was declassified in June
1988. That is how we came to know about
it. Through this sinister plot, we are
seeing the emergence of “the new world
order and the birth of a new totalitarian-
ism.” The main lines of this New World
Order were earlier defined by Zbigniew
Brzezinski, President Jimmy Carter’s Na-
tional Security Adviser, in his book en-
titled “America ate the Technotronic Era,”
published in 1969. The technotronic era,
in the thesis of Brzezinski, is a global
dictatorship that will emerge from the con-
trived information revolution consisting
of spectator sports, sex, pornography,
rock music and the drug culture. All this
is to provide distraction to keep the
people’s minds away from the real life
12 IMPACT • April 2005
issues surrounding them. Drugged by
this new opiate of entertainment, the emerg-
ing generation will be a purposeless mass
that will be “ripe for the picking” by the
Power that controls information. It has
been said – and I cannot but agree –that
those who control information will rule
the world.
Involved closely in this grandiose plan
for world domination by G-7 is the well-
funded group, the Committee of 300 (C-
300), whose agents are made up of the
“elites” from London, Venice, Geneva,
and the financiers of the Anglo-Saxon
world, who call themselves the Club of
Rome. Brzezinski was a leading member of
the Club of Rome and the Committee of
300. He was also a member of the CFR, an
old Polish Black Nobility established to
destroy the Catholic Church in Poland
during the communist hegemony.
The C-300 employed the Research De-
partment of the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology (MIT) to produce what is
now known as the Forrestor-Meadows
Report. This Report, based on the Malthu-
sian theory, claimed that there are not
sufficient natural resources in the world
to supply the burgeoning populations.
And once consumed, these natural re-
sources would be irreplaceable. It is there-
fore necessary to limit global population
within the boundaries of depleting natu-
ral resources. This premise has become
the justifying reason for the massive and
systematic reduction of population
through sterilization, contraception and
abortion.
“Human development “ then is nothing
more than a mere subterfuge for the G-7’s
selfish intent to grab the earth’s natural
resources to feed their greed for global
control. The human development termi-
nology is conveniently used as a deodor-
ant for the sinister strategy for world
domination.
As has been said already, the means em-
ployed to reduce population are more de-
structive than nuclear weapons. Abortion
alone kills some 60 million unborn babies
every year. In India and China, infanticide
by chemical or crude means is resorted to
as part of the population control program.
There are no estimates as to just how many
potential human lives are prevented by
sterilization and contraception. So, human
development in the overall stratagem of
the G-7 is just guide for what truly is
underneath, namely, a global conspiracy
against life or the promotion of what the
Holy Father has called the culture of death.
Genuine human development and human
progress is a noble goal. The original
mandate in Genesis is to increase and
multiply, fill the earth and subdue it (Gen.
1:28), was a divine call and challenge to
improve the human condition. God made
the world and everything in it good. But
He did not make the best of the worlds. On
purpose, He wanted man and woman to
use their God-given intellect and will to
make this world better. True human de-
velopment is an improvement on creation.
What is wrong is manipulated human
development to serve selfish and evil
ends. It is hypocrisy to pretend you are
helping a poor man by giving him fancy
clothing and a share of your table, if
unbeknown to him you are grabbing his
land, or enslaving his children and pros-
tituting his wife.
It is human development with the ugly
face that we are up against. It is both
selfish (unloving) and anti-natalist. For
this twofold reason it is therefore anti-
family. The family is the sanctuary of love
and life.
In the plan of God, the family has both an
inward and an outward dimension. Look-
ing inwardly the family, by God’s design,
is the intimate communion of love and life.
Its essence and role are, in the final analy-
sis, specified by love. It has therefore the
mission from God himself to guard, re-
veal and communicate love. (Familiaris
Consortio, n.17) And “fecundity is the
fruit and the sign of conjugal love, the
living testimony of the full reciprocal self-
giving of the spouses.” (F.C. NO. 28)
Procreation and education are inherent to
the nature of marriage and family.
Looking outwardly the family has a social
role. “The social role of the family a
society in its own original right, and cer-
tainly cannot stop short at procreation
and education…”(F.C. n.44) Family and
society are symbiotic realities. The family
is the beginning, the first and basic cell as
it were, of society. And society exists for
the family. Their intimate connection and
relationship demands that “the family be
open to and participate in society and its
development.” And the same breath,
“society should never fail in its funda-
mental task of respecting and fostering
the family.” ( F.C. n. 45)
“The family and society have comple-
mentary functions in defending and fos-
tering the good of each and every human
being. But society must recognize that
The Family: Showcase / p.26
The Word of God / from p.8
words Jesus the Word feeds
us who all belong to families
by means of his teachings to
which we must submit our-
selves and by means of the
Holy Eucharist in which we
receive his body and blood as
food and drink. St. Lk’s ac-
count of the two disciples who
encounter the risen Jesus on
their way to Emmaus serves as
our model. At first Jesus ex-
plains to them the Scriptures
(Lk 24:25-27). Then he breads
bread with them which opened
their eyes to his presence (Lk
24:30-31). In the context of the
Christian community which is
composed of families and
which forms the family of Jesus
Christ this is realized in the
liturgy of the Mass in which
we have the Liturgy of the
Word and the Liturgy of the
Eucharist form-
ing as one sac-
rament of nour-
ishment for
families who
come for the
celebration.
The Word of God
Challenges the Family
First of all, it is the Word of God
that urges the family to be true
to God’s plan as regards mar-
riage and family. “Honor your
father and your mother, that
your days may be long in the
land which the Lord your God
gives you” (Ex 20:12; Dt 5:16).
It is the Word of God in the
person of Jesus Christ who
confirms this challenge by his
example. “He went down with
them then, and came to Naza-
reth, and was obedient to them.
His mother kept all these things
in memory” (Lk 2:51). It is the
Word of God, Jesus Christ,
who challenges families to re-
spect the permanence of the
marital union (indissobility) by
taking them to the very “be-
ginning when the Creator made
them male and female and de-
clared, ‘For this reason a man
shall leave his wife, and the
two shall become as one’.
Thus they are not longer two
but one flesh. Therefore, let no
man separate what God has
joined” (Mt 19:4-6).
Secondly, it is the Word of
God that urges the family to be
concerned with people outside
its fold. Because the family
worships, it must therefore
know that: “Looking after or-
phans and widows in their dis-
tress and keeping oneself un-
spotted by the world make for
pure worship without stain, be-
fore our God and Father” (Jas
1:27). The fourth commandment
is particularly seen by the Cat-
echism of the Catholic Church
as illuminating “other relation-
ships in society. In our broth-
ers and sisters we see the chil-
dren of our parents; in our cous-
ins, the descendants of our
ancestors; in our fellow citi-
zens, the children of our coun-
try; in the baptized, the chil-
dren of our mother the Church;
in every human person, a son
or daughter of the One who
wants to be called ‘Our Fa-
ther’” (CCC 2212).
Thirdly, the Word of God de-
fines our relationship with au-
thority, implicitly that inside
and outside the family, as one
of submission. “Let everyone
obey the authorities that are
over him, for there is no au-
thority except from God, and
all authority that exists is es-
tablished by God. As a conse-
quence, the man who opposes
authority rebels against the or-
dinance of God; those who
resist shall draw condemna-
tion down upon themselves”
(Rom 13:1-2). “Because of the
Lord, be obedient to every hu-
man institution… Such obedi-
ence is the will of God” (1 Pt
2:13,15). But as for authorities
the challenge is just as harsh.
“Whoever would be great
among you must be your ser-
vant” (Mt 20:26). “But if I
washed your feet—I who am
your Teacher and Lord—then
you must wash each other’s
feet. What I just did was to
give you and example: as I have
Volume 39 • Number 1
done, so you must do” (Jn
13:13-14). If God is the source
of authority, God himself can
take it away from the corrupt,
the arrogant and those who
abuse power though it is not
indicated by what means. “He
has shown might with his arm;
he has confused the proud in
their inmost thoughts. He has
deposed the mighty from their
thrones and has raised the
lowly to high places” (Lk 1:51-
52). The history of People
Power provides ample proof to
the truth behind this utterance
by Mary, a mother of a family.
Most of all, the Word of God
challenges the family to go
beyond itself for the sake of
the Kingdom of God. “Who-
ever loves father or mother,
son or daughter, more than me
is not worthy of me” (Mt
10:37). “Moreover, everyone
who has
given up
home,
brothers
or sis-
ters, fa-
ther or
mother,
wife or
children or
property for
my sake will receive many
times as much and inherit ev-
erlasting life” (Mt 19:29). It is
also the family, when Christ
becomes its Way, its Truth
and its Life, that is sent forth.
“Go and make disciples of all
nations. Baptize them in the
name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Teach them to carry out ev-
erything I have commanded
you. And know that I am with
you always, until the end of
the world” (Mt 28:19-20). The
pertinent point should not es-
cape us. God has embraced us
into his Family through Jesus
Christ. We are sent through
Jesus Christ to call everyone
else to God’s Family.
The Word of God / p.22
13
i Focus
QUESTION 1
WOULD AN ABSOLUTE DIVORCE
LEGISLATION BE PURSUANT TO THE
TEXT, CONTEXT AND SPIRIT OF THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF
THE PHILIPPINES?
Article II, Section 12 of the Constitution, in
nonetheless than the declaration of prin-
ciples, very expressly and even categori-
cally says that the State shall strengthen the
family as a basic autonomous entity. Fur-
thermore, the very first Article of the Fam-
ily Code of the Philippines provides that
marriage is an inviolable social institution.
How could absolute divorce strengthen the
Filipino family? How would absolute di-
vorce make the family an inviolable social
institution? It is a big sophism and an unten-
able rationalization to say that by destroy-
ing the family, it is strengthened; by divid-
ing the family, it is made inviolable!
The undeniable fact is that it is precisely the
absence of absolute divorce in the Philip-
pines that has kept millions of couples
together in joy and in pain, that has saved
practically innumerable families from
breaking apart. The law on absolute di-
vorce already threatens to violate the mar-
riage vows for life even before these are
pronounced.
QUESTION 2
WOULD IT STAND REASON AND
LOGIC TO CLAIM THAT CIVIL
ABSOLUTE DIVORCE IS AFTER ALL
PRACTICALLY THE SAME AS
MARRIAGE NULLITY DECLARATIONS
AND MARRIAGE ANNULMENTS?
The present Family Code of the Philippines
has already provisions for nullity and an-
nulment of marriage — in addition to legal
separation. A nullity declaration means
that a marriage is ab initio null and void.
Marriage annulment on the other hand
means that a valid marriage is voided or
invalidated. Absolute divorce however
means that a valid and non-voidable mar-
riage is still dissolved. These three actions
against a de facto marriage actions are defi-
nitely not the same, neither in significance
nor implications.
If it is argued that the effects are the same,
this is tantamount to saying that deaths by
sickness or old age, by accident or lethal
injection, by torture, massacre, terrorism
are all the same. This is ridiculous to say the
least as far as the causes of death are con-
cerned, ranging from the obvious to the
vicious.
The truth of the matter is that for humanistic
reasons if not for purposes of convenience
or hedonistic intents, there appears to be
the insidious attempt to break and dissolve
Filipino marriages by any and all possible
means, whatever the costs to the family, to
14 IMPACT • April 2005
the community, to the Country. If one is not
contented with legal separation, try mar-
riage nullity. If nullity is not possible, go
for annulment. And, now, if ever annul-
ment is not viable, file for absolute divorce.
With all these possibilities of getting rid of
the reality of factual marriages, the ques-
tion may be legitimately asked: Why get
married at all? Would plain and open co-
habitation be then the better option for men
and women “in love”?
QUESTION 3
WOULD IT BE CONSONANT WITH THE
DICTATES OF REASON AND THE
PRINCIPLES OF JUSTICE TO
REWARD WITH A DIVORCE DECREE
NOT ONLY THE VICTIM BUT ALSO THE
CULPRIT ACCORDING TO THE
PROPOSED GROUNDS FOR
ABSOLUTE DIVORCE?
DIVORCE & QUE
It is said that an absolute divorce may be
obtained on the grounds of drug addiction,
homosexuality, and sexual perversion
among many other envisioned possible
causes. In any presence of any of these
factors causative of divorce, the freedom to
remarry favors not only the victim but also
the culprit.
The disturbing but surely meritorious ques-
tion is this: If the culprit is still allowed to
remarry, then all his or her subsequent re-
marriages are all open and subject to di-
vorce. Reason: A divorce grant does not cure
drug addiction, neither reverses homosexu-
ality nor correct sexual perversion.
Or is it rather the simple matter of alimony
or financial support imposed on the guilty
spouse? If such were the case, the moneyed
people are favored as they are capable of
giving as much money as demanded by
many “ex wives” or “ex husbands” and “ex-
families” possible. And what if the spouse
proven guilty cannot afford to pay the im-
posed penalty? Would this party be also
allowed to remarry as well, allowed to
divorce again, and thereby again allowed
to leave his or her spouse and the children
without financial support?
QUESTION 4
WOULD IT BE UNREALISTIC TO ASK
THE DIVORCE PROPONENTS HOW
MANY DIVORCES CAN ONE HAVE,
HOW MANY HOMES CAN ONE BREAK,
HOW MANY CHILDREN CAN ONE
LEAVE BEHIND?
The question really is how many marriages
may one enter into and how many divorces
may one thereafter obtain.
A spouse guilty of any of the divorce grounds
does not have the best credentials to enter
into another marriage. This is especially
true on the ground of adverse personality
constitution or ingrained character flaw
which is certainly not cured by all absolute
divorce grants.
The spouse-victim on the other hand who
unforgivingly and perhaps even vindic-
tively acted against the other with the full
force of the law in order to have an absolute
divorce, may not claim neither excellent
personal credentials for a re-marriage. The
truth is that when seriously traumatized by
an errant and erratic former spouse, the said
spouse-victim becomes sadly unprepared
for another marriage. And considering that
another marriage and another divorce are
all possible, the same spouse-victim is not
helped by such indefinite possibilities.
+Oscar V.
QUESTION 5
WOULD THE ENACTMENT OF AN
ABSOLUTE DIVORCE LEGISLATION
REALLY PREVENT PHYSICAL
VIOLENCE, MARITAL INFIDELITY,
SPOUSAL ABANDONEMENT AND
OTHER SIMILAR MARRIAGE
MALADIES AS ENVISIONED BY ITS
PROPONENTS?
Would that they do! But the truth is that it
may in fact even inspire what it intends to
prevent or deter. It is definitely not improb-
able that when a couple is tired or simply
disgusted with their conjugal life, one of
them would deliberately physically abuse
the other, intentionally commit adultery or
actually abandon the other. Why? Precisely
to prepare and provide a ground for di-
vorce!
In other words, what the divorce propo-
nents might want to prevent in order to
stabilize marriage—such as physical abuse,
marital infidelity and spousal abuse could
be the very reasons that would in fact de-
stroy marriages. And this is not funny.
QUESTION 6
WOULD IT BE JUSTIFIED TO ACCEPT
THE PROPOSED ABSOLUTE DIVORCE
LEGISLATION ON THE PREMISE THAT
IT IS NEITHER HARD NOT COSTLY TO
OBTAIN —COMPARED TO MARRIAGE
NULLITY AND/OR ANNULMENT?
 Has the issue been simply relegated to what
is easy or hard, cheap or costly to obtain?
What is easy and cheap to obtain, does not
necessarily make it right. In the same way,
what is hard and costly to have, neither
necessarily makes this wrong. The truth is
something easy and cheap to have, can be
readily held suspect.
If a marriage is ab initio null and void, why
make it hard or costly for spouses to get a
nullity declaration. And as far as civil law is
concerned, if the marriage is voidable, why
make it also difficult and expensive for them
to have an annulment?
QUESTION 7
IT IS CORRECT TO CLAIM THAT THE
ABSOLUTE DIVORCE LEGISLATION IS
THE LAST RESORT TO FREE
COUPLES FROM IMPOSSIBLE
MARRIAGES.
ESTION MARKS
Cruz, DD
If the intention is simply to free couples from
already unbearable marriages, the recourse
is legal separation, not absolute divorce. If
the design is for a couple to get rid of one
another for purposes of remarriages, their
divorce is the wrong means to an equally
wrong end: Wrong means because this
would make them liars when they pro-
nounce their marriage vows, and wrong end
because they would have to enter into but a
temporary remarriage by precisely sub-
scribing to absolute divorce.
Regarding impossible or anomalous conju-
gal relationships such as in the case of sex
maniacs or sexual addicts, psychopaths and
sociopaths, behavioral deviants, emotion-
ally unstable and any other duly identified
grave mental disorder, once proven by ex-
perts that any of these has been existent at the
time of the wedding, then legal separation,
marriage nullity or annulment is the re-
course—not divorce.
QUESTION 8:
WOULD IT BE TOO IDEALISTIC AND
THEREFORE UNREALISTIC TO ASK
FOR MARRIAGE VOWS FOR “BETTER
OR FOR WORSE,” FOR “RICHER OR
FOR POORER,” IN “SICKNESS AND IN
HEALTH.” UNTIL “DEATH” DO THE
SPOUSES PART?
To say “yes!” to this question is contrary to
the salient fact of millions of successful
marriages that were entered into with these
indivisible and indissoluble vows across
the centuries—compared to the number of
“broken marriages.”
To say “yes!” to this question is to ulti-
mately get married for convenience, viz.,
marrying only for the “better”, for “richer”,
in “health”. Otherwise, marriage becomes
inconvenient and the couple concerned
should logically get rid of it.
To say “yes!” to this question is to openly
and clearly explain to every child born of
the marital union that he/she has but tem-
porary parents, has but also temporary
family. Otherwise, no child should be al-
lowed to be born at all from the marriage!
QUESTION 9
IS IT CORRECT TO SAY THAT THE
PROPOSED ABSOLUTE DIVORCE
LEGISLATION HAS NOTHING TO DO
WITH THE CHURCH, AND THAT THE
CHURCH SHOULD THEREFORE NOT
INTERVENE IN THE MATTER?
Since when did the Church concern herself
only with “churchy” matters, simply with
Catholics, merely with Church marriage?
The obligations of parents, the rights of
children, the stability of society are valu-
able realities irrespective of race, color and
creed.
When couples would violate their mar-
riage commitment, when parents would
renounce their care for the family they
brought into being, when children would
grow in a confused and confusing domestic
environ—which absolute divorce infallible
causes—the Church may not pretend to see
nothing, say nothing and do nothing,
whether those concerned are Catholics or
not. The Church is obliged to say and
uphold the truth that marriages are sacred
and inviolable, irrespective of the religion
of those married and of their children.
QUESTION 10
WOULD IT BE INCONGRUOUS TO ASK
WHY SO MUCH IS BEING OPTED AND
PROPOSED BY THE LEGISLATIVE
AUTHORITY ON HOW TO REMEDY
“BROKEN MARRIAGES” WHICH
PRACTICALLY NOTHING IS SAID AND
PROPOSED TO STRENGHTEN
MARRIAGES AND PREVENT
MARRIAGE FAILURES?
1. Age
Should very young people be allowed to
marry and thus coming themselves to a
very adult, serious and permanent way of
life such as marriage? Physiologically ten-
der, psychologically unprepared, emotion-
ally unstable and usually financially inca-
pable, are ready for marriage?
2. Livelihood
Should people—specially men—even if
they be advanced in age, be allowed to get
married if they have no regular jobs, no
viable means of livelihood, and in fact
unable even to support themselves?
3. Health
Should physical and especially mental
health, psychological stability and emo-
tional maturity be simply left to presump-
tion when people want to get married?
Should there not be even but a minimum of
expert check on these very basic personal-
ity features, upon which the success or fail-
ure of marriage by and large depends?
4. Post Marriage
Should those already married be simply
left to themselves to live their conjugal life,
to raise their children, to maintain their
means of living, and the like? Would there
be no legislation on family housing, family
wages, family guidance and counseling?
5. Broken Marriages
Is absolute divorce the one and only answer
to broken marriages? And if it is claimed
that absolute divorce after all is not com-
pulsory but only for those who want it, then
the argument can be said that the legaliza-
tion of bigamy and/or polygamy is all
right, after all it is not mandatory and only
for those desirous of practicing it.
To date, the Philippines is already beset
with many serious social liabilities such as
wide-spread poverty, proliferation of
crimes, apparently futile search for peace
and order—not to mention the loosing fight
against drugs, gambling, prostitution and
AIDS to mention but a few. There are also
broken families where the ultimate victims
are the children who are either abandoned,
made pawns and/or origin of fights be-
tween the spouses, particularly so when
these already go to the Civil Court for
redress that usually proves very unpleas-
ant if not even actually very traumatic for
the little ones.
The approval of the divorce legislation in
the country will simply add more socio-
moral problems and legal difficulties to
our already seriously problematic situa-
tion. It is not enough to say that the legis-
lature approves it even by an “overwhelm-
ing majority”. What is intrinsically moral
or immoral is never simply subject to ma-
jority rule—as if what is fundamentally
wrong ipso facto becomes basically right by
the voice of the majority.
Would our legislators then subject to de-
bate—for legislation purposes—if there is
or there is no God, if the Commandments
should be made more or less, if the Gospel
and/or the Koran is right or wrong?!
Volume 39 • Number 1 15
 From the traditional ‘large-extended’ to
nuclear family structure and now to the
growing number of single parent house-
holds, same sex unions, single and inde-
pendent lifestyles, and including a
plethora of modern day dysfunctions, de-
viations, and problems, the Filipino fam-
ily have come a long way. Amid the con-
tinuing saga of change, will not the
Church budge any bit?

‘Unchanging T
Amid Changing
BOB
BOB R.
R. ACEBEDO
ACEBEDO

16 IMPACT • April 2005


N ow, there are not one but many ways of
describing what constitutes a family.
They are of the same sex. Minda and Gina,
ages 46, and 39, of Tacloban City, Leyte
(some 1000 kilometers south of Metro Ma-
nila) have been living together like husband
and wife for around ten years now. With
them is thirteen-year-old Geraldine, Gina’s
daughter from her estranged husband be-
fore she decided to ‘live-in’ with Minda. But
Geraldine, in all indications, has all the filial
promptings and affection for Minda like her
real father – and so likewise for Minda who
dutifully acts as ‘father’ to Geraldine and
‘husband’ to Gina. Together – Minda, Gina,
and Geraldine – openly call themselves one
proud happy ‘family’.
And a ‘family’ it is likewise for Joe and Lina
of Mandaluyong City, Metro Manila. Joe,
an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW), is now
on his 23rd year of continuously working in
the Middle East – of course, he comes home
for a month vacation every after two years.
Counting back his accumulated vacation
months, Joe has been with his family back
home for only 11 months in the span of 22
years or so of working overseas. Living in
a modest condominium unit acquired only
recently through bank loan, they have three
grown up children, two of whom have al-
ready finished College – and Lina still pre-
fers it more for Joe to stick working over-
seas.
Truths’
g Times
And even also for Joe, there is no going
home for good yet – not until their 3 rd and
youngest child, now only 3rd year in High
School, will have finished College; not until
they have completely paid the bank for their
monthly housing loan amortizations.
And still, it is called a ‘family’ for Nelia and
her son, Aldwin, from Dasmariñas, Cavite.
Nelia, a single parent, single-handedly man-
ages to eke out a living to support Aldwin
after her husband left them for another
woman six years ago. Since Aldwin has
entered the Seminary for his priestly calling
two years ago, at home, Nelia is left with no
one else except their household help.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
When as before and so as now, marriage is
marriage, a family is a family, life is life, human
sexuality is human sexuality – in nature,
meaning, and truth.
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
These are but few of the many faces or
descriptions of the shifting forms and dy-
namics, if not outright family dysfunctions
or deviations, that have plagued the Fili-
pino family brought about by social, eco-
nomic, technological, ideological, and de-
mographic factors. In the continuing saga
of change that is taking the family by storm,
family structure and lifestyles like those of
Minda and Gina, of Joe and Lina, and of
Nelia have been openly perceived, to an
alarming degree, as norms rather than as
family dysfunctions.
No, there’s no coming to an end yet for the
unprecedented wave of pressures or strains
– technological, economic and ideological
- besieged upon the Filipino family. In fact,
the Philippines is yet at the tail end of
receiving or absorbing magnified effects of
transitions, more often disturbing than ap-
propriately desired, that emanates from
developed countries in Asia and West.
Amid this changing landscape in the arena
that is the family, the Catholic Church in the
Philippines remains unfazed. But will it not
budge any bit? Can it not, at the very least,
come to terms with the strident pace of
change? Can its supposedly immutable, if
not immortal, fundamentals or teachings
about the family, marriage, and sexuality
outlive or surpass the overwhelming “anti-
family and anti-life forces of dehumaniza-
tion and disintegration”?
Even as of 1996, the Federation of Asian
Bishops Conferences (FABC) already iden-
Cover Story
tified these forces or strains, “ranging from
material and moral poverty to secularist
values and external pressures leading to
anti-life types of bio-ethics and practices of
abortion and contraception.”
Have Come A Long Way
Yes, indeed the Filipino family have come a
long way – from the ‘large-extended’ to
nuclear structure, down to single parent
households, single and independent
lifestyles, fatherless households due to la-
bor migration, same sex union, consensual
union, and not precluding, among others, a
host of family dysfunctions and problems
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○
like dissolution of marriages, separation,
divorce, abortion, contraception, decline in
birth rates below replacement level, aging
population, and a lot more – in form or
structure, size, values, and lifestyles. On a
hindsight of these transformations, the path
of change to which the Filipino family have
trekked is obviously dreadful: from humble
but solid beginnings to its breakdown!
Back then in the 1970s, the functions and
dynamics of the Filipino family, large and
extended it was, as described by Dr. Gelia
Castillo (“What is the Filipino Family,” 1979),
“provides social services, credit, land, la-
bor, capital, income redistribution, work shar-
ing, companionship to the unmarried, care
for the sick, home for the aged, counsel for
the troubled, and most of all, love and affec-
tion, emotional sustenance and social sta-
bility without which a Filipino life is not
meaningful.”
No longer now, times have dramatically
changed. When as before, unity and stabil-
ity were the cardinal norms for marriage,
now came the growing incidence of divorce,
separation, dissolution of marriages – and
have even been institutionally embedded in
the legal system of some societies. When
as before, conjugal union was purely limited
to heterosexual partners, now came same
sex union, consensual union – and its advo-
cates pounding aggressive inroads into the
fabric of the Filipino family. When as be-
fore, parents and children live happily un-
der one roof, now children are left behind at
Unchanging Truths / p.18
Volume 39 • Number 1 17

Unchanging Truths’ / from p.16
home and manage themselves as either
the father, mother, or both have to seek
better paying jobs in other countries.
When as before, conjugal love and pro-
creation of children were the basic ingre-
dients for marriage and family life, now
came the blatant extermination of offspring
and systematic stifling of life through
abortion, contraception and artificial
means of birth control.
Of course, these transitions or changes in
the Filipino family could not have been
brought about or magnified without the
bigger transitions or dynamics that have
occurred in the larger scale of society.
What are these factors that have trig-
gered these changes? According to the
research entitled, “Globalization and the
Asian Family: Asian and Filipino Family
Survey 2003”, conducted by the Univer-
sity of Santo Tomas Social Research Cen-
ter (USTSRC), “the driving force (factors)
behind the large-scale changes in the
family has been largely economic, tech-
nological, social, demographic, and ideo-
logical in nature.”
Particularly, the same research revealed,
these large-scale changes are, “the phe-
nomenon of Globalization, incidence of
poverty, rapid urbanization and modern-
ization, gender division and distribution of
labor, advent of new technologies, decline
in world population trends, of fertility and
birth rates, and an aging population.”
18 IMPACT • April 2005
“Ligtas-Buntis”
More Than A Maternal Health Drive?
By GENREVE RESANO
T he Department of Health launched
the “Ligtas-Buntis” (which literally
translates ‘safe pregnancy’ or ‘save the
pregnant’) Program last February 21, de-
ploying 15,000 health workers nation-
wide to interview two million men, women
and couples of reproductive age, map
and make a master list of families after
Along with these, changing lifestyles
among Filipinos followed suit as reflected
in the “escalating number of fast food
chains, shopping malls, cyber cafes, sub-
divisions, gyms, computer and video
game parlors, videoke and gay bars, casi-
nos, cable TV, cell phones, etc. Mass
media through TV, radio and others has
become new members of the household
connecting it to both real and make be-
lieve worlds.”
Trends for the Future
Unassumingly, charting the future for the
Filipino family vis-à-vis the splurge of
such changes may not, from all indica-
tions, logically look good. For instance,
the declining fertility rate and late mar-
riages, and favorable attitude towards the
use of contraceptives in family planning
would all contribute toward small family
size, says Professor Amor Pedro of the
USTSRC in her research paper, “A Profile
of the Filipino Family 2003”.
Another indicative trend, adds Pedro, is
related to labor migration, “continued de-
ployment of mothers and fathers abroad
will bring about better education to their
children at the expense of possible alien-
ation or breaking up of families.” The
continuing trend of mass poverty in the
urban, Pedro warns, “will continue to breed
discontent and happiness, thereby strain-
ing relationships between husband and
wife and put at risk the future of their
DoH
house-to-house personal survey on fer-
tility control methods they use. Sexual
education is also given to respondents.
Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit said the
focus of the campaign is not birth control
but the health of mothers and babies.
Dayrit explains, “Ligtas-Buntis is not
‘Iwas-Buntis’ (or ‘avoiding pregnancy’).
children and family life as a whole.” And
what about regarding the aging popula-
tion? Pedro’s prognosis is not outrightly
grim, “people are living longer, hence the
care for the older people will not just be a
concern of the family but of the commu-
nity as well.” Rapid urbanization and the
evolving service sector, Pedro contin-
ues, “will change the lifestyle of most
families, resulting in greater exposure to
mass media, mass consumption and ‘in-
stant’ and ‘fast’ mentality.” And, finally,
in the area of technology, “new technical
skills and electronic gadgets can alienate
the older members of the family from the
young and the rich/middle class from the
poor.”
The Unchanging Truths
Overwhelming have been indeed the bat-
tering forces of change pounded on the
Filipino family. But, credulously, a candid
optimism can yet do more than paste
smug expressions on the face of change
advocates: changing times, and its ag-
gressive forces are rendered inutile, can-
not overturn or even modify the natural
unchanging truths about the family, life,
marriage, and sexuality.
Historical credence has it. While indeed
modern times have played host to, or
have experimented, myriad non-traditional
innovations of family, life, marriage, and
sexuality – divorce, same sex union, con-
sensual union, single parent households,
It’s more than just about the health of the
mother, but even also about the health
and well-being of the whole family.”
“Ligtas-Buntis,” Dayrit said, “is basically
about Responsible Parenthood. It offers
a three-fold ‘Freedom’ for couples – free-
dom of choice as to what kind of family
planning method to use, freedom from
unsafe pregnancy for the mother and
undue illness for the family, and freedom
from ignorance about responsible par-
enthood and family planning.”
But Church officials are furiously skeptical
about the program. In a pastoral letter
which was read in all Catholic parish
churches nationwide last February 27, the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Phil-
ippines denounced the program, assail-
ing that “it violates and mocks the privacy
and autonomy of couples. It desecrates
the sanctity of marriage and family life.”
marital separation/dissolution, euthana-
sia, death penalty, contraception and ar-
tificial means of birth control, sexual and
reproductive rights for children, abortion,
and a lot more – yet these have not altered
any less the nature, purpose, and true
meaning of family, life, marriage, and sexu-
ality.
Divorce and marital separation/dissolu-
tion have always remained contrary or
inimical to the true nature or meaning of
marriage and family – conjugal love and
procreation; and consequently, thus,
modern times have accommodated and
witnessed the debilitating trauma, if not
shattered lives, of the countless children
who are most hurt due to broken homes.
Same sex union or marriage of the same
sex will always, at the very least, render
the impossibility of fulfilling the procre-
ative nature and purpose of marriage.
Abortion has been and will always be
murder even in euphemistic ‘special
cases.’ Contraception and artificial means
of birth control will always be contrary to
natural law as they curtail the natural
generative functions of man. Euthanasia
and death penalty will always be killing or
taking one’s life – for whatever reasons
notwithstanding.
When as before and so as now, marriage
is marriage, a family is a family, life is life,
human sexuality is human sexuality – in
nature, meaning, and truth. And, albeit
the pressures of change, they are un-
The bishops said the program is more On a hindsight, the letter added, “since a
than just what it claims to be – “an infor- population control program was put in
mation campaign for maternal health.” place in the country in the 1970s – our
population growth has been declining
The program, they said, “will not preclude
and continues to do so today, and yet,
dispensing or distributing contraceptive poverty has not been reduced.”
pills, items and devices to target couples.”
But “Ligtas-Buntis”, as DoH Secretary
And, “contraceptives and artificial means Dayrit explained, “is basically about re-
of family planning,” the bishops added, sponsible parenthood.” And the CBCP’s
pastoral letter exhorted otherwise, “Re-
“are contrary to the laws of nature and of
sponsible parenthood goes beyond sim-
nature’s God because they defeat or
ply providing for a family’s material needs.
stifle the natural purpose of the genera-
It means respect for one’s generative
tive functions.”
functions. It calls upon married persons
The underlying agenda behind the pro- to use discernment and generosity in
gram, the CBCP’s pastoral letter said, their decisions. It calls for due regard to
“is to reduce the population purportedly physical, economic, psychological and
social conditions in deciding to raise a
to spur economic growth. (But) a long
‘numerous family.’ It includes the
line of serious economists have long spouses’ decision based on grave mo-
discredited the Malthusian myth that tives and with due respect for the moral
positive population growth stunts eco- law, to avoid, for the time being or even for
nomic growth.” an indeterminate period, a new birth.” I
changing. “The truth about the dignity
and sacredness of the person, of mar-
riage, of family, of life, of human sexuality
is unchanging. No amount of debate can
change the truth about man, nor can ‘new
and fashionable ideas’ turn the truth into
error,” rightfully quips Jo Imbong, execu-
tive secretary of the CBCP legal office.
The Filipino family have indeed come
a long way – but, unassumingly, its
‘unchanging truth’ is that it is yet
and will remain a ‘family.’ This
immortal truth will even outlive
the mortality of man. “Men
and women in the course
of time may design to
change such truths
(about family, life,
marriage, sexual-
ity). But in vain,
do they ulti-
mately labor.
Their mortality
is no match
with the im-
mortality of
s u c h
truths,”
Arch-
bishop
C r u z
c o n -
cludes.
I
Volume 39 • Number 1 19
Statements

Statement by the Bishop and Clergy of

the Diocese of Borongan on Mining in
Manicani Island, Homonhon Island and
the Whole Samar Island

Beloved People of God:

Grace and peace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you!

The province of Eastern Samar and the whole country of the Philippines face a grave danger from
mining that is not as yet recognized for what it is. Very recently the Supreme Court of the land decided
to allow the exploitation in a bigger scale of the country’s mineral resources by foreign mining
companies in the name of development. Unfortunately, however, the move was not accompanied
by a necessary consultation of the people and a careful study of the past and potential effects of
mining. Our Island of Samar as a whole and the Islands of Manicani and Homonhon in particular,
both of which are in our province and diocese, are in the path of this danger.
In our presbyteral assembly of land and some parts of Third , mining has done more
February 16, 2005 we, the Homonhon Island cry out an harm than good to both the
Bishop of Borongan, Most appeal to us that mining opera- environment and the people
Rev. Leonardo Y. Medroso, tions be stopped and shut especially in Samar Island. For
DD, and the priests in atten- down altogether. example, it is not easy to see or
dance with no exception de- In the history of mining exploi- hear any of the supposed ben-
cided to give voice once more tations in the Island of Samar efits from mining. On the other
to our collective denunciation and in the whole country for hand, we in Eastern Samar still
of all mining operations in the that matter, there are bitter facts experience its tragic and de-
Island of Samar and especially that need to be considered: structive fruits: a dead river,
in the Islands of Manicani and dead and dying sea environ-
Homonhon, Guiuan, Eastern First, most mining operations ment, damaged moun-
Samar. While it is true that are owned and run by foreign- tains and lands.
Scripture tells us that God com- ers. Those who gain the most
do not even reside where the Fourth, there is no
manded man to “rule over” the guarantee from
earth (Gen 1:26), He also com- environment is often abused
while most of those who re- the government
manded him to “care” for it and the mining
(Gen 2:15). In our prayerful re- side there suffer the ill effects
and continue to live in pov- companies
flection we see that the mining that the envi-
exploitations in the Island of erty.
ronment is
Samar and those in Manicani Second, mining companies ex- truly pro-
and Homonhon Islands con- ploit mostly forested and tected, much
tradict the will of God because mountainous areas through an less pre-
they have effected more de- environmentally abusive served, or even
struction and travesty of the means: ‘open pit mining’ that damaged
environment rather than care where, as in Manicani Island, areas will be re-
for it. The dead river of Taft, giant craters are created and stored. The con-
Eastern Samar, the dying sea the original conditions never
environs around Manicani Is- restored. Diocese of Borongan / p.22

20 IMPACT • April 2005

 Nature is Groaning: A
Statement on the
Revitalization of Mining
in the Philippines

Sisters and Brothers in Christ:

“I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” (Jn 10:10)
It is disquieting to note that our apprehension remains, if not heightened, seven years after the Catholic Bishops
Conference of the Philippines issued A Statement of Concern on the Mining Act of 1995. Citing problems that
the law will cause and aggravate, we urged government to repeal the Mining Act.

Our fears are not un- People in Boac, Marinduque; Didipio, promote harmony and development that
founded. Mining has Nueva Vizcaya; Itogon, Benguet; correspond with God’s plan. Doing so
given the Philippines Homonhon and Manicani islands in ensures the sustenance of our current
a scarring Experience: Guiuan, Eastern Samar; Placer, Surigao needs and the needs of future genera-
mine tailings flooding del Norte; Rapu-Rapu, Albay; Rio Tuba, tions. Mining tyrannizes nature making it
villages and killing in- Palawan; Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte; inhospitable to life. It denies future gen-
dividuals, depletion Tampakan, South Cotabato; Toledo City, erations their food. As responsible stew-
of natural re- Cebu, and in many other areas experience ards of God’s creation, we must pay atten-
sources, ill ef- this harsh reality. tion to the consequences of such actions
fects on health, The continuing enforcement of an op- on the present and future generations.
fabricated so- pressive law is blighting our ecology. Universal Destination of Goods (Gaudium
cial acceptabil- Instead of rectifying a monumental blun- et Spes #69): After developing and nur-
ity, polariza- der, government is aggressively promot- turing it, everyone must be able to enjoy
tion among lo- ing the exploitation of nature. By glorify- the fruits of the earth. Steered by justice
cals, unjust ing its potential to unlock Php 47 trillion, and charity, common good must at all
labor prac- government is proclaiming mining as if it times prevail upon selfish interests. But
tices, delays were the most significant solution to the does everyone benefit from mining op-
in or non- country’s fiscal crisis and poverty prob- erations? After exploiting our patrimony,
lem. foreign mining companies repatriate a
payment of
But the hosannas are hollow. The costs majority of their profits to their home
taxes due countries. Generous tax holidays liberally
the local clearly eclipse the benefits. Weak gov-
ernment regulations and the industry’s granted by government lead to loss of
government, revenues. Some mining companies delib-
abandoned mines shadowy reputation are sufficient rea-
sons to question mining. erately avoid paying taxes to local gov-
that continue to harm ernments hosting their operations.
the environment and in- Guided by Church social doctrines, we
habitants long after op- urge every Filipino to examine this mining Integrity of Creation (Sollicitudo Rei
rage. Socialis #34): Nature, with man in it, is an
erations have ceased, dis-
ordered system governed by intricate prin-
placement of indigenous communities, Responsible Stewardship (Sollicitudo ciples of interrelatedness and
unfulfilled promises of community de- Rei Socialis # 34): As guardians of God’s interconnectedness. It is important to take
velopment, militarization, intimida- creation, it is our collective duty to ensure
tion and threats. Earth’s wellbeing. Human activity must Nature is Groaning / p.23

Volume 39 • Number 1 21
Statements
Diocese of Borongan / from p.20

ditions in Manicani Island and in
Homonhon Island prove this point.
Fifth, mining has effectively divided fami-
lies and communities. Family and commu-
nity members who favor and those who
do not favor mining operations have
formed deeply held convictions that of-
ten make bitter enemies out of them.
Though unintended by no one, not even
by the mining companies themselves, it is
incontestable that mining has, as in
Manicani Island, also destroyed the nec-
essary unity of the people.
In addition to all of the above, the culture
of corruption pervades the efforts to open
and run mining operations. This is evi-
dent, for example, in the amount of money
being offered and paid to people in the
affected areas through their leaders from
the mining companies and those who
support them. This is evident as well in
the use of power and force to impose the
interests of mining companies on the lo-
cal populace. In effect, from mining we
reap not only its natural fruits but also a
heightened culture of corruption and domi-
nation at the expense of the poor.
In response to these, we, your Bishop and
your Priests of the Diocese of Borongan,
again express our common stand and de-
sire that all mining operations be stopped
and shut down in Manicani, Homonhon
and the whole Island of Samar. We also
express our collective support for Rev.
Father Alex Galo, Pastor of San Lorenzo
Ruiz Parish, Manicani Island, in all his
efforts and those of the faithful to serve
and realize this desire. This is not only
their stand and conviction but also ours
because we are all entrusted by God to
care for the earth and particularly for
our share of his creation. All of these are
his; we are only stewards. We have no
right to abuse or misuse what do not
belong to us.
Besides all these, the Lord Jesus said,
“Whatever you did to these least of my
brothers and sisters, you did it to me” (Mt
25:40). The coming generations, the chil-
dren of our children whose voices we still
do not hear, are among these least of the
Lord’s brothers and sisters. Let us not
sell their patrimony down the river.
In their name and in the name of the
Gospel,
Most Rev. Leonardo Y. Medroso, DD,
- Bishop of Borongan; Priests; Diocese of
Borongan / March 11, 2005

THE WORD OF GOD / from p.13

Conclusion
Why, we must ask, is the
Holy Family the ideal fam-
ily? The answer lies partly
in the fact that the family of
Jesus, Mary and Joseph un-
veils to us the key to fulfill-
ing the role and function of
the family as revealed by
the Word of God. We see it
particularly in what shows
the Holy Family’s holiness.
It is obedience by each
member to God’s will of
which the Word of God is
the mouthpiece, instrument
and sign. Jesus does the
will of God by submitting to
the Father’s plan by which
he had to become human
(Phil 2:5-11), even becom-
ing obedient to his human
parents (Lk 2:51). Mary
does the Father’s will by
consenting to become the
Mother of God’s only Son
(Lk 1:38), while also con-
stantly pondering, listening
to and doing his word (Lk
11:28; 2:19, 51). Joseph is
shown to be holy and just
in his obedience to the
Word of the Lord that comes
through an angel telling him
to take Mary as his wife and
care for the child Jesus as
father (Mt 1:18-25; 2:19-23).
This is the same call for par-
ents and children alike. Ei-
ther they do the will of God
by making love concrete in
the way they treat one an-
other or they can scarcely
be a Christian family. The
same concrete love must
also be shown to people
outside the family circle be-
cause they nonetheless be-
long to the greater family of
God by reason of Jesus
Christ the Word’s having
been born, having suffered,
died and risen for them.
In the play Santatlo (Com-
munion of Three in One) a
priest is asked by a young
man why the family disinte-
grates when love is shat-
tered. The priest answers
saying that this is because
we were created in the im-
age and likeness of God and
God is a community, nay a
family of Father, Son and
Holy Spirit living and relat-
ing to one another and to
the world entirely in love.
If love then disappears from
our lives as individuals and
especially as families, we
are farthest from the Trin-
ity. If love reigns, our fami-
lies are closest to the Triune
God. “For love is of God
and anyone who loves is
begotten by God and knows
God. He who does not love
does not know God for God
is Love” (1 Jn 4:7-8).
In a word, to be holy like the
Holy Family is not an op-
tion we either choose or
refuse. It is an identity we
live by. Or we do not live at
all as a Christian family. I

22 IMPACT • April 2005

Nature is Groaning / from p.21
into account the value of each creation
and in relation with others. Inflicting harm
on one component of the chain injures the
whole system. Large-scale destruction
caused by mining results in massive dis-
turbance of the system, with disastrous
effects on all life forms that the system
supports, ultimately leading to the defeat
of ecological sustainability.
Human Dignity (Sollicitudo Rei Socialis
#47): Mining companies exploit poor lo-
cals who are willing to work for low pay
under hazardous conditions. As opera-
tions get modernized, unskilled labor –
the only kind the community can provide
– is increasingly expelled thereby wors-
ening unemployment. Labor unions are
suppressed. Equally disturbing is the fact
that some mining operations encroach on
ancestral domains. Mining displaces in-
digenous communities making them lose
not only their habitats but also their cul-
ture.
Preferential Option for the Poor (Rerum
Novarum # 29) : The poor suffer when
mining operations, requiring heavy vol-
umes of water, deplete the precious re-
source; when they pollute rivers, springs
and brooks; when they destroy water-
sheds, obliterate farms and poison fish-
ing grounds. The poor suffer when insti-
tutions are weakened. Bribed by mining
companies to expedite their operations,
local officials restrict opposition, issue
anti-poor policies, and ignore violations.
The poor end up poorer from economic
stagnation when mining operations cease.
Subsidiarity and People’s Participation
(Mater et Magistra #55 & Pacem in Terris
#26): Locals are in the best position to
decide on development strategies that
best respond to their needs and condi-
tions. But mining companies strangle their
voice. To secure social acceptability, min-
ing companies employ tricks exploiting
CAP Crisis / from p.6
tiary private education for their children.
With CAP’s eventual downfall and in-
ability to pay educational benefits to its
plan holders will likely render inevitable
for most parents—already exacerbated
by the present economic crisis and the
continued increase in tuition and school
fees – to readily transfer their children to
public schools, or worse, not to enroll
their children at all.
Amid the looming fiasco that is CAP, isn’t
the poverty of the community. To project
a semblance of people’s participation,
mining companies, on occasions assisted
by the local government, set up pro-min-
ing organizations that they appoint to
multisectoral bodies tasked to evaluate
adherence to operation regulations. To
dilute opposition, they dazzle locals with
payoffs and promises. Their
disempowering tactics enfeeble democ-
racy. The social fault lines that they create
render volatile peace and order in the
community.
We reiterate the following concrete ac-
tions requested from the government by
Archbishop Fernando Capalla, President
of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of
the Philippines:
1. Require concerned mining companies
to demonstrate goodwill by cleaning up
mine tailings and rehabilitating open pits.
If there are ongoing efforts along this line,
supply us with updates from a participa-
tive and multisectoral perspective.
2. Require mining companies whose prior
operations were questioned on grounds
of lack or absence of social acceptability
to address such concerns, particularly by
strictly adhering to regulations prescribed
by law.
3. Furnish us a list of companies seeking
mining permits. This must include all com-
panies regardless of whether their appli-
cations are pending or have already been
approved. Armed with the list, we will
coordinate with our overseas partners to
examine the track record of these compa-
nies in their home countries and areas of
operation.
4. Supply us with concrete figures detail-
ing projected amounts that government
expects each mining company and each
mine site to infuse into the economy,
including amounts that will be repatriated
it now the opportune time for the govern-
ment to make the appropriate resolve, not
otherwise the bickering and finger-point-
ing, to rightfully address and protect the
interest and plight of the .7 million plan
holders? Perhaps, in no time but now, the
government should look into the finan-
cial workings of pre-need companies and
initiate reforms to address similar prob-
lems in the industry. Or, if indeed an
eventual collapse of CAP is deemed un-
Volume 39 • Number 1
to the home country of each mining com-
pany.
5. Supply us with concrete figures detail-
ing the scope of employment that each
mining operation will generate, including
terms of employment citing nature, tenure
and remuneration.
6. Prior to approval of a mining permit,
require mining companies whose opera-
tions will dislocate populations to submit
a comprehensive and viable plan of relo-
cation that will ensure decent and hu-
mane habitation.
7. Prior to approval of a mining permit,
require mining companies to communi-
cate objectively and honestly the benefi-
cial and adverse effects that their opera-
tions will create.
8. Finally, in the interest of transparency,
make records and documents produced
pertaining to the foregoing requisites open
to the public.
Let us be one in praying for the Holy Spirit
to renew the face of the earth (Psalm 104,
30).
Nature is groaning because of man’s irre-
sponsibility. The pressure that humans
impose is causing her to collapse. In the
end, we are the ones who suffer the an-
guish when nature unleashes its wrath.
Genuine development is one that upholds
human dignity, and is compatible with
ecological integrity and ensures the well-
being of future generations.
In Christ,
(Sgd) +BISHOP DINUALDO
GUTIERREZ, D.D.
Chair, CBCP Episcopal Commission on
Social Action-Justice & Peace
10 March 2005
avoidable, isn’t it urgent enough for the
government to act with dispatch to, at the
very least, lessen or minimize the undesir-
able consequences—among others, per-
haps like providing aid to tertiary private
education to cushion the impact of its
considerable cut in enrollment due to trans-
fers and drop outs?
Again, coldly, what does actually await
the .7 million CAP plan holders and their
families? Time to act, now. I
23
From the Blogs

M
Duplicity
any odious things can be said about
gambling. It is an activity that brings
shame, creates troubles, causes problems.
The truth is that it is a dangerous reality

that comes with a dreadful 3-G tripod:
Gambling. Guns. Goons.
And this is true of the so-called “legal” as
well as known illegal gambling: PAGCOR
(Philippine Amusement and Gaming Cor-
poration) and jueteng. Both of them have
a cloak and dagger component. Both of
them are accompanied by shadowy char-
acters and fatal by-products.
Gamblers with unpaid debts are threat-
ened. Persons who know too much disap-
pear. Individuals denouncing it get death
threats. Media practitioners crusading
against it are killed.
That is why PAGCOR is like a disease so
much unwelcome by communities aware
of the social evils it brings. More recently
there was a Binondo that drove it away.
Before that, there was Baguio that stopped
its attempted incursion. And the same
happened in other places.
That is why jueteng has to give many and
huge payolas to operate. It has to buy the
protection of police officials. It has to buy
the tolerance of public authorities. That
is why when it is neither tolerated nor
protected, there is no organized jueteng in
a place.
Duplicity
It is worth asking therefore why
the government fervently wants
the corporate gambling life of
PAGCOR extended. In the same
way, it should be also asked
why the government has not
lifted a finger to really stop
jueteng.
Repeatedly the government
proudly announced its resolve
to get rid of corruption in the
country. Recently the govern-
ment loudly claimed it was time
for a change.
Yet it has done nothing really
substantial to stop jueteng
which is the source of big cor-
ruption. Neither has it even
considered dissolving
PAGCOR as a part of a social-
moral change in the country.
The government says one
thing yet does something else.
It proposes something yet does
nothing about it. This posture
has a name: duplicity. -- +Oscar
V. Cruz, DD

NEW DISEASE
T here seems to be another relatively
new disease in the country today:
pregnancy.
First, there was the “ligtas-tigdas”. Now
there is the “ligtas-buntis 2005.”
What is supposed to be sacred such as
human sexuality has now become a dan-
gerous liability. What is to be treated with
dignity such as human pregnancy is now
considered a dirty disease.
When shall this country treat its citizens
with respect and deference? When will it
learn to make its people, its precious asset
as they really are? When will it truly
acknowledge that it is its population, as
the OFWs, that keep it somehow eco-
nomically afloat?
From all indications, Filipinos appear to
be considered the enemies of the country,
the scapegoats of poverty, the authors of
calamities.
For these reasons, they must not be al-
lowed to multiply by any and all conceiv-
able means. Its women must not be al-
lowed to become pregnant. And who
knows, how many abortions have been in
fact performed in the name of economic
development and progress.
Why is China so much populated and also
so fast emerging as a formidable eco-
nomic tiger in the world? Why is Japan as
another much populated Asian country
that technically progressive and finan-
cially affluent?
This only goes to show that depending
on how their leaders exercise governance,
people are either well or miserable, either
at peace or in discontent. Poor leadership
never makes great countries.
People are either a curse or a blessing —
depending on how they are led and gov-
erned.-- +Oscar V. Cruz, DD

24 IMPACT • April 2005

Editorial

Anachronism
T he Philippine Congress is promoting the “Population control” is a big myth because genu-
euphemism of “reproductive health” and ine demographers have proven the falsity of the
the myth of “population control.” Malthusian doctrine—again and again and again.
In truth, “reproductive health” really says, do Antinatal activists, who live by the benefits of
American foundations, United Nations programs
not get pregnant by all means, at any cost.
and foreign-aid agencies, are ever more glar-
Never mind about one’s physical well being
ingly out of touch with the facts on the ground.
when taking harmful contraceptive pills. Never
In fact, together with some people in congress,
mind morals in sexual relationships. Never mind
they would be better off concentrating on low-
the means provided the end of non-pregnancy is
ering death rates, rather than birth rates.
achieved. In other words, “reproductive health”
reads precisely the opposite: be healthy, do not The trouble with the above euphemism and
reproduce! myth is threefold. Fact one: there are well
populated countries that are well developed,
On the other hand, population control teaches just as there are least populated nations that are
that the less people there are in the country, the much underdeveloped. Fact two: there are
richer they become. Filipinos should love sex families with many children that are well to do,
but must hate children. If they multiply, they in the same way that there are couples with but
become miserable. To be happy, avoid preg- one or two children but remain very poor. Fact
nancy. People can all be hedonistic but never three: the promoters and legislators who sup-
reproductive. The fewer children to have, the port the population bill are already born and
more money to count. In other words, “popu- alive and well—good things they conveniently
lation control” means-away with children, away want to deny to those yet unborn.
with parenthood, away with people! It seems that the country is not only suffering
“Reproductive health” is a big lie because while from a leadership crisis, a fiscal crisis, a moral
it says one thing, it means exactly the opposite. crisis—but a cerebral crisis as well.

Volume 39 • Number 1 25
 The Family: Showcase / from p.12
se!
the family is in its own original right, and
elea so society if under a grave obligation in its
relations with the family to adhere to the
R
New
principle of subsidiarity… (in other words)
the State cannot and must not take away
from families the functions that they can
just as well perform on their own or in free
associations… the good of the family is
an indispensable and essential value of
the civil community… the public authori-
ties must do everything possible to en-
www.ovc.blogspot.com
sure that families have all those aids –
economic, social, educational, political
and cultural assistance – that they need
in order to face all their responsibilities in
a human way.” (F.C. n. 45)
It is clear from these words of John Paul
II that the family must take center stage in
the great agenda of human development.
Lamentably, however, the centrality of
the family is more honored in the breach
than in the observance. The Synodal Fa-
For Orders Contact: thers of 1980, gathered together in Rome
to discuss important matters on marriage
and family, noted with sorrow that in
National Matrimonial various countries the inviolable rights of
Tribunal Office the family and of the human person are
Tel. No. (632) 5274160 ignored. Some governments, instead of
putting themselves at the service of the
CBCPWorld Office family, effectively undermine its values
Telefax (632) 4041612 and fundamental requirements. In this
way, the family finds itself the hapless
victim of society.
Other books by
The Church, on the other hand, has al-
Abp. Oscar V. Cruz, JCD, DD ways championed the cause of the family.
1. Marriage Tribunal Ministry She defends vigorously at all times the
2. Curia Management rights of the family against the usurpa-
3. Guide Documents on Parish, Vicariate and
tions of society. (F.C. .46) She was in-
Diocesan Administrative / Pastoral strumental in pushing the United Nations
Concerns
4. Canon 290 CIC in the Service of Truth, to eventually proclaim the Universal Char-
Justice and Charity ter of Family Rights.
5. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on At the World Conference in Cairo on
Canon 1097, 1098, 1102 Population and Development, very little
6. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on
Canon 1103 on development and not much on the real
7. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on problems of population were included in
Canon 1095 the agenda, except to aggressively attack
8. Annotations on Rotal Jurisprudence on the very foundations of marriage and fam-
Canon 1101 ily. At the World Conference in Beijing on
9. Evidence in Marriage Nullity Cases Women which followed Cairo, the subject
10. Impediments to Canonical Marriage
11. Markers of population control and reproduction
12. Penal Process for Dismissal from the rights, even if extraneous to the agenda
Clerical State
prevailed over the concern for the true
13. Provincial Council, Diocesan Synod, dignity of women. In both conferences, it
Pastoral Assembly
was the Holy See who, even without vot-
14. CBCP Guidelines on Sexual Abuse and ing rights, led the other Church groups
Misconduct: A Critique
15. Board of Conciliation and Arbitration and life-oriented NGO’s to mount and
16. Viewpoints at the Onset of the New effective “fiscalization” of the entire pro-
Millennium ceedings. Every inch of the way, word by
17. Administration of the Temporal Goods of the word, scrutinizing punctuation marks and
Chrurch
brackets, they thwarted the moves of the
26 IMPACT • April 2005
God and the Tsunami / from p.4
point of encounter with God.”
Illustrative of this is a story that hap-
pened in a concentration camp during the
Second World War, in Elie Wiesel’s book,
Night. After the electric power was blown
up, the Gestapo eventually put its three
suspects on the gallows, two adults, and
one child. After the three necks were
placed within the nooses, someone said,
“Where is God? Where is he?” Finally,
the two adults died, their tongue hung
swollen, but the third rope was still mov-
ing. Being so light, the child was still alive.
“Where is God now?” the same man asked.
Then, Weisel heard a voice within him
answering the man: “Where is he? Here
he is—he is hanging here on this gal-
lows.” To see God in the child on the
gallows, to see him suffering with the
victims of tsumani—that should the spe-
cific Christian experience in the tragedy,
because Christ himself revealed on the
Cross that God suffered with victim.
Hence, the tsunami is never an evidence
of God’s absence. Quite the contrary, it
is there that a Christian, who abandons
himself to him amid utter meaningless-
ness, can encounter him. I
anti-life lobby to literally get away with mur-
der. Literally, because mass-murder of the
innocent is what their not-too-hidden agenda
is really about.
Out distinguished speakers during the last
two days, speaking from their varied back-
ground and experiences have shared with us
their thoughts and insights on why and how
the family should remain at the center of
human development. Material progress, sci-
entific advancement, breakthroughs in medi-
cine, the conquest of space, the sophistica-
tion of life style in fashion food and enter-
tainment, etc… all these will mean nothing at
all if the basic good of the family is not first
served and safeguarded. The slow erosion
of family values is like a cancerous growth
that spreads and eventually could kill the
body politic.
To the contrary, a healthy family has been an
enormous contribution to offer for the well-
being of society. The family that is aware of
God’s design and makes earnest efforts to
realize it is society’s greatest asset. The
family is society’s ultimate resource. I
(BISHOP JESUS Y. VARELA, D.D., S.T.D. Bishop
Emeritus of Sorsogon. Former Chairman, Episco-
pal Commission on Family and Life, CBCP; and
was president of Philippine Federation of Catholic
Broadcasters.)
S he might had been gone
quiet ahead of us but her
memory and wisdom that
touched undoubtedly, raised
and entranced many hearts
and souls from all walks of life
will definitely remain eternally.
Sor Lucia de Jesus dos Santos,
the last survivor of the three
little shepherds who claimed
to have had a series of appari-
tions of the Virgin Mary near
the Portuguese town of Fatima,
southeast of Leiria, in 1917 died
aged 97 last February 13, 2005.

Church’s icon
Dos Santos, later given the
name Lucia of the Immaculate
Heart by the Carmelite order,
was said to be the most re-
nowned Marian clairvoyant in
history when she first seen the
Blessed Mother at the age of
10, with cousins Jacinta, 7, and
Francisco, 9— both died in the
influenza pandemic of 1919 and
1920, and were eventually be-
atified by the Pope in 2000 dur-
ing a visit to the Fatima shrine.
She died at her Carmelite con-
vent at Coimbra in central Por-
tugal just weeks away from her
98th natal day, suffering pro-
longed bouts with cold-like ail-
ments in a cell that had to be
warmed with a space heater.
Reports said that Dos Santos
became ill and weak and her
illness resisted all the best ef-
forts, moving heaven and earth
to bring about her restoration
to health.
The prophecies
In her memoirs, she revealed
that Virgin Mary appeared six
times in 1917.
She said revealed the Virgin
Mary appeared to them on an
oak tree, telling them to return
to the same spot on the same
day, the 13th, of every month,
although only Lucia heard her
voice. They did so, Lucia later
recorded, until October 13 that
year, after which the vision no
longer appeared.
Last witness to Fatima
apparition dies at 97
By KRISTINE HANN
She later wrote down the so-
called three secrets of Fatima,
the first two of which were
revealed by the Catholic
Church after they appeared to
have come true.
In her first prophetic secrets
was that Lucia’s two cousins
would die soon, which they
did within three years of what
became known as the miracle
of Fatima.
The second secret emerged
when the Virgin told the Fatima
seers — most particularly
Lucia, who conveyed the mes-
sages — that World War I was Sr. Lucia, one of the three visionaries of Fatima apparit ion, died last February 13, 2005.
about to end, but that if man-
kind did not repent, there would followed by entry into World Another sign?
be a worse war to follow, one War Two. Another sign from heaven or
that would be announced by a The third prophecy had the Vir- just a mere coincident?
“great sign.” gin Mary speaking of “a bishop Her death never clogged from
Dos Santos said, this occurred dressed in white”, who would there. Some people still deem
in 1938 when there was an ex- “fall to the ground as though and insisted that her passing
traordinary display of the au- dead under gunfire” that was will foretell yet to be ascertained
rora borealis from across Eu- later affirmed by the Vatican major events that may now be
rope, from London to Africa, that it referred to the assassina- on the horizon, her passing on
and across North America, a tion attempt on Pope John Paul the 13th — the anniversary day
display that struck terror into II by Mehmet Ali Agca in St of those months when Mary
the hearts of many and was Peter’s Square in 1981. did appear. I

Volume 39 • Number 1 27
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28 IMPACT • April 2005


Tips on Buying Digital
Cameras
connectedguide.com/photos
H
aving digital cameras nowadays is next to having a mobile
phone in handy. Some phones offer likely the same click and
shoot scenarios but nevertheless it does meet your higher picture
quality demands. You may stumble upon many digicams; but
bear in mind what you’re buying will definitely meet your needs.
Here are common things you may want to consider.
Size does matter
Try to consider the storage capacity of your camera. Though you
may not run out of film, you may not capture everything in your
week-long vacation when you are away from your computer to
download pictures from your camera. Some cameras have small
built-in storage, so, you should consider having an option for
Flash cards. CompactFlash cards now come with up to 1GB of
space.
Right resolution for the right purpose
Web graphics are definitely not suitable for print media; the latter
requires a resolution higher that 225dpi. If this is the case, better
have a 6-megapixel camera or higher. But if you are just going to
take snapshots and e-mail them to your friends, then you don’t
need anything more than 640x480 pixel resolution. By the way,
higher resolution reciprocates its price value.
Lens for a specific purpose
If you don’t have the right lens, it can be hard to take the best
pictures. For example, if your camera does not have a macro
setting, you won’t be able to take close-ups. If very crisp detail is
important in your pictures, you’ll probably want a high optical
zoom number. Be sure to try out the lens system on a camera
before you purchase it.
Digital zoom vs. optical zoom
Many cameras advertise things like “100X zoom,” but that is often
misleading because only part of it is in the lens. The only part of
a zoom lens that really matters is the “optical” part — the part
made out of glass lenses. This is the “zoom” that will increase the
quality of the image. Any form of “digital zoom” is something
you can do yourself outside of the camera. If you use your camera’s
software to crop out a small inner portion of a picture and blow
it up, you are doing the same thing a digital zoom is doing. In most
cases, the digital zoom simply makes the image fuzzy.
Do not confuse actual resolution with interpolated
resolution
Many cameras advertise that they have, for example, 1000x600
pixel resolution and 1200x800 interpolated resolution. Like digital
zoom, interpolated resolution is an illusion. You can do the same
thing yourself with the camera’s software, and all it really does
is make the image larger and slightly fuzzy.
CATHOLIC INITIATIVE
FOR E NLIGHTENED
MOVIE APPRECIATION
Title: CONFIDENCE
Running Time: 98 mins
Lead Cast: Edward Burns, Rachel
Weisz, Andy Garcia, Dustin
Hoffman, Paul Giamatti, Brian Van
Holt, Franky G.
Director: James Foley
Producers: Michael Burns, Marc
Butan, Micheal Ohoven, Michael
Paseornek
Screenwriter: Doug Jung
Music: Christophe Beck
Editor: Stuart Levy
Genre: Crime
Cinematography: Juan Ruiz Anchia
Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Location: Los Angeles
Technical Assessment: • • •
Moral Assessment: + + ½
CINEMA Rating: For viewers 14 and above
Jake Vig (Edward Burns) and his partners in-crime Miles (Brian
Van Holt), Gordo (Paul Giamatti), and Al (Louis Lombardi) have
successfully staged fake murders to scare the wits out of crimi-
nals' bagmen who'd run away leaving behind their loot. One time,
the money they steal happens to belong to Mr. King (Dustin
Hoffman) a much feared crime lord, who signals his displeasure
by putting a bullet through Al's forehead. Jakes decides to
mollify Mr. King's feelings by offering to give back the money.
But first, Mr. King must supply him with $200,000 to initially fund
a $5 million scam that Jake is planning. Jake intends to swindle
Morgan Price, King's rival. King accedes but he wants his man
Lupus (Franky G.) to join the criminals to watch Jake's every
move. Jake takes in Lily (Rachel Weisz) as part of the con group.
Every thing goes as planned but two corrupt cops and a Federal
agent Gunther Butan (Andy Garcia) who has been on the trail of
Jake for years, appear at a crucial time and present a real threat
to their plans.
Confidence is a cleverly made crime story that requires the
viewer's full attention to follow every twist and turn of this
narrative that seems to unravel one surprise after another till the
end. Jake narrates the story including his well-planned and
complicated "robbery" through flashbacks. Film director James
Foley has imbued his noir material with color in a proliferation of
reds and blues and has propelled it to a fast energetic pace.
Edward Burns and the support cast give life to their roles but
Dustin Hoffman as the dishevelled, quirky gum-chewing crime
lord outdoes himself as he gives another brilliant performance,
though in a supporting role.
Confidence is a crime story, through and through. Aside from
the film's visuals which give the viewer a fairly good idea of the
physical world of crime with its sleazy joints, exploited girls and
dark streets, all the characters are crooks, most of them rapidly
spewing vulgarities. Among the characters, not one can appeal
to our sense of nobility or honesty. This is a movie that glorifies
criminals who get away unpunished. We often hear people
complain or wonder about how brazen criminals have become.
The answer most probably can be found in the kind of models
they see in movies like this, where there is rampant corruption,
bribery, lying, swindling and clever manipulation of people and
where the criminals get to enjoy their ill-gotten wealth. Have
some producers forgotten their sense of social responsibility?
(Date Reviewed: 18 March 2005 @ cbcpworld.com/cinema)
Volume 39 • Number 1 29
BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS • NEWS BRIEFS
CHINA
China begins HIV
vaccine trials
Human trials of anti- HIV vac-
cines are being held globally
and this time, China has begun
its maiden trials of a new vac-
cine with a 20-year-old man.
Reports revealed that the hu-
man studies will be followed
by seven more, four of whom
are females. A total of 49 vol-
unteers aged between 18 and
50 will take part in the tests to
be carried out over three stages
out of more than 800,000 Chi-
nese infected by the disease.
More than 43 million people
around the world have been
infected by the HIV/Aids vi-
rus and around 25 million
people died.
Several human trials of vac-
cines are being carried out in
different countries but none
have yet proved to be signifi-
cantly effective against the dis-
ease.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong leader
resigns
Beleaguered Hong Kong
leader’s frustrating and un-
popular leadership has ended.
Tung Chee-hwa, 67, whose
leadership sparked massive
pro-democracy protests re-
signed on March 10.
Tung is citing poor health and
stress as reasons for his resig-
nation but many people are
skeptical of his reasons and
still believe that he was fired
by Chinese leaders in viola-
tion of their promise to give the
city a high degree of autonomy
after the sovereignty
handover.
Tung said he had to take pain-
killers to help him stand
through a policy speech in
January and that his biggest
regret was being unable to
serve till his term ends in mid-
2007.
30 IMPACT • April 2005
NEWS
BRIEFS
Tung, Hong Kong’s first post-
colonial leader after the end of
British rule in 1997, said if
Beijing accepted his resigna-
tion Chief Secretary Donald
Tsang would take over as act-
ing chief executive until Beijing
names a new leader in six
months.
INDONESIA
Muslim cleric jailed
He was acquitted from more
serious terrorism charges but
still there was no escape for
the Indonesian Muslim cleric.
Abu Bakar Bashir, 66, said to
be accused of leading an Al-
Qaeda-linked group blamed for
attacks across Asia, was in-
dicted last March 3, 2005 for
two-and-a-half-years impris-
onment for involvement on
2002 Bali bombings that
claimed more than 200 lives.
Court’s verdict pointed out
that Bashir had not been di-
rectly involved in planning the
Bali attack or the bombing of
Jakarta’s Marriott Hotel in
2003, but that he had given his
approval for Bali.
JAPAN
RP still among most
Russia gives Japan files corrupt on Asia graft
on 11,184 Japanese dead list
at internment camps
Russia handed over to Ja-
pan on Friday newly found
files on 11,184 of the Japa-
nese military personnel who
died in Siberian internment
camps after World War II
while detained as prisoners
of war, Japanese officials
said.
The files, found at the national
military archives in Moscow,
were provided in the form of
microfilm, making the total num-
ber of Japanese internees
whose files have been given to
Japan at about 40,000, they
said. (Kyodo News)
MALAYSIA
Explosion reported in
Kuala Lumpur
An explosion was reported in
front of the Australian High
Commission in Kuala Lumpur
on March 9.
According to reports, the
bomb went off around 8
p.m.local time, but did not dam-
age the building. Authorities
have ruled out the possibility
of a terrorist attack.
Bomb experts and tracker dogs
were immediately deployed to
secure the area while a foren-
sic team was investigating the
blast to determine the cause
and motive behind it.
PHILIPPINES
The Philippine government
made it to the top anew.
According to a survey con-
ducted recently by a Hong
Kong based Political and Eco-
nomic Risk Consultancy Ltd.
(PERC), foreign entrepreneurs
have ranked the Philippines as
the second to Indonesia as the
“most corrupt countries in
Asia.”
PERC, which provides advice
to companies and govern-
ments on how to do business
in Asia, polled more than 900
expatriate respondents across
the region in January and Feb-
ruary.
According to the survey, how-
ever, “corruption is clearly less
today” than it was in the worst
days of the late dictator
Ferdinand Marcos, who was
overthrown by a popular re-
volt in 1986, PERC said.
But it was more difficult to say
whether the current adminis-
tration of President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo “is any
cleaner or dirtier” than that of
her ousted predecessor Joseph
Estrada, now on trial for al-
leged corruption, the
consultancy group said.
VIETNAM
Railway mishap kills
11, injures 100
It was a harsh scene in the cen-
tral province of Thua Thien-
Hue last March 12 when a
south-bound train derailed kill-
ing 11 passengers and an esti-
mated 100 were injured.
Reports revealed that the Ha
Noi-HCM City E1 train derailed
at 11:50am on the said day as it
was making a turn near Da Ban
Hamlet in Phu Loc District, 8km
from the northern section of
the Hai Van Pass. The derail-
ment broke the ties connect-
ing cars No 2 and 3, throwing
eight of the train’s 13 cars from
the track. One of the cars then
broke away from the rest.
Nguyen Huu Bang, general
director of the Viet Nam Rail-
way Corporation, delivered an
immediate financial aid pack-
age of VND1 million (US$63) to
each victim and VND500,000
($32) to each of the injured.
Vietnam officials described it
as the worst railway accident
in Viet Nam’s history.
 CBCPWorld Corporation
CBCP Building 9/F Summit I Building
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Volume 39 • Number 31
32 IMPACT • April 2005