Don't be anti-Catholic, priest tells Aquino

Manila: Do not be anti-Catholic, a priest reminded Philippine President Beningo Aquino, in a letter that he delivered at Manila's presidential palace on Tuesday.

"The Church is not your enemy. You don't have to worry about the threat of excommunication (from the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines or CBCP), which was a false report (when you pushed for the passage of the controversial Reproductive Health Bill last month)," said Mindanao-based Fr. Amado Picardal, in a letter dated March 31.

Picardal has gone on a 2,000-kilometre walk from the southern Philippines to northern Luzon in a campaign that he began last month to prevent the approval of a bill that allows government subsidy for artificial contraception for poor people.

"Your late mother (former President Corazon Aquino) and father (former Senator Benigno Aquino) appreciated the historic contribution of the Church in transforming society. It would be sad and a great disservice to our people if the remaining years of your presidency is spent in an communicative and strain relationship with the Catholic Church," warned Picardal.

Giving further advise to Aquino, the priest said, "Consider the Church as a partner for the achievement of common good, for poverty-alleviation, for justice and peace, and for the defence of life and the environment. When the Church criticizes the policies and behaviour of those in government it is always in line with her prophetic mission and in defence of the values of life, peace and justice."

Stressing his argument against the lawmakers who have been pushing for the passage of the controversial bill, Picardal said, "The cause of poverty is not overpopulation. It is even questionable whether we are facing a crisis of overpopulation. The population growth rate and total fertility rate have gone down and continues to go down [worldwide]. The crisis that the world is facing is the demographic winter - an aging population, with less young people."

"This is why other countries need our overseas Filipino workers," the priest argued.

The "aggressive population control program" of the controversial bill is "based on a questionable if not false assumptions that there is a crisis of overpopulation which perpetuates poverty," Picardal insisted.

Last April, during the commemoration rites at the University of the Philippines, Aquino said he would push for the approval of the controversial bill even if it meant being ex-communicated by the Catholic Church.

At the time, Aquino also said, "If children are few, no one will be poor. Contraception and sex education are needed for the country's development."

Focus on other things

Instead of wasting his time on the bill, the priest asked Aquino to focus on more important things such as the solution of the armed struggle waged by the country's insurgent groups; the bad effects of mining such as destruction of the environment and the indigenous people who live in the mountains; and the extra-judicial killings carried out by death squads in the provinces and in Metro areas nationwide.

The priest also called for poverty-alleviation, quality education for all, and universal health program [not just reproductive health].

Talking about the significance of his advise to Aquino, Picardal said, "My voice is only one small voice among many. But it deserves serious consideration because I walk my talk."

"I hope this letter will reach you and not end in the waste basket. This is special delivery, not through e-mail or air-mail. I carry it myself in my backpack on foot - from Mindanao, through Visayas and Luzon," Picardal said, adding he saved his March 31 letter in a flash drive that he carried it in his backpack since he began his campaign in Davao on April 1.

Meanwhile, members of the Catholic Church have intensified their campaign against the passage of the controversial bill. Tension between Aquino and the Catholic Church would also result in testing the real strength of the Catholic Church in the Philippinese.

The Philippines is the only Catholic country in Asia, a legacy left by the Spanish who ruled the country for almost 400 years since the 16th century until 1898, when an anti-Spanish revolution occurred.

The American brought Protestantism to the Philippines after 1898.

The controversial bill is aimed at stopping the 2.2 per cent growth rate in the Philippines. There are about 90 million Filipinos, based on the 2006 record of the National Statistics Offic.