Political Tidbits
Dialogue with bishops is a must
By Belinda Olivares-Cunanan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:34:00 07/10/2008
Filed Under: Churches (organisations), State Budget & Taxes, Oil & Gas - Downstream activities, Poverty, Personalities
It’s good for the Cabinet’s economic cluster to dialog with the bishops on the poverty and oil issues, as it should help the latter understand what the government is trying to do to solve problems arising from them. Some bishops have warned of a “rising bitterness” perceived among the poor as they wrestle daily with grinding poverty. But the bishops ought to help explain to the faithful that the dire situation is found not just here, but in most countries around the world, owing to the steep rise in oil prices and natural calamities affecting world food supply. But they can only help calm down the rising discontent if they themselves understand the situation.
This column has long advocated a dialogue between the church and the government, after opposition to the exploitation of our vast mineral resources arose among some bishops. I argued that the officials ought to enlighten them about the steps taken by government to maintain the balance between mining activities and protection of the environment, the welfare of the minorities who have claims on the land, etc. The officials should show how other countries have progressed to Second-World status on the strength of enlightened mining activities. Obviously some prelates are skeptical and one can hardly blame them. Government officials just have to keep answering their concerns.
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The government is open to reducing the value-added tax (VAT) on oil products to help the people cope with rising prices of commodities and transportation. This is good, as it would reduce those costs and show sensitivity on the government’s part. There is a rising clamor for VAT reduction in Congress and the latest to speak out is former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, during whose term the VAT law was passed.
De Venecia, who has just returned from conferences in Paris and Asuncion, Paraguay, is seeking not only reduction but a cap on oil taxes, so that even if oil prices should shoot up further, as is widely feared, the taxes have a ceiling. The administration’s problem is that reducing the VAT would reduce also the funds available for the pro-poor programs it’s pushing vigorously. But a lower VAT would uniformly benefit the people, and is more preferable than the huge pro-poor subsidies that many fear might only land among various politicians’ followers.
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One thing the churches could do is step up their own poverty programs to help the poor, such as soup kitchens and medical clinics in the parishes. More importantly, the prelates should campaign among the more affluent parishioners to take meaningful steps to reach out to the poor, e.g., sending extra food home with the laundrywoman, manicurist or driver, or giving the supermarket bag boys bigger tips. Someone recently celebrated his 70th birthday and in lieu of gifts, he asked everyone to donate a small amount. The collection was turned over to Fr. Jean Francois Thomas to buy rice for his wards at Tulay ng Kabataan [Bridge of the Youth] on Kalayaan Street in Quezon City. There are infinite ways to help the poor.
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Over the past weeks, I have been attending birthdays of friends turning 80 and above. The incredibly still-productive 80-year olds include former President Fidel Ramos, former commissioner Quentin Doromal of the Presidential Commission on Good Government, former University of the Philippines (UP) president Jose Abueva who is now Kalayaan College founder and president, and former Vice President Teofisto Guingona.
Doromal remains active with Kilosbayan and Bantay Katarungan. Abueva is going into his third Kalayaan campus (listen to our dzRH radio interview with him that was interrupted by Typhoon “Frank” this Sunday at 8 p.m.). Guingona launched his political autobiography, “Fight for the Filipino,” on his 80th birthday last week.
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Two friends recently turned 88: former Senate president Jovito Salonga and former professor Josefina Constantino, now a Carmelite sister. This is not all. Two weeks ago the UP Alumni Association gave a “lifetime achievement award” to former Court of Appeals justice and women’s sector representative in Congress Leonor Ines Luciano, who walked up to the stage looking every bit glamorous and spry at 89. In her speech, she called on UP “to nourish a culture of excellence, leadership and service.”
Take a look too at two priests still hacking away at 92 and 93 years old, respectively: Fathers James B. Reuter and Pierre Tritz. Fr. Tritz, who founded the Erda group of foundations, will be honored with a fund-raising concert on Aug. 9 at the Xavier School in Greenhills, to celebrate 75 years as a Jesuit and 34 years as the champion of Filipino street children. Fr. Tritz, who turns 94 on Sept, 19, likes to say he’s the “oldest working Jesuit” in their exclusive club of 90-year olds and above!
What a super-productive group all these “young” Filipinos are!
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This Friday, July 11, at 5:30 p.m. the National Museum and the children of Silvina del Carmen-Laya and Juan C. Laya will host the inauguration of the Silvina and Juan C. Laya Hall in the National Gallery of Art (the former Legislative Building) on P. Burgos Drive, near Taft Avenue, Manila. To celebrate the occasion, former Central Bank governor Jaime C. Laya, the eldest of their children, has lent paintings from his personal collection, which will be on display for a limited period.
Juan and Silvina Laya were early graduates of the UP and American universities, who devoted their lives to serving the Philippine educational system. Juan, a prolific short-story writer and playwright, served ultimately as assistant division superintendent in Pangasinan province and division superintendent in Bataan. Silvina became assistant superintendent in Manila and director of the School Health and Nutrition Center of the Department of Education. Among Ms Laya’s works are “Basic English-Tagalog and Tagalog-English Vocabulary.” In 1946, they founded Kayumanggi Press and Inang Wika Publishing and were among the first to go into publishing children’s books.
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