Echoing the global “Occupy” protests worldwide against corporate
greed, the Catholic Church in the Philippines is leading a similar
revolution — the Kilusang 99% Movement — as it calls on the government
to regulate more closely what it calls a “heartless” market.
Weeks earlier, the Vatican released a document on the global financial system, which, according to observers, supports the “Occupy” movement as it condemns the “idolatry of the market” and pushes for a global economic authority.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the Kilusang 99% movement – which refers to the so-called 99 percent of citizens excluded from the elite – would make the government accountable for the majority’s welfare.
The group will soon launch a manifesto, initiate dialogues with various sectors, and stage protests if necessary, he said.Weeks earlier, the Vatican released a document on the global financial system, which, according to observers, supports the “Occupy” movement as it condemns the “idolatry of the market” and pushes for a global economic authority.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the Kilusang 99% movement – which refers to the so-called 99 percent of citizens excluded from the elite – would make the government accountable for the majority’s welfare.
The Catholic Church, often criticized for its supposedly conservative stance on issues such as the reproductive health bill, espouses a rich tradition that advances workers’ rights and wealth distribution.
The Catholic Church’s collection of social teachings, often called its “best-kept secret,” aims to teach persons “the demands of justice and peace in conformity with divine wisdom,” according to the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church.
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo told GMA News Online that the Philippine government also has to address the issue of wealth distribution “so that there will be peace in society and there will be justice.”
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Pabillo chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) National Secretariat for Social Action - Justice and Peace (NASSA), the local counterpart of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace which crafted the Vatican’s recent economic statement.
In an interview with GMA News Online, Pabillo criticized the government for privatizing even basic services, and allowing market forces to dictate the fees for water and electricity, among other things.
This trend, he said, has led to skyrocketing utility rates.
“Sinasabi nila, ‘Let the market decide.’ But the market is cruel, the market has no heart, the market has only the logic of profit. It should be part of the government, as a political entity, to look after the common good… Kailangang manindigan ang pulitika,” the bishop said.
Pabillo said the common justification for privatizing basic services is that government is losing money by running these. However, this is not always valid, he said.
“Kung talagang service ‘yan, malulugi ka. Magseserbisyo ka sa tao eh,” he said.
“Walang pananagutan ang market sa tao,” Pabillo explained. “Pero ang gobyerno, may pananagutan sa tao.”
Aquino's role in PAL dispute
Pabillo said the spirit of the Vatican pronouncement, shaped by Catholic social teachings, could have been applied in a number of current events, such as the recent massive layoffs of Philippine Airline (PAL) employees due to outsourcing.
The bishop said the President, who earlier adopted a hands-off stand on the issue, should have put his foot down on the controversial layoffs.
“Dapat hindi niya pinayagan ‘yung sinabi na ‘it’s a management prerogative’ ang pag-outsource. Kasi kung gano’n, the management can always, babaratin ang manggagawa,” Pabillo said.
Even PAL’s status as a private business entity should not have deterred the President from intervening, according to him.
“Kahit negosyo ng PAL ‘yan, ang PAL nga, ang kanyang negosyo eh affecting the common good,” the bishop explained. “Kailangang ikontrol ng gobyerno, kasi may mga manggagawa sila, mga citizens ‘yan.”
“In a way, talo rin ang gobyerno diyan,” Pabillo added. “Mga manggagawa ‘yan, magbibigay ng tax. Ngayon, kapag hindi nila ‘yan ni-regular, wala nang tax na ibibigay ‘yan .”
“What is the national interest? And if we define the national interest, there are 10 million Filipinos overseas. With what has been happening in the Middle East, one would want their airlines to be capable of going to the Middle East to fetch our citizens,” the President said.
The President’s position on the PAL issue demonstrates the government’s supposedly “elitist” approach in running the country, Pabillo noted.
“Ang sinasabi nga tungkol sa leadership, hindi concerned sa taumbayan. Ang mas concern niya ay mga business people,” he explained.
The bishop also disputed the so-called “trickle down” system that says the effects of good business will eventually trickle down to ordinary citizens.
“Malaki ‘yung profit, malaking business, hindi naman bumabababa sa tao… Kinukuha lang nila. Kaya lumalaki ang gap ng mayayaman at saka mahihirap,” Pabillo said.
Economic justice
Another Church official shares Pabillo’s views on economic issues.
Caritas Manila executive director Fr. Anton Pascual said the present
economic system, which the Vatican document critiques, is “unethical,
unsustainable, and bound to collapse.”“The global financial reform to radically transform the economic system as it is today is very timely to establish economic justice in behalf of the 2/3 poor victims of the world,” Pascual said in a text message to GMA News Online.
Like Pabillo, Pascual believes the government should give priority to its citizens over the market.
“Kailangang maging malinaw kung kaninong pag-unlad nga ba ang nais itaguyod ng ating gobyerno,” Pascual said in an editorial aired on Radyo Veritas.
The priest, who also heads the Church-run radio station, cited the prevailing poverty despite the entry of a number of foreign businesses and mining firms to the Philippines.
“Sino nga ba ang tunay na nakikinabang sa mga negosyong pinapatakbo ng malalaking kumpanya sa bansa? Kung may pakinabang man, gaano kalaki o gaano kaliit nga ba ang napupunta sa mga ordinaryong mamamayan?” Pascual said.
In his opinion piece, however, John Riady said the anti-Wall Street activists “are wrong beyond this point.
“This is because it is not the free trade order per se that is at fault, but its surreptitious transformation into a malignant system in which real people and their productive work are subordinated to the fickle passions of speculative capital,” Riady wrote.
‘Serious’ implementation
Pabillo said the challenge for the government is to seriously implement the asset reform laws that aim to improve income distribution, such as legislation on land reform, fisheries, indigenous people, and the urban poor.
“May batas na, hindi pa ipinapatupad… Eh ‘yan nga ang problema natin, kasi wala ang puso nila diyan,” he said.
Pabillo added that big businesses, for their part, should take corporate social responsibility seriously and not use it only as “propaganda.” “They should be conscious about this because if the society is running well, everybody is contented, it’s good for business,” Pabillo explained.
The bishop also challenged the middle class, including the youth, to oppose the prevailing mindset of putting businesses first.
Otherwise, he said, they themselves could end up becoming the system’s victims.
Pabillo said, “Sila na ang magiging mahirap ngayon.” - VVP, GMA News
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