Injustice and corruption making us poor

Last Saturday afternoon, thousands of Cebuanos trooped to the Santo Niño Pilgrim Center during the “March Rally for the Family” to protest about the impending bills like the Reproductive Health Act of 2007 which allows the legalization of abortion and teaching of sex education from Grade 5 pupils. The rallyists also protested proposals to allow divorce and gay marriages in this country of 89% Catholics. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend the rally, but I’m foursquare against abortion. We must protect human life especially when it is so young and unable to defend itself.

Our good friend, Dr. Rene Bullecer Executive Director of the Human life International Philippines said that “Same sex marriages, divorce is immoral and against the law of God” and I fully concur with him. This is why there are people who proudly profess that God doesn’t exist, calling themselves Atheists. But in truth they are agents of Satan, the evil one that opposes anything about God. Atheists find it convenient to say that God doesn’t exist so that without God, there can be no Ten Commandments and if there are no Ten Commandments, we can do anything we wish, steal money or someone else’s wife or kill people! No God, no conscience problem.

The protesters also called for the “Preservation of the rights and sanctity of the natural family and the sacredness of life and divine law” calling upon the 34 members of Congress to stop supporting the Reproductive Health Act that uses reproductive health and population management council as a guise to allow the abortion of the unborn.

While this was happening in Cebu last Saturday, I was watching the evening news and I saw former President Fidel V. Ramos (FVR) deliver a speech before the World Population Day 2008 Forum. FVR pointed out that during his term the Department of Health (DoH) actively promoted both artificial and natural methods of birth control. Hmmm, did FVR just admit to allowing the murder of unborn children?

FVR added that there was an “Enduring link between family size and poverty” then went for the jugular attacking the Arroyo government for “flip-flopping” on its population policy, which reflects the gross inefficiency of a weakened Philippine State. He charged that the Arroyo government’s family planning policy was caused by her “Unwarranted subservience to the Catholic Church” that is strongly opposed to contraceptives.

While I may agree that a small family is much cheaper on the family budget to maintain than a large one, FVR unfortunately fails to see the larger picture. Like most politicians, he blames the country’s pro-Catholic population policies on our poverty. I’ve rarely disagreed with FVR in the past, but on this issue, I’m saying that he is dead wrong! The reason why the Philippines is poor is due to corruption and injustice.

Today, a large population like China or India presents great opportunities for a strong domestic market. Unfortunately, politicians blame anything including the Catholic Church for their failures. That will be the day when politicians accept the truth that they have failed the Filipino people because of their selfish political motives, making policies detrimental to the growth of the nation. This is why we are batting for a Federal system.

A case in point is the recent report we read from The FREEMAN that 21% of Philippine Courts don’t have judges! This was revealed by Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan who further disclosed that litigants have to wait an average six-long years before cases would be decided! So the big question is, what are the politicians running the Philippine government doing about this obviously failed policy? Surely many politicos know that legal dictum, “Justice delayed is justice denied!”

Sen. Pangilinan said that one way that the Supreme Court has addressed this problem is through the implementation of the Mobile Court Program. Having a Mobile Court doesn’t address the shortage of judges, nor is it a guarantee that cases would be decided faster. If there’s a grave shortage of judges, it is due to the fact that judges in this country are paid very poorly, which opens them to corruption, making things worse than they already are! Because of the corruption in the judiciary, I gathered that the Judicial Bar Council now takes forever to appoint judges. I may agree that they have to be extra careful in choosing our judges, however, it doesn’t help address the shortage of judges in this country.

Sen. Pangilinan said, “The speedy dispensation of justice is inextricably linked to the Rule of Law, which in turn, is a significant attribute of a free, just and humane society. If it takes six years to resolve a case, can we still call it justice? The culture of violence and lawlessness now prevailing is indicative of the urgent need to reform our system of justice, punish the guilty swiftly and to restore both the fear and respect for our laws and the justice system.”