Church affirms stand on 4 major social issues
ARCHBISHOP ANGEL LAGDAMEO
The Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center (JASAC) underscored its stand on four major issues confronting the country during the celebration of the 108th Philippine Independence Day.
JASAC director Msgr. Meliton Oso said the Church is calling on the people to join them in opposing charter change, small town lottery (STL), mining, and the escalating cases of political killings.
The four issues became the center of Monday's protest action by the church and militant groups coinciding with the Independence Day celebration.
On charter change, the church reiterated what was contained in the April 7, 2006 pastoral statement on People's Initiative:
"We view with alarm, however, the present signature campaign endorsed by the government. Signatures are apparently collected without adequate information, discussion and education. The manner in which these signatures are supposedly collected, including door to door campaigns, are not conducive to the kind of informed participation that such fundamental changes demand. The changes that are being proposed for signatures of citizens are dangerously unclear and open to manipulation by groups with self-serving interests. The complexities and variations of the parliamentary system are not adequately explained and have not been sufficiently discussed by our people."
On STL the church stood firm in its stand against all forms of gambling as contained in the CBCP statement on gambling issued on January 23, 2005, part of which reads:
"The CBCP has made it a collective policy: a) To denounce illegal gambling in all its forms and prevent its legalization; b) To combat the expansion of organized and systemic legal gambling; c) To refrain from soliciting or receiving funds from illegal and legal gambling so as not to promote a culture of gambling; and d) To encourage church personnel and church institutions to refrain from doping the same, even when the objective may be that of helping the poor."
JASAC further pointed that based on the experience under the Aquino administration STL did not eradicate jueteng, which is an illegal numbers game, but only "helped jueteng to proliferate; and only the STL operators and financiers -- and some government officials -- made a lot of money."
On mining the church also reaffirmed its stand for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995.
"We believe that the Mining Act destroys life. The right to life of people is inseparable from their right to source of food and livelihood. Allowing the interests of big mining corporations to prevail over people's right to these sources amounts to violating their right to life. Furthermore, mining threatens people's health and environmental safety through wanton dumping of waste and tailings in rivers and seas."
On the issue of the rising number of killings of activists in the country the church pointed:
Cases of killings are alarming: It is not right that people be killed " simply because they have different political beliefs or are suspected of being "subversive" or plotting against the government... Killing is a sin against life, a sin against human dignity... whoever are the perpetrators, and whatever is the cause, the victims-- irrespective of any ideology they profess-- are still subjects of human rights and are entitled to due process in an unbiased court'