From the Perch

Photo: The Purging of the Temple, Raymundo Francia, Our Lady of the Pillar Parish, Sibonga, Cebu

The Biblical Political Economy: Money, Good Governance, and the Christian Imperative

The Philippines is vastly Christian with the largest number of members belonging to Roman Catholicism. January would demonstrate the vibrance of Catholic religiosity during the Feasts of Quiapo and Cebu. One would expect that if Christian values impelled individuals to gather for a religious event, these values would have naturally impelled them to keep an ongoing dialogue between faith and life. But if intentions are known by their fruits, what we experience now is inversely proportional to the vibrance and determination of those who are gathered in the church squares during these big celebrations. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that faith, even nominal, is wrong. What I am proposing is to view faith in the light of our attitudes to our present socio-political realities.

In 2014, the CBCP conducted a study on Catholic youth attitudes[1] including faith expressed socially. This is a follow-up on the first study conducted in 2002 which significantly describes the slow but steady erosion of the Catholic youth’s adherence to core faith tenets. At some point, even SWS presented a 2017 survey[2] result stating that of all religions in the country, Catholic churches saw the least number of attendees in weekly services. The 2014 study, though affirming youth cohesion to more conservative Catholic teachings (against homosexuality, contraception, and medical-induced miscarriage), also stated that young Catholics agree that the Church should refrain from anything political.

If this trend continues, we can only expect a future fraught with a faith-life disconnect from a major religious sector in the country. I may even have to boldly posit that such disconnect has brought us to the fruits of our (mis)intentions: the selection of less competent, integrity-challenged, and less effective elected leaders. This choice in turn yielded an alarming socio-politico-economic event including a bloated international debt whose payments ate up national development budgets, a systematically lethargic public service, transactional corruption, institutional cooptation, abuse of natural resources, and poor human capital development.

To Christians, a reminder. The political economy in the Gospels has always revolved around frugal use and vigilance. We see this as the theme of the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. It sought to clarify the use of common goods in such a way that benefits the institution as in the Parable of the Talents. It demands strong denunciation of institutional evil as shown in the Cleansing of the Temple. On the other hand, the search for equitable development and distributive justice is pivotal to the Christian political economy. The conditions to claim the heavenly inheritance are dependent on clothing the naked, feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and liberation of prisoners.

While there is very little that we can do to change the leaders we elected (and here is hoping we’ll know better in the mid-term elections), the challenge now is to make use of our collective voice and agency to participate in development and governance processes so that these will mirror the Christian agenda. We are invited to conscientiously occupy lawful spaces of participation to co-determine sustainability imperatives on the use of spaces and natural resources. We are tasked to be the voice of conscience and reason when those tasked to invest state resources and monies undertake annual investment planning, guiding the process well so that outcomes will yield a good return on investment. Moreover, we are to take vigilant steps to ensure that appropriation, disbursement, and accounting of public funds are done in a transparent and timely manner.

Get involved in shaping the future of our country. It is both a duty and a quest for intergenerational survival. It is a Christian imperative.

[1] https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jame-Batara/publication/321461828_The_Filipino_Catholic_Youth_in_the_Visayas/links/5a2247d30f7e9b71dd037f4d/The-Filipino-Catholic-Youth-in-the-Visayas.pdf

[2] https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/978873/only-41-of-catholics-go-to-church-weekly-sws

The Phantom of EDSA

Did the phantom of EDSA dissolve with the dawn, a fleeting figment whispered by a nation in fevered sleep? Or was it merely a stolen breath, a momentary reprieve before the iron grip of reality tightened once more?

If EDSA was a dream, did we, upon waking, deem its vision too audacious, too inconvenient for our waking lives? Or, like weary travelers granted a brief respite, did we simply gather our burdens and trudge back into the shadows from whence we came?

Have we become amnesiacs, our minds a wasteland of forgotten glories?

Hermann Ebbinghaus, the cartographer of memory, charted its treacherous terrain. He revealed the insidious erosion of time, the slow decay of recollection, much like the inevitable crumbling of empires. He unveiled the insidious power of interference, the relentless tide of new narratives that drown the echoes of the past.

This, then, is the desperate necessity of memorialization, the defiant act of kindling the embers of history, of safeguarding the sacred flames of remembrance.

Because what if EDSA was not a mirage, but a portal? A fleeting glimpse into a future we were too blind to grasp?

What if that brief furlough was not an ending, but a pause, a moment of anticipation for a chariot that would carry us towards a brighter horizon?

What if, in our slumber, we missed the ride?

What if we failed to comprehend the true essence of EDSA, mistaking it for a mere clash of titans, a battle of names? What if we failed to see that it was the collective heartbeat of a nation, a symphony of individual consciences, a chorus of love that dared to liberate a land?

What if, all this time, EDSA was not a distant memory, but a dormant potential, a power residing within you?

What if YOU are EDSA?

Yes, Pearl Cleage says it right. Truth will someday become a delight. Like an ocean we swim in, lavishly, in bold decadence.

DIVORCE AND THE VOICES OF WOMEN

The topic of divorce has trended on social media lately. The church sector is against it while more progressive voices has highlighted the need for faster and more affordable recourse to a failed marriage. The Philippines is one of the only two countries who have no divorce laws in the world. The other one is the Vatican.

STANCe is a fence sitter on the issue, understanding that this could be divisive especially in communities where we serve. Nonetheless, the glaring absence of women voices in the discourse is one that we cannot miss. Why women?

Well, a bit of data. The 2022 National Demographics and Health Survey (NDHS) of the PSA reveals Almost half of marriages in the country are done in civil ceremony. These marriages are excluded from canonical provisions. The same data observed that there is a treble increase of those who have had marriages annulled, about the same number are of informal separations. Most of those who availed of separation or dissolution are women, the formal proceedings by women of higher economic status, the latter of poorer women. The Office of the SolGen also observed a more than 100% increase of annulment filings between 2001 to 2011. Meanwhile, the same PSA survey reports that of the number of married women who experienced domestic violence, 48% of them identified their husbands as perpetrators. An earlier data also stated that only 41% of women ever report domestic violence.

The Children's Society of the Church of England defines the family as "an emotionally supportive network of adults and children, some of whom live together or have lived together." It perfectly describes the journey families are taking in our present age. There is a consistent transformation to how family looks like. Insisting on older methods without supporting this institution directly and in an accessible manner may mean more exclusion of women from attaining a better quality of life.

BUILdING THE BRIDGE: reflections on Project DATA EOP

Words articulated by the community, define the relevance of data and sets the direction of its use. Words then became a bridge, spanning the divide between data access and disclosure with data use. Toni Morrison sums up accurately why articulation is pivotal. She said, "...we do language. That may be the measure of our lives."

The USAID-supported Project DATA has closed its one-and-a-half-year implementation. The project, implemented in Cebu to institutionalize community participation in natural resource governance, succeeded in locating the people, hidden in various communities around extractives and allowed them the space to find their voice in telling their stories. STANCe understood that the retelling of stories and the description of one's existence is fundamental to human persons.

The humanization of data is seen to strengthen public demand and influence participation in public policy-making for natural resource governance

the assembly trudegs on

STANCe has gathered its Assembly representatives on 21 March 2024 at the AVR of the University of San Jose-Recoletos Main Campus for The Cebu Extractive Industries CSO Assembly. This annual event was born from the collective desire of the sectors comprising women, fisherfolks, and farmers around the extractives industry for self-governance and participation. The Assembly is a venue in as much as it serves as an annual gathering of those within its membership to offer contextual updates and discuss relevant themes. It is also an organizational mechanism of internal governance of the coalition.

In keeping with the Assembly's mandate, this year's theme “Utilizing Transparency: Advancing Inclusive and Deliberative Spaces in Natural Resource Governance” is oriented towards reaffirming a rights-based approach to sustainable development through prudent management and utilization of local public finance through verified and reliable data and information. Having undergone a series of dramatic socio-economic and political events, this Assembly continues to engage the public imagination on matters of natural resource governance and public finance and apprise the CSO constituency of the ongoing government-led, multilateral initiatives on transparency and accountability.

The objectives are:

Define sustainable development vis-a-vis human rights.
Update the Assembly on the country’s renewable energy and greenhouse gas reduction pathways.
Be aware of two DILG MCs related to public participation and natural resource governance: MC 2021-012 and MC 2022-018
Understand Subnational public finance particularly tracking LGU expenditures for equitable and sustainable development
Update sectoral commitments to natural resource governance through
1. Revisiting Assembly decisions
2. Assessing institutional impacts and concerns
3. Formulating short-term coalition priorities

Our heartfelt thanks for the support received from PAHRA, USJ-R DPSS, and TFDP.

We also acknowledge the invaluable insights of our resource persons:

Mr. Randy Pulvera of the Commission on Huma Rights 7

Mr. Norman Contado, Jr of the DILG 7

Ms. Lourdes Arciaga of the DOE Visayas Field Office

And the Keynote Lecturer: Dr. Cielo Magno, UPSE and non-government rep to the OGP Steering Committee (International)

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