Desperate Times Don't Need Desperate But Effective Measures

This is a reaction to the news article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer titled, “Lacson: Pastoral letter vs pro-population planning stupid” (07/14/08).

I agree with Sen. Lacson when he said, “There’s not enough food on the table, many are homeless, and the poor have almost zero opportunity to have access to education,...” He added that “basic social services can otherwise enjoy with an efficient but moral population management program.” However what the Senator missed is the big question, “Why these things happen?”

Poor people are dying of hunger and poverty not because food is not available on the table but because there are no access or means for poor people to have one. The taxes collected by the government that is supposed to fund long term programs on Food, Education, Shelter and Social Services were misappropriated. Instead of giving 500-pesos electricity subsidy and other short term programs, why shouldn’t the government focus really on a more cohesive and long term program? Philippines is an agricultural country, why don’t government sustain this benefit for the advantage of sustaining food security? Efficient tax collection system rather than adding more tax measures. These taxes if appropriated honestly and wisely to education, shelter and basic social services would reduce if not eliminate hunger and poverty among others.

The Senator’s bill pending in the Senate that focus on program to abate our country’s monstrous population growth, no matter how they guise it to appear as ‘Christian method will not get the ‘yes’ of the Catholic Church simply because they don’t have a common principle on the definition of ‘abortion.’ Besides, you don’t treat a person with hypertension by ‘reducing’ his blood.

Filipino people doesn’t need mercy to be given alms and dole. What the Filipino people need is an honest to goodness government that will serve the interest of the people and not their pockets. The problem is, do we have one now?