my beef with those bishops

my dissatisfaction with the catholic church started more than a decade ago with the issue on population control. back then, the philippines only had 75 million or so people. fast forward into 2008, the philippine population is approaching the 90 million mark, yet the position of the catholic bishops remain unyielding.

in a country that is growing in population at more than 2% a year, one of the highest in the world, it is unconscionable for anyone to continue to oppose family planning. family planning as defined by the united nations, family planning as described by the world health organization. just looking at the demographics at where the growth comes from, one realizes that it is occurring where there are the least resources to sustain such babies. in plain language, poorer couples are producing more children. administration after administration, the government has embarked on ambitious economic growth plans that aim to alleviate poverty. they include encouraging massive investments from overseas, increasing domestic industrial and agricultural production and even exporting human power. but even during the boom side of the boom and bust cycle that characterize the philippine economy, those gains are easily annihilated by the disproportionate growth in population.

and the clergy doesn't seem to get it. while every survey among practicing catholics since cory aquino took power indicates that they would consciously use artificial contraception as they see fit regardless of the clergy's position, the church's position still matters. it matter because it continues to block any meaningful education program on family planning and sex instruction in catholic schools. in a country where the nation's quality work force comes mainly from these private catholic schools, the debate on population control becomes a little bit tilted. during the time of protestant juan flavier's liberal stewardship of the department of health in the 90s, every effort was made by the religious to destroy his family planning program and even demonize this little giant. the church stopped at nothing to discredit flavier and his programs if only to demonstrate how powerful the catholic church was. when i was attending medicine in catholic UST, we invited flavier to speak at our frat's symposium and expound on his family planning program, our sanctimonious dominican friars of course did not let him. even in the name of science.

and the bishops call themselves men of god. these are the same bishops who oppose the use of condoms even in the prevention of HiV denying the truthfulness of overwhelming scientific evidence. the country's population program has always been hostaged by these celibate men for decades now. how this bunch of officially single men can preach on how couples should behave inside the bed room is just beyond me. the church would rather see more pot-bellied, malnourished children in the ever expanding shantytowns and whose education could no longer be supported because of the lack of resources is in my view immoral and bordering on criminal.

these celibates' lack of credibility on the issue is so astounding, yet these clergymen do not even realize how ridiculous their position had become.

now they are at it again. this time, they want the ban on artificial contraception officially legislated. forget about pot-bellied babies, forget about the exploding population.

maybe it's time to let these celibates find their brides. you see, credibility demands practicing what you preach.

two manilas

i just came back from a month of visit in manila. it has been my longest vacation in the city of my birth since i moved to the US. in a way, it has been eye opening for me, still surprising for someone who thought i knew the city well enough. many of the changes sweeping the metropolis are so visible, yet the same problems that plagued it for decades are still there and even became worse in many respects.

first, the mushrooming of new areas of development in the fort bonifacio and ortigas areas are mind-boggling. tens of new spanking, steel and glass skyscrapers are making their presence felt in a city that i really thought was lagging far behind in the asian region. fort bonifacio in particular is the resurgent new enclave of the financial center. side by side with makati, it will be the new epicenter of the country's economic power elite. in an astounding kind of way, the fort will embody the future of one side of the city, and of the country for that matter.

but just outside of this mega-development, the shantytowns are just as explosive. mile after mile of these decrepit, utterly third-world reminders of the country's poverty spread rapidly like ants in a city that can no longer cope with its almost 13 million population. they compete with the skyscrapers in providing a picture of the nation's state of development. the poor grow not in economic terms, but they just grow as this massive number of hungry, neglected and ultimately angry group of people. and they won't be as happy when the other side of town keeps up with its ostentatious show of wealth. while the upper classes contemplate on what new european cars to purchase and which exotic foreign destinations they will tour the next time, the poor are just scrambling for what's left of their richer countrymen's scrap. literally. house maid's salaries have not risen since our oldest former helper retired from service 12 years ago, an average of $50 a month. half the amount that someone dining in the fort's many fine restaurants would at least spend. a family driver's salary has also stayed where it is since the 2nd edsa revolution, an average of $200 across the country.

therefore, the higher end of the spectrum seems to be content on the economic direction the country is taking. this minute but powerful sector is carrying on its task of carving its own version of the country. modern, cosmopolitan, fashionable and in its own way, robustly filipino. they are the ones who don't let a $600-ticket for josh groban's concert flop. in full fashionable force, they came. at the lower end of the spectrum, however, that $600 could have been their passport for a domestic helper's job somewhere in hong kong. something that would alleviate them from their poverty. although this supposed new career development would still not buy them a new condo at the other side of town, but at least there would be more protein their diet.

i've always been aware, however, that the social divide in this city, and in the country to a lesser extent, has always been there. getting out of poverty is very difficult in a country where just getting into a university would, more often than not, entail carrying a good last name. or a nice bank book. but my last visit was quite startling. the wall between the social classes has risen so high that the only point of contact between the two kinds of filipinos is through employment. one being employed by the other, domestic and otherwise. but the new upscale neighborhood's level of isolation from the rest of the population is such that today's upper class filipino children will grow up believing that there's just his family, all the rest are the help. and the poor filipino children might mistakenly think that those upper class children who attend the ateneo or poveda are foreigners. they speak a different brand of the language and that their subculture has evolved distinctly from the rest of the population.

but i think one can't blame the other. the level of distrust and/or paranoia from the other is an inevitable consequence of separate evolution. i rarely left the confines of makati when i was there not only because of fear of the worsening crime rate outside the "green zone", but travel within the metropolis has just been agonizing. no late model european car can speed its way in manila's horrendous traffic. the working class's ability to travel to the other side of town, on the other hand, is limited by the fact that almost all of these communities are gated and their leisure havens are not accessible to public transportation.

manila is indeed growing. it's size, it's population, its economic strength is bolstered by a resurgent middle and upper class. this growth's ability to trickle down to the masses hasn't happened, however. it has left the poor majority population even more destitute than ever before. whether the two manilas will ever come together again in economic terms, i am not optimistic.

in the meantime, let the good times roll.