The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) once again reiterated its position on the reproductive health bill pending at the House of Representatives as that of being unchanged in its opposition to it. Sorsogon Bishop Arturo M. Bastes, SVD, said in an interview that “the CBCP will not change its position on the RH bill because its provisions are anti-family and anti-life.”
He explained the bill is against the teachings of the Catholic church “especially protecting life in abortion” and people have been told of the involved issues.
“Isa itong panganib sa lahat,” (It is a danger to all) he added. He went on to say the bill is ably supported by 1st world countries that go contrary to the interests of the people from 3rd world countries like the Philippines.
“Should the measure be approved, the Philippines will be like Japan and some European countries in a matter of decades, wala ng mga tao,(In a matter of decades there will be no more people)” the 65-year old prelate said. However I have to say that the main reason why the population is low in Japan is because nobody wants to have kids because of the high cost of bringing up children. Plus the fact that Japan doesn’t allow immigration into its country.
He added he will call on his flock not to vote for lawmakers who will support the reproductive health bill. “That’s the least we can do,” he further said.
Although I respect the Catholic Church’s stand on this, what I am greatly afraid of is the uncontrolled population growth of the Philippines and how it could blow up in our faces one of these days. Visiting a squatters relocation area a few months ago I saw a lot of unemployed people doing nothing the whole day but play cards and gamble. Not to mention having about 8 kids in their family. What I see here is a failure in “responsibility”, people always looking at the government to solve all their problems, rather than to take it unto themselves.
Its not surprising if the uncontrolled population growth will all lead to unrest and wars down the road, because of the fight for the limited resources. It has been often said that the greatest threat to the environment is man. If we look at history War has always been started by greed, a man’s desire for something that he doesn’t have. But when the desire is caused by the lack of basic necessities like food, clothing, shelter, then there will always be a demagogue politician willing to ride on that public clamor to get himself elected into power.
Some sectors say that it is because of corruption that the Philippines is like this, mired in poverty. However having heard how some people sell their votes to the politicians made me re-think this. Because when you think about it, its just a vicious cycle wherein in turn the corrupt politician will have to steal more from the public’s coffers in the future to buy off the ever-increasing cost of votes because of a burgeoning population. This is sad because population control could be the logical step to prevent this.
I believe that all men were made to be good and I don’t believe that God really wanted us to suffer in this world. But I also believe that a man with a hungry belly finds it easier to justify doing something that is morally wrong, like selling his vote.
I am not saying that the Church is wrong, nor that abortion and contraception is right. What I’m saying is that we have to act to prevent earth’s limited resources from dwindling further because of our consumption of it.
[source]
Category: Environment, Population Control
