Domino Effect

Anti-RH Bill devotees are now calling for civil disobedience. Politic ans like Tito Sott, Roilo Golez and Joey Lina have even thrown in their voices in the debate. Let's dissect these issues one by one. The anti-RH fanatics are saying that they will not pay their taxes and risk facing sedition charges. Fine with e, it's their choice. What really grabs me is how some men of the cloth are saying they too are prepared to be jailed.

First, the church does not pay taxes, they are exempted from taxing. This only means that the billions they collect during mass and other services go directly to the church's coffers depriving the government additional revenue to spend for social services. Unless they pick up arms, they're immune from anything. Have you heard of a priest being jailed for molestation or rape? How about priests who use the church's money for their private pleasures.

Secondly, what we do in the confines of our bedrooms is none of your business. Whatever means we see fit to plan our family is our own choice. I am accountable for any choices I make in life and will face my Creator for my judgement. It is how you lived your life that will matter most. Who knows, I may even be more charitable than most of you? I can face my creator with a clean conscience anytime.

Thirdly, overpopulation creates a domino efect of sorts. Too many people leads to hunger because agriculture cannot keep pace with rapid population growth. This also leads to unemployment as we need to keep creating jobs. That is also the reason why we have a shortage of classrooms to accommodate students. Unless of course those who want us to be live like rabbits would create more businesses for jobs, turn their lands into farms for food production and build more schools, then by all means let's throw the RH Bill into the trash bin.

Tito Sotto should show proof of his allegations. We all know that some local execs are against family planning. Why then should be given funds for a program they do implement? He should substantiate his allegations with credible proof instead of listening to local officials without listening to the what the concerned agency have to say before going to the media. He should have investigated the matter thoroughly than simply wasting taxpayers, money on a witch hunt.

Thanks to the Lina Law, we have millions trooping to the cities. They then turn private properties into havens. Without assured employment, these people become slum-dwellers. Urbanization Mr. Lina is not a measurement forprogress. Without food security, urban areas will starve. This is the reason why an agricultural like the Philippines has high incidents of hunger. It is stupid to say that we should urbanize the entire country. Do you want us to import all our foods to feed our people? What then do we do with our farmlands, turn them into resettlement sites or sell them to unscrupulous real estate developers. Would friends from the CBCP donate their lands for resettlement?

Golez shoudl study more closely his claim that the more people we have, the more productive our country will be. Perhaps he should go to the slums of India and China to get the real score. Yes, despite the growth of these nations, they have many who live in poverty. I suggest you watch Discovery or National Geographic. We simply cannot produce food or jobs at the same pace our population is growing. Having no grasp on what the reality on the ground leads tomisinformation and disinformation.

We must face the problem head on. We cannot play around with the issue of overpopulation. When God ordered us to "Go and multiply", the world was in its infancy. It was sparsely populated. With population growth comes increased demand. If we cannot meet those demands, poverty is the result. Poverty drains government funds which deprives a country not only of progress but of decency and dignity as well.

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Pay Taxes or Feed the Masses

As the country celebrated Valentine's Day, the RH Bill reared its beautiful head yet again. As condoms flew around, who else but the holiest of holy again reminded us the evils(?) of contraception. I cannot overemphasize the separation of church and state. They rally their base and demonize the government's solution to population explosion. The church reaps in billions in collections and donations. They own schools, hospitals and even banks. Every time a child is baptized, confirmed or if someone dies, the church collects fees.

All these earnings are tax-free. Not a centavo goes to the country's coffers. I am quite sure that only a fraction of these funds goes to the poor. Everything else goes to the church. Perhaps to pay for their Macs. cars and the Pope's wardrobe. Like I said before, I am a Catholic and have seen how the church goes about its affairs. There good priests and there are those who care about nothing but the finances of the church. I have seen up close how these so-called priests devour these funds.

They dictate upon us as if they were God. I am sure that God would not like seeing the poor slowly die of despair and hunger because His men like us to be rabbits. So they meddle in the affairs of the state, threatening everyone who goes against them. Of course they dare not touch PNoy's predecessor or they wouldn't receive their white envelopes. See the hypocrisy? There are those who believe that the poor should never vote because they don't pay taxes yet these men in robes vote.

If you want to have a say in affairs of the state, pay your taxes. We are answerable to God and God alone. If the church is bent on blocking the RH Bill, they should have concrete solutions to overpopulation. You even call off classes so you can drag your students to the streets to condemn the bill. I am very sure their presence was compulsory. We need to arrest the rapid growth of the population. Seminars won't cut it. We should be given free choice. Even the Pope condones the use of condom if only to prevent disease from spreading. We must respect our partners too. When you can "honestly" hold accountable your members who have sinned, maybe I will listen to what you have to say.

Human decency is what's at stake here. We need to step back and take a look at the bigger picture. It is our money that you spend on the poor. It is our donations that keeps the church afloat. Perhaps it is time that we take your exemptions away. It is time for you to give your fair share. I am sure that only a small portion of what we donate actually reach the poor. My challenge to you is to pay your taxes. If not, you feed the masses.

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Where Were You?

As the debate on the RH Bill heats up, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is gearing up for a confrontation. First they threatened to call for civil disobedience, they now threaten to excommunicate anyone who supports the bill. Claiming that they are doing this in the name of morality. The say that when moral values are the issue, they will resort to these extreme actions to drive their point home.

Pure hypocrisy if you ask me. Where were you in the nine years of Arroyo's immoral reign? Isn't thievery a moral issue? Isn't human rights a moral issue? Isn't increasing poverty a moral issue? Isn't the destruction of the moral fibers of all our institutions a moral issue? The cheating and lying of the past administration and its cohorts were all moral issues, yet they did not even raise a whimper when all these were happening before our eyes.

Calling for civil disobedience just because the president is pushing for an informed choice is totally reckless. Their continuing rejection of the RH Bill runs smack of hypocrisy. They could not even police their ranks. We've seen priests father children, molest altar boys and steal mass collections. Have they done anything significant to address poverty that is a result of the lack or inadequate information and methods to plan for their family?

The Lord gave us free choice. It is up to us to use our God-given wisdom and intelligence to make our own conscientious choices. At the end of the day, it is my God that will decide if I lived my life in accordance with His teachings. We live in a democracy and you have the right to express yourselves. It is your right to call for civil disobedience. As a Catholic and a Filipino, I can also exercise my right to express myself. I'm sure I am not alone in saying that we too can call for a donation disobedience. After all, you get the money you spend on yourselves from us.

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