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Introduction
In less than 277 days - the period it takes for a full-term baby to emerge from a mother's womb - the world will greet the 21st Century AD; the 20th Century will fade into history.
As this transition takes place, the representatives to the APJN meet again to share each other's stories and renew their commitments to the work for Peace and Justice within the Anglican Communion. As we look at the issues, may we be reminded that
- there is much to be concerned about in the way human beings hurt each other and exploit God's creation. We must, therefore
- go on asserting, in the face of so much which seems to deny it, that the reconciling power of ChristÕs love and the motivating power of the Holy Spirit are available to heal, restore, and renew a world in which we are promised that sin shall not have dominion over us. (Lambeth Report 1988, p. 159, paragraph 20. Romans 6:14.)
This report focuses on peace and justice issues that continue to challenge the Episcopal Church in the Philippines (ECP) in particular, and the APJN in general.
Brief History of the ECP
The Episcopal Church in the Philippines began in 1901 as a Missionary District of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA). It became a Diocese in 1965. On May 1, 1990, it gained its autonomy from ECUSA and was inaugurated as the Anglican Communion's 28th Province, now composed of five Dioceses.
Three weeks from today, the ECP holds its 4th Regular Synod, with the theme: LORD, YOUR WILL BE DONE. During this Synod, the updated Vision, Mission and Goals (VMG) of the ECP will be presented and reviewed to ensure that:
(a) the VMG process will be participatory and will involve the general membership as the ECP responds to the pastoral needs of its constituents and performs the corporate tasks required for growth and advancement;
(b) Filipino Anglicans will own the Vision and commit themselves to the mission and ministry of the church; and
(c) the Vision to be A CHURCH that is RENEWED, FULLY SELF-SUPPORTING, and CAPABLE of REACHING OUT to all areas of the nation by the year 2007 will be attained not just on paper or in spirit, but in practice and in actual ministry.
As of 1998, the ECP had a membership of about 120,000. This is about two-tenths of the country's 70 million people. At present, seven active Filipino bishops (including the Prime Bishop), about 250 priests and deacons (including at least five ordained women), a few nuns, and about 900 layworkers serve the ECPÕs more than 600 congregations across the entire length of the Philippines.
The Philippines has been called Òthe only Christian country in Asia,Ó because Christianity, especially Roman Catholicism, has been the dominant religion since Spain colonized the Philippines 470 years ago. More than 80% of the Filipino people are Roman Catholics; about 10% are Muslims; and less than 10% belongs to other mainstream Christian churches.
Based on the ECP's history, the relatively small proportion of Episcopalians can be attributed to ECUSA's early missionary policy for the Philippines - the policy of not putting an altar over and against another altar. This meant doing mission work in areas where Christianity had not made its presence felt - the southern islands populated by the non-Muslim 'natives' and the northern highlands inhabited by the 'head-hunting' tribes known as Igorots. These indigenous peoples had never been collectively subjugated by the Spanish colonizers and had not converted to Christianity as a group.
Peace and Justice Issues
Peace and justice issues usually intertwine. Complex and often closely linked with each other, they cannot be resolved effectively in isolation from other issues. It is a rare case where the issue is defined and clear-cut and its resolution is straightforward. The major issues confronting the Philippines are all too familiar to those who come from the so-called underdeveloped or developing countries. Even those who live in developed or 'overdeveloped' nations have faced or responded to most of these issues at one time or another. In the Philippines these issues include:
- Widespread poverty and its causes and effects
- a widening gap between the rich and the poor
- international debt, economic injustice
- graft and corruption; abuse of political power and position
- violence, crime, terrorism, kidnapping, rape
- judicial injustice; double standards in the application of justice
- human rights violations and abuses
- death penalty (lethal injection) for death row prisoners
- abuse and exploitation of women and children
- non-recognition of and lack of respect for womenÕs rights; gender insensitivity
- discrimination against persons with homosexual orientation
- armed conflict (insurgency, rebellion, tribal wars) and violent ways of settling political, cultural, religious, ethnic, or economic disputes
- plight of displaced, marginalized, and dislocated people
- plight of the elderly, the differently-abled, the disadvantaged, e.g., street children
- plight of overseas migrant workers
- environmental degradation, pollution, and destruction
- marginalization of indigenous cultural communities (indigenous people) and nonrecognition of their rights to ancestral lands/domains and to self-determination
- HIV/AIDS and judgmental attitudes against people living with HIV/AIDS
territorial dispute with China over the South China Sea 'islands'
- Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippine and U.S. governments ongoing armed conflicts and related peace talks between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF), and between the GRP and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)
Space and time constraints do not allow a detailed discussion of the above. For the APJN meeting, we will focus on a few issues that are more current or more pressing from the perspective of ECP. They might also be more vulnerable to concerted action by the ECP and the other member-churches of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), acting as denominations or as an ecumenical group.
Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA)
This is an agreement or 'treaty' between the USA and the Philippines that is meant to promote common security interests. Its full title - Agreement Between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the Government of the United States of America Regarding the Treatment of United States Armed Forces Visiting the Philippines - sounds harmless. However, beyond its title, the VFA may be deceptive and dangerous because the common security interests referred to are closely tied to vested political and economic interests. The VFA is also closely tied up with the previous US-RP Military Bases Agreement, which allowed the presence of US military forces, armaments, and their supporting infrastructure. Nature's wrath (the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Pinatubo volcano) and the Philippine Senate, effectively ended this presence in September of 1991.
The Executive Branch of the RP government has mobilized its resources to have the VFA ratified by the Senate. Leading the opposition to this government action are the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), the NCCP, the NCCP member churches, cause-oriented organizations, NGOs, and some legislators in the Philippine Congress. Most, including the ECP, have issued strongly worded statements, some of which will be made available upon request.
We paraphrase and partially quote an editorial that could very well represent the anti-VFA sentiments.
In 1991 the Senate rejected the proposed RP-US Bases Agreement which would have extended the stay of US military bases in the Philippines for another 10 years. The Senate's action proclaimed the country finally free of all foreign presence.
Now it seeks to bring back American troops to Philippine soil. Reports say the ratification of the VFA is almost certain when the Senate meets in May.
What benefits will the VFA bring? Proponents say it is needed to ensure the security of the Philippines and to carry out the RP- US Mutual Defense Treaty. This Treaty and the previous RP-US Bases Agreement were in force for the past 50 years, but they were never invoked in the dispute of the Philippines with Malaysia over Sabah or with China over the Spratlys.
Congressman Joker Arroyo has pointed out that the United States did not need a mutual defense treaty or a visiting forces agreement with Kosovo to intervene and help the beleaguered ethnic Albanians. Treaty or no treaty, the U.S. will come to the aid of another country when it feels that it is in its interest to help that country. It cannot be expected to act out of pure altruism.
The commemoration of the Fall of Bataan on April 9 brought back memories of how the U.S. treated the Philippines during World War II. The U.S. gave priority to the war in Europe where its allies, fellow whites, were fighting the Axis powers. The U.S. left the small American force and their Little Brown Brothers to fend for themselves against the mighty Japanese fighting machine. In his book, The Good Fight, the late President Manuel L. Quezon said, "Where are the planes the sin verguenza is boasting of. Que demonio. How typically American to writhe in anguish over the fate of a distant cousin (Europe) while the daughter (the Philippines) is being raped in the backroom!"
It is not impossible, in the event of another international confrontation, for a similar situation to occur even if the VFA were to be in force.
Mutual defense treaties, bases agreements, visiting forces agreements can be just a lot of words, as we have seen in the past 50 years.
Filipino Migrant Workers
Desperate situations demand desperate measures. Thousands of Filipino workers have resorted to desperate measures in an effort to improve the living conditions in which they find themselves. By going overseas, they seek to rise from the subsistence level to what has been called the minimum health and decency level of living. Filipino migrant workers comprise a large number of similarly situated Asians as well as Africans from Indebted Poor Countries. Their plight is well documented. Initially, stories of success have been told. More recently, tales of tragedy abound.
Despite the risks and sacrifice involved, they continue to seek jobs in the more affluent receiving countries. There, they hope to find greener pastures and better opportunities. Instead, many workers soon find themselves facing oppressive conditions that demean and degrade their dignity as human beings. Worse, more and more are forced to accept (a) the painful consequences of being separated from their spouses and children at home, (b) the harsh conditions of working for abusive masters, and (c) the appalling results of having to overstay as undocumented laborers in foreign lands.
Often underpaid, overworked, and their rights unprotected by the laws of the receiving countries, their welfare neglected by their own embassies, and their physical and mental heath endangered by undeserved adversities, several have come home indebted, disabled, demented, or lamented.
Some were raped, sexually abused, flogged, imprisoned, or forced to produce 'blood money.' Others have died or were killed - intentionally or otherwise, by their own hand or by the unfeeling instruments of their hosts. A few have come home in coffins; cause of death - undetermined, unknown, or unrevealed.
The foregoing constitute the human face of the issue. To all of these adversities, how have the concerned churches responded? How should they respond? Much has been said; much more needs to be done.
Recently, a Mission Consultation on Asian Migrant Workers was held in Hong Kong attended by representatives from churches in the Philippines, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. The consultation urged the ECP and the IFI (Iglesia Filipina Independiente) to take the lead and implement in concrete terms a regional church ministry to Asian migrant workers.
Three weeks ago, this mission consultation was followed by the Conference in the Asian Region for Migrant Workers' Ministry, also held in Hong Kong. The conference prepared an action plan for a church-led ministry to migrant workers. One part of the action plan is to establish in the Philippines a Regional Center for Migrant Workers' Ministry for the Asia-Pacific Region.
The ECP submits that the plight of migrant workers, especially the women, is an issue of injustice that demands concrete resolution. The issue will be presented to APJN as a regional concern requiring action and support.
The Crisis of Widespread Poverty
The poor we will always have with us. Intertwined and related with the poverty crisis in the Philippines - either as cause or effect - are several pernicious issues. Most of these have defied all 'anti-poverty' and 'pro-poor' efforts exerted by well-meaning political leaders and non-governmental entities. These long-standing issues include the following:
'Skewed' distribution of wealth, massive unemployment, landlessness, and economic and development policies of government, big business, transnational corporations (TNCs), and international creditors.
Because of our lack of analytical expertise on these concerns, we can only share some insights lifted from a knowledgeable source [IBON Facts & Figures. Vol. 22, Nos. 3-4, 15-28 Feb. 1999 Issue, published by IBON Foundation, Inc., Manila, Philippines], to wit:
The unequal distribution of wealth in favor of a select number of families has always been characteristic of Philippine society. IBON estimates of poverty incidence show that in 1997, seventy-seven percent (77%) of Filipino families, based on their income, are mired in poverty ... and that income distribution became more skewed in favor of the richest 10% of the population.
Along with the local elite, TNCs virtually control almost all vital Philippine industries and have also established tie-ups with the local elite in their business operations and concerns. The liberalization of the economy has intensified the integration of the country into the global community. TNCs have strengthened their hold over the economy to the extent that they have trampled on the country's sovereignty. For instance, various land-related laws have given TNCs prior rights to develop and exploit vast tracts of agricultural and mineral-rich lands. This has caused the massive displacement of thousands of peasant families including indigenous peoples' communities in the remote highlands.
The economic crunch resulting from the Asian financial crisis manifested itself in the general stagnation of the country's economy... and economic activity in the import-dependent manufacturing industry slowed down. These have led to massive unemployment as corporations try to maximize profits by laying off workers and resorting to flexible hiring schemes that lower the bargaining power of the worker.
From Jan. to Oct. 1998 some 126,608 workers were retrenched or forced to work on rotation. Of these, more than 100,000 lost their jobs. As of July 1998, about 30.2% of the labor force was actually job-starved, the highest rate in 5 years.
The economic crunch only heightened the perennial crisis of unemployment. The incapacity of the government to generate jobs for the growing labor force is due to the backward production system in the manufacturing and agricultural sectors. The import-dependence and 'exportorientation' of these two sectors only provide for limited job opportunities.
Taking advantage of the large number of the unemployed, local and foreign corporations exploit workers through low wages and the absence of workers' benefits. The resort to flexible hiring schemes have further reduced the workers to virtual beggars.
Most of the poor are in the rural countryside. The majority are into subsistence farming and fishing. They are either tenants, leasees, small owner cultivators, or landless farm workers.
The globalization of the Philippine economy, especially in agriculture, has exacerbated existing exploitative and oppressive relations between landlords and peasants in the rural areas. It has also resulted in unprecedented land speculation leading to land conversion and land grabbing by landlords, including TNCs. Even land already awarded to farmers is taken back. This is reminiscent of the country's colonial history where a large number of Filipinos were dispossessed of their lands and became virtual squatters.
Ownership of large tracts of land also remains under the control of the few landed elite. The agrarian reform programs, implemented by the government, have failed to distribute land to the tenants. Worse, even TNCs have taken the role of landlords as vast tracts of land are leased by the government. Many of the poor and landless are hired to work these lands, often under subhuman conditions. They receive wages much lower than the mandated minimum wage given to non-agricultural workers.
GRP vs. MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front). MILF is a Filipino Islamic group seeking political independence for their homeland (which they call Bangsamoro) on the southern island of Mindanao. The conflict flares up every now and then, despite a cease-fire agreement forged between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the MILF rebels.
Displacement of Families by Armed Conflicts
According to the latest statistics gathered by a Roman Catholic Church commission, 27,647 families - or about 138,000 people - have been displaced by armed conflicts in the first seven weeks of this year.
The 27,647 families abandoned their homes as a result of fighting between the military and various rebel groups, including the communist NPA and Muslim separatists in the southern Philippines. This surpassed the 20,470 families displaced by armed conflicts in the whole of 1997.
Environmental Degradation, Pollution, and Destruction
In the Philippines, the issues of uncontrolled logging and of exploitative mining operations by multinational mining companies have lead to environmental disasters. One example is the destruction of the Boac River in Marinduque by Marcopper Mining Corporation and CanadaÕs Placer Dome. Others are the flash floods in the southern Philippines and the drought in Mindanao, both of which killed thousands of people.
On the brighter side, the House of Representatives has just passed the Clean Air Act of 1998, aimed at reducing air pollution. The ECP actively participated in the signature campaign to drum up support for the bill.
The San Roque Multipurpose Dam Project
This huge dam straddles two provinces, the first of which is inhabited by an indigenous tribe (Ibalois) and is reputed to be the biggest private hydropower project in Asia. Opposition to the project from the lbalois is understandably strong. Their ancestral land is the site of the dam's 14 square kilometer reservoir area. Inundation will displace 343 Ibaloi families and an estimated 61,432 people, including Ibalois.
Last week the Ibalois held a rally in front of the Japanese embassy in Manila to protest the construction of the dam. Japanese firms, Marubeni Corp. and Kansai Electric Co., are building the $1.2.billion dam. The protesters demanded that Japanese banks withdraw funding to the dam project.
The Export-Import Bank of Japan (JEXIM) approved a $302 million loan in Oct 1998, which signaled the start of construction. Other Japanese banks that provided a syndicated loan of $143.5 million are the Bank of Tokyo and Mitsubishi, Fuji Ban, Sumitomo Bank and Trust Co., Sakura Bank, and Sanwa Bank.
Widespread and strong opposition by the affected people and their supporters stalled the start of construction several times in the past. The dam was designed by the government to Òservice special industrial enclavesÓ under a flawed export-oriented import-dependent economic strategy. The protesters say that the costs of the dam to the people, to the environment, and to their culture far outweigh any minuscule benefit that might be realized.
Conclusion
This report is submitted for informational purposes and may be read at the convenience of the APJN representatives to this meeting. We hope it contributes somehow, sometime, to the way of peace and justice - a way of transformation that depends first on ourselves and our perception of the other who confronts us... even as we witness to God's transforming power amongst us.
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