(“Poverty” from pinterest.ph)
In his Christmas Eve homily at the Vatican, Pope Francis
says, “The church supports and blesses efforts to change the structures of
injustice, and sets down but one condition: that social, economic and political
change[s] truly benefit the poor.” Above, he is seen carrying an image of the
baby Jesus born poor in a manger
in Bethlehem.
Mr
White says, “Pope Francis marked the start of Christmas at the Vatican by
cautioning that it is impossible to celebrate the birth of Jesus without
concern for the poor.” Impossible? We Christians do it every year!
And what do the non-religious groups say? Here is from Zacarian Sarao who says, “True Spirit Of
Christmas Is Being Mindful Of How We Impact Earth, Ocean – Oceana” (24 Dec
2022, Inquirer, newsinfo.inquirer.net).
As a marine conservation collection, “Oceana stressed the importance of taking
care of the planet, particularly the ocean… as it recognized the struggles and
sacrifices of artisanal fisherfolk in 2022.”
However: While Pope Francis’ and
Oceana’s declarations themselves share that “concern for the poor,” they both ignore
the fact that the poor themselves are also to
blame: thus, the farmers for abusing the soils, and the fishermen for
abusing the waters!
And yes, both abuses happen to fall into the responsibility
of the government in promoting and pursuing “conservation,” which my favorite American Heritage Dictionary defines as
“controlled use and protection of natural resources, as forests, wetlands,
endangered species, etc” (TheFreeDictionary,
thefreedictionary.com).
And that means, the government is to blame for neglecting to
implement the laws of resource conservation – and the farmers and fishers
themselves because they have no concern for themselves!
And
I must blame the Agricultural Training
Institute (ATI) for failing to adequately extend the principles and
practices of conservation of resources to the people.
Ultimately,
as Secretary of Agriculture, I must blame BBM if he does not do anything
about the ATI not doing anything to help the farmers and fishers help
themselves.
Pope Francis says:
He who was born in the
manger, demands a concrete faith, made up of adoration and charity, not empty
words and superficiality. He who lay naked in the manger and hung naked on the
cross, asks us for truth, he asks us to go to the bare reality of things…
In
the Philippines and in farming and fisheries, how can the ATI promote
prosperity among the farmers and fishermen when what the ATI people are all
doing is all training, training, training with technology!? What about
fisheries exploitation coupled with conservation? What about farming with
climate change in mind?@517
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