Remarks on Areas of Cooperation Between Business and the Institutional Church Towards Human Development
33rd General Assembly and Annual Meeting of
the Bishops-Businessmen’s Conference for Human Development
Ramon del Rosario Jr., MBC Chairman
10 July 2009, AIM Conference Center, Makati

Your excellencies, dear bishops, and other members of the clergy present here today,
My colleagues in the business community,
Dear friends,

A most pleasant morning to you all.

First of all, please allow me to thank the BBC for inviting me to speak today. I deem it a great and humbling honor to have been asked to address you on behalf of the business community.

It has been 38 years since the conference in Baguio where representatives of the Church and business had the opportunity to examine their respective roles in society and resolve to “bring about radical reform in a deeply divided and disjointed society by democratic and peaceful means,” as Fr. Horacio de la Costa seminally described the guiding objective of the undertaking in 1971. As we approach what is shaping up to be another critical juncture in our nation’s history, the decision to breathe new life into this dialogue is timely indeed.

As a Church that has a very deep concern for the poor and as businessmen who are committed to nation building, we are effectively united in our efforts to build a better society and improve the lot of our fellowmen. I believe there are three areas of cooperation that bishops and businessmen can focus on as we endeavor to strengthen our partnership to help build a stronger, better, and more humane and just Philippine society.

The first is to join hands in pursuing projects that uplift the lives of our people, particularly the poor and most marginalized in society. While this is not easy, requiring great commitments of time, resources, and effort, this is probably the least controversial of all the three areas. No one will argue about the need to feed the hungry, care for the sick, shelter the homeless, educate our children, provide livelihood for the poor, and care for the environment. In the business sector, we have been actively involved in these types of projects, as more and more Philippine corporations have embraced the concept of corporate social responsibility as an integral part of a firm's mission and business strategy. Many of us here are also involved in organizations, such as Philippine Business for Social Progress, that have been very effective in mobilizing the resources, expertise, and commitment of Philippine business to help address various social needs. In many of these endeavors, we find ourselves working with the Church or Church-based groups, partnerships that have been very fruitful and that, we hope, can be further strengthened and enhanced in the coming years.

In this regard, the most serious and critical challenge that continues to confront our nation is the chronic poverty of millions of Filipinos. The latest figures show that 27.6 million Filipinos lived in poverty in 2006, up from 23.8 million in 2003. According to the Social Weather Stations, an estimated 2.9 million families experienced involuntary hunger in the first quarter of 2009. Given the government’s failure to effectively tackle the problem, coupled with the impact of the global financial crisis on employment and incomes, poverty in the country can only further deteriorate.

Thus, we need to redouble our efforts to reverse the situation. We propose that the battle to improve the lives of poor Filipinos should be the primary focus of our combined energies and resources. And, beyond the short-term measures to bring immediate relief to those in direst need, we need to focus on long-term solutions that can yield sustainable and lasting gains. Among these, we believe that education must be a critical priority.

This is why, in 2006, we formed Philippine Business for Education or PBEd, a network of corporations and individual businessmen dedicated to “nurture consensus on key directions in education reform and to initiate and lead the actions toward those directions.” Believing that the single most important factor that affects the quality of education is the quality of teachers, PBEd launched in 2008 the 1000 Teachers Program in a bid to attract our best and brightest high-school students to pursue a teaching career. We are lobbying for better compensation and a competency-based rewards system for teachers. We are also batting for the lengthening of our basic education cycle to 12 years from the current 10 so that we can be at par with the rest of the world. Since education reform is an issue that is of great concern to many other sectors of society, we helped convene the Education Nation movement last May to mobilize all stakeholders, including the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines, and work for the next Philippine president’s adoption of an education reform roadmap or agenda. We look forward to continuing to work with the Church and the bishops in this very critical endeavor of uplifting the quality of education in the country.

The second area of cooperation where I believe the BBC can be an effective platform is the sharing of perspectives on key development issues, with the objective of arriving at a consensus among the various stakeholders in society. This may not require too much in terms of resources, but can be very demanding in terms of our openness to listen to other viewpoints. We would also need to draw on our reserves of patience and humility in order to engage in genuine dialogue. Most of all, we need to have a high level of trust in each other, truly believing that while we may have differences in opinion, we are one in our desire to promote the common good. I strongly believe that a genuine dialogue among sincere, well-informed, and reflective men and women can only lead to well-designed and more effective policy directions. Even now, we are confronted with economic development issues wherein the Church and other sectors in society may have different, if not conflicting perspectives: the role of mining in development, agrarian reform, population and reproductive health, and even taxation, just to name the more prominent ones. BBC can be a productive venue for a dialogue, and hopefully some degree of consensus, on these important issues. While we may not always reach consensus, we hope that engaging in open dialogue will allow us to narrow down the differences and develop a better understanding of why these differences persist.

In this regard, I wish to inform you that the Makati Business Club, in collaboration with Professors Philip Medalla, Ben Diokno, and Dante Canlas of the UP School of Economics, has initiated the drafting of an Economic Roadmap for 2010 and beyond. This blueprint for Philippine development aspires to identify the most critical and concrete reform measures that need to be undertaken and national programs that should be prioritized to remove the binding constraints that prevent the country from growing in a faster, yet more equitable, manner. It hopes to propose concrete reform measures in the areas of revenue generation, infrastructure, and social spending. We have already started to present the Roadmap to some of the identified presidential candidates for their initial support, in the hope that they will adopt its final version or at least some elements of it. It would be good if we can present this to the bishops as well, so we can incorporate your perspectives in refining the policy agenda and, hopefully, reach consensus particularly on the most critical measures.

Finally, the third area of cooperation between the Church and the business community can be the most difficult and most controversial at times, and this is to join our efforts in fighting injustice and evil in society. It is difficult because for us who are men of the cloth or businessmen, it is not in our nature to actively seek controversy and conflict. But there are times when the good demands that we go beyond just doing good, when the good demands that we fight and resist those who do evil and injustice to society. I believe that we now face such times.

In this area, one of our biggest concerns is corruption. In recent years, we have been subjected to a never-ending parade of corruption scandals—political payoffs, bribery, diversion of funds, misuse of funds, and rigged biddings—involving public officials.

Corruption is a complex problem and the battle to eliminate it must be waged simultaneously on several fronts—the legal, the institutional, the personal and moral. The primary vehicle of our anti-corruption efforts has been the Coalition Against Corruption. Formed in 2004, CAC aims to increase public participation in governance and monitor the use of public funds mainly by supporting anti-corruption projects that cover the procurement and delivery of public services. Among the projects being supported by CAC are the Government Procurement Monitoring, Pork Barrel Watch, Medicine Watch, Textbook Count, Internal Revenue Allotment Watch, Lifestyle Check, and Catching the Big Fish. The Church is our partner in these efforts. Included among the 11 organizations that compose the alliance are the BBC, MBC, the Management Association of the Philippines, CBCP-NASSA, and CBCP-LAIKO.

But we will never succeed in our fight against corruption unless we bring back accountability in public governance. And accountability must begin at the very top.

The debate on how to demand accountability from the Arroyo administration, particularly after the Hello Garci controversy, has been difficult and painful for many groups. In particular, the Church and the business community, being influential institutions in our society, have had to grapple with this issue in the past four years and have been torn by varying and conflicting considerations and interests. The Church, through the CBCP, has gone through wrenching moments deliberating on this issue. In responding to the recurring crises and scandals faced by the Arroyo administration, the CBCP did not support calls for her resignation but demanded truth and accountability. Some of us in the business community joined calls for the President to resign and issued statements condemning the various scandals that tainted this government. On the other hand, other business groups and business people rallied around her and criticized us for the positions that we took.

Now that 2010 is near, the previous call for the president to resign is no longer a relevant issue for debate. But we have to note the undeniable fact that, since 2005, absolutely nothing has been done to address the issues and scandals raised against the Arroyo administration.

On the Hello Garci scandal, please allow me to quote from the CBCP statement, “Restoring Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in Philippine Politics,” dated July 9, 2005:

“President Macapagal Arroyo has admitted and apologized for a "lapse of judgment" for calling a COMELEC official. The admission further eroded the people's trust on the already suspected electoral system and raised serious questions on the integrity of the elections. Beyond apology is accountability. Indeed, with forgiveness is justice. To restore trust would require a thorough, credible, and independent process to examine the authenticity of the so-called Garcillano tapes, verify any possible betrayal of public trust, and mete out due punishment on all those found guilty."

The call for truth was repeated in another CBCP statement, “Renewing Our Public Life Through Moral Values,” dated January 29, 2006.

None of these calls have been seriously listened to. There was no independent truth commission; the Senate inquiries ended nowhere; even the military's own internal investigation through the Mayuga Report was concealed from the public; impeachment proceedings were summarily dismissed. Today, Mr. Garcillano remains free and unpunished.

The same disdain for truth and absence of accountability characterize the outcome of the other major controversies surrounding the Arroyo administration. Joc-joc Bolante is back and we cannot even put him behind bars, notwithstanding the damning evidence that has been gathered. Several hundred million pesos have been stolen in the fertilizer scam; Marilyn Esperat and perhaps others more were killed to cover up this crime, but no one has yet been brought to justice.

On the ZTE scam, Abalos continues to enjoy a comfortable retirement and Secretary Neri is enjoying his SSS sinecure while Jun Lozada and his family are holed up in La Salle Greenhills, deprived of livelihood and a normal life. One's heart cries out to the heavens when confronted with this glaring injustice.

The payoffs to congressmen in Malacanang, documented by TV clips and with admissions from some of the recipients, remain uninvestigated, unresolved, and almost forgotten.

The list is long, but why am I recounting these? In the face of these glaring injustices and trampling of the truth, there are those who counsel that it would be best for us to just wait for 2010 when, anyway, we will have a change of administration. Some of us do not subscribe to this thinking and insist on denouncing injustice whenever and wherever it occurs, believing in our hearts that truth and justice are ideals that cannot be postponed but must be fought for all the time. But, now, we have the added worry that the 2010 relief may just be an illusion after all and that this administration, if allowed to have its way, intends to stay in power in 2010 and beyond.

This is the critical issue that we face today. The signs are all over the place, and one has to be completely oblivious to current happenings to deny the reality that this administration, meaning President Arroyo herself, is working on options to keep itself in power. Efforts to amend the Constitution, with the objective of shifting to a parliamentary system, remain alive and could become more active again once Congress resumes session at the end of this month. Charter change can also occur immediately after the 2010 election, with the same result of catapulting GMA back to power as prime minister. Up to today, she has not denied the possibility that she will run for Congress in Pampanga that will enable her to have a seat in a new parliament that could be created. More ominously, talk of martial law and emergency rule cannot be dismissed, with events in recent weeks, in particular the bombings in Mindanao and Metro Manila, the strange appointment of the DPWH Secretary, who happens to be a trusted ex-Police Chief, as acting DILG Head, the appointments of key military and police allies in sensitive positions, and the activation of checkpoints in Metro Manila ominously bringing back memories of pre-martial law days in the Marcos era.

We are facing dangerous times ahead, and our democracy itself is under threat. Whether by martial law or emergency rule or a forced constitutional change, our democracy will wither if the Arroyo administration remains in power beyond 2010. The lies, the stealing, the absence of accountability will continue and the regime would have to be propped up by repression and curtailment of personal freedoms.

We have to join hands, then, to prevent this from happening. I propose that we explore ways by which we can work together to:

- first, oppose moves to amend the Constitution via a constituent assembly   and extend any public official’s term beyond that prescribed by the   Constitution;

- second, oppose any attempt to impose martial law or emergency rule;

- third, ensure that we have presidential elections in May 2010;

- fourth, make certain that these elections are clean and credible; and

- finally, educate voters on the candidates’ platforms and the importance of   choosing the best leaders that our beloved country deserves.

We look to the Church and the bishops for guidance and inspiration. We know that it is not easy for the Church to get involved in political issues. We also know that the Church has made it clear that it will not take the leadership role in these matters and that its desire is for the laity to step up to the challenge and lead in the building of a just society. We accept that challenge and we will do our part to build this society. But we need your inspiration. We need you to be like Moses standing up the hill with his staff raised while Joshua and his men fought and vanquished the Amalekites, to encourage and embolden us with the unquestioned faith that you are completely one with us in this noble and worthy struggle. Thank you and good morning.