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About Us: by Lulu Cipriano
The rural poor have spoken
T he small farmers, fisherfolk, indigenous people, rural women, youth and even the ambulant vendors, the people with disability, the factory workers in the rural areas… they were invited to participate in the Sub-Regional Consultations in preparation for the Second National Rural Congress. Our partner organizations facilitated this, together with the Rural Missionaries of the Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) and the Rural Poor Solidarity.
The rural poor have spoken. They have spoken about their experiences of rural poverty, they have described how our social legislation has affected them – positively or negatively – and they have expressed their views and suggestions on how they could be helped to achieve a better life in the rural areas. There were those who appeared to be very adept at explaining the cause/s of their poverty, while there were those who did not attempt at that at all. They only have stories to tell, stories of how they suffered because of calamities, because of militarization, because of unscrupulous people grabbing their land and belongings, because of weak protection of the law, because of …. And there were many stories told during the 14 consultations conducted.
There was one thing that I wanted to hear but failed to hear, maybe because I did not listen to what was not being spoken… or because I could sense of pulse of the person speaking. I wanted to hear that they are poor because they have chosen to be passive about their poverty, about the injustice of it all. There seemed to have been an atmosphere of hope during the consultations, but I fervently pray that this atmosphere of hope penetrated deep in their hearts. It must be a hope that urges them to believe that they can do something about their situation against all the odds spoken, is spite of their weakness, and even if miracles happen in slow and unnoticeable changes.
The church has spoken
A friend asked me: “For all that you went through in the conduct of the Sub-regional Consultations for the Second National Rural Congress, what really mattered most to you?” I did not have to stop and think for an answer to this good question. I immediately replied: “The response of the rural poor to the presentation of the Catholic Social Teachings.”
I was amazed at how the people appreciated the little that could be presented to them about the Catholic Social Teachings within a very limited 45-minute presentation. They were clearly surprised, encouraged, and elated that the Church has spoken in their favor. They could not believe what they heard. But there was no mistaking it. The Catholic Social Teachings were presented by a bishop, a priest, a nun, a lay person, and they all spoke of the same pronouncements of the church at various times in response to various social conditions.
There were many of the NGO representatives who asked for copies of the presentation and there were those who asked for more information. Truly, it was an experience of how the people were hungry for the word of the God as spoken by the Church in its Social Teachings.