The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age, especially those who are poor or in any way afflicted, these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts. (GS 1)

Our situation

It is an irreconcilable fact to see a country endowed with immense natural wealth and a people with an impressive history of resistance, resilience, determination, heroism and faith witnessing groaning in excruciating pain brought about by unjust and oppressive systems and structures of the Philippine society. These state institutions and their legal machineries commit unjust violence against their constituents by preventing them from meeting their basic needs or fundamental rights.

The poorest 50% or some 13.7 million families, had monthly incomes of around Php 23,000 or less. Around 70% or some 19.2 million families, had monthly incomes of around Php 29,000 or less. However, the US puppet government of Marcos Jr deceived the people by presenting an unrealistic fact based on a low and unrealistic poverty threshold, thus manipulated.

Cases of extra-judicial killings, violence against international law and cyberattacks are on the rise with 180 EJKs, 42,456 forced evacuations, 107,444 bombings and indiscriminate firings, 3,419,044 threats, harassment and intimidation, and over 145 illegal arrests and detentions since Marcos Jr took office. All of them are poor and labeled as terrorists in the exercise of their democratic rights enshrined in the Constitution. But, the real perpetrators and killers are free and even in government positions.

Filipinos experiencing involuntary hunger at least once in the past three months, increased to 14.2% in March 2024 from 12.6% in December 2023. 46% of Filipino families rated themselves as poor and 33% as borderline poor in March 2024. A country with more than 50% of the population engaged in the agricultural sector is experiencing hunger. Land monopoly has deprived the farmers of land ownership and tenure aggravated by the bogus CARP program which failed to distribute 92% of large private landholdings. Worse, it set up numerous corporatization schemes to accommodate landlord reaction and evicted legitimate farmers who asserted their rights to the land.

Record high of unemployment particularly among the youth, the energetic and productive sector with 1.02 million unemployed in July 2024, which is a 172,000 increase from 850,000 previously. With low wages, high inflation and unjust labor laws, millions will be deprived of a minimum standard of decent living. No wonder the number of self-rated poor families grew from 13 million in December 2023 to 16 million in June 2024.

The Filipino people must not be prevented by weaponized laws from asserting their rights to livelihood, decent wages, adequate standards of living, social services and protection, unionization, a healthy environment, self-determination, and the range of civil and political rights and of economic, social and cultural rights.

52 years had passed since the fascist regime of Marcos Sr declared Proclamation No. 1081 (Martial Law), the current situation of the Filipino people seems to be nailed to its past. Martial Law did not happen overnight. Marcos created the environment for it. He exaggerated threats and pointed to conspiracies while at the same time offered a golden future, a new society (Bagong Pilipinas of Marcos Jr. today) that can happen only if the communists and the dissenters were flushed out. Prior to its declaration, repressions were everywhere. The right to protest was stifled. Leaders were arrested. Citizens were jailed on the mere suspicion of being a communist.

What is at stake?

“Scrutinizing the “signs of the times” and seeking to detect the meaning of emerging history, while at the same time sharing the aspirations and questionings (…). Listening to the cry of those who suffer violence and are oppressed by unjust systems and structures and hearing the appeal of a world that, by its perversity, contradicts the plan of its Creator, we have shared our awareness of the Church’s vocation to be present in the heart of the world by proclaiming the Good News to the poor, freedom to the oppressed, and joy to the afflicted. (…) Action on behalf of justice and participation in the transformation of the world fully appear to us as a constitutive dimension of the preaching of the Gospel, or, in other words, of the Church’s mission for the redemption of the human race and its liberation from every oppressive situation.” (Justice in the World 1971).

What is at stake is our faith and witness. We, Christians, in particular church people, are reminded to remind the world of what it can be, of what it must be, of what it most wants to be—deep down, at its best, at its human core. We are called to live at the edge of society to critique it, at the bottom of society to comfort it, and at the epicenter of society to challenge it and move people to rise, resist and defeat evils. “An authentic Christian believes and lives in the praxis of loving the least of our brothers and sisters, accepting the challenge of our Christian faith to liberation and love even unto death if necessary, and serving others regardless of belief, race, and culture so that others may live and live fully.” (CNL).

Our call

If an unjust system and structure breeds violence by depriving its citizens to enjoy economic, social and cultural rights and the exercise of their civil and political rights, then it has to be overturned. “Authority must enact laws […] that correspond to the dignity of the human person and to what is required by right reason […] When, however, a law is contrary to reason, it is called an unjust law; in such a case it ceases to be the law and becomes instead an act of violence.” (St. Tomas Aquinas). When the enjoyment and exercise of those fundamental rights of persons are violated by structural violence perpetrated by a puppet regime sustained by its imperialist masters, one ought to defend and protect the sovereign, democratic and human rights of these people by just-violent means. “[…] violence of exploiters and oppressors is immoral and unjust; and the violence of the exploited and oppressed is morally warranted and just.”

War might be an obligation derived from the virtue of charity. Protecting the well-being of innocent persons from aggression was a requirement of the common good. “All wars of aggression were to be prohibited and that defensive war to repel aggression was reluctantly necessary.” (Pope Pius XII, 1956). Humanitarian reasons could justify armed intervention. If it is done in the name of protecting the human rights of others can be interpreted as fitting within the just cause of defending innocents against aggression. Our biblical history attests to a God who is a warrior (OT) who defended the orphans, widows, poor, landless, marginalized (anawim of God) and a revolutionary who introduced a new reign (NT) utterly contradictory to the Roman imperialism based on the Beatitudes.

As Christians, we are called to take up the challenge of our true Master, the God of the poor, to bring a just and lasting peace where each one participates in shaping society to promote the well-being of its members. It is in this act of participation that the essential dignity of the person is both achieved and revealed. We are called to creative engagement and shared responsibility in the world with and on behalf of the poor. Thus, we are called to a deeper conversion of the heart, that is, to be a Christian who is socially subversive (turnover) and works to transform the world by turning society from oppression to justice, from violence to peace.