Bishop Gilbert Garcera of the Diocese of
Daet. – Contributed photo/CBCP website
By JONAS CABILES SOLTES
Bishop Gilbert Garcera of the Diocese of Daet. |
NAGA CITY: Bishop Gilbert Garcera of the
Diocese of Daet,the capital of CamNorte,
believes overpopulation has been advantageous to the Philippines and to the world because it has
increased the number of overseas workers
and migrants who could send remittances back home while taking care of ageing people abroad and
spreading the Christian faith.
Contrary to the aims of the reproductive
health (RH) bill, Garcera said the huge Philippine population could be part of
“God’s plan for Filipinos to be caregivers to ageing nations whose populations
had become stagnant”.
He also said many Filipino women would
make “good wives” for foreigners in countries that have low population growth.
Garcera said many countries such as
Germany and the United States had a stable but ageing population that would
need people to take care of them, and that purpose could be served by
Filipinos.
“Filipinos
have a big mission to the world. Every Filipino child born is a blessing to the
world. Let’s look at the increase in our population in a more comprehensive
sense,” the 53-year-old prelate told the Inquirer in an interview at an
orphanage in this city that he visited on Thursday.
In light of the Christian faith, Garcera
said, the big number of Filipinos should not be seen as a problem but as an
opportunity to help other people in the world.
“Filipinos have a duty to take care of
them,” he said.
He said that the overpopulation that
breeds poverty was not a problem because poverty itself was not a problem.
He said poverty even brought people
“closer” to God and was instrumental in realizing God’s plan for Filipinos to
take care of other nationalities by inducing migration and working abroad.
Economically, he said, the country also
benefits from the “mission” because the migrants and overseas Filipino workers
send back money from working as caregivers.
“When
you help poor people they help themselves too. This is the reason we have so
many pedicab drivers, for instance. Everyone, when given the chance, will
strive to earn a living,” he said.
In fact, he said, poor people were more
willing to help compared to the rich. Hence, a poor person was not a problem,
he said.
“We
should stop looking at poor people as a problem,” he added.
He said the diaspora of Filipinos was
also a way to spread the Christian faith.
“There
was this story of a babysitter in Dubai who started singing the Ama Namin (Our Father) as a lullaby to the Arab
baby she was caring for. The Islamic parents of the child found the song too
good that they started learning it, without knowing that it was a Christian
prayer,” he said.
He said there would come a time when
nations that have decreasing populations would rely on the care of Filipinos.
He said the problem in the country was
neither overpopulation nor poverty but corruption and the unequal distribution
of wealth.
He admitted though that not all
provisions of the RH bill were bad, but he also believed there were some
proponents and supporters of the bill who “were against human nature and
against what God wants.” - Inquirer
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