COMMISSION ON DIOCESAN SCHOOLS OF LA UNION

Academic Year: 2020-2021

10
MODULE

10

“The Church and the Poor”

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TOPICS:

 Tatsulok by Bamboo (Originally by Buklod)

 The Church and Poverty in the Philippines

INTRODUCTION:

“We think sometimes that poverty is only being hungry, naked and homeless. The poverty of being
unwanted, unloved and uncared for is the greatest poverty. We must start in our homes to remedy
this kind of poverty.”

- Mother Teresa of Calcutta

LEARNING TARGETS

At the end of the lesson, you are required to do the following…

 Describe the poverty situation in the Philippines.

 Contribute to the alleviation of poverty in your own community.

 Pray for the poor people in the community.

Song Analysis

Tatsulok

By Bamboo (originally by Buklod)

Verse 1:
Totoy bilisan, bilisan mo ang takbo
Ilagan ang mga bombang nakatutok sa ulo mo
Totoy tumalon ka, dumapa kung kailangan
At baka tamaan pa ng mga baling ligaw

Verse 2:
Totoy makinig ka huwag nang magpagabi
Baka pagkamalan pa’t
Humandusay dyan sa tabi
Totoy alam mo ba kung ano ang puno’t dulo

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 Ng di matapos tapos na kaguluhang ito

Pre-Chorus:
Hindi pula’t dilaw ang tunay na magkalaban
Ang kulay at tatak ay di siyang dahilan
Hangga’t marami ang lugmok sa kahirapan
At ang hustisya ay para lang sa mayaman

Chorus:
Habang may tatsulok at sila ang nasa tuktok
Hindi matatapos itong gulo

Verse 3:
Iligtas ang hininga ng kay raming mga tao,
At ang dating munting bukid, ngayo’y sementeryo
Totoy kumilos ka, baliktarin ang tatsulok
Tulad ng dukha, nailagay mo sa tuktok

Guide Questions for Discussion

1. What does the song tell us?

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2. How can you relate “Tatsulok” to the situation of the poor?

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3. What should be done to address the situation of the poor? Suggest a solution and explain why it
is necessary.
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EXPLORE

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 The Church and Poverty in the Philippines:

Faces of Poverty

1. People without safe shelter: 1 out of 6 – The National Housing Authority

estimates that only one out of six Filipino families owns a house. The rest either rent an
apartment, live with their parents, or try to survive in shanties that are “nothing more than
cardboard and tin boxes.” In Metro Manila alone, 3 million people are homeless or live in
makeshift houses.

2. People without stable job: 3 out of 10 – In 2004, statistics showed that the unemployed rate
in the Philippines has reached 33%. This means that three out of 10 Filipinos are jobless.
(IBON Foundation)

3. People who suffered injustices – Majority of Filipinos who do not have money to pay a
competent lawyer to defend them in court continue to languish in jail. Leaders and some
farmers, fisherfolk and other marginalized groups suffer extrajudicial killings for criticizing
the government. Based on the list of human rights groups Karapatan and Desaparecidos, the
number of extrajudicial killings has exceeded 800 while the number of cases of enforced
disappearance was a little below 200 at the start of Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s term.

The Church: The Root Causes or Poverty?

1. The church is accused of being the cause of poverty because it teaches the people to accept suffering as
God’s will: “Take up your cross and follow me.”

2. The religion becomes “the opium of the people” (Karl Max) that makes them accept suffering and just wait
for a reward in heaven after death. The people who have this way of thinking are not doing something
anymore to improve their lives.

Church Response

The church is not the cause of poverty. No church teachings tell people to embrace poverty, to cooperate with
people who oppress the poor, and to stay as poor and just wait for God’s reward in heaven. Instead, the church
encourages the people to work hard to improve their lives in all aspects. There is a need to correct this wrong
notion of people whose motive is to destroy the church’s image and blame the church for our country’s
situation. The church takes the lead in doing something to eliminate the system of corruption and change this to
a system of being “Makatao, Makabayan, at Maka-Diyos” in order to address poverty in our country.

The Real Causes of Poverty

1. Structural – Structures in our society lead people to easily commit wrong doings. Examples of such
structures are unjust taxation system, political dynasty, strong military brotherhood, and unfair electoral
process. These are causes of poverty that many people do not seem to know.

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2. Political – in our country, a government post is now seeming as an easy way to acquire great wealth, not as
a way to serve the public. This explains why many people are running for certain positions during elections.
Corruption is now an integral part of Philippine society.

3. Economic – the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas said that the Philippine’s external debt at the end of 2013
amounted to $58.5 billion. Borrowing from World Bank and paying the debt interest yearly contributed
much to the economic situation of our country.

4. Social – social factor as cause of poverty points to the individual’s negative attitude that makes him think
only of his personal interest and not of doing something for the common good. This individualistic attitude
of most leaders in the society leaves the poor people in great disadvantage by neglect and irresponsibility.

Church View
Sinfulness of the people leads to life of poverty. The effects of sins spread far and wide and make life miserable
for the majority of Filipinos.

Responses in Two Levels

1. Individual – it involves the individual’s life in the community in relation to his faith.

2. Social – each member’s life in the church should be more active in relation to others in the community in
working for social change that would liberate people from poverty.

Role of the Church

The priest as leader must lead the community in fighting the evils of poverty. The church has the “preferential
option for the poor” because the poor are the favorites of God and the church must live with the poor, live poor
among the poor. (Bishop Soc Villegas)

We should destroy all structures that do not respect the right of people to live with dignity. These structures are
an abusive government, departments of the government that use people’s money to enrich themselves, and a
corrupt political system that contributes much to the spread of poverty.

Approaches in Addressing the Problem

Dole-Out-Assistance

The church asks for any donation from the people in the parishes, schools, and other Catholic institutions.
Donations are distributed to areas affected by typhoons, earthquakes and other natural calamities. The Social
Action Centers of each diocese takes care of this work.

Development Approach

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Instead of giving the poor fish that will satisfy their hunger for a while, the church assists people to find jobs so
that they will be able to fend for themselves. This is a long-term solution to the problem. Other concerns, like
housing for the poor and providing legal assistance are also being addressed.

PAUSE and REFLECT:

1. What do you think is the main reason why majority of the Filipinos are poor?
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2. In your own opinion, what should be done to alleviate poverty in the country?

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MY REFLECTION

“There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore, I command you to be openhanded toward your
brothers and toward the poor and needy in your land.”

(Deuteronomy 15:11)

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