Governing from pulpits

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In a predominantly Catholic nation, despite the separation of Church and State enshrined in the Constitution, the pulpit still holds its influence in government.

Early this year the Catholic Church, through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, slammed the Department of Health’s reproductive health program, specifically targeting then Secretary Esperanza Cabral who spearheaded efforts of distributing contraceptives to communities.

They also spoke against advertisements posted by condom distributors over mainstream media, saying that these “corrupt the minds of young Filipinos,” a statement that sparked debates sprawled over forums, editorial columns and the Internet.

More recently the Church questioned whether the inclusion of sex education in school curricula is justified. They claim that lessons on such sensitive issues must be raised by concerned parents at home and not by cold members of the academe.

And since Filipino parents still live in a world where talk about sex is taboo, thanks to their strict Catholic upbringing, to entrust sex education to parents is tantamount to prohibiting sex education through and through, fulfilling the Church’s agenda.




With priests in their pulpits, the Catholic Church is already a force to reckon with. Millions of Filipinos who vote at their advice provide leverage they use toward the government.

But in the administration of newly elected President Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” Aquino III, the church’s influence is not limited to subtle homilies. When sex education is on the table, Aquino appointed someone from the clergy to head the Department of Education.




We dare not question the qualifications of Secretary Armin Luistro, who held the reins of the De La Salle University prior to his appointment to Aquino’s cabinet, but we ask if his appointment is in the best interest of the Filipino public, who, given the population growth rate, can sink the archipelago soon by their collective weight.

A cabinet position gives the Church power to exercise its characteristic intolerance against beliefs that contradict its doctrines—to the detriment of the Filipino people.

Instead of liberating and thus empowering Filipinos, a sectarian education would limit us to a view of the world through the eyes of the Church: where all sexual encounters should be holy—never mind the unwanted pregnancy that would come of it.

We are not saying that they have already started controlling the Filipino consciousness. We are merely saying that this administration has provided them the perfect opportunity—as if tempting the Church to extend its strong arm.

With the Philippine sex education managed as in Catholic schools, young Filipinos will be saints in classrooms, not even showing hints of the wild creatures they are in bedrooms.

Indeed, there will be no sex scandals in such scenario—only bigger scandals when girls surprisingly give birth to children at sixteen or when boys are alarmed by green stains they see on the inside of their underwear.

With the Philippine educational system managed by the Catholic Church, truly this country’s fate shall rest wholly on God’s holy will.