CBCP urges bets to reflect on motives for running this Lent

MANILA, Philippines - An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) yesterday said the Lenten Season should be a time for candidates to internalize and decide if they are running for national and local positions for the right reasons.

CBCP treasurer Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco told the Church-run Radio Veritas that the 40-day Lent is an opportunity for candidates to “clear their intentions (and) motivations for running for whatever position.”

“Candidates would often say that they are running because they want to serve the country and improve the lives of the people. I just hope they would be faithful to these promises and these would not be tainted by personal vested interests,” he said.

Personal interests include accumulation of wealth and having power and benefits for their families.

CBCP-Public Affairs Committee chairman Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said there are still many Filipino Catholics observing the Lenten season and offering sacrifices to the Lord, despite claims that people now live in a materialistic world.

“There are still people who do that (voluntary sacrifices) even if it’s not Lent and it is not just food. There are other ways such as doing good to others, visiting the sick, and other corporal works of mercy. They could also read the Bible,” said Bishop Iniguez.

The observance of Ash Wednesday yesterday signaled the start of Lent. Priests made the sign of the cross in ash on the foreheads of Catholics to remind them to repent.

He said Catholics are asked to fast on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday when they should have only one full meal a day and abstain from eating meat every Friday during the Lenten season.

Ongtioco said it is also during Lent that Filipinos can renew their baptismal promises.

“I am sure that everyone wants to do good to return (to God’s embrace). Asking repentance should not only be done today, but everyday,” he said.

‘Fast for Mother Earth’

Meanwhile, Filipinos were asked yesterday to reduce carbon dioxide emission and conserve water in the face of the threats of climate change and an impending water crisis.

Heherson Alvarez, Climate Change Commission (CCC) vice-chairman, urged people to promote “a new earth-ethic” to address climate change.

“Climate change is primarily caused by the warming of the globe due to extensive use or burning of fossil fuels such as coal and oil,” he said.

Alvarez said people must cut back on their consumption of fuel, water and food, forest and other natural resources.

“We must fast for Mother Earth,” he said.

“This Lent, as we atone for our sins, it may be most relevant that we also fast for the environment.”

Alvarez said addressing climate change includes simple things like proper waste management to minimize methane, a bi-product of rotting garbage and a lethal greenhouse gas 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

A change from wasteful consumption habits, or a cutback of a meal a day, could provide some relief to the environment, he added.

Alvarez said the solution to the degradation of the environment would be the disciplined use of energy like electricity and fuel, water and food, forest and other natural resources.

“This selfless penitence drives home the point that climate change is a man-made disaster that will need our collective efforts to address,” he said.

“We must cut back on our individual and communal water footprints or the volume of water that we consume every day because it puts a strain on this very valuable, yet dwindling, resource.”

The CCC said since the industrial revolution, some 80 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide and other global warming gases have been accumulating in the atmosphere.

The unmanageable climate change, characterized by stronger storms that bring unusually heavy rainfall that cause floods and mudslides, or extreme temperatures, eventually result in loss of lives and destruction of the environment, the CCC added.

The water level in Magat Dam in Isabela has gone down to an all-time low because of the early onset of the El Niño phenomenon.

Isabela is now under a state of calamity, with damage to rice and corn crops estimated to be at least P1.4 billion.

President Arroyo has revived the El Niño Task Force to address the extreme dry spell, allotting P10 billion for the purpose. – With Katherine Adraneda