Holy Week is serious business in the Philippines. Consider this post an invitation to reflect on why the Philippines, a predominantly Catholic country, is predominantly poor.
The following are newspaper articles that illustrate the extent of the problem (or lack thereof):
- "UP professors to GMA: Control population to reduce poverty" by Jude C. Galford III (Manila Bulletin, 2 December 2004).
- "Population not booming, says 'prophet of boom'" by Christian Esguerra (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 16 March 2005).
- "Are we winning the war on poverty?" Inquirer News Service (Philippine Daily Inquirer, 20 March 2005 ).
The following are the bases for the articles listed above. They tend to be heavy reading but, hey, it's Holy Week, suffer a little!
- "Population and Poverty: The Real Score" by 22 economists from the UP School of Economics (pdf; December 2004).
- Poverty in the Philippines: Income, Assets, and Access (pdf; Manila: ADB, 2005).
Finally, the following is an article directly addressing the question posed by this post. It's quite interesting that the word "population" is not mentioned at all.
- "Are We Filipinos Poor Because We Are Mostly Catholic Christians?" by Romeo J. Intengan, S.J. (East Asian Pastoral Review 40:3 [2003]).