By Gerard Biagan
I HEAVILY disagree with Orlando Carvajal’s column “Shortsighted.” He pins the blame on our lack of population control and the Church’s opposition to contraception as the cause of our education woes. The facts he provided are out of context and incomplete.
Thailand was provided as a point of comparison to our country. Yes they have a smaller population than us (69 million) and a higher per capita GDP, but to directly connect population size to improved quality of life is misleading. I observed firsthand that in Thailand they have better infrastructure, a lively agriculture sector and a booming tourism industry. Despite their tumultuous political history, they do not allow turmoil in that sphere to affect basic public services. Bangkok, which has just a slightly lower population than Manila, has effective LRT’s and flowing traffic. The drivers are disciplined as well.
Clearly it is good governance and public responsibility which contributed to their success, two things that are sorely lacking in our country. Further proof of large populations with high development: Brazil, Mexico and Russia. These three have way more people than us and are also Christian-majority nations, they score highly according to the Human Development Index (HDI) and have per capita GDP’s higher than ours.
If these nations could do it, then we could, too. If only we stopped bastardizing our institutions like Congress, or public health, or social services. If only the masses give a damn about civility on the road and cleanliness on our streets. If only our clergy would do their job to evangelize and bring grace to people instead of being de facto political activists on one extreme or bureaucrats on the other.
The solid, modern republic is based on two foundations: Classical reason and Judeo-Christian tradition. If only we truly lived out our Christian faith in deed and used common sense, then we could rise up from our slump.