Quezon City, Philippines, Jul 27, 2007 / 08:55 am
In her state of the nation address, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo committed to fighting poverty and hunger and to generating foreign investments — a plan that pleases some of the country’s Catholic bishops.
"It is my wish that the Philippines be among the ranks of developed nations in 20 years," Arroyo said in her July 23 address. "By then, poverty shall have been marginalized and the (former) marginalized raised to a robust middle class." Her term ends in 2010.
Just hours before Arroyo’s speech, Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel told UCA News that the government must urgently address the problem of hunger in the country.
Bishop Gutierrez, chairman of the bishops' social justice and peace commission, said Arroyo's administration "has done something" to address poverty, such as government-funded stores in communities that sell basic goods and rice to people without profit. However, government programs must aspire to develop more permanent food security, the bishop insisted.