In this episode we answered one of the world’s most controversial question, “does God tolerate poverty?”. God is the one who “hears” the “cry” of the poor and “comes to their aid”; he “protects” and “defends” them; he “rescues” and “saves” them.
The poor will never find God indifferent or silent in the face of their plea. God is the one who renders justice and does not forget (cf. Ps 40:18; 70:6); he is their refuge and he never fails to come to their assistance (cf. Ps 10:14). He even highlights it in the Beatitudes with which Jesus began his preaching of the kingdom of God open with the words: “Blessed are you who are poor” (Lk 6:20)? The meaning of this paradoxical message is that the kingdom of God belongs to the poor because they are the ones who are in a position to receive it.
Joining us today is the former President of CFC Ancop Global Foundation. He also served as a member of the CFC International Council and concurrent Chairman of the CFC Ancop Global Foundation, Inc.
The transcript is available below the video.
TRANSCIPT
ROBERT LABAYEN
Hi brothers and sisters, welcome. We’re here again in our “What Ails You?” series. I’m Robert Labayen your host, journeying with you on this path to healing.
Last time we had with us here our brother Bboy and wife Rachel Arguelles, they talked about “What Ails Your Marriage?”. They shared some beautiful insights and some tips on enhancing our relationships and also talked about a few things from the theology of the body to remind us about the purpose of man and woman.
If you haven’t seen that episode, just click on the link below. There are also other episodes of “What Ails You?” Please feel free to send your comments and feedback so we will know what you think of our conversations.
Today I welcome you to our eighth episode. As Christians we are always reminded to have compassion for our needy brothers and sisters. So today we’re going to shed some light on the topic, “What Ails the Poor?”
Joining us today is our brother from the International Council. He was my predecessor as sector head of Metro Manila South A, but he was a tough act to follow. Right now he’s concurrently Chairman of our ANCOP Global Foundation. So I think he’s the best person to talk about this topic, What Ails the Poor? Let me introduce to you our guest, Bro. Rudy Gaspillo. Hi brother.
RUDY GASPILLO
Hi Brother Roberto. It’s been a long time. How are you? Yeah, fine.
Thank you for having me today Brother Robert. I remember doing this with you when we recorded the Station ID for ABS-CBN in 2016. I am glad that you have applied your God-given talent in hosting this series for our brethren at Couples Prize to be inspired.
ROBERT
You know Brother Rudy, you were chosen for the SID because of your good looks. And same reason why they chose me to host this series. So you’re used to this interview now.
And you know, it’s a very relevant topic for our viewers. I will start with a psalm that says: “For the needy shall not always be forgotten, Nor the hope of the poor perish forever.” So I’m sure Brother Rudy can share some insights from that psalm.
RUDY
Yeah Brother Robert, it’s a timely psalm for this topic. We can relate to these words from the psalm. It’s a reality that everyone has experienced poverty. It may be personal, in our family, or in our community. The following questions probably ring a familiar sound to all of us:
How can God tolerate poverty? How can He let the poor suffer without coming to their aid? Why does He allow oppressors to prosper even more, instead of condemning their conduct—especially in the light of the sufferings of the poor?
ROBERT
You know, all of us here, brothers and sisters who are watching this episode, being taught that God is fair, these are questions that really hang over our heads, that we started with. Thankfully we have Bro. Rudy to tell us where we can seek answers.
RUDY
Yeah, I remember Pope Francis had this to say when he gave a message during the third World Day of the Poor, held in November 2019. He noted that the psalm mentioned above was composed at a time when arrogant and ungodly people haunted the poor, seeking to take possession even of what little they had and to reduce them to bondage.
The situation is not much different today. The economic crisis has not prevented large groups of people from accumulating fortunes that often appear even more inappropriate, when in the streets of our cities we daily encounter great numbers of poor who lack the bare necessities of life and are sometimes harassed and exploited.
ROBERT
Pope Francis always has meaningful words to say, you know. From the lack of basic necessities, opportunities, education, employment, the list is really long. So I’m sure our audience can relate to this.
So Bro. Rudy, can we dive into what ails the poor today?
RUDY
To answer that, Brother Robert, we need to get into a good look at the reality of the poor.
According to the World Bank, for example, the number of people living in poverty of less than $1.90 or 100 pesos a day per person steadily declined. But the trend was interrupted in 2020 when poverty rose due to COVID-19 crisis combined with the effects of conflict, Ukraine, and climate change.
ROBERT
No one in the world was really prepared for the pandemic when it started in 2019. When we were told to not come to work, we thought it was going to last only one week.
So when the COVID-19 started, I’m sure it became more difficult for many families because they couldn’t work. They had no way of earning money for their daily needs. So are there numbers we can look at, Bro. Rudy?
RUDY
There was a recent report published in 2021 that states that the global poor is estimated to have risen to 803 million in 2020, much greater than the 672 million initially expected.
The global poverty rate, which had been in steady decline this century, is likely to have increased to 10.10%, nearly reverting to the rate in 2017 instead of sinking to a new low of 8.7% as previously expected. Actually, in 2017, 877 million people live on $2 to $3 a day, that’s just 100 pesos to $1.50 a day. This is especially true for countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
ROBERT
It’s so hard to imagine how a family in the Philippines can live on 100 pesos for the whole day. So what other factors or events influence global poverty, Bro. Rudy?
RUDY
Again, I’ll cite the World Bank, which states that between 75 to 95 million additional people could be living in extreme poverty in 2022 this year, compared to the pre-COVID-19 projections. Due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, high inflation rates, war in Ukraine, research suggests that the effects of the current crisis will continue to be felt until 2030 in most countries.
ROBERT
2030 is still a few years away from today, but we can already feel how hard life is today. So Bro. Rudy, can you elaborate more on the current state of poverty here in the Philippines?
RUDY
In the Philippines, again, I refer to the statistics of the Asian Development Bank, that released in April 2022 the report, the statistics that 23.7% of the population in the Philippines, or about 26.11 million Filipinos, live below the poverty line.
And these numbers are not just mere statistics. These are actual people who are suffering from the lack of basic necessities, lack of opportunities, lack of education, lack of employment, and many more. The list of ails that is affecting the poor is long.
ROBERT
Brother Rudy, you are very good with numbers. These numbers are sad numbers. These are not just statistics. These are real people. These are actual people. And many of our brothers and sisters, including myself, are part of these statistics. I’m in those numbers.
So you mentioned a lot of ails, Brother Rudy. What are the most important problems faced by the poor in our society?
RUDY
Basically, Brother Robert, I can list three of them. Just the three. There are so many, but I just mentioned the three. One is social discrimination. Second is housing. And third is subculture of poverty.
Let us discuss social discrimination first. The poor are looked down upon by their employers, the rich, officials, and even the government. They are considered a burden on society. They can’t defend themselves from harassment, humiliation, and discrimination at every level. They must face the challenges of illiteracy and social prejudice.
ROBERT
There’s a saying in the Philippines, right? Mahirap, maging mahirap (It’s difficult to be poor). Because aside from lacking in material things, you also lack in respect. People don’t look at you with that much respect. As you said, they put you down. So they become the targets of attack and hostility by the powerful. We see it in the news every day.
RUDY
The next one I would like to emphasize, Bro. Robert, is houselessness. No housing. Overcrowding, slums, and rental loss, or even serious problems in urban areas. The family’s dwelling unit and the neighborhood within which it is located are important elements in the problems associated with poverty. The houses of the poor are not only overcrowded, but they lack privacy. As a result, there are so many things actually reported with problems related to those. Poverty forces living in substandard houses and leaves little for the needs of decent living. The deficient housing contributes to the weakening of family solidarity also.
Lastly, when poverty is transmitted over generations, it becomes a culture. This is according to Oscar Lewis, an American anthropologist, best known for his study on how the culture of poverty transcends national boundaries. Although the membership of the poor changes to an important degree over the generations, the successive generations resemble each other in behavior and values as a product of the common experiences of being poor and subjected to similar social pressures. This is the subculture of poverty.
ROBERT
Brothers and sisters, I’m sure you can relate to what Bro. Rudy is saying, although it makes you sad. I hope you keep on listening. Bro. Rudy, would you like to elaborate some more?
RUDY
That was the generic part of our discussion. But again, Bro. Robert, according to the same message by Pope Francis, on the third World Day of the Poor, we must acknowledge the many new forms of bondage that enslave millions of men and women, young people and children.
These bondages come in, such as the daily encounter of families forced to leave their homes to seek living elsewhere. Orphans who have lost their parents or were violently torn from them by brutal means of exploitation. Victims of different kinds of violence, ranging from prostitution to the narcotics trade and profoundly demeaned. The millions of immigrants who fall victim to concealed interests are often exploited for political advantage and are refused equality. And finally, all the homeless and the ostracized persons who roam the streets of our cities. And many more.
We must ask ourselves, how many times do we see poor people rummaging through the garbage bins in the hope of finding something to live on or to wear? We have come to the point where the poor has become part of a human garbage bin. They are treated like refuse, without the slightest sense of guilt on the part of those who are accomplices in this scandal.
They are not even forgiven for their poverty. And they are judged as parasites in society. They are seen as a threat or useless simply because they are poor.
ROBERT
I can say, Bro. Rudy, that there’s not a single day in our lives that we don’t see a poor person around us. And we know the kind of treatment that they get. As we said earlier, they don’t get the respect that a human being should get. There’s so much harm around them from the environment, even from the people around them. This is a sad reality that we must recognize today.
RUDY
You got it right, Brother Robert.
And again, according to the Holy Father, we see before us that many poor people are often maligned and barely tolerated. They are practically invisible and voiceless in our modern society. These men and women are increasingly strangers amid our houses and outcasts in our neighborhoods. To be treated as strangers and outcasts and not as fellow human beings, equal in dignity and rights, is perhaps the poor’s greatest ill today.
ROBERT
Bro. Rudy, every naive mind will ask, what is God doing? How is God responding to this dilemma? People might think that He can easily command with a snap of His finger that all this will be over. But please explain to us how God is at work.
RUDY
God, as Jesus revealed to us, is a Father who is generous, merciful, and unfailing in His goodness and grace, especially to the poor. He never fails to respond to them. I have three things I’d like to share with you and our audience.
First, God acts on behalf of the poor. Second, God uses poverty to teach. And lastly, God empowers the poor to evangelize.
ROBERT
That’s very interesting, Bro. Rudy. I’m really curious about what you said, God acting on behalf of the poor.
RUDY
Actually, God is one who hears their cry. Just like ANCOP, “Answering the Cry Of the Poor”. Actually, ANCOP is God’s program for us. God comes to their aid. He protects and defends them. He rescues and saves them. Indeed, the poor will never find God indifferent or silent in the face of their plea.
God is the one who renders justice and does not forget. He is their refuge, and He never fails to come to their assistance. How can we fail to note that the Beatitudes which Jesus began, His preaching of the Kingdom of God, opened with the words, the introduction, He said: Blessed are you who are poor.
The meaning of this paradoxical message is that the Kingdom of God belongs to the poor. Because they are the ones who can receive it.
ROBERT
Yes, yes. It gives us a better understanding of why Jesus said that the poor are blessed. So, how does God use poverty to teach?
RUDY
Yes. Let us never forget that for Christ’s disciples, poverty is—above all—a call to follow Jesus in His own poverty.
Jesus’ spirit of poverty being born in a manger. It means walking behind Him and beside Him, a journey that leads to the Beatitude of the Kingdom of Heaven. Poverty means having a humble heart that accepts our limitations and sinfulness, and thus enables us to overcome the temptation to feel omnipotent and immortal.
It is an interior attitude, by the way, that avoids looking upon money, career, and luxury as our goals in life, and the condition of our happiness. It instead creates the conditions for freely shouldering our personal and social responsibilities, despite our limitations, with trust in God’s closeness and support of His grace.
Poverty, understood, Bro. Robert, in this way, is the yardstick that allows us to judge how best to use material goods and to build relationships that are neither selfish nor possessive.
ROBERT
I gather from you, Bro. Rudy, that we can learn a lesson of humility from poverty when we answer His call for us to be His disciples. Earlier, you mentioned about poor and evangelization. Would you like to explain that, Brother?
RUDY
The poor, as attested to in salvation history, has a special insight into the good news and the person of Jesus Himself.
The situation of the poor, which we should not tolerate, the condition of dehumanizing poverty and planned injustice to keep them poor—are all horrible. But it is the Good News that even in that horrible situation, God enters. And as we know, when God enters their situation, the poor are also graced with certain insight, with a certain wisdom, which the non-poor seldom see.
They should not be deprived of that Good News. And not only that, the poor are also given the call and the grace to be evangelizers of all the world. As Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 11:25 “Father, Lord of heaven and earth, I thank you because you have shown to the unlearned what you have hidden from the wise and the learned.“
ROBERT
It sounds like God is using poverty to bring us wisdom and understanding. Is that right, Bro Rudy? Now, let’s talk about CFC. What is our community doing to respond to the ails of the poor?
RUDY
Yeah, I believe in that, Brother Robert. And our community is really in the right track because faith without action is dead.
You know, Pope Francis concluded on the first World Day of the Poor in 2017 with this message: “It is my wish that in the week preceding the World Day of the Poor, Christian communities or even individuals will make every effort to create moments of encounter and friendship. Solidarity and concrete assistance.”
Thanks and praise be to God, we have clear and dynamic response in the program of CFC ANCOP, which stands for Answering the Cry of the Poor, CFC’s work with the poor.
ROBERT
I think every member knows how ANCOP has been a blessing to the community and to the people we serve.
Bro. Rudy, I know that you are the most humble person on earth. You don’t want to talk about achievements. But I think if you would tell us what we have done so far with ANCOP, our members would be encouraged and inspired.
RUDY
There are so many things that I cannot contain right now. I’ll just give a glimpse of what we’ve been doing in ANCOP. I know the Lord blessed us so much.
CFC ANCOP provides education for college, high school, and even elementary students, and even seminarians as its main thrust. TVET, for example, our Technical-Vocational Educational Training for parents and out-of-school youths. Through the mobile training centers, we are now 11 units in partnership with TESDA, Don Bosco, DCI.
Free housing for the homeless in partnership with big institutions like SMDC, Empire East, Cross Catholic Outreach in the USA, and even within our community from the various parts of the world.
ROBERT
I think I know so many of those things that you mentioned. I feel privileged to be part of some of those things. We have a community development program that provides shelter for the homeless. We have calamity and disaster relief to those affected by frequent calamities in the Philippines and other parts of the world, I suppose.
We also have this great and wonderful love offering, which we launched last year to help the families of people affected by COVID. Is that right brother Rudy?
RUDY
We have also assisted our brethren in Ukraine, especially during this war. We have brothers and sisters from the US helping them to transport them from the borders to safe places. And also during the calamities in India, we have also extended assistance.
The poor, for example, those affected by pandemic—I can see some photos in our social media, group chats, and so on. Imagine a priest holding a mass in a chapel damaged by a typhoon, with just a roof over the altar, and the rest are in tents. So this is where Bro Joe Tale mentioned about CFC ANCOP Build My Church.
I am calling this spiritual poverty. Not all of us, when we are challenged, when we are faced with difficulties, what we are looking for always is hope. That’s why the Build My Church program will address this by providing them the right venue for them to commune with God and ask for hope.
ROBERT
We just don’t care about the body, but our soul.
RUDY
In fact, spiritual poverty is even worse than physical poverty. So, in the other programs, CFC ANCOP has partnered with UNILAB Foundation, Rotary Clubs, and even the Development Bank of the Philippines to set up and provide health programs through our mobile clinic. This will be launched on June 18 in the Clergy Lay Congress, and I hope I can also share in there.
But I’d like also to focus on, right now, the health centers that we are planning for all the ANCOP sites in the Philippines. The health centers, we will be providing health centers in all ANCOP sites. That is in partnership with UNILAB. As we speak, Bro. Robert, we are also now preparing a cost estimate to build 1,000 houses for the victims of the eruptions. This is in partnership with the SMDC.
Actually, our team of engineers and consultants right now are working, and we are given just one week to submit the estimate and the proposal. You can see, Bro. Robert, how God is active in a concrete way in alleviating poverty. And I praise God for making our community through CFC ANCOP programs a part of His plan.
ROBERT
It is actually really heartwarming to know that many of our brothers and sisters are willingly sharing for this work, and also that we’re able to get partners like you mentioned, UNILAB, the SMDC, etc., doing this work of God.
But I know that there’s still so much to be done. For example, there’s a calamity every year. So our work is far from over, Brother Rudy.
RUDY
Yeah, it is far from over, because the Lord said, for the poor will always be there. Actually it is our challenge, our call to holiness.
God’s call for us to care for our less fortunate brothers and sisters remains ever more relevant today, now than ever. Let us continue with what we are already doing, CFC ANCOP and our great and wonderful love offering, and explore and pursue new and creative means to help the poor.
You know, Brother Robert, it is fitting to end using the closing statements of Pope Francis during the third World Day of the Poor:
The Lord does not abandon those who seek Him and call upon His name. He does not forget the cry of the poor, for His ears are attentive to their voice. The hope of the poor defies deadly situations. For the poor know that God especially loves them, and this is stronger than any suffering or exclusion. Poverty does not deprive them of their God-given dignity. They live in the certainty that it will be fully restored to them by God Himself, who is not indifferent to many of His lowliest sons and daughters.
On the contrary, He sees their struggles and sorrows, takes them by the hand, and gives them strength and courage. The hope of the poor is confirmed in the certainty that their voices are heard by the Lord, that in Him they will find true justice, and that their hearts will be strengthened and continue to love.
ROBERT
Thank you for this insight, Brother Rudy. Actually, you are sharing God’s wisdom on poverty.
So, to wrap up this discussion, I think what you’re saying is that the ails of the poor are the new forms of bondage and discrimination that keep them from arising from their current situation. These realities have made the poor more defenseless, they are outcasts, they are invisible and voiceless in our society and our struggles.
What else can you add, Brother Rudy?
ROBERT
Again, just to add to what I previously mentioned, God never fails to respond to the poor’s needs by acting on their behalf, using their poverty to teach, and empowering the poor to evangelize.
On a personal note, Brother Robert, I can affirm how God helped our family, my family. Many of you know already my story, my humble beginning, and that will be covered in another episode.
RUDY
Yes, Brother Rudy, your life story is one of the most inspiring we have heard. For those of you who have not heard Bro. Rudy’s story, watch out for it, it will come out as a movie. (laughs)
Thank you, Bro. Rudy, for sharing all these things and also for encouraging us and giving us hope and inspiration. Thank you, and also those who have been with us to also share their knowledge and experiences, and I think we are more prepared as a community to address the challenges in our daily lives.
Bro. Rudy, there are so many people we have to pray for, especially the poor, so maybe you can lead us in prayer?
RUDY
Before I start with the prayer, brothers and sisters, I know there’s a lot of things that we need to do because the poor will always be there. So just join me and may this prayer be yours too, saying the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Lord, you have blessed us with so much. You provide a roof over our heads. You provide us with abundance of food on our table. We have friends and opportunity to get an education. We have convenience like computers, iPads. You have blessed us with so many things. How you keep us safe, how you protect those we love how you give us opportunity every single day to love You.
We cannot express enough how grateful we are for these things Lord, but Lord there are so many people around us who are so much less, there are those that have no idea what life is like outside poverty. These are those living every night on the streets faced with dangers beyond imagination. Every day is a struggle for them to live.
There are those with health and psychological issues that cannot live normally. And Lord, we know there are people around the world starving there are children dying every day from starvation. There are places where an education is such a privilege, a majority of people never have the opportunity to learn.
We ask you Lord to intervene in these cases. We know that you have a plan. You say that the poor in spirit will inherit the kingdom of heaven. We also pray Lord that you always give us a generous heart for those who have less that we always feel a need to do your work here on earth.
All this we ask and pray in the Mighty name of Your Son Jesus our Lord, Amen. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
ROBERT
Thank you, brothers and sisters for joining us in this episode of the “What Ails You?” series. I’m sure you found this episode inspiring. as we are reminded to share love to people around us. And if you find this episode meaningful also to people that you know, please feel free to share. And if you want to see the other episodes just click subscribe and the notification bell. Don’t forget also to share your comments and feedback so we will know what you think of the conversations.
May we never forget that through, in, and with Christ, there is healing. This is Bro. Robert Labayen, your host. God bless you and your family.