MANILA, Philippines -- Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president and Jaro archbishop Angel Lagdameo Monday maintained that the P5-billion aid allocated by the government to the poor could be both pro- and anti-poor depending on how the fund is used.

Lagdameo, in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, also said justice and charity must prevail in the distribution of help to the country’s poorest of the poor.

“It would really be anti-poor if it (P5-billion fund) is given as doleouts to the poor. If it becomes simply a doleout, it does not help the poor completely,” the CBCP president said.

“I hope they (government) think creatively (on how to use the fund) and teach the poor how to work. Their own sweat and their own jobs to sustain their families. The (government) assistance then would last long,” he advised, pointing out that P5 billion would be a small sum of money to sustain a very large number of poor people in the country.

Lagdameo maintained that the Church has always believed that instead of giving the people fish, they should be taught and be given the means to catch fish.

“In the same sense that instead of just giving them (the poor) rice, it is better to give them incentives to become good farmers. They should not be made dependent on help from the government,” the CBCP president stressed.

“We do not discount that the country’s poor really need all the help they can get and the need is immediate, but even then, I hope the government comes up with a better way to use the fund,” he said, pointing out that a better alternative is to establish livelihood projects and seminars or to give employment to the poor.

Then, he explained, the assistance would sustain the poor for a longer period of time instead of for a short term and it would make the P5-billion fund “pro-poor.”

“I hope the financial aid really reaches those whom they intend to benefit. We have heard and read before of scams involving large sums of money from the government,” Lagdameo remarked.

He further emphasized, “Justice and charity must prevail (in the distribution).”

The CBCP president explained that the act of one placed in charge of distributing financial aid of actually handing out the money to beneficiaries instead of keeping it for himself out of concern for the poor, would already be “a simple act of justice and charity.”