Santosh Digal
Manila, The Philippines: “Pondo ng Pinoy’ (PnP or funds of Filipinos) is helping the poor for last 13 years addressing the poverty.
PnP is small, simple but sustained acts of love everyday in everyone for the sake of the poor, by the poor. It has gathered over 403,800 US Dolars crumbs since 2004. It has supported over 1,500 projects all over the country and helped more than 200,000 people through its funded projects as of 2017, Anthony A. Badilla, executive secretary, told Matters India.
At present 30 dioceses out of 86 dioceses in the country participate in PnP.
“PnP is a movement that aims to develop a Filipino culture rooted deeply in the love of God and our neighbours most especially the poor. This is done through little but repeated acts of compassion, solidarity and sharing,” Badilla added.
“We are a community foundation born out of the daily contribution of concerned people that supports programmes benefiting the poor. As a movement and as a community foundation, PnP calls on all Filipinos to care for others so as to attain the fullness of life in God,” he said.
PnP was the brainchild of Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales, former archbishop of Manila and it was launched on June 11-12, 2004. Its primary objective is integral evangelization that is bring the Good News of salvation and liberation to the whole person, to all persons, by penetrating every facet of human living with the vision of God’s Kingdom. PnP aims to operationalize the love of Jesus daily, as it reverses society’s neglect of the poor by bringing them to the center of Filipino consciousness especially in four major areas, namely, health, livelihood opportunities, alternative and practical skills developments and housing.
PnP serves the needy within and beyond the Catholic Church, even as the Church remains as the initiator, promoter and steward of funds.
Church educates people to promote the vision of PNP focusing on the movement’s spiritual and cultural values of love of God and neighbors, symbolized by the ‘crumbs’ (theology of crumbs—typified 25 centavos—the lowest denomination in Filipino currency). As the foundation’s primary steward, the Board of Trustees heading the movement is composed of distinguished lay leaders who have shown commitment and competence in community service, religious, priests and bishops.
The four-point progamme components of PnP are education, promotion, gathering of the ‘crumbs’ and the distribution of the ‘crumbs.’ Education focuses on consciousness development mainly through sacred scriptures and the social doctrines of the Church and enshrined by learning the vision, mission, goals and values of PnP, Morena A. Cosare, programme officer, said.
“PnP is the direct proclamation of the Gospel values of Jesus and gathering of the ‘crumbs’ is the icon of charity neihbour as part of its catechetical framework. It basically cultivates a spirituality of social transformation through the formation of social conscience, built up a participatory church and caring community through a life-long process of learning and self-giving to the poor and to imbibe the culture with the values of the gospel in the spirit of ecumenism and inter-religious dialogue,” Cosare said.
The underlying principle of PnP fosters the spirit of giving and sharing of the crumbs. “PnP is a distinctive model that includes that poor are not only the beneficiaries of funds for their wellbeing and social and economic empowerment, but also active participants in the whole process of it,” she added.
PnP is one of the ways of the church’s effort to address poverty in the Philippines, where nearly 28 million people are poor, about 31 per cent of the population.
Many Catholic theologians have lauded the efforts of PnP.
According to Fr. Fausto Gomez, OP, professor of moral theology at University of Santo Tomas, one of Asia’s oldest Catholic universities, “PnP is a brainchild of Cardinal Rosales, who developed passionately and compassionately what he calls the ‘theology of crumbs’ (Luke 1:19-31). This theology and spirituality is a theology of the small, small is beautiful. A good application and example of this theology is the daily donation to the PnP fund of 25 centavos only. It is a compelling project of social action, and as such it is grounded on the Social Doctrine of the Church.”
A scrap or a crumb given to PnP brings about change in the lives of people. Crumbs build homes, help educate children and youth, provide health care for the sick and aged and set employment possibility through micro-financing and entrepreneurial programmes, said Msgr. Gerardo O. Santos, a noted theologian in the country.