THE ZAMBOANGA STAND


THE CLCP MAGIS: THROUGH THE YEARS

(1967 – 2007)

THE ZAMBOANGA STAND

[CLCP General Council Meeting on December 26-30, 1971 Zamboanga City]


The Philippine National Federation of Christian Life Communities, feeling the urgency of the times, affirms along with other concerned groups the task of liberating our people and helping toward the total development of the nation.

We affirm that as Christians we are called to the work of liberation and development.  We believe that it is part of our Christian witness to affirm that the work of liberation and development is a fulfillment of the design of the Father.

In view of this we set for ourselves the following priorities as imperatives to be carried out and implemented.  We shall seek their implementation in our respective units, even as we take a stand on these priorities as a national federa-tion:

1.  We shall carry out a program towards the formation of the authentic Christian; we shall seek the formation and practice of a liturgy that incorporates Filipino life: its values, culture and problems.

2.  We will work and fight for the equitable distribution of goods and re-sources and help set up the structures that support this equitable distribu-tion.

3.  We shall help to carry out the task of liberation: to work with the victims of oppression so that they come out in full freedom and development; to work with those who unknowingly have lent themselves to the dehumaniz-ing conditions, for they, too, are in need of liberation.  We shall work for the development of the total man.

4.  The monopoly of political power, a damaging offshoot of our pseudo-democracy, continues to be the cause of so much injustice and violence.  We will do in our power what we can as a Christian community, to help break this source of tyranny and injustice.

5.  We call for an educational system that truly forms social consciousness in us Filipinos; we demand that the educational process truly and effectively plant in the Filipino a knowledge and pursuit of human values.

We are aware that this is a tremendous task that we have taken upon ourselves.  We perceive the painful implications of this Christian affirmation.  But we dare not keep silent, for the cause of the many injustices and inhumanities we want to fight against can very well be laid at our feet.  In these urgent times, to keep silent and not take a stand, to take a stand and not act on it is to deny the very essence of our Christian Commitment.


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