MAKATI CITY, Philippines (UCAN) -- An organization of business leaders and Catholic bishops has started an experimental year of collaboration in Church-based, private and public projects for rural and urban poor.

At a 31st anniversary gathering, former senator Vicente Paterno told about 45 men and women members there is "need to share" more than just money with the poor. This year, members of the Bishops-Businessmen's Convergence (BBC) for Human Development will start "sharing time and talent," the group's national vice co-chairperson said July 6 at the BBC annual assembly. It was held at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City, south of Manila.

Paterno announced the group had changed its name from Bishops'-Businessmen's Conference to reflect members' decision to help poor people by working with Church projects. "We businessmen do not know the poor, so we must 'converge' with our bishops," Paterno said during the assembly titled "The Business of Building Peace: Addressing the Issues of Rural and Urban Poverty."

However, giving their time and using their skills in Church, civic and NGO projects is only the "first step," he continued. Members plan to work with six rural and urban poor projects whose representatives presented to the assembly ways through which BBC members could help.

In Jaro archdiocese on Panay Island, central Philippines, the Social Action Center has a Shelter, Health, Education, Employment and Food plan that could use the BBC's help, reported Monsignor Meliton Oso, center director. He told the assembly that since 2005, only 60 of a planned 1,600 houses have been built because funds were lacking.

Monsignor Oso also asked the BBC's help in setting up affordable drugstores for the more than 2.3 million people in the archdiocese's territory, so they can buy medicine at lower cost. The archdiocese now runs three stores. "There is need for cheap drugs and management training," the priest said.

National BBC leaders agreed it will help market yacon, a sweet tuber also known as "earth apple," and citrus from Bayombong diocese in Nueva Vizcaya province, about 200 kilometers north of Manila. It will do the same with castor oil beans from Cagayan de Oro archdiocese in the southern Philippines.

Three other projects the BBC will work with are run by private groups in urban areas. In his presentation, Rizaldy Arivan, president of Payatas Scavenger Association in Novaliches, east of Manila, said his project needs organizational management training. The 14-year-old NGO builds houses for members and offers education, health and rehabilitation services for disabled people.

Cecilia Flores-Oebanda of Visayan Forum Foundation Inc., an NGO sheltering trafficked women in Manila, asked the BBC to help lobby for the passage of a bill in Congress to protect women from illegal work contracts. Another group, Quezon City Public Employment Service Office, asked the BBC to provide employment fairs and programs. Quezon City is just northeast of Manila.

According to 2000 national statistics office estimates, 40 percent of Filipinos were considered poor.

Before discussions on poverty in cities, Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila issued a "call to action," asserting that "no one has the right not to help the poor." The bishop, who chairs Manila archdiocese's committee on housing, stressed that poverty is the "root cause of the unrest of the people, whether terrorist or communist." He warned there will be no "lasting peace" if poverty is not eradicated.

The BBC is a partnership of bishops and business leaders collaborating to uplift the "quality of life" of Filipinos "through promotion of social justice" and increasing "the nation's total wealth," the assembly program says.

Citing its treasurer's report last year, Paterno noted the group's declining membership.

Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel told UCA News many bishops have stopped attending meetings because they feel "the business community isn't listening." He cited bishops who felt the conference did not support Church leaders' call to stop mining operations in their areas.

The BBC elected seven bishops to its board along with eight business leaders. Besides Bishop Pabillo, the prelates include Archbishop Antonio Ledesma of Cagayan de Oro and Bishops Antonio Tobias of Novaliches, Deogracias Iniguez of Kalookan and Socrates Villegas of Balanga. Auxiliary Bishops Bernardino Cortez of Manila and Pablo David of San Fernando complete the list.

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(Accompanying photos available at here)