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GLOBAL CRISIS

In Philippines, even the church feels financial pinch

AFP, Manila
Evangeline Rellanos has been selling candles outside San Pedro Cathedral in the heart of the Philippines' Davao City since she was seven years old -- but she has never seen business this bad.
"It's terrible," she told AFP. "This time last year I was selling more than 200 candles a day to worshippers. Today I am lucky if I sell 100."
"It's the financial crisis," the 22-year-old said with a shrug. "People are worried and are saving their money.
"Even my mother who sells clothing for religious icons has been forced to drop her prices substantially so people will buy."
It's a familiar story for many vendors who make a living selling religious icons outside the 161-year-old cathedral.
They are not the only ones feeling the pinch -- so is the powerful Roman Catholic Church which dominates this Southeast Asian archipelago of 90 million.
Attendances are up, according to the Church, but donations are dropping, indicating that while many ordinary Filipinos are finding comfort in the pews during these straitened times, they are keeping a hand in their pockets.
Archbishop Oscar Cruz, of the northern province of Pangasinan, told Radio Veritas that in his diocese collections had dropped by as much as 40 percent, despite a 20 percent rise in attendance.
"Since the crisis began last year collections have fallen off by around 40 percent," he told Veritas.
"Whenever life is hard and the people are struggling you'll see more people going to church.
"And since life is hard for the people, their donations are affected."
More than 27 million Filipinos -- nearly one in three -- live on a dollar a day or less, according to official figures.
About a third of the labour force is jobless or underemployed, and around eight million have gone abroad for temporary work.
When economic growth fig-
ures for 2008 are released next Thursday, they are likely to show the Philippines contracted to between 4.2 and 4.5 percent after hitting a 30-year high in 2007 of 7.2 percent.
This year growth is expected to be around 4.0 percent.
Labour Secretary Marianito Roque has warned that up to 60,000 jobs may be lost this year, mainly in the export-oriented electronics and garments sector,
due to plunging global demand.
A survey by the Social Weather Stations at the end of last year found that 52 percent of Filipino families consider themselves to be poor while a further 24 percent said they were borderline.
While the government admits the global economic crisis is having an effect here, the full impact has been cushioned by remittances sent home by overseas Filipino workers.
Remittances for last year are expected to total around 15 billion dollars, representing around 10 percent of gross domestic product
Manila's archbishop Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales said recently that despite the crisis, "Filipinos have a trait that is sometimes overlooked, especially when there is a crisis... faith in God."
While Church leaders are reluctant to talk specifics when it comes to money and attendances, they readily admit they are facing a cash problem.
In the Archdiocese of Palo, on the central island of Leyte, the Church is looking at how to improve its finances as donations dwindle.
Monsignor Bernardo Patin, parish priest of Saints Peter and Paul church in Ormoc city, said parishes were seeing low collections, and would have to stud)’ "new ways to raise funds" in order to maintain buildings and carry on helping the poor.
Monsignor Achilles Dakay. the spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cebu in the central Philippines, said he could not say for certain if donations had fallen off due to the financial crisis.
"We don't keep track of these things," he said, adding collections are the responsibility of local parishes.
Still, Cebu parish priest Bryan Brigoli told AFP that if the absence of big notes was any indication, then "yes, there has been a drop in donations."
"You no longer see a single 1,000-peso note or 500-peso note these days in the collection box." he said. At current rates. 1,000 pesos is just over two dollars.
"All you can see are coins and some 20-peso notes — the last time I saw a 1,000-peso offering was last June."