Don’t blame others for your misery — bishop

Stop the bad habit of blaming other people for one’s misery.

An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) urged the Filipino faithful to include this in their New Year’s resolutions for 2018.

Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of CBCP public affairs committee, believes that changing such bad habit could make Filipinos more productive.

“Filipinos should stop blaming others and the habit of fingerpointing. We are very fond of this,” he said in an interview on New Year’s Eve.

The CBCP official believes that this necessary change should apply to people in government as well, citing the practices of an administration blaming the previous one and of the people perenially blaming the government for their hardships.

“We Filipinos always blame our government,” he lamented in Filipino.

To recall, President Duterte was quoted several times blaming the administration of former president Benigno Aquino III for problems inherited by the Duterte administration.

When Aquino was elected president 2010, he also blamed government problems to the administration of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Secillano suggested to the faithful to also include in New Year’s resolutions the initiative to do what is right.

“We should be the ones to do what is right. That is what we Filipinos lack. We always depend on other people,” he explained. “Let us all be productive citizens of this country.”

‘Pray for others’

Meanwhile, the new head of the CBCP, Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles, reminded the faithful to pray for other people especially in the wake of calamities that recently hit Mindanao.

“Let us pray for all and each one, so that when we welcome the New Year even with darkness and so much suffering we will keep our faith in the mercy and compassion of the Lord. Will keep our hope that through our kindness and care for each other, people will know and feel that the Lord is love,” he said in a prayer aired over Church-run Radio Veritas.

Mindanao, including Davao, was recently struck by Tropical Storm Vinta, which left 40 people dead and devastated thousands of families in Compostela Valley, Davao del Norte, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Misamis Oriental.

In Duterte’s hometown, 38 people were also killed when fire gutted the NCCC Mall last Dec. 23.