Bishop favors use of ‘jejemon’ language in fight vs RH bill

The incoming vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is open to the use of the “jejemon" language in order to get the support of the Filipino youth in their fight against the Reproductive Health bill now pending in Congress. “The real battle is in the minds and hearts of our youth," said Archbishop Socrates Villegas, who, along with other officials of the CBCP, will assume their positions on December 1, in a statement released on Wednesday. He said the youth, which are “like parched dry sponge[s]," are “being misled by wrong teachings." “In their thirst, they absorb all and retain them regardless of the purity of source. I pity our youth," he said as he rallied the Catholic Church to “join the arena of public opinion" by using “new methods and approaches and even jejemon vocabulary to make the message of God convincing." Jejemon is a language used by many young Filipinos, usually used in texting and on the Internet, where they subvert the English language to the point of incomprehensibility. The Church opposes the passage of the RH bill, which is among the priority legislation of the Aquino administration, as it supposedly espouses artificial family planning methods. The Church only favors natural methods. In his statement, Villegas noted that the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, whom he considers as his mentor, had the heart for the youth and children. He said the Church should also reach out to the general public in fighting the RH bill. “It is not the duty of Churchmen to lobby in government offices. Our duty is to teach Christ and only Christ. Our duty is to form people’s minds and prick consciences and let those formed consciences speak up in the plaza of public opinion. This is lay empowerment," he said. Last week, Congress held its plenary debates on the controversial measure that will continue in the coming weeks. — KBK, GMA News