Ninoy Aquino on Christian Socialism

Ninoy Aquino on Christian Socialism

Wilshire Ebell Theater

Los Angeles, California,

USA

15 February 1981

What do I mean by Christian Socialism, very simply Christian Socialism means to me, an equal opportunity for advancement and the full development of the human being. This means that the poorest person in the land must be given the equal opportunity for education. 

Not all men are created equal in their talents some are more brilliant than others. But we must give every citizen of the republic the equal right and equal opportunity to quality education, that’s number one. 

Number two, the Christian socialist believes that the great legitimizer of government is the ballot not the bullet. And therefore because we believe in the ballot, we believe in a majority rule. 

So that if the majority should opt or should win in a contest then the minority should accept the majority mandate. But we put a colatilla – that the majority even if it wins must respect minority rights. Number three, we do not believe in the exploitation of man by man. Meaning we do not believe in unbridled capitalism where the rich will get richer and the poor will get poorer.

In a developed country like America you may have capitalism, but in a country like the Philippines with very meager resources and a developing economy, we must harness our meager economy and maximize their benefit. 

And therefore there should be centralized economic planning and the government must actually give us the direction so as to prevent any overlap. 

Example, in the Philippines today because it is profitable to have condominiums, and profitable to have office buildings, all the millionaires in the Philippines are putting up all their money in office buildings and condominiums to the detriment of our industrial development, they go where the quick buck is. 

I believe that we should go where the long range interest of the Filipino people is. Finally I do not believe in the monopoly of basic industries. 

Why should one family monopolize one electric company in thePhilippines? Or why should one family monopolize the ownership of one airline company in the Philippines? Or why should one company monopolize the telephone company in the Philippines? 

Since the government is funding all of these to begin with, these families are borrowing from government institutions and must depend on government guarantees, then I say let the government own them and let the people share in the profit. Christian socialism therefore is nothing more than democracy."