DLSU & THE FORD FOUNDATION

after writing and publishing the post below, i decided to make a short visit at de la salle university's (dlsu) website just to check out what's new. after waiting for the flash components to load, something caught my attention: THE FORD FOUNDATION (TFF). it rang a bell. i thought i've read some bloggers discussing FORD FOUNDATION for reasons i couldn't remember. so i did a google search and i came up with some sites here, here and here.

it seems the foundation has been supporting pro-abortion groups, especially the pseudo-Catholic group *Catholics For Free Choice* (CFFC). having this background and reputation, i find dlsu's acceptance of a grant from the foundation very suspicious, if not totally surprising. in fact i think dlsu was the one that initiated everything. the foundation by nature is passive. it doesnt prowl the world looking for people, organizations and projects to fund. it simply stays put and let's them apply for the grant. then the move, the application for the grant most probably was initiated by dlsu. one then may ask why ford foundation? there are other foreign and local foundations out there. was dlsu aware of the foundation's pro-abortion stance?

but i could be wrong. perhaps the foundation may have initiated the contact. i'm not sure. i'm not familiar with the circumstances. but i'm troubled with the message this relationship sends. it is good that they get to help people, but what are the nuances behind this help?

reading further into dlsu's newsletter, i found that the relationship has been around since 1993. when i saw this, i thought i jumped into conclusions again and that dlsu and tff may have had this relationship prior to tff's support of cffc. it turned out that tff supported cffc prior to dlsu. so the suspicion remains.

and check this out *The Health Social Science Graduate Program of the Behavioral Sciences Department has been a TFF beneficiary since its inception in 1993. In the past decade, students of the program from outside Metro Manila benefitted from more than US$1 million worth of TFF scholarships... The 14-month graduate training course aims to impart a holistic understanding of the cultural and social dimensions of health research, health program design, implementation and evaluation and also instill sensitivity to gender issues.* this really bothers me. now let's see... the foundation supports abortion groups. abortion is considered a health/medical issue. now the foundation supports dlsu's medical graduate program. it's up to you to connect the dots. but i say that a conflict of interests exists here.

i'm not sure if dlsu is doing the *take the money and run* strategy, that is, to take the money without turning its back to the principles on life that the worldwide institution its claims to represent and serve upholds. even if that is the case, dlsu's actions would be still be morally objectionable.

plus, the very fact that tff grants money, it puts itself in a position to pressure the university or at least persuade it to take up a stand which may not be in totally violative of the church's teachings but still tolerant of the anti-life policies of ford foundation. and the pressure would not be on the university alone but also on the beneficiaries of the fund. this would not be fair to students, especially when the organization funding their studies might lead them to consider abortion as a medical good in their studies.

i wanted to be fair, so i tried to understand what ford foundation is all about, particularly its policies and positions, especially regarding life issues. but i couldn't find it in its website. although it states its fundamental mission, it is silent on other issues, issues like abortion.

something's wrong indeed. but then again, i'm not that fond of dlsu. i never actually felt at home within its walls. my friends could attest to that. but i am pro-life, and when i see the ugly head of pro-abortion groups popping out, i'm gonna scream bloody hell at them. but i doubt dlsu will listen. too much money at stake you see, and dlsu knows how to set its priorities.