Bishop Gerardo A. Alminaza urged Church leaders and labor organizations to place human dignity at the heart of work and economic life during the Labor Consultative Assembly heldย at St. Joseph College Auditorium in Quezon City.
Speaking before nearly 500 union leaders from both moderate and militant groups, Alminaza anchored the Churchโs labor stance on the biblical phrase ๐ซ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ป๐โLatin for โI have loved youโ (Rev. 3:9).
He said the message is especially meant for workers who endure insecurity, exclusion, and exploitation, reminding them that their worth comes from God, not from the market.
The bishop stressed that labor is more than an economic concern; it is the daily space where human dignity is either upheld or violated.
To respond to these realities, he introduced the ๐๐๐ฎ๐ช๐ข๐ framework, a Visayan concept metaphorically describing a communal process of healing and restoring what is broken.
Hayuma, he explained, calls for collective responsibility in addressing social, environmental, and community fractures caused by unjust systems.
Alminaza, President of Caritas Philippines, identified low wages, contractualization, unsafe workplaces, and forced migration as โdeep social woundsโ that demand organized and moral action.
Drawing from Catholic social teaching, he reiterated that workers are not commodities and that labor must take precedence over profit.
He also affirmed trade unions as vital expressions of solidarity and challenged Church institutions to lead by exampleโensuring just wages and decent working conditions within their own establishments.
The bishop linked Dilexi Te to the spirit of Pope Leo XIVโs 2025 Apostolic Exhortation of the same title, which emphasizes the Churchโs preferential option for the poor and continuity with Pope Francisโ vision for the marginalized.
He said the exhortation reinforces the Churchโs duty to stand with workers as part of its witness of love and justice in the modern world.
