CBCP issues sequel statement

“The truth is not for all men, but only for those who seek it.” This was a quote from a Russian born American writer and novelist, Ayn Rand – I hope our bishops would comtemplate on it to guide their flock.

Iwas pusoy din CBCP kasi they were also politicized by the present regime.Hayyyy buhay its very hard to find the “TRUTH” here in the Philippines.It is time now to think , speak and walk hand in hand to get rid or change this government.

I was hoping that the CBCP will take into consideration all the things occured during the impeachment, all the bribings that Malacañang did to those Tongressman. But I was so dissapointed, the CBCP were taken for a ride, when they issued their Jul 10 statement demanding for a formation of a truth commision, Malacañang announced that they will do just that but where is the truth commision now……. surely they were taken for a ride of their life…….happy trip…..

DIFFERENT THEORIES have cropped up as to why the public seems to have shunned street protests to force the ouster of President Arroyo.

Some attribute it to what they termed as “people power fatigue.” Others believe it’s sheer frustration – you keep driving corrupt officials out of Malacañang only to install the same, if not worse, breed of opportunist, traditional politicians.

Let me offer one more.

Despite the rage, I think that the public has actually forgiven President Arroyo; except perhaps for the extreme militants and hard-line oppositionists who would forever depict her as the incarnation of Beelzebub.

That is one flaw of our culture that makes us different from our neighbors in the Asian region. South Korea sentenced former president Chun Doo-hwan to death. Another former president, Roh Tae-woo was meted 22½ years in jail. Both were found guilty of corruption and bribery. While Chun’s death verdict was commuted to life sentence and Roh’s jail term was reduced to just 17 years, both cases still proved that no one was above the law – in Seoul.

Here in the Philippines, Estrada may have been jailed. But the government kept him inside a villa replete with amenities that befit a king. Romeo Jalosjos, a rapist who was elected twice as congressman while behind bars, enjoys playing lawn tennis at the New Bilibid Prisons up to this day.

You ask today’s youth about Marcos and they’d even thank him for bringing to this world the beautiful Borgy Marcos Manotoc.

In the case of the current president, I surmise that forgiveness would be much swifter because – admit it or not- there’s a Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in every one of us.

We cheat. We don’t give the exact amount of jeepney fare. We use “kodigos” during quizzes and exams. We refuse to pay the right amount of taxes. We use defective weighing scales in wet markets.

We steal. We take home office supplies from our workplace. We use office equipment for personal purposes.

And we lie – about almost everything, everywhere, as often as we could and we get away with it.

In the event that she finishes her 10-year term, it will be left for history to judge GMA for what she has done to the people, to the country.

And history will also judge us for our apathy; for not exerting that extra effort to make her pay for her excesses.

_________
for similar articles and a daily dose of political humor, pls visit:
http://www.professionalheckler.blog-city.com

Do people really bother now about what the CBCP says? Does the number of people going to church now compared to that of 10 or 20 years ago show any indication of the faith of the people on the Church? People still believe in God, but doesn’t it look like people no longer seem much connection between the Church and God?

Pro-Act CBCPs Statement
How about pro-truth, pro-change people’s CBCPs –
Christian Believers’ Conference of the Phil,
Christian Businessmen’s Conference of the Phil,
Common-citizens for Bagong-bayan Caucus of the Phil,
Crusading Bloggers’ Conference of the Philippines
with a more pro-active statement:

1. Search for truth… vigilant against Pharisaical
interpretation of the letter of the law that kills the spirit of the law.
2. Moving on … vigilant against evils in society, causes of
extreme poverty, specially corrupt officials, particularly a lying,
cheating, stealing power-crazed usurper in Malacanang.
3. Gloria Arroyo is worse than the one she replaced.
GMA has lost the moral ascendancy to govern, not once! not just twice!! but many times over!!!
4. Pray harder,… prepare for and launch nation-wide,
multi-sectoral, non-violent, mass actions – ‘Truth-Power’ –
to demand GMA to step down.
5. Let’s have a constitutional, transition, coalition government
to bring about:
Stage 1: Stability – Emergency economic measures, Truth Commission
Stage 2: Reforms- Electoral Reform ( New Comelec), Re-organization of the military, Legislation/Const. Ammendment for snap election, plebiscite for chacha? or election concon delegates)
Stage 3: Election – National & Barangay, (Cha-cha Plebiscite or Concon delegates?)
Stage 4: Normalcy – conducive for fundamental social, political, economic reforms.

Above statment is not inconcistent with the Gospel. It is a duty and an obligation according to the Gospel to save the weakest of the weak and the poorest of the poor, millions of Filipinos, from dying of hunger and sickness each day GMA stays in Malacanang.

If ok
Please pass on to others.

the opinion of the bishops does not categorically state what really ails the nation at present, what it is that the Filipino need to know at present. Yes, there is grinding poverty staring at our faces. It is the same material poverty that we have been trying to address since time immemorial. But first we must be able to have clearly accept in our mind that the person who must lead us in the task of eradicating poverty is the person the people have ligitimately chosen to be thier leader and whon they could trust. I think this is the basic issue of the day. We cannot move on with our life until this baggage of doubt is first addressed properly.

Hoy, CBCP! Matakot kayo at baka bumaba ang Diyos at pagbabatukan kayo. Palibhasa, nandiyan lang kayo sa mga aircon nyong bahay at nagpapasasa sa mga donasyon ng mga naghihirap nyong lipi. Kaya nauubos ang mga katoliko dahil wala na rin silang tiwala sa inyo. Mas natuturuan ko pa ang mga anak ko ng moralidad kesa sa inyo. Sa Diyos nalang ako naniniwala at hindi sa inyo. Imulat niyo ang mga mata ninyo sa tunay na nangyayari sa paligid niyo. Panalangin ko lang na bulagin nalang kayo ng Diyos at gawing bingi dahil walang silbi yang mga mata at tenga niyo.

oo nga, pa release release pa kuno ng bagong statement ganun din pala. nagpapansin lang ang CBCP para magka media mileage.

huwag tayong mawalan ng pagasa dito sa CBCP. by december magkakaroon ng reorganization at mababago na pamunuan. hinde na si bishop capalla. sana God willing mabago statement nila. masakit man tanggapin malaki impluwensya ng mga pari. maraming katoliko, ang daming catholic schools na sunodsunuran lang ang mga namumuno sa dictate ng simbahan mga parochial churches na maraming din namang follower. sana sa december iba na ihep ng hangin. ipagpatuloy lang natin laban, TO SEEK FOR THE TRUTH AND JUSTICE!

Sa mga BISHOPS, yun daw nag BU-BULAG-BULAGAN at NAG-BI-BINGI-BINGIHAN ay NATUTULUYAN !!!

nakakawalang gana yang mga bishop na yan esp yang si capalla na sipsip kay gloria, kung ganyan lang kayo wag na kayong makielam. wala namang makikinig sa pinagsasabi nyo e.mayado kayong safe kung magsalita!!! magkano ba naharbat nyo sa gobyerno?

jonathan,

Do you think by moving on, and “focusing on economic on economic productivity” is really possible ? Unless we solve the problem that is GMA we cannot move on. Do you think she will be able to improve the economy ?

What investors will look for, in order to put their money in the philippines, is a credible leadership. Without a credible leadership we will not have stability. Even if we work 24 hours a day, it will not improve our economy. It will just add fuel to the “spending”of GMA, we will just have more ghost projects, more pork, and more money to bribe her supporters.

You just have to look at her track record, we gave her 4 yrs, did you see the economy growing? They were even boasting about the growth last year. But any economist will tell you that the growth was not because of her policies but because OF THE SPENDING DURING ELECTION!!

SO FOCUS ON ECONOMY, MOVE ON? ARE YOU KIDDING!!

BEING PROACTIVE DOESNT MEAN YOU TURN A BLIND EYE ON BAD DEEDS. Being proactive doesnt condone corruption and cheating. Being Pro active means you are an active observer and contributer to the solution. AND YOU CANNOT BE A PART OF THE SOLUTION IF YOU STOP PEOPLE FROM DOING WHAT THEY THINK IS THE BEST FOR ALL OF US!!

What you are doing now is not “proactive” and constructive criticism . It is called condoning and passivity! If your choosing that path well it is your choice, but please DO NOT STOP other people from doing the more righteous path!!!

CBCP is futile. They are suppose to be the Shepherd of the people. To lead/teach the people about truth, dignity, honesty, and to follow the commandments… To teach the people about right against wrong…

Our country today were clouded with deception, dishonesty, corruption, cheating, etc… This should be the time that they will make a stand about right and wrong for the people…

I’m so sad that CBCP has also been corrupted…I am a catholic myself but i’m saddened that even BISHOPS like them are corrupted…What are there morals now that they can not even make a solid stand between what is right and wrong… They look like they are playing safe. What for? Are they like the priars during the time of spanish occupation?

Being a catholic and donating to the church- I am really disappointed with the fact that they are obviously under the power of GMA. I am sure that as pious as they claim they are, they are politicized as well just like all the cronies of the president.
I am losing faith in the catholic church especially this events following the abusive attitude and the molestation of children by the priests in the world.
We should stop listening to them and stop our church donations and let them survive through GMA’s payoff for taking her side.
GMA and the church are as bogus as its other and only intent in perpetuationg corruption at the expense of the poor prople.

Still a shy comment, jonathan.

You seem to be engrossed with CBCP’s statement no.2 and looked at no.1 as a failure. So what is CBCP then to you?

A productive critic? You don’t even know the idea…

Money money money, ey? So jonathan thinks that the solution is producing more money for the government? for the country?

Whatever…

But if the treasury is being ransack… is it just ok?

You admitted it yourself, GMA survived at a hefty cost.

thanks to CBCP for being the beacons of sobriety! which is as it should be.

The separation of the church and state is JUST a political statement. Believing in ti it putting it out of context. Government as an institution needs this to facilitate a free hand in governance. So the general rule is to be separate.

But to us citizens… no such separation should hinder our views.

The palace has released a new statement with regards to the CBCP’s suggestion. Saludo said that the palace is not interested nor inclined to create a truth commision. As usual, nagbago na naman ng isip itong si pandak. I suggest that the CBCP call on all citizens to openly express their disgust of this government. I hope they take a stronger stance this time. Panahon na para patalsikin itong aroganteng administrasyon na ‘to. Gising na mga obispo at manindigan kayo. Kawawa naman ang taongbayan.

ok magsimba. iba naman ang pananampalataya sa kahalangan ng mga bituka ng mg abishops sa pangunguna ni pro-gma-because-genuino pays-him fernando capalla. hwag ka na lang magbigay ng abuloy at hikayatin mo rin na hwag magbigay ng abuloy ang ibang tao dahil sa kapariawaraan lang naman mapupunta.

Hellooo… Is everyone here aware about the big rift in the CBCP ranks?

Is everyone knowlegeable of the reasons why a Cardinal is not the president of the CBCP?

Is everyone aware that each bishop enjoys a high degree of independence, free from outside interference in his leadership of his flock and in the management of their affairs? Walang pakialam ang isang bishop sa pagmamahala sa ibang archdiocese!

Is everyone aware about the anti-communist and anti-terrorism stand of the Vatican?

Is everyone aware of the partnership between the USA and Vatican on issues against communism in Poland and EU countries, and terrorism in the world? And against the liberation thologists of Latin America [and the fledling movement here]?

Is every bishop forced to accept and follow the collective decision of the CBCP 12-member permanent council of which Cardinal Vidal is not a part of? If so, why do we hear other bishops singing a different tune?

Why is Cardinal Vidal acting differently from the last CBCP message?

Friends, are these questions of awareness and of facts relevant to the past and present stands of the CBCP? And to the resolution of the present crises we face?

Here is an interesting headline, folks, that may put meat to my dish above.

Cebu Daily News Headline: ‘WHY SUFFER IN SILENCE’, Vidal calls on laymen to demand the truth. He said, “As we have so many times admitted in prayer, we are a wounded people, and today, our wounds have not been healed. The political chaos continues…The unjust economic division remains. Corruption and moral degradation is unabated…Is it enough that we merely suffer these (crises)? Is it enough for us to just feel the resentment and-as it is said-just bow our heads and let ourselves be oppressed, waiting for relief? That is not, and never will be true suffering. Jesus suffered, but He did not remain silent…”My dear brothers and sisters, in the same way, in our sufferings of our many pains as a wounded people, we should not just remain silent. We have to rise and make ourselves heard, because of and in order to attain the truth.”

Reflecting on the suffering of Jesus Christ, the cardinal said “now is a time of many sorrows, not only in the areas of politics and economics, but even in the heart of marriage and the cradle of the family. This is indeed a time of difficulty.”

In an interview after the Mass, Vidal said the next steps are “up to the people” to ferret out the truth.

The archbishop said he hopes President Arroyo will respond to the people’s hunger for truth.

“I have not yet talked to her personally but hopefully, when she comes back she will be able to do something about it. It is up to her. We leave that to her,” Vidal said.

“We should not lose hope because God has not abandoned us.”

The good people in this forum have not also abandoned the Pinoys. They are hard at work analytically criticizing and recommending solutions. They have not lost hope.

Such an active lot, my fellow discussants and sharers are.

There is a few observations that I have about the list that I must make known as a duty to the membership. I do it now in this opportune moment. They are:

1] There are enough talents here that can be exploited or exhorted to provide a considered resolution to the political crisis.
2] While there is a division in opinion I can sense a sincere [even passionate] desire to end the crises as soon as possible.
3] There is no concensus yet [it could be forthcoming in I don’t know what time] as to what has to be done by everyone here for us to attain solidarity to be able to recommend [if recommending is an objective] a viable solution.
4] I don’t know if this is correct or essential, but it is how I see it :), there is no one directing the show here towards a worthy end. I mean we ought to not just give opinions, whine and holler at perceived inferior criticisms, demean dissenters, and leave us all just simply talking. Don’t you think we need to have a worthwhile output for our [valuable] time and [honest and paid, hehe] effort spent in sharing our thoughts here in this forum.

In this regard, I believe, we ought to review our reasons or commitments to this forum. Must we do it solely for entertainment, fun, or for a more pertinent purpose commensurate to the combined talents that compose this list? It is my firm belief that you all would prefer getting something valuable in return for our Juan’s use and welfare, and for all of us.

Much can be accomplished by us if we take each other as true partners in the search of the right solutions to the present crises. More so when we realize that as true partners we have to know and understand each other, even love each other, AS A FIRST REQUIREMENT, take the good [graces] as well as the bad [challenges] in us.

The attitude we take here in this forum in facing the challenges before this nation is to my mind reflective of the attitude we see of our lawmakers in congress at play [not work as they claim they are doing] and of our people who seems to be doing so many varied things but never getting together to sit down, reflect, plan and execute.

I believe we, all of us here, have the capacity to do better than these directionless people. On second thought, let me change that belief to a known truth. We have the capacity that we have, unfortunately, failed to demonstrate yet.

Please let me see a demonstration. Let us all contribute to the demo. Let us be the model for our representathieves and people.

Thank you and have a nice day, all!

Ogie

bakit ba binabaan ang ratings eh dahil din sa walang sawang kaka-rally nyo. maganda ang prospects ng ekonomiya sa pagbukas ng taon. the mining industry was on the uptick. disasters like that which happened with marcopper can be prevented because with the funds to do so, foreign companies are more likely to follow international standards. and don’t put down call centers, it’s not the end-all and be-all of our economy but it helps provide employment. ang problema ng pilipinas iyong puro ngawa at puro mali ang nakikita.

notice how being the only catholic country in asia, we are also the only one lagging behind? save for bangladesh and sri lanka, everybody else is moving forward, im not saying na we should leave or stop being a catholic, its a matter of faith, the problem is with the people leading it … again, leadership problem, you can see the very same pattern in latin america, remember the banana republics?

sa palagay ko, walang kinalaman ang mga rallies sa kalagayan ng ating ekonomiya, di ba sabi ng sabi si gloria na we have a very strong economic fundamentals? (that was before the elections) there is no reason for the political squabble goin on to really affect our economy unless the problem is right at the roots of our economy, maybe we should review the policies being implemented by the government, according to a WB study, the philippines is one of the most unfriendly to small and medium scale enterprises, which i believe forms the very core and backbone of the economy, squeeze them out and you will literally see hundreds of thousands of jobs flying out the window.

bilangin nga natin kung ilan lang ang nagkatrabaho kontra sa mga nawalan ng trabaho dahil sa dami ng maliit na companya na nagsara …
again because of the seeming hostility to small business people, all the perks and favors goes to big companies and corporations. how do you propose to survive in that kind of environment?

CBCP should have placed more emphasis on the continued search for the truth because clearly nothing has been resolved by the impeachment’s death. All the people are asking for is a CLOSURE… did she or didn’t she? If she didn’t THEN we could all move on, so what the hell is it that malacanan is so afraid of? … THE TRUTH! THAT’S WHAT!!

jimsband said,
September 18, 2005 @ 3:38 pm

I know I’m gonna get a lot of fl*ck for this, but what the h*ck!

This is easy for me to say considering my atheist leanings, but why don’t we just boycott the Catholic Church? It’s not doing us any good anyway and it’s as obsolete as ever, especially since Pope Rottweiler took over.

Besides, if G_d readlly does exist, don’t you think He (She?) would one with us calling for his “Anointed One” to come down off her high chair?

Blasphemy? Excommunication? Subversion? Eternal damnation?

Those words never bothered me before. They do not today…
*******************************************************************
Bro kung yan ang paniniwala mo well and good. Me being a catholic, i respect others belief. Is a waste of time arguing about religion, and religion is not debatable coz we have different beliefs. Just respect each others belief coz that’s what catholic church teaches us. Peace brother.

dimasalang said,
September 18, 2005 @ 4:18 pm

It doesn’y mean that if we boycott that Catholic Church it means were already atheists.
I, for one, do boycott the Catholic Church because they have been meddling with the politics here in the Philippines and also the leaders of the Catholic Church do not really practice what they preach.
**********************************************************************
this things are already open book. that’s why God gave us freewill to decide. what is good about being catholic is that we are free to decide. It’s not compulsary, but voluntary. If we don’t want to obey the priest of his teaching, so be it. If we don’t want to pray the rosary, so be it. If we don’t want to give offerings or donation so be it. Catholic church will never punish us if we disagree on what they are teaching. They respect our decisions. God gave us knowledge and freewill that’s why catholic church knows we can decide for ourselves. If they want to meddle on politics in the philiippines, who cares, let them do whatever they want, that’s there prerogative. If we will follow them, it’s our choice, so catholic church is not the one to blame but ourselves. They don’t decides on behalf of us, each and everyone of us decides for ourselves on what to believe in and on what we should do.

Toro,

So far, you hit the nail on the head!

My daughter (10 yrs. old, Atheist) – already understands. She abhors cheating, lying and stealing, among other things. She’s no saint, but avoids “sin” – with or without a church guiding.

Our country’s biggest Cheat (Liar and Thief) is unfortunately also a catholic.

Why is the chruch so quiet about this?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm…

good egg said,
September 20, 2005 @ 8:22 pm

kavenishi,

bitter lang ang iba because the Church has taken a neutral stand in the matter.
*********************************************************************
Your right man, naghahanap lang ng sisisihin ang mga iba jan. Ewan ko ba bakit ang catholic church na naman ang napagdidiskitahan. Anong pakialam natin sa church. The issue here is about politics. Moral issue don’t exist in politics kaya walang lugar ang simbahan when we talk about politics. Kung gustong makialam ng catholic church sa issue so be it. Anyway sino bang nakikinig sa kanila? May sarili naman tayong pagiisip eh, kung susundin mo bawat sasabihin nila, ah.. di ka nagiisip. I don’t understand other bloggers here, dahil ba walang ng mapagbuntungan ng sama ng loob, ang simbahan na naman ang sinisisi ngayon. I’m a devoted catholic but i don’t need to listen to the members of CBCP to decide on this political issue. I have my own decisions. We have our own freewill to decide.

zigen said,
September 21, 2005 @ 2:11 pm

isa lng ang aking nirerequest kay gloria…. sa susunod na manloloko, magsisinungaling at mandaraya sya sana lng wag na nyang gamitin ang pangalan ng diyos… kung inyong matatandaan nung dating nagsabi syang nde na sya tatakbo sa pagka-presidente ng ating bansa… ano ang kanyang binanggit? na ang desisyon nyang nde pagtakbo ay kanyang ipinagdasal at ang sagot daw ng panginoon ay wag na syang tumakbo… pero sa katotohanan, sinabi lng nyang nde na sya tatakbo para nde na sya batikusin ng opposisyon… subalit nung malapit na ang panahon ng eleksyon ano ang nangyari? siya uli ay nagdasal at ang sabi uli ng panginoon ay kelangan sya ng ating bansa at kelangan nya tumakbo sa pagka-pangulo…. isa na namang malaking kasinungalingan… dahil ang katotohanan, siya ang may gusto talagang tumakbo sa kadahilanan na naakit na sya sa kapangyarihan… would you believe that GOD would change HIS mind so easily and be so pathetic???
_________________________________________________

Sino sa palagay mo ang dios ni Gloria Macapagal????? And dios nya ay pabago-bago ng isip at nagsisinungalin as evidenced by her assertion that “her not running in the May 2004 election is her god’s message to her” and her claim of the turnaround and winning(thru massive cheating tolerated by her god) the election as her god’s will BUT the True God does not lie or change mind:

Hebrew 6:18. “so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us.”

Exodus 20:7. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Kaya please GMA wag mo na gamitin ng Dios sa mga panloloko mo!!!!!!

Just used your lords’ name like Chavit, Bong, jueteng, drug, etc, etc.

It is hopeless appealing to Gloria’s conscience for she have none.

hindi nagbubulag-bulagan ang CBCP. nakikita naman how this whole impeachment thing has already divided us as a people. tama lang na wag na nilang gatungan ang isyu but instead serve as peacemakers. wag nyong sisihin ang CBCP because they didn’t act in the way that you expected. you don’t have the monopoly of what is right or wrong here.

kita naman natin kung anong mga natanggap ng mga bishops thru genuino. naiintindihan ko rin sila baka lumabas lahat ng baho nila kung magsasalita sila. these people are not saints and they should be treated as ordinary people with the same frailties and flaws.

tulad ng mga heswita. parang malaki ata ang utang na loob sa mga arroyo/tuason kaya tahimik lang sila as an org.

Here’s to the BISHOPS like Capalla…

There’s The Rub : Canon fodder

First posted 03:33am (Mla time) Sept 27, 2005
By Conrado de Quiros
Inquirer News Service

Editor’s Note: Published on page A12 of the September 27, 2005 issue of the Philippine Daily Inquirer

DEAR bishops:

Your Orlando Quevedo says: “To search for truth in the streets or through a so-called people’s court seems to be mere political and even an ideological ploy. People are indifferent … which may mean that they do not totally believe in the so-called truth presented by the opposition.”

Your Fernando Capalla says: “Our stand is the same as before: people have the right to assemble and express dissent peacefully and within the bounds of law. But this right is not absolute and is limited by the rights of others. The rallies are disrupting classes and business in Makati. Constitutional rights have corresponding limitations.”

And your CBCP statement says: “We should now move forward and address the more important and urgent problem of the grinding poverty of our people — poverty which has, to a considerable extent, been caused by excessive politicking.”

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t the truth patently known? Frankly, I can’t understand why even
Print this story
Send this story
Write the editor
Reprint this article
View other stories

those who protest in the streets keep talking about searching for the truth. Is it possible we have become so blind to the truth we cannot see it when it stares us in the face? Is it possible we have become so self-deluded we keep searching for an elusive truth when it is right before us, eager to be seized?

What in God’s name, which Capalla may now invoke only at risk of inviting a lightning bolt his way, do we mean by truth? Can there be any doubt that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is not the president of this country? We have the “Hello, Garci” tape to show she connived with a senior official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to defraud the voters. Can anyone in his right mind believe that conversation did not take place, or that the parties there are not Ms Arroyo and Garci? We have Ms Arroyo’s admission and apology for talking “to a Comelec official.” Can anyone in his right mind believe Ms Arroyo was not referring to the “Hello, Garci” tape?

All the legal wrinkles surrounding that tape mean only that you cannot send Ms Arroyo to jail for it. They do not mean you can send Ms Arroyo to Malacañang for it, or keep her there. Those are two different things. The parallel is this: If you have a wiretapped conversation between the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff and the Abu Sayyaf about a plot to bomb various schools in Metro Manila, you may not jail the AFP chief solely on its merits. He is innocent until proven guilty, and wiretapped conversations may not be admitted in court. But you may not also keep that AFP chief in office. You might as well shoot yourself in the head. You fire him and keep him under close surveillance, while looking for ways to prosecute him. Same story: You may not jail Ms Arroyo on the basis of a wiretapped conversation about stealing the presidency, but you may not also keep her as president. You might as well shoot yourself in the head. You oust her and keep her under close surveillance, while looking for ways to prosecute her. (Of course, if the plot is to bomb Malacañang or the House of Representatives, I wouldn’t mind seeing a medal pinned on the AFP chief.)

The question has never been: Is Ms Arroyo the president or not? The question has always been: What do we do about the fact that Ms Arroyo is not the president? You are saying, let’s accept it and move on. You have a strange concept of God’s truth.

Correct me if I’m wrong, too, but isn’t it a monumental lack of any sense of proportion to be bothered by the disruption of classes and traffic and not by the destruction of democracy’s most basic principles? Have the bishops so gotten senile they’ve forgotten they helped foment traffic and truancy before by egging the populace to storm out into the streets and reject Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada? Haven’t they claimed a franchise to Edsa People Power I and II, jealously defending it to death, Bishop Socrates Villegas even metaphorically excommunicating the great unshod for trampling the Shrine in their parody of Edsa People Power?

Is the cause for which we are inconveniencing the businessmen any less morally compelling than those that went before, which is that a tyrant is inconveniencing all of us by existing? Estrada merely betrayed the public trust, Ms Arroyo never had it. And you worry about traffic? Kapal mo. Ah, but if you can’t even remember a basic law of Christian teaching, which is that the means does not justify the end, agreeing to take gambling money to give to the poor, which is yourself, then you won’t remember any law at all, Canon or Mammon.

And correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t saying let’s build God’s world on sin as absolute a betrayal of the Christian faith as Ms Arroyo herself stealing the vote? Isn’t saying let’s just pretend Ms Arroyo is our president and concentrate on more important things instead as profoundly sacrilegious as Ms Arroyo confusing Garci with God and saying, “God put me here?” What is more important than safeguarding the most precious institution of democracy, which is the vote?

It is true: Grinding poverty has been caused to a considerable extent by excessive politicking. But, pray, who is the one person in this country guiltiest of it? What do you call saying you will not run for president and doing so anyway — extraordinary diplomacy? Didn’t you hear what your favorite non-president herself said then, which is that if she were to run for president, she would assure a never-ending cycle of divisiveness in this country? What, you figure the politicking and the never-ending divisiveness will be ever-ending the longer Ms Arroyo clings to power?

There is only one thing worse than grinding poverty and that is moral bankruptcy. How can you presume to shepherd your flock when you yourselves are lost? How can you expect the faithful to be faithful when you yourselves cannot be faithful to your faith?

I am not an expert on Canon Law. But I swear to God (my apologies to God and to swearing) your version of Canon Law is making us Canon Fodder.

Moments : Poignant

First posted 04:49am (Mla time) Oct 02, 2005
By Fr. Jerry M. Orbos, SVD
Inquirer News Service

Please read this article at http://www.inq7.net
Opinion column

Just want to share this with you and hopefully our prayers could be answers soon……