The recent pronouncements by the “united” Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines is not a surprise for me (here is their non-issue, useless statement). In fact, in a previous post, I had stated that “the hierarchy is not inclined to support any mass movement versus Gloria Arroyo, and neither it is inclined to call for her resignation, too.” Immediately, the Fortress thanked the bishops for their political stand. And there’s the rub.

(As an aside, I commented that during the Monday rallies, it rained. Reader Joyfulchicken pointed out that maybe God is pro-GMA. With the way Catholic bishops are acting, I think I have to agree with Joyfulchicken.)

The reasons being given by bishops for not calling for Gloria Arroyo’s resignation are as follows:

1. Leonardo Legaspi, OP – he says the CBCP expects her to be part of efforts to seek reform. Dear bishop, she is already at the Fortress for seven years now. What reforms do you want her to institute? If she wanted reforms, she should have done so in the past 7 years. And we only had that VAT Law so far. There are no efforts to effect changes in several problematic institutions, like elections. Do you expect her to effect reforms in the next 2 years, when she has to do everything to escape prosecution?

2. Orlando Quevedo, OMI – he claims there was no enough basis to call for her resignation. Yeah. I still remember Piux XII and the Holocaust. I’m sure there were no enough basis for the Vatican to oppose Hitler during the late 1930s.

3. Francisco Claver, SJ (retired) – he says that calling for Arroyo’s resignation could weaken the country’s democratic institutions. But, dear bishop, the said institutions are already undermined by Arroyo! How many more institutions must we allow her to undermine? If there is something that could weaken these institutions, it was already done by Arroyo! Calling for her resignation will not weaken something that is already weak in the first place. Please stop grasping at straws, and instead, pray that your God will enlighten you, that you may see what is truly happening.

4. Antonio Ledesma, SJ – he says that they did not call for her resignation because it is a “political call that’s not within the competence of the bishops.” I wonder if they had this competence back in 2000-2001 (to refresh your memories, read here, here, here, here, and here – see October 13, 2000 entry).

And the most common argument that, for me, is too grating to be ignored – that calling for her resignation is a political act, and the bishops cannot be involved in political acts.

I don’t know about you, but isn’t their call/non-call a political act? After all, they met to discuss a clearly political issue, and not calling for Arroyo’s resignation is indeed a political act – for who benefits from their decision but Gloria Arroyo alone (just look at the reactions by Fortress loud mouths here and here).

Also, remember the issue between the Quezon City Council and the bishop of Cubao? When a councilor filed a bill for a reproductive health program for the city, the bishop opposed it vigorously (too bad, the ordinance passed – buti nga). Again, filing that ordinance, debating it, and passing it – these are political acts. Yet the Church, through its bishop, participated in such a political act by opposing it. (See my thoughts on this case – The Church and the State.)

And lastly, the ultimate trump card to shred the apolitical gimmick to bits – EDSA 2.

My conclusion from this episode (and in retrospect, from the post “Confused bishops? Whatever“) is that the Catholic hierarchy can do a political action if and when it wants it to do so. And choosing not to call for Arroyo’s resignation is a political act, and a true reflection of the moral decay that we are in now. I am just glad that this time around, envelopes were not distributed. (Of course, the distribution could have been done discreetly.) Otherwise, they are no different from Arroyo herself.

MLQ3 thanks the bishops for the statement. Yes, it clearly ends the confusion, and shows where the bishops’ political standing.

Here is Corazon Aquino’s speech before the Makati Business Club-Management Association of the Philippines yesterday.

The Moral Dimension of People Power
Corazon C. Aquino
Joint MBC-MAP General Membership Meeting & PinoyME 2nd Anniversary
February 26, 2008

Yesterday, we marked the anniversary of the remarkable People Power revolution that ushered in a new era of hope for our nation. Twenty-two years ago, we began the arduous task of reviving the democratic institutions that the Marcos dictatorship had destroyed.

And it is with shame and sadness that we today revisit those institutions in the same state of disrepair: an executive branch wielding tremendous power and patronage, unchecked by a largely subservient legislature; an electoral process so prone to manipulation; a military and a bureaucracy that are highly politicized; a system of governance utterly lacking in transparency and accountability.

Worst of all, we seem so hard-pressed to express a collective sense of moral outrage at the wanton abuse of power at the highest levels of government. Twenty-two years after EDSA I, how can we tolerate a president of doubtful legitimacy who can brazenly stonewall the search for truth and who can routinely intimidate dissenters, journalists, businessmen and ordinary citizens with impunity?

Has People Power passed away out of sheer weariness and frustration at the seeming futility of trying to make our democracy work? The cynics, mocking our inability to assemble the numbers which would approximate the legions that swelled our protest rallies in the mid-1980s, would like us to think just that. But perhaps they are looking in the wrong direction.

If there is anything that the past 22 years have taught us, it is the realization that People Power must start from within. The potential for greatness of every Filipino needs to be cultivated before true strength in numbers can be realized for our nation. People Power resides inside each of us, waiting to be unleashed to trigger a chain reaction that would transform the fabric of our society.

Those four memorable days in February 1986 gave us a glimpse of what that latent power can achieve. Filipinos from all walks of life abandoned all concern for personal interest and safety to gather at EDSA to pray, to care, to share, to give one another a measure of comfort and courage at a most perilous time. In the face of such solidarity, not even fully armed soldiers and tanks could turn the democratic tide.

Unfortunately this internal, moral dimension of People Power got overwhelmed by the manifold exigencies of restoring democracy. All too soon, most Filipinos began reverting to their old ways—putting the interest of self and family above that of the national community. And we are now paying the price, perhaps, for having failed to cultivate a counter-culture of giving, compassion and spirituality in a more deliberate way.

Today, we are suffering a severe moral crisis that permeates every level of our society. Mr. Jun Lozada gave us a graphic description of how low our state of governance has sunk when he talked about “permissible zones” for kickbacks on public projects and how he had been instructed “to moderate the greed” of the favored proponents of the ZTE-NBN deal.

As discomfiting as it may be to hear such words uttered during a live telecast of a Senate hearing, virtually none of us can feign shock at these revelations. That’s because many of us are inured to a culture of malfeasance and are partly to blame for allowing such depths of corruption to persist.

Like Mr. Lozada, we are all imperfect human beings with our share of weaknesses and faults, big and small. But how many of us are willing to undergo the individual transformation from which social change can begin? How many of us can muster the courage to confront ourselves, to rise above the culture that shaped us—for better or for worse—and may have warped our sense of values?

Only by willing ourselves to change can we achieve the moral clarity to tell our children: “This culture of corruption is unacceptable! You and future generations of Filipinos deserve a society far better than this.” Only at this point would our collective outrage rise like a tidal wave to wash away the rotten foundations of our society.

The cynics among us might view this as unabashed idealism. After all, Dr. Jose Rizal said practically the same thing through Padre Florentino in El Filibusterismo, and Filipinos then and now did not seem to take heed. But there is hope germinating in the most unlikely of places.

Over the last two and a half years, I have had the privilege of drawing inspiration from ordinary Filipinos, who amid the squalor in some of our poorest communities, lead far more honorable lives than the high and mighty among us. They are mostly mothers trying to carve out an honest living through micro-enterprises. They are silently working themselves out of poverty, saving up to put their children through school and slowly improving their quality of life. And they are doing so with a cheerful spirituality that puts to shame those of us who have so much more in life, yet gripe from day to day. And to each and every mother in these communities, the path of hope begins, incredibly, with a micro-loan of P5,000 or less.

This is yet another manifestation of the internal dimension of People Power: ordinary Filipinos recovering dignity in the midst of poverty by dint of hard and decent work. Servicing these extraordinary mothers is a small army of microfinance institutions (MFIs) who need external support to harness their full potential in disadvantaged communities across the country.

This was how PinoyME—short for Filipino micro-enterprise—was born two years ago. A social consortium, which brought together some of the best minds and stoutest hearts in the private sector and civil society, was convened to see how best to help MFIs broaden their reach and enhance the breadth and quality of their financial services for the poor. As explained by Mr. Manny Pangilinan earlier, the consortium zeroed in on four areas of strategic intervention—resource mobilization, capacity-building, business development services and knowledge management—that could take MFIs, along with a critical mass of their clients, to the next level.

In addition, these four areas of intervention offer avenues by which other sectors and individuals could pitch in to make the microfinance industry more vibrant and robust. These avenues could range from seasoned bankers providing financial advice to MFIs to corporations lending their marketing expertise, from universities filling the urgent need for more loan officers to IT firms or departments helping organize a rich and useful database for micro-enterprises. This highlights another facet of People Power: bridging those with talent and resources to a sector that services our most needy countrymen in a sustained and widespread spirit of sharing.

The overall strategy also underscores the painstaking and deliberate process it would take to strengthen our democracy at the base. This serves to remind us that People Power is not about quick fixes. It is about bringing people from all walks of life together to build our nation and, by their joint effort, to cultivate shared pride in being Filipino. Ultimately, that is what PinoyME, as the Taglish idiom suggests, is all about.

Our long-term vision is to help change the shape of our socio-economic structure from a pyramid with a wide base of impoverished Filipinos to a diamond with an expanded middle class of empowered and more politically mature citizens.

As a first step toward realizing this vision, the consortium in February 2006 launched a program to raise P5 billion to empower five million Filipinos—approximating the number of families living below the poverty line—in five years.

Five billion pesos—by our financial experts’ calculations, that is the minimum amount it would take to gradually ramp up lending so that MFIs can increase their coverage to five million clients by 2011. Just think about that for a moment: five billion pesos—even less than the figure purported to represent the kickback in a single government transaction—can go a long way in empowering hundreds of thousands of our countrymen along a sustainable path out of poverty.

Given the scores, perhaps hundreds, of government transactions which have escaped public scrutiny and funneled billions in people’s money into corrupt hands, one wonders who is really sabotaging the economy and keeping millions of Filipinos poor.

Even as we take deliberate steps to empower our disenfranchised countrymen and to strengthen our institutions, therefore, we cannot turn a blind eye to what is happening at the highest levels of our government and our society. Let us heed the call for discernment and, together, act with a sense of moral purpose and urgency.

Our guiding light should not be an obsession to evict the President from Malacañang. Given our concern to protect the pillars of our democracy, the extra-constitutional removal of the President is not an ideal we would want to aspire for. But in an environment where abuse of power, in the face of weak democratic institutions, closes all doors of legitimate redress, sadly, we are too often pushed to the brink. That is why the most noble—and least disruptive—way out of the moral crisis would be for the President to resign from office.

These critical times call for strong moral leadership, which clearly she is no longer in a position to provide. She must give way to a credible government that can lead by example. Our country needs leaders who can inspire our people to work and seize opportunities, pay their taxes and together build a good society that every Filipino would feel proud to be part of.

We cannot afford to turn another generation of Filipinos into cynical folk who would eschew responsible citizenship in favor of playing the game of corruption and patronage politics and resigning themselves to the impossibility of fundamental change in government and society.

Rizal, again through Padre Florentino, said it best: “To an immoral government belongs a demoralized people.”

Let us not allow this to come to pass.

Long live People Power! Support PinoyME! Mabuhay ang Pilipino!

Here is Father Jose Echano’s homily in last Monday’s Mass for Truth at the Baclaran Church.

PEOPLE POWER 2008
Fr. Jose “Joey” Echano
The Shrine of Perpetual Help
25 February 2008

Una sa lahat, sa ngalan po ng Redemptorist community dito sa Baclaran malugod ko kayong tinatanggap at wini-welcome sa Pambansang Dambana ng Ina ng Laging Saklolo. Tayo ngayon ay nasa harap ng banal na larawan ng ating Mahal na Ina ng Laging Saklolo. Tunay na ang ating mahal na Ina ay saksi sa mga makasaysayang pangyayari sa ating bansa.

Noong 1986, ang mga Comelec computer encoders na nagtatabulate ng boto ng snap elections ay humingi ng kanlungan dito sa dambana ng ating mahal na ina pagkatapos na sila ay nag walk out sa kanilang mga computer consoles sa PICC sapagkat ipinapagawa sa kanila ang isang bagay na di nila kayang masikmura – ang pagdaya at pagtakip sa katotohanan. Alam naman nating lahat na ang walk out na ito para sa katotohanan ang isa sa mga naging mitsa ng people power noong EDSA 1.

Ngayon tayo muli ay lumalapit sa kanyang banal na larawan sa panahong pilit na itinatago at pinagtatakpan sa atin ang katotohanan. Tayo ay nahaharap sa isang krisis ng katotohanan at moralidad sa pamamahala na nagbabadya ng panganib at kapahamakan. Subalit ito rin ang naging mitsa upang muli ang sambayanan ay magsama-sama at mapukaw sa pagkakahimbing.

Sa paglapit natin kay Maria sa gitna ng paghahanap natin ng katotohanan, si Maria sa kanyang larawan ay itinuturo tayo sa kanyang anak na si Jesus. Lagi tayong pinapa-alalahanan ni Maria na dapat tayong naka-sentro kay Kristo. Narinig natin si Jesus sa ebanghelyo: “Kung tinutupad ninyo ang aking aral, kayo nga’y tunay na mga alagad ko; v32makikilala ninyo ang katotohanan, at ang katotohanan ang magpapalaya sa inyo.” Kung tayo’y nakasentro kay Kristo malalaman natin ang katotohanan. Malalaman natin ang katotohanan kung tayo lamang ay nakasentro kay Jesus. Si Jesus ang katotohanan. Si Jesus ang tunay na laging saklolo ni Maria. Samakatuwid, si Jesus ang katotohanan, ang ating walang hanggang saklolo.

Mga kapatid, tunay na maraming kasinungalingan at pagtakip sa katotohanan sa ating bansa ngayon hindi lamang sa pinakamataas pati na rin sa pinakamababa, mula sa lipunan hanggang sa personal. Isa sa pinakamalaking sakit na yata ng ating bansa ngayon ay “Truth Decay.” Malala na masyado ang truth decay kaya hindi na kaya ng pasta at root canal na lamang, kailangan nang bunutin ito.

Ang sinasabi nila: “Huwag na nating pag-usapan ang katotohanan. Mag move on na lang tayo.” Oo masakit ang katotohanan, pero kailangan natin ang katotohanan upang tayo ay umunlad. Sinasabi nila na tayo daw ay nag-iingay at nanggugulo lamang. Bakit di na lang tayo sumabay sa pag-unlad ng ekonomiya?

Ang sinasabi natin ay walang tunay na kaunlaran kung walang katotohanan. Ang ating bansa ay di makakamove-on kung nababalot ng kasinungalingan at kaplastikan. Mas mabuti pang gobyerno na may mababang pag-unlad subalit ang nakikinabang ay ang mga mahihirap, pero isang gobyernong na totoo naman keysa isang gobyerno na may mataas na pag-unlad kuno subalit ang nakikinabang naman ay ang mga makapangyarihan at mayayaman, pero isang gobyernong sinungaling naman.

Marami tayong gustong malaman na katotohanan, maliban sa nakakagimbal na NBN-ZTE deal, gusto natin malaman ang katotohanan sa likod ng extra-judicial killing – humigit kumulang 800 na ang pinaslang ng walang pangkatarungang proseso, at 100 na ang sapilitang nawawala, sa fertilizer scam, sa Hello Garci scam, sa north rail at south rail.

Ngayon tuloy lang ba tayo sa pag-unlad samantalang maraming dumi na itinatago sa ilalim ng carpet? Hindi sapat laman na malaman natin ang katotohanan. Ang katotohanan ay may kaalinsunod na pananagutan. Kailangang panagutin ang may sala at palayain ang walang sala. Hindi kalimutan na lang natin at magkasundo na tayo. Ang mahirap sa ating mga Pilipino, maikli ang ating memorya. Kay dali nating makalimot at mabagal tayong matuto.

“Makikilala ninyo ang katotohanan, at ang katotohanan ang magpapalaya sa inyo.” Sa ating pagtuklas sa katotohanan, tayo ay nagiging malaya. Dahil sa katotohanan muli ang buong bansa ngayon ay nagising at nagsasama-sama at nilalanghap ang matamis na simoy ng kalayaan.

Ipinagdiriwang natin ngayon ang ika 22 taon ng people power. Marami sa atin ay nagsesentimento. Nasaan na ba ang mga pangunahing personalidad ng EDSA 1? Maraming nagsabi sa akin, Fr. Nami-miss namin si Cardinal Sin. Tanong ng iba: Bakit ang ating mga Obispo ngayon ay di mag-ala Cardinal Sin?

Si FVR at Enrile ay may kanya-kanya nang landas. Pero si Tita Cory ay nandito pa rin, hindi ka nag-iisa. At mayroon naman tayong mga bagong bayani – nandyan si Jun Lozada ang uragon kong kababayan. Jun, ngayon ikaw ang Philippine idol – lalong-lalo na sa mga nagtitiktik sayo. Si Juan de la Cruz ay nakatagpo ng kanyang kapuso at kapamilya kay Jun Lozada. Si Juan de la Cruz ay malayo sa pagiging perfecto, katulad ni Jun Lozada. Subalit si Jun Lozada ay pilit na di bumibitiw sa natitirang dangal ng kanyang gula-gulanit na kalooban at pangalan. Kaya’t hindi nakapagtataka na kay Jun Lozada si Juan de la Cruz ay nais maging bayani sa kabila ng kanyang pangkaraniwang pagkatao at maraming sablay sa daan ng kanyang paglalakbay.

Kung kaya’t, higit sa lahat ay nandyan kayo, ang taumbayan. Mayroong bayani kung titingin lamang kayo sa loob ng inyong sarili. Ang pagiging bayani sa loob ng inyong sarili ay umuugnay sa bayani na nasa loob ng inyong kapwa Pilipino. Ang pagpapalabas at pagbabahaginan ng ating pagiging bayani ay ang simula ng people power. Ang bayanihan – ito ang people power. Ang people power ay tayo. Tayo ang people power. Ang pagbabago ay tayo, tayo ang pagbabago.

Ngayon pagkatapos ng 22 taon, nasaan na tayo? Nakakalungkot isipin na kaunti ang pagbabago lalo na sa pamamaraan ng pagpapatakbo ng ating bansa. Ang mga family dynasties ang siya pa ring naghahari sa ating politika samantalang ang corruption at ganid ay malalim nang nakabaon sa ating sistema ng politika.

Kung kaya’t sabi nila di na pahihintulutan muli ng mundo ang panibagong “People Power”. Sabi naman ng iba bigo ang people power sapagkat malinaw na hindi ito nakapagdulot ng pangmatagalang pagbabago sa ating sistema political.

Patay na ba ang People Power? Noong nanawagan ang mga obispo ng isang “communal action” bilang tugon sa mga nagaganap sa ating bansa parang mabagal at mababaw ang ating pagtugon. Bagama’t mayroong nagaganap na maliliit na mga pagkilos sa iba’t ibang lugar, hindi ito katulad ng mga nakaraang pagkilos na puno ng ingay, sigla sa gitna ng pagkabalisa at diskuntento bago mag-EDSA 1 o EDSA 2.

Napagod na ba tayo sa people power? O Natuto tayo sa mga nakaraan nating kamalian?

Kung naghahanap tayo ng dating ekspresyon ng people power, wala na ito. Ang mga naglalakihang rali at demonstrasyon, ang mga slogang puno ng paghihikayat at pagsisiwalat, ang pagsasanib ng iba’t ibang sektor sa isang tukoy na panawagang pulitikal ay wala na.

Subalit huwag tayong magpalinlang na ang people power ay wala na, katulad ng nais ipaniwala sa atin ng mga may kapangyarihan. Ang pagkabalisa, pagkabigo, ang matinding pagnanais ng pagbabago, ang paghahangad ng pagkakaisa ay buhay na buhay. Datapawat, ang lahat ng ito ay naghahanap ng bagong ekspresyon ng pagpapahayag, ng bagong pamamaraan, ng bagong simbolo.

Isang aral na napulot natin sa nakaraan ay ang samasamang pagkilos o communal action ay hindi nakabatay sa malalaking personalidad at mga politiko. Gayundin naman ang mga kaparian at Obispo ay hindi taga-likha ng direksyon para sa mga tao. Sila ay moral na gabay sa mga tao at tagapagbigay sigla’t lakas sa mga laykong kasapi ng simbahan na siyang pangunahing responsable sa paghuhubog ng pulitikal at pang-ekonomiyang larangan ng ating lipunan. Ang samasamang pagkilos ay dapat talagang isang proseso ng samasamang pagninilay at pagtugon ng bawat kasapi ng komunidad.

Hindi patay ang people power. Ito ay sisibol sa tamang panahon na may malakas na kapangyarihan at mas mayamang kahulugan. Ang people power ay hindi nagtatapos sa pagtanggal sa luklukan ng mga may kapangyarihan at wala ng moralidad na umupo. Ang people power ay ang pagbabago ng buong sistema sa ating lipunan at sarili.

Mga kapatid, isang dakilang biyaya ang nagaganap sa ating bansa. Huwag lamang tayong maging usisero. Wag tayong tagapagkutya lamang sa mga nangyayari. Sabi nga ng makatang si Dante Alighieri: “Ang pinakamainit na apoy sa impyerno ay nakalaan doon sa mga taong nagsawalang kibo sa panahon ng krisis ng moralidad.” Tama na, sobra na, kumilos na!

Mahal na Ina ng Laging Saklolo, ipanalangin mo kami sa aming pagsunod kay Kristo ang katotohanan at aming laging saklolo patungo sa landas ng pagbabago ng aming sarili at aming bayan.