PamagCUSA Blog

POWER AND RESPONSIBILITY:
THE ROLE OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN REFORMING
PHILIPPINE SOCIETY

By Enrique E. Angeles

There is no institution more powerful in the Philippines today than the Catholic Church. If the Catholic Church through the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines had with one voice categorically and unequivocally called for the resignation or ouster of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, the President would certainly have fallen from power at the height of the ZTE-NBN controversy. And with the victory of the Sumilao farmers in their struggle to recover their land from San Miguel Corporation, Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales has emerged as the reincarnation of Cardinal Sin, the primus inter pares in the Catholic episcopacy with the influence and authority to sway the Catholic faithful in the archdiocese of Manila and throughout the Philippines into one moral or political direction. While during elections the Iglesia ni Cristo and El Shaddai are assiduously courted by politicians, the absence of any influence from these two groups during the ZTE-NBN controversy was very palpable. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s mortal enemies never called for the Iglesia ni Cristo or El Shaddai to denounce the President or to take a stand for her resignation or ouster. The perception of political motivations behind certain actions or alliances by the Iglesia ni Cristo and El Shaddai
may have diluted their moral authority at a time when the people were looking for
impartial and unbiased guidance. Understanding that only the CBCP had the moral authority to cause the President’s downfall, the anti-Arroyo groups moved heaven and earth to try to push the CBCP to dump the President. When the CBCP refused to take a definitive stand against the President, Malacanang knew it had survived the crisis and that the status quo would be preserved. An institution with the power of life and death over a nation’s government is very powerful indeed. All the power brokers and players in the Philippines—Malacanang, the political opposition, civil society, the Communists and even the Philippine military—now realize that institution is the Catholic Church.

To whom much is given, much is required. To refuse to use power for the common
good is to waste that power, which will cause that power to atrophy and die. To what purposes and for what causes should the Catholic Church wield its power? The triumphant case of the Sumilao farmers is one clear example of what the Church should do and how to do it successfully. First, the objective was clear and pure and specific.
It was to recover the lands of the farmers. It was not one issue being used to advance other issues or hidden agenda. It was not a case of the farmers’ grievances being manipulated and massaged to force the President to step down and to put another group in power. In many other rallies and demonstrations, valid issues like tuition fee increases or high gasoline prices are comingled with strangely extraneous demands such as ending American imperialism or asking the President to resign. Second, the Sumilao
farmers’ movement was prayerful. Nuns and priests and seminarians were with the march from start to finish and intruders or opportunists espousing different beliefs or ideologies were successfully prevented from infiltrating the march. As a result, there were no red banners flying, no vituperative or pejorative slogans, no burning of effigies, no curses, no hatred, no venom, no divisiveness. Third, the non-confrontational and non-
adversarial mood of the marchers created an environment favorable to rational dialogue and sensible negotiation. Since the government was not being pushed into a corner or being forced to resign, the government was able to let its guard down and open itself to a sincere problem-solving conversation with the farmers and their patrons in an atmosphere of mutual respect and trust. When Cardinal Rosales used his personal and corporate clout with San Miguel Corporation—it seems the archdiocese of Manila still holds substantial shares in San Miguel –the farmers’ case was finally won. The triumph of the Sumilao farmers was a most convincing proof that there is a Catholic way of settling Philippine problems and conflicts . And that the Catholic way appears to be the most effective—
given today’s political realities in the Philippines.

It must be apparent, however, to the Catholic hierarchy and Catholic groups
working for the underprivileged sectors of Philippine society that the Sumilao case
is a symptom of a deeper and widespread social malaise which, if not addressed at its roots, would continue to give rise to other cases similar to the Sumilao land case.
The Church and the country cannot afford to march for every dispute or conflict
which are the inevitable results or symptoms of an untreated national disorder.
It is like plugging leaking holes in a dike today and hoping to plug other holes
which are bound to appear in the future, whereas the problem call for a comprehensive solution striking at the roots of the problem. The solution is to dismantle the leaky
dike and construct a new and strong structure.

The Communists have been saying it since time immemorial—and they are right.
The root of our problems is the feudal political system which concentrates power and privilege in the hands of a few who use and manipulate the system to protect and expand their interests at the expense of what is good for the greater majority of the people who
continue to wallow in poverty and injustice. Randy David and other progressive, albeit left-leaning social commentators have mentioned it time and again, that although the government is admittedly corrupt and in some cases even oppressive, the problem is not the President alone or Gloria Macapagal alone, but the entire system—to include Congress, the Senate,the Judiciary, the Media, the Military and Police, Big Business, the Entertainment Industry, the Public themselves—an electorate which is largely ignorant and easily corrupted or intimidated—and even certain supposed spiritual leaders and clergy in the Catholic Church and other religious groups or denomination.

To help change the system, the Catholic Church should adopt the Sumilao model.
First, the objective must be pure, clear and specific: to change the system for the good of the country. This objective must not be clouded by other objectives with political undertones and considerations seeming to favor one group against another. Second, the movement must be prayerful and Catholic—informed by the spirit of charity, understanding and compassion for those perceived to be responsible for the country’s sad state of affairs. Without rancor or hatred. In the spirit of reconciliation. In the spirit of building, rather than destroying or tearing down. In the spirit of humility on the part of those initiating and moving for the changes. In the spirt of accepting common responsibility and guilt for our national sins and failures. Admitting that we are all sinners, all equally guilty and that we must forgive ourselves and all others to start a period of healing, reconciliation and redirection for the country. Third, building upon the spirit of charity and acceptance of common guilt, negotiations should be conducted
between all the power brokers and players in the country under the auspices of the Catholic Church/the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. The agreements arrived at during such negotiations should form the basis for a new Philippine Constitution which will then be submitted to the nation in a national plebiscite.
Hopefully, the new Constitution would guarantee the end of warlordism through the
deliberate and programmed dismantling of private armies in obviously feudal provinces, the depoliticization of the police, the military and the judiciary, the liberation of media from the monopolistic control of a few families or groups, and the integrity of electoral processes—all preconditions for the effective transfer of political power to political parties truly representative of the people’s interests.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines holds in its hands the power to change
the country’s political and economic landscape in a comprehensive and long-lasting way. The country’s sad state of affairs—the corruption, the incredible poverty of the people, the daily injustices and sufferings, the moral confusion, the lack of hope and direction—should prod the Church to act now, before the watershed year of 2010. As Father Reuter has said more than once, if united the Catholic Church in the Philippines, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines can perform the miracle of change that
many Filipinos have long been praying for. The Catholic Church must now move for
a comprehensive solution to the country’s ills. It has the power. It has the responsibility to wield it for the good of the country. Failure to do so would be a grave omission and a betrayal of the Filipino people.