Consumers Domain
By Ian Seruelo

Where is the church?

“The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Let me start by saying that I am one of the millions of Filipinos who are disappointed with the way the influential Catholic hierarchy has been reacting to the current political crisis hounding the country.

This column acknowledge that there are a number of priests, Church officials and Catholic-aligned institutions who have been vocal and resolute in their pronouncements against electoral fraud manifested by the Hello Garci scandal and against the concealment of the truth surrounding this same controversy. I bow to them.

What is deafening however is the failure of the Catholic Church to declare a strong moral and clear position against fraud, dishonesty, against politics of patronage and the recent manifest suppression of the truth.

It is understandable that the Church may be wary that it may be threading on the political sphere, and in the process, used by the opposition trapos and other sectors if it comes out with a strong position that may undermine the legitimacy of Gloria Arroyo.

But it is also clear that with the rate that it is going now, albeit involuntarily, it is being used too by the administration trapos for their political ends. In fact it can be said that the Arroyo administration is currently weathering this crisis partly because it is riding on the vague and weak position of the Church on the intrinsic evils of this administration.

Even without calling for the resignation or ouster of Arroyo, the Church could have at least strongly condemned the thrashing of the remaining legal arena for the truth to be ferreted out. The impeachment proceedings could have unearthed more information that the administration is adamant at concealing – the truth we Filipinos want.

Gloria Arroyo refused to resign at the height of the calls for her to do so and even challenged the same sectors to utilize the impeachment process so she may defend herself and prove that she is not guilty of massive electoral fraud among others. But what happened? The people and even the Church were tricked. The legal process only bought more time for Arroyo so she could eventually wrestle her way out of the same arena by utilizing all the state's resources, dangling out greasy pork barrel, juicy government positions and what have you.

Come to think of it, indeed the Church should not be involved in the political questions surrounding this crisis as to who or what will replace this government if Arroyo resigns or forced to step down, the constitutional questions surrounding the thrashing of the impeachment complaints, etc, etc.

All the Church has to do is use its moral lens and declare in the strongest possible terms that lying, cheating and stealing are against the teachings of the Church. And as Gloria Arroyo already owned up to such “lapse in judgment”, she has the moral obligation to her constituents to tell the truth and nothing but the truth. (So help her God!)

Now, let me cite the portions of the statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) made after the infamous trashing of the impeachment proceedings as quoted in major dailies.

"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," the CBCP said.

Can you believe that?! It is as if the Church hierarchy believes that this issue of fraud and the corruption of the democratic processes of the nation are not in any way linked to the “grinding poverty of our people”. The fact is, this trapo and elite system of politics should be faced head on if we are to truly address the issue of poverty and inequity in this country.

And isn't it that what they call “excessive politicking” is manifested at its highest degree by the same things we found out in the Hello Garci tapes and by the way patronage politics worked in the trashing of the impeachment process?

"Let us not further contribute to this poverty by our inordinate involvement in activities that further oppress the poor and divide our people," the CBCP added.

What can further oppress the poor than to let Arroyo and her administration stay – she who had no qualms of using the people's resources for her personal campaign in the past elections and to buy off legislators so she can continue her illegal stay in Malacanang at all costs? And what can divide our people more than to cover a big lie and pretend as if nothing happened and that all is back to business?

Then to cap it all, here comes CBCP president Archbishop Fernando Capalla saying, "in part, she answered our call to examine herself." How? I don't really know. Can anyone tell me what is happening to the Church of the people?

Where is the church?

(For comments and reactions send SMS to 0919-348-6337 or email to ianseruelo@yahoo.com.)