by Fr. Czar Emmanuel Alvarez
Rome, Italy
The first thing that came to my mind was Qoheleth's famous verse: "there's nothing new under the sun" (qoh 1:9). surprisingly GMA herself quoted almost the entire chapter from the same biblical book (qoh 3) during her speech at the "libingan ng mga bayani", where she went to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the EDSA 1986 revolution. And now the same divinely inspired author flashed back to my mind when I heard her declare a state of national emergency last friday (the 24th of february).Read More
Looking back at the history of the Philippines these past twenty years or so (I was born exactly on the same year Ferdinand Marcos became our president and have seen all the socio-political and religious events in our country since then), nothing is really new under the sun. States of emergency? Suspensions of the writ of habeas corpus?, Coup d'état attempts? Martial laws declarations? - we have had all these since the 1940's (although people of my generation would probably remember only the september 21, 1972 declaration of martial law by pres. ferdinand marcos; the december 6, 1989 declaration of national state of emergency by Pres. Corazon Aquino, and another one on december 20 of the same year).
Perhaps the only novelty consists in the fact that, after the 1986 EDSA revolution, the filipino people seem to have taken penchant for staging glaring protest movements and rebellions. Pres. Cory Aquino had her share of six coup d'état attempts!; GMA herself became president as the outcome of the so-called EDSA 2 (in january 2001); and since then our country has seen quite a number of socio-political disturbances (like the may 2001 uprising by the supporters of pres. joseph estrada, the july 2003 thwarted mutiny at the makati business district by the "Magdalo" faction, and so forth).
Should the supposedly coup d'état attempt last 24th of February and GMA's response to it surprise us then? Only people with short memory and with no familiarity with the local situation would be surprised at all. GMA has every right - both as president and as commander-in-chief - to do whatever she thinks is best to stabilize the local situation, see to it that social justice prevails, peace and order restored, and so forth. Some may not agree with the constitutional provisions or articles and sections she bases her decision on (art. XVII, sec. 17 and art. XVII, sec. 17?, or art. VII, sec. 18 and art. XII, sec. 17 of the 1987 constitutions?), or with the urgency of declaring a state of national emergency.
The official text of last friday's declaration, of course, does not limit itself to the coup d'état attempt last friday. it rather briefly reviews - clearly in an attempt to justify proclamation no. 1017 - episodes of lawless violence, rebellions, social disorders, etc. since the time the president took power onwards. there's really "nothing new under the sun". i just hope that, after the state of national emergency has been revoked, GMA would show the same clemency, for example, former pres. corazon aquino showed to coup plotters and rebel soldiers rather than literally stick to her warning of "babagsak sa inyong pagtataksil ang buong bigat ng batas".
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Fr. Czar Emmanuel Alvarez is a professor of Italian, English, Hebrew and Greek Languages and a member of the Augustinian Order.
6 comments:
Maybe it's easy for you to ask clemency for Mrs. Aquino and the rebels (you seemed to have forgotten the leftists) because you were not affected with what they are doing. Unlike our relatives and fellow countrymen especially on the countryside. How can the government give clemency to them if they do not want them and they are intent on doing it again? Those rebel soldiers were able to do it against because during FVR’s time they were only punished with push-ups and let them return to their post instead of removing them from services and letting them pay for what they have done. The leftist leaders were able to continue because of Mrs. Aquino who freed all the leaders during her time instead of letting them stay in prison. Now, who suffers the consequences? It is not Mrs. Aquino, FVR or the priests or people from the media who asked for their freedom. It is the ordinary people especially the poor, who are being forced to give revolutionary tax or tong to the rebels even if they are not supporters or members even the businessmen. Some of the priests were very vocal in criticizing PGMA and even asked for her resignation together with the leftists and rightists but they are not complaining about what the leftists is doing to the people that they are proclaiming to the whole world to be the ones they are fighting for. They are not fighting for us; they are just using us for their own ends. We relied on our priests to enlighten them by bringing them back to his faith and leave the armed struggle but what happened? We saw the priests hand in hand with communists. Did the church’s leadership ever wonder why many Roman Catholics preferred to pray in their own home than going to the church some even transferred to other religious groups? Except Mrs. Aquino and her group who preferred to do their praying on the street or in Fort Bonifacio or wherever there is a rally. People are wondering to whom she’s praying because the more they do their so-called praying the more they became hateful. It looks like spiritual deterioration is not only happening to the ordinary people but to the church leaders as well.
We are holding on to our faith and that’s what making us strong to continue fighting in our own way. Our way of fighting is to work hard so we will not be a problem to the government and to follow the law in every way and not to create chaos on the street and give other people a headache. If we want change, we should start with our self.
The church is very much needed at this time not in EDSA or Bonifacio or Makati but in the church; not to attack PGMA or whoever the President is but to help instill discipline to the majority of Filipinos who have lost their self-discipline and their faith. Maybe if all the religious leaders will do that, maybe someday no one will sell their votes anymore, no kleptomaniacs and womanizers will go to the government offices anymore, no heavy traffic, no trash everywhere, no tong collectors, and maybe no priest will be involved in sexual harassment cases anymore and maybe parents will be more responsible, they would not keep on making children when they do not have the means to feed them. Maybe people will realize that it is not the leaders that they should blame for their being poor but their selves for being irresponsible and lazy. Maybe all of these and other problems will be reduced if not totally eliminated. We the Roman Catholics are calling on our leaders to save us not from PGMA but from the destabilizers who were trying to rob us of our democracy and who are actually trampling on the rights of the Filipinos. People who do not want to listen to the real voice of the people. Tell them not to fight for what they want on the expense of our rights.
I agree with the first comment to the article of Fr. Czar. We don't have to blame everything to the GMA or to the Government. I am also reflecting to the situation of the Filipino people who continue to struggle with the same political, social, and economical problems. I am not defending GMA but only give my opinion that she is not a perfect leader like the others and is also capable of commiting mistakes. For, me that is not really the problem. It's true that some defects are from my fellow citizens who do not think of a better way to help our country but to keep on criticizing every action of the gov't. leaders and marching for the prayer rally or perhaps a voilent rally. I am even against of the priests who are inviting the people to prayer rally and celebrate masses with the activists and the communists. It's true that all that they learn is hatred and grievances towards the Gov't. Some people in the middle class are also thirsty for power that they use the poor people to disturb the gov't. Yes, it's always the poor who are the victims of the foolishness of the political leaders. Those poor who can be easily bought would even sacrifice themselves just to fight against the gov't. Those people who do not anything but to stand on the streets for rally could do other better things to help themselves and their families rather than adding burdens to the problems of the gov't. Rallies and protests don't totally change the persons in the authority nor the gov't structure. I think, it's time now for the Filipinos to wake up and contribute their best to the country and not only hovering over the negative things in the gov't side which would also plant hatred in their hearts. We could sincerely pray for our gov't leaders without having a rally. After all, our country is not that very troubled. There is still a great hope for our country.
The Philippines is not Metro Manila. Filipinos in other parts of the Philippines are doing their protests positively without putting our country in havoc. That is why in other provinces you do not see unruly riots. We go on doing our best working for our family, not letting us be used by limelight-hungry politicians and so-called leaders.
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I haven't read the comments to the article I posted here more than three years ago. And, reading through them, I was surprised to see how, apparently, some of the things I wrote then had been misinterpreted. Perhaps the surge of emotions is long gone and there is really no need to respond to those who published their comments to my article. But I feel that three or four things need to be clarified even as late as now. First, the article I posted three years ago dealt with a very particular issue - that of GMA's proclamation no. 1017. The debated question at that time was whether what the president did was constitutional or not, and I affirmed - and I still believe up to now - that she had all the rights to take steps which she thought was best to stabilize the situation in our country. In entering into debates or arguments, one must simply define the limits of the discussion and avoid generalizations or introducing other issues, which - it seems to me - some of those who reacted to my article willingly or unintentionally did. It would have been better if they tried to stick with the issue at hand. Second, my reaction to GMA's act was not meant to be a personal attack on her nor on anybody. Again, the question was whether her declaration of a state of national emergency at that time was justifiable or not. I was not interested in judging her as a person nor in taking a stand pro or against her. Whether she's a good president or not, again, was not the issue of my article. Third, the question again was not about Catholic priests' involvement in socio-political issues or not, or what were the reasons why there's a declining number of Catholics who fall away from their faith and/or turn to other religions. That's beside the point. There could be various reasons - too many to enumerate - why such things happen, but these do not have anything to do with proclamation no. 1017. It would be too much to blame such a proclamation for one's personal decision to stop believing in the Catholic Church or to be converted to other faith! Last, although some may not be willing to grant clemency to those who disturb the social order - be they communists, leftists, rightists or whatever -, clemency always remains not only as an authentic Christian stance, but also a deeply Gospel-based attitude. Clemency, of course, does not mean violation of the process of justice, but it rather should inspire us to be wary in the way we administer justice and apply the laws. Forgiveness - as the Bible itself says - will always be better than justice. Peace, my brothers and sisters, and let us continue praying for and doing whatever we can in favour of our country, our government and fellow-citizens!
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