Panata ng mga Kalalakihan - Gawin Ninyo pang Sexual Penitence/Fidelity

Isang repost ng artikulo ko sa FB noong Biyernes Santo ng isang taon, 2012.

Ngayong BIYERNES SANTO, dito sa Pilipinas, sa bandang Gitnang Luzon lalo na, maraming kalalakihan na Kristiyanong Katoliko ang dumaan sa mabigat na pisikal na pahirap. Ginaya ang Pasyon ni Hesukristo. Naisip ko lamang na mas maganda siguro kung sasamahan ito ng KALINISAN din sa bahaging GITNANG BABA ng mga kalalakihang ito dahil sexually ay malinis naman si Hesus, di ba?

Ayon sa kanilang panata, maraming kalalakihan ang ginaya ang Pasyon, ang sinasabing pahirap kay Poong Hesukristo papunta sa Golgotha kung saan ipinako ito. May ilang Pilipinong nagpapako, may ilang nagpasan ng krus subali't karamihan ng nagpanata ay naghampas o nagpahampas sa likod, pati sa likod ng binti, at ang iba ay sa dibdib pa. Burillos daw ang matatalim na dulo ng ginamit na panghampas habang naglalakad ng nakatapak, hindi sa lupa kundi sa mas mainit na semento, papunta ng simbahan. Penitensya. Good Friday flagellation sa wikang Inglis.

Mula sa isang nauna kong artikulo:

"Locals supposedly call the Good Friday penitents “kandarapa.” The mortification ritual is part of the kandarapa's “panata” or religious pledge, often made either in the bid to make God forgive or their sins or to ask for some difficult favor for themselves or some loved ones. The ritual serves as a reenactment of the passion of Jesus Christ while on the way to his crucifixion. The prostrate move, with arms outstretched and legs held straight together, symbolizes Christ's crucifixion on the cross."

http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2010/04/05/4118457-philippine-lent-2010-from-the-lens-of-a-doubting-patriot


Hindi biro ang panatang ito. Mainit ang panahon, mainit ang sementong tinatapakan habang naglalakad ng nakatapak. Matatalim ang dulo ng karamihang panghampas kung kaya't nagsusugat ang mga likod ng mga matatapang na kalalakihang ito. Sa hindi katagalan ay nagdurugo na ang mga likod at mapulang mapula na sa dugo ang mga katawan. Sa mga hindi nakakaalam ay maari pang isiping prop na dugo lamang ang nakikita. Sa mga hindi sanay ay nakakangiwi ang nasasaksihan. Kung malapit ka sa mga nagpepenitensyang ito ay hindi nakakapagtakang matilamsikan ka ng kanilang mga dugo. Walang reklamo kang maririnig subali't napakasakit at napakahirap siguro. May ilang halos himatayin subali't hindi titigil, magpapahinga lang ng kaunti upang kumuha ng lakas at mapagpatuloy ang panatang penitensyon.

Walang matanda kang makikitang nagpepenitensya ng ganito dahil hindi naman talaga kakayanin ng mga mahinina. Marami ay matitipuno ang katawan; may mga payat ng kaunti subali't malalakas ang physique. Itong mga tipo rin kalalakihan na ito ang masasabing nasa peak ng kanilang sexual prowess.

Naisip ko lang, pagkatapos kaya ng Biyernes Santong penitensya ay bumabalik din sa bisyo ang mga kalalakihang ito? Masasabing tanggap sa kulturang Pilipino ang pambabae--balik din kaya sa ganitong gawi ang mga nagpepenitensyang ito kung mayroon mang ganyang masamang bisyo ang ilan o marami sa kanila???

Dahil ginagaya din naman nila si Hesukristo na isang Celibate o Sexually moral na tao/Diyos ayon sa turo ng Simbahan, bakit kaya hindi nila isama sa Panata ang SEXUAL PENITENCE o kung hindi man ay Sexual Discipline/FIDELITY sa buong taon. Mas mahirap marahil subali't mas maka-Diyos at maka-tao, maka-Asawa.

Mainam din namang sa mismong Biyernes Santo ay inaalala ang buhay at kamatayan ng pinaniniwalaang Poong Hesukristo. Subali't kung ang mga nagpepenitensyang ito ay magiging malinis sa kama, matapat sa mga asawa o kasintahan sa buong taon ay mas lalo sigurong matutuwa si Bathala. Magiging maganda pa silang halimbawa sa ibang mga kalalakihan at baka sakaling dumami pa ang tribong TAPAT sa kalupaan ng Pilipino/Tagalog/Taga-Ilog.

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Photo Credit:

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5101/5648346880_e8bb6db79f.jpg

Batong Pinampukpok ng Simbahan Katolika sa Sariling Ulo

SIMBANG GABI 2012. Nega sa Malacanang ang homily ng kaparian. Malapit o kasing nega ng homily 12 taon na ang nakakaraan noong kapanahuang Simbang Gabi 2000 nang pinapatalsik nila Cardinal Jaime Sin si Pangulong Joseph "Erap" Estrada (dahil kesyo raw korap ito, ayon kay D.O.M. warlord, tax-evader at mambubugbog-asawang si Chavit Singson). Ngayong 2012, ang administrasyon ni "Pangulong" A_Noy Aquino y Hocus Pcos ang tinitira dahil sa pagtutulak nito sa RH o Reproductive Health Bill.

Walang tinag ang pamahalaan ni Abs Aquino. Tinakot na nga ng Simbahang Katolika ng Pilipinas na mangangampanya laban sa mga sumusuporta sa RH bill ay matigas pa rin at puro media feelers pa na ipapasa na nga raw talaga ang noon ay panukalang batas. Sabi pa nga ni Kongresista Lagman, alipores ng mga dilaw mula kay Gloria Arrobo hanggang kay Abs Aquino, pag naipasa na ang RH bill ay susuportahan din daw ito ng Simbahan katulad daw sa nangyari sa ibang bansa. At nakakagulat na ipinasa nga ang RH Bill kahit ang tagal at ang lakas ng ingay ng Simbahan laban dito.

Magtataka ba tayo na mukhang wala nang takot ang pamahalaang Dilaw sa Simbahan ngayong HOCUS PCOS na ang botohan? Ano pa nga naman ang ipangtatakot ng Simbahan eh kakuntsaba ito sa pagpapauso na balewalain ang tinig ng mamamayan at daanin sa gawa-gawang surveys, paghawak sa media at pagdoktor ng boto ang paglagay ng bataan nila sa Malacanang. Nag-boomerang nga lang sa mga wala-sa-lugar-makialam na mga Obispo.

Ang Simbahan na mula panahon ng Kastila, mula walang-basehang Treaty of Paris ng imperyalistang Kalbong Agila hanggang 'magsarili' daw ang Pilipinas...ang pangunahing layunin yata ay kontrolin ang Malacanang. Ang Simbahan nitong nakaraang tatlong dekada (kung isasama ang EDSA 1), ay masyadong pumapel sa pamahalaan ng Pilipinas. Pakikialam na pangunahing kasama ang usaping integridad sa botohan. 

2000/2001Oplan Excelsis/EDSA 2

Tama ba ang ginawa ng Simbahan na kasama sa pagplaplanong tangggalin ang tunay-na-ibinotong si Estrada via Oplan Excelsis na binuo noong bandang 2000 pa? Sabagay, sina Cardinal Vidal at Fr. Sonny Ramirez ay mukhang tutol sa ginawa nila Cardinal Sin subalit sa pangkalahatan ay kakuntsaba ng seditious, kontra-Erap na mga elemento ang Simbahan. Kasama si Cardinal Sin sa kampanya nina Gloria Arrobo,  Fidel 'Tabako' Ramos, at Cory Aquino na pababain si Erap, sampu ng maraming madre at mga pribadong paaralang Jesuita/Katolika, atbp. na inutusang pumunta sa EDSA ang mga mag-aaral nito.

2004 Hello Garci

Iwinasto ba ng Simbahan ang mali at seditious na ginawa nito noong 2000/2001 laban kay Erap nang ipiniliit na iluklok ng Kongreso si Arrobo noong 2004 at "Noted" lamang at hindi binilang ang mga (certificates of canvass) botong kinuwestyon ni Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ)? Sabihin pa ay ibinunyag nina National Bureau of Investigation Deputy Director Samuel Ong ang 'Hello Garci' na pandaraya laban kay FPJ subalit patuloy pa ring sinuportahan ng Simbahan ang pamahalaang Arroyo? Bakit noong 2001, isang dirty old man na tax-evader at warlord na si Chavit lang ang 'nagbunyag' ng katiwalian daw ay tinarbaho na nila pagpapatanggal sa malinis na umupong si Erap samantalang sa "Hello Garci" na expose ay may tape recording pa ng pandaraya ni Arrobo ay nagpasya silang huwag makialam?

2010 HOCUS PCOS

Sinuportahan ba ng Simbahan ang kampanya nila G. JC de los Reyes, masugid na tagasunod pa naman nito, sa kampanya (noon) laban sa HOCUS PCOS 2010. Kabilang sa kampanya ang mga iginagalang na si G. Nicanor Perlas, si Sen. Jamby Madrigal, mga computer programmers at si Ka Joma Sison na nagbunyag nga na kakuntsaba ng mga Aquino si Arrobo at CIA. Lohiko na lamang ang gamitin kung nagkadayaan nga noong 2010--kung ang pag-withdraw lang ng P200 sa ATM kailangan ng digital signature, Pcos na pagboto pa kaya?


Ang Simbahan at Politikal na (Im)Moralidad

Akala ng Simbahang Katolika sa bansa natin na may basbas sila ni Bathala upang yurakan, balewalain, paglaruan ang tunay na tinig ng taumbayan. Hindi ba binabasa ng mga Obispong Katoliko ang Bibliya kung saan nakalagay na 'Ibigay kay Caesar ang dapat sa kanya' o malapit dito? Ang alam ko sa relihiyon ay moralidad ang itinuturo at dito sa lupa, may tatatas pa bang moralidad sa paggalang sa pangkalahatan/maramihang tinig ng bawat isa, maliit o mataas?

Masama ang magpatalsik ng nakaupong Pangulo na malinis na ibinoto ng taumbayan at ni hindi pa nangangalahati sa termino subalit ginawa ito ng Simbahan noong EDSA 2 Power Grab. Masama rin ang sumuporta sa bukas na nandaya ng boto, katulad ni Arrobo noong 2004 Hello Garci pero ginawa rin ito ng Simbahan. Nitong huling 2010 na halalan ay tikom na tikom ang bibig ng Simbahan kahit na mga mapapagkatiwalaang mga tao at grupo ay umalma na may dayaan Hocus Pocos.

Kapag hindi napag-init ng Simbahan ang mga tao laban sa kapapasang batas na RH, baka unti-unti nang mawawala ang impluwensya nito sa bayang Pilipino/Tagalog/Taga-Ilog/Maharlika. Aral ito na matagal nang dapat natutunan ng Simbahang inilagak dito ng banyagang Kastila apat na siglo na ang nakakaraan. Ang gumamit ng mali o masamang paraan sa kahit mainam pang layunin, babalik sa taga-gawa. Marami ring malilinis na kasapi ang Katolisismo sa bansa subalit sa kanaisan ng mga namumuno sa Simbahan na hawakan o impluwensyahan ang Malacanang, mukhang napukpok ito sa ulo ng sariling bato...

karma de hocus pcos, de hello garci, de oplan excelsis....

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Mga Batis/Iba Pang Basahin:

Look Back: 'Oplan Excelsis' plot to oust then-RP President Joseph Estrada hatched in 2000. http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2009/10/10/3369444-look-back-oplan-excelsis-plot-to-oust-then-rp-president-joseph-estrada-hatched-in-2000

Manalo, Charlie V. and Baldo, Gerry. House Passes RH on Final Reading, 133-79. The Daily Tribune. 18 Dec. 2012. http://www.tribune.net.ph/index.php/headlines/item/8297-house-passes-rh-on-final-reading-133-79

Perlas, Nicanor. Unelected and Illegal Government. 1 July 2010. Nicanor Perlas Site. http://blog-by-taga-ilog-news.blogspot.com/2010/07/unelected-and-illegal-government-of.html

Perlas, Nicanor. Beware and Overcome [YELLOW] Media Manipulation. May 2010. http://blog-by-taga-ilog-news.blogspot.com/2010/05/beware-and-overcome-yellow-media.html

In Search of the Truth of the May 10, 2010 Philippine Polls. http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2010/06/27/4572236-in-search-of-the-truth-of-the-may-10-2010-philippine-polls

The Ghost of FPJ: Beware the Liberal Party? http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2009/11/07/3472672-the-ghost-of-fpj-beware-the-liberal-party

The Impunity of the Pro-Noynoy SWS Survey. http://jesusabernardo.newsvine.com/_news/2010/07/26/4753863-the-impunity-of-the-pro-noynoy-sws-survey

Will the Filipino bishops undo an Arroyo wrong? August 2006. Published at Sobriety for the Philippines Blog 4 May 2007. http://forthephilippines.blogspot.com/2007/05/archived-article-august-2006-will.html

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Raw photo credit (Katedral ng Manila):

http://en.wikipilipinas.org/images/c/c8/Manila_%28Cathedral%294.jpg

Philippine Lent 2010 from the lens of a doubting patriot

I gave in to taking part in the Catholic Filipino tradition of “Visita Iglesia”, a form of penitence involving the visit to 14 (or lesser variations) Churches and the solemn prayer of  the Stations of the Cross in each stop. The Good Friday experience somewhere in the north comes not from the perspective of a religious devotee but, rather, from an open-to-religion nationalist student of history who can’t seem to let go of the blows Western colonialism dealt to the pride of her race, the indigenous people of the isles called the Philippines.

My group completed seven Catholic Churches, each of which was marked by purple drapes covering all the icons in the altar, chancel, nave and sometimes the narthex area of the temple interior. Not everything was covered, so I had the chance to marvel at the spiritually uplifting beauty of Christian architecture and dome painting and, in some instances when the karo slated for the Easter procession were already being prepared, even the icon sculpture. Beyond the artistic merits of Churches in the Philippines, my Visita Iglesia got me to contemplate on the role Christianity played in the colonial history of Filipinos and Filipinas.

Purple/Dark Violet Drapes of Lent

The Catholic Church & Spanish Colonization of the Philippines

While most of the religious tour members prayed or read from the Stations of the Cross pamphlets at every church stop, I got myself to kneel and sit down on a pew. I engaged in a sort of meditation, true, but it was more of my mind drifting to the Spanish colonial times and wondering how the Christian religion factored in three centuries of subjugation of the peace-loving early Filipinos.

How could the Christ, a holy embodiment of sacrifice and martyrdom, have given rise to a religion propagated by forcible means of colonization, at least during the height of the Church's power? How is it that Christ’s name was used by the alien Spaniards in the colonial, unkind, unjust, even racist, control of the primarily Malay and Indones people of “Las Islas Filipinas” and the exploitation of their natural resources? Did not those Spaniards (and the Pope's Church for that matter) find it unchristian and blasphemous to advance their empire’s interest with the use in part of God’s name?

How about having used Filipino elites to control the masses, as well as the pitting of “indios” against fellow“indios” from different regions to maintain colonial dominion of the archipelago? How easy was it for those Spanish friars and government officials to gloss over the immoral, unholy incongruence of Christ’s teachings with colonialism? Nineteenth century propagandist hero Graciano Lopez Jaena perhaps gives an answer with his Fray Botod character --a fat and lecherous priest with a false piety that always had “the Virgin and God on his lips no matter how unjust and underhanded his acts are."

Spanish colonial era Philippine Church (Photo Credit: www.rms-gs.de/)

As I was looking at the pews lit by the stained-glass filtered sunlight, I imagined how some 200 or so years ago, pious, meek, more-or-less downtrodden brown-skinned Filipinos heard mass officiated by some friar who stood out both by way of his pale-skinned, chiseled-nose features and his power over the sea of “subjects” inhabiting his king’s territory-archipelago in the Southeast.


“Kandarapa” Good Friday Penitents

In between Church stops, our group was treated to what foreign tourists would describe as the “spectacle” of self-flagellating penitents. Virtually in all the routes leading to every church we visited, numerous mortifying half-naked, masked men did their thing. Those we caught lying prostate caused us some traffic delays.  Looking at their very bloody red backs, I initially thought they were “colored by some red dye applied to the whips because they just seemed so red and so rather profuse to be real, but real blood it was.

Lenten Self-Flagellants Prostrate

The penitents scourged themselves with whips (”burillos” supposedly tipped with sharp objects, such as bamboo splices) while in sort of processional route to a church. A few carried a cross but in all cases, the penitents seemed to have made periodic stops in which they laid more or less prostrate on the hot ground while some assistant(s) did the whipping of the back and even the legs using the penitents’ lash or some other whip.

Burillo/Penitent Whip

Locals supposedly call the Good Friday penitents “kandarapa.” The mortification ritual is part of the kandarapa's “panata” or religious pledge, often made either in the bid to make God forgive or their sins or to ask for some difficult favor for themselves or some loved ones. The ritual serves as a reenactment of the passion of Jesus Christ while on the way to his crucifixion. The prostrate move, with arms outstretched and legs held straight together, symbolizes Christ's crucifixion on the cross.

The history of Lenten self-flagellation is uncertain but a commonly accepted version is that “Penitente are descendants of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Assisi,” with members who were basically lay people wanting to follow Christ’s teachings (or footsteps literally?). Spain brought the ritualistic practice to the Philippines and later, Filipino penitents supposedly compared their enactment of Christ’s Passion with the sufferings they endured under the abusive hands of the Spanish colonizers, specifically the friars and landlords.

Self-flagellation

Today, the Catholic Church in the Philippines makes it known that it officially disapproves of the practice of Lenten mortification, including the more extreme nailing to the cross mainly seen in the province of Pampanga. Makes me wonder whether the church ban in fact began during the colonial times when the practice the Spaniards themselves brought assumed the character of being a reflection of the injustice they wrought on the conquered natives of the land.


Colonizers Long Gone?

At the turn of the 19th century, the combined strength of local revolutionaries-transformed-into-Filipino soldiers and United States military forces drove the Spanish colonizers out of the country. American imperialist propaganda, however, made it appear that Spain "sold" its colony the Philippines to the US under the Treaty of Paris. The Philippine-American War ensued but the fledgling Philippine eaglets were no match for the colonizing bald eagle and the rest is mostly more unfortunate history.

Today, more than a century later, there are no more Spanish friars but only Filipino priests in the Southeast Asian archipelago. Although perhaps made not so obvious with its persisting colonial name of Philippines,* the country proclaims itself a wholly independent republic. How is it, therefore, that Lenten self-flagellation persists despite the Catholic Church's expressed disapproval? Could it be that vestiges of colonization remain in the former Spanish and American colony and that the self-flagellation ritual forms a way of showing to the Christian world the prevailing hypocrisy of the ruling elites, locals and otherwise, in their rule over the land?

King Philip II

*The Philippines was named after King Philip II (El Rey Felipe II), the reigning monarch during the time the archipelago was first settled/colonized by Spain. It was called Las Islas Filipinas and Philippine Islands during the Spanish and American colonial period, respectively.

References

Lent and Moriones. Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University Site. http://www.seasite.niu.edu/Tagalog/Cynthia/festivals/lent.htm

Rudea, Diana. Flagellation: Lent in the Philippines. 23 March 2008. http://english.ohmynews.com/articleview/article_view.asp?menu=c10400&no=382155&rel_no=1

Smith,  Jeffrey S.  Los Hermanos Penitentes: An Illustrative Essay. 70 A The North American Geographer.  http://www.k-state.edu/geography/JSSmith/Penitente_Photo_Essy.pdf

Tiatco, Pineda Anril and Bonifacio-Ramolete,  Amihan. Cutud’s Ritual of Nailing on the Cross: Performance of Pain and Suffering. Asian Theatre Journal – 25. 1, Spring 2008, pp. 58-76. DOI: 10.1353/atj.2008.0014

Photo Credits:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/
http://www.trekearth.com
http://www.travellog.com
http://fiveprime.org/
http://www.rms-gs.de/phileng/history/kap01.html
http://myjosept.blogspot.com/2008/03/bisita-iglesia.html
http://flickr.com/photos/32736561@N00/126305659
Wikipedia

God, Typhoon Ondoy & the Philippines: Review of Church-Arroyo relations

IN the face of the devastation and casualties wrought by typhoon Ondoy, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines head Rev. Angel Lagdameo asks whether God is giving the Filipinos 'hints' of the "future and even the coming elections?" He wonders whether there is a connection between all the corruption and lies, the loss of integrity and the mounting "destruction of morality and moral values" under the government of Gloria Arroyo and the natural "calamities occurring in increasing number and intensity."






According to the website of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the typhoon's interaction with the seasonal southwest moonsoon gave a "record 13.43 inches of rain fell in Manila in the six hours between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. local time, which is equivalent to about a month's worth of rain for the area." The resulting enormous flash floods washed away homes, cars, downed fence walls, stranded people in the streets, drowned others, and sent even city people to rooftops and the desperate crossing the cables of electricity posts for safety. Typhoon Ondoy (Ketsana) left the capital and other parts of Luzon island devastated, with over 300 dead and damages worth P2.75 billion to infrastructure and P6 billion to agriculture.

Why don't the bishops partly take responsibility for the Arroyo evil? After all, the Philippine Catholic Church by and large supported the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada and the para-constitutional installation of the Illegitimate back in early 2001.



What follows is a look back to the eight-year Arroyo-Church relations based on my August 2006 and 2008 archived articles.


Background: (Church helps oust Caesar, circa 2001)

Back in early 2001, the Catholic Church was instrumental in the constitutionally anomalous ouster of Joseph Estrada and in Arroyo's succeeding as President. Crucial to the success of the EDSA 2 mob that deposed the hugely-popular-with-the-masses Estrada and installed bogus "President" Arroyo was the support of the Manila portion of the Catholic Church led by then Cardinal Jaime Sin.

Seemingly blinded by Arroyo's facade of Catholic religiosity, then-archbishop of the Archdiocese of Manila committed the seditious sin of going against Caesar by conspiring with then-Vice President Arroyo, former presidents Fidel Ramos and Cory Aquino, Supreme Court Justice Hilario Davide, and certain elite members of business, military, and even the media to grab the presidency using the cloak of "People Power." Cardinal Sin first exhorted Filipino Catholics, including minors from Manila Catholic schools, to rally and pressure Estrada into resigning, and when it became clear that the properly President would not give up, to depose him only 2 1/2 years into his term, supposedly on corruption and moral grounds.

August 2006 - The bishops should undo an Arroyo wrong

Data from a top independent survey firm show an alarming trend of double-digit incidence of hunger in over straight years. Corruption in government ballooned to unprecedented levels such that since Arroyo's ascent to power, Transparency International has consistently rated the Philippines with having endemic corruption. Violations of human rights are back to, or worse than Martial Law levels, 25 years ago. The gory deaths of two university coeds add to the hundreds of extra judicial killings recorded in only five years. Amid all these crises, the Filipinos have been waiting for the Church leaders to beckon them to a moral but decisive course of action.

The least the bishops should really do now is to collectively declare support for the impeachment in order to boost its chances of passing through the administration-controlled Congress. The more ideal move, though, would be for the Catholic Church to join in the clamor for Arroyo to step down, as it so loudly and boldly did against then President Joseph Estrada. But as the CBCP, the official organization of Catholic episcopacy, chose to remain lame and tolerant towards a publicly pious regime but which runs the country like hell, any sensible Catholic can't help but question and suspect.

It is perplexing how the wise fathers can continue to believe Arroyo's virtual reality of good governance and moral leadership. Is it that in the Church's calling to influence state policies affecting morals, they have elected to regard the stifling of basic political freedoms as necessary collateral damage? Or is the CBCP simply afraid to admit that the EDSA II Revolt, which deposed her predecessor, was a debacle of grim national proportions? Or are the bishops perhaps amiss with the spirit of humility such that they refuse to atone and undo their Arroyo wrong?

Not since the Spanish colonial era has the Catholic Church in the Philippines enjoyed the kind of influence it wields under Mrs. Arroyo's reign. Is it not enough that the devoutly religious Filipinos have tolerated the blurring of the divide separating the Church and the State? Only a month prior to the impeachment issues, the Church lauded the repeal of the death penalty in an unusually hasty action by Congress. When its leader Rev. Angel Lagdameo restated a few days later that the CBCP will not stand to support another impeachment nor will ask Arroyo to resign, the bishops have invited seemingly valid suspicions that the Church is as power hungry as the President it helped install. It is either that or in the crusade to save the unborn and the capital offenders, the Church in the Philippines blindly refuses to break its pact with the devil.

December 2008 - Flagging Filipino Christian spirit

An essential element to goodness is to admit to a wrong, no matter how heinous and collective, so that the wrong can be undone. Just recently, Ex-President Aquino recently publicly admitted to her wrongful part in the EDSA 2 uprising, and apologized to the deposed and defamed President Estrada in no uncategorical terms.

The Filipino cardinals and bishops can do no less. Archbishop Oscar Cruz has already written about Arroyo's "consistent high rating in corruption in form of big guile and gross deceit in the management of public funds [and] a continuous low grade of approval in terms of pervasive distrust and enormous dissatisfaction." However, if the local Catholic Church is to regain its moral ascendancy in the Philippines, the CBCP would have to officially admit to their seditious role in EDSA 2 with as much consensus as they wielded in calling for Estrada's resignation and ouster back in 2000-early 2001, and in installing and continuing to support an Arroyo who never had the genuine mandate to serve as president. Next step is to help give back to the Filipinos the right to be governed by the leader they have truly elected and not just any one falsely legitimized by a conspiracy of powerful elites.

Undoing the terrible wrong that is Arroyo is righteous because it is the spiritual and social responsibility of the Church to fight the cloud of evil reigning in the land. It has erred against the people and against the Church when it conspired against a properly elected president. Only by helping ensure righteous and popular governance in the land can there be a chance of regaining the Filipino Christmas spirit that is merry in both righteousness and material grace.

[In exchange for Catholic prelate support], she practically adopted Church teachings on population planning and even gave in to Church pressures against the death penalty. Despite the backing of the Church however, Arroyo's presidency has been shown in periodic surveys as the most distrusted and disliked, with double figure negative trust ratings and with more than half of the population, the masses in particular, wanting her to either resign or be removed...

So clear that the Philippine Catholic church is in part responsible for Arroyo's reign of political immorality and disastrous governance. The government they helped install and have supported for so long is so corrupt and mismanaged it couldn't even give the capital region a semblance of decent preparedness for natural disasters. Many have decried that the government was nowhere during the critical hours of the Ondoy flash floods, with its responsibilities taken up largely by private entities and the broadcast media.

Lagdameo concludes the very politically polite CBCP statement with: Nagtatanong lang kami! We do not have the answer! That is why let us also pray!"The men in robes are unsure of the answers now but they were so sure what to do during the heyday of the anti-Estrada movement. The prelates and nuns should have just confined themselves to praying back in late 2000-January 2001.

Excerpts taken from:

Bernardo, Jesusa. Will the Filipino bishops undo an Arroyo wrong? August 2006. Published at Sobriety for the Philippines Blog 4 May 2007. http://forthephilippines.blogspot.com/2007/05/archived-article-august-2006-will.html

Bernardo, Jesusa. Blaring Simbang Gabi sound speakers & the flagging Christmas spirit. 23 December 2008. http://forthephilippines.blogspot.com/2008/12/blaring-simbang-gabi-church-sound.html

(Updated Oct 6, 2009 1:30 AM HK+8 )

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References:

Additional Findings on Corruption-Related Issues (Most/Least Corrupt Philippine Presidents). Pulse Asia Site. 2007. http://pulseasia.com.ph/pulseasia/story.asp?id=632

Lagdameo, Angel. Year 2009, Typhoons: Are they God's Hints?. CBCP Website. 2 October 2009. http://www.cbcpnews.com/?q=node/10691

NASA. Hurricane Season 2009: Typhoon Ketsana (Western Pacific). http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2009/h2009_Ketsana.html

"Second Quarter 2008 Social Weather Survey: PGMA’s net rating falls to record-low –38." 18 July 2008. Social Weather Stations Site. http://www.sws.org.ph/pr080718.htm

The Most Corrupt President in Philippine History: Table 2. PulseAsia Site. http://pulseasia.com.ph/resources/photos/table2_corruption_0710.gif

2 storms’ damage now P8.4B. 5 Oct. 2009. Business Mirror Site. http://businessmirror.com.ph/home/top-news/16918-2-storms-damage-now-p84b.htmlop News

Photo Credits:

BBC.com. Typhoon Ketsana (Ondoy). 30 Sept. 2009. http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/09/typhoon_ketsana_ondoy.html


BBC News. In pictures: Cardinal Sin's life. 21 June 2005.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_pictures/4114016.stm


Philippines is in Urgent Need for Help: Typhoon Ondoy Aftermath. http://mhauckonline.blogspot.com/2009/09/philippines-is-in-urgent-need-for-help.html#more

Slideshow: After ‘Ondoy,’ Grief. Bulatlat.com. 30 Sept. 2009. http://www.bulatlat.com/main/2009/09/30/slideshow-after-ondoy-grief/

UNITAR/UNOSAT.  Canadian Space Agency Image processing. Map created 29 Sept. 2009. http://www.disasterscharter.org/image/journal/article.jpg?img_id=56046&t=1254300668961

POWER GRAB FROM PRESIDENT JOSEPH ESTRADA

Video on the infamous power grab in recent Philippine history.

The victim: the democratically elected President Joseph "Erap" Estrada.

The conspirators: Bogus President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and husband; Mike Arroyo; ex-President Fidel Ramos; Jaime Cardinal Sin; business elites; Armed Forces chief Angelo Reyes, Supreme Court chief justice Hilario Davide, etc.

The unwitting conspirators: the gullible mob of Edsa 2.

The greater victims: Philippine democracy and the millions who cast their votes in the 1998 Presidential elections.

According to the Honorable Cecilia Munoz-Palma, former Supreme Court Justice and chairperson of the 1987 Constitutional Commission, Edsa 2 caused the 1987 Constitution to suffer.

This happened when the ongoing impeachment trial of President Joseph Estrada, was unceremoniously disrupted and discontinued, and the issues on hand were brought to the streets. The rule of law was set aside and the rule of force prevailed..

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Source:

Youtube. Power Grab from President Joseph Estrada. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9bECSgfqk


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Filipinos Welcome Estrada Pardon, Maintain Reservations About Arroyo

Majority of Filipinos welcomed the long-awaited release of ex-President Joseph Estrada following the clemency extended to the former leader accused of politically motivated trumped-up charges. Estrada was convicted of Plunder and racketing charges by a 'kangaroo' court division of an Anti-Graft body specially created to try the former President following the conspiracy-led uprising unseated him in 2001.



The pardon was given by current President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo nearly after the six-year trial ended in a guilty verdict during a heavily-censored promulgation in September 2007. During the media coverage of the promulgation, the authorities made sure that the public would not see the dramatic moment when Estrada, who remains heavily popular with the Filipinos masses, received the "guilty" verdict.

Never Guilty

Earlier, a nationwide survey showed that an overwhelming majority of Filipinos believe Estrada is innocent of the Plunder charges and that they expected him to be released. The same survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) also revealed the sentiment of the Filipinos that in case he be declared guilty, Estrada should be pardoned. According to the survey 62% of Filipinos do not believe "Erap" Estrada enriched himself nor committed corruption while he was President; a total of 84% think he should be pardoned if convicted. The SWS, the most active social survey institute in the country, conducted the survey just before the promulgation of the Sandiganbayan decision declaring Estrada guilty of the charges.

Supporters of the former Philippine leader are delighted to see him free again but have reservations about the nature of the pardon and the administration of Arroyo. Estrada and the opposition have long maintained the illegitimacy of Arroyo's administration after the constitutionally questionable decision by the Supreme Court that declared the position of President vacant and Arroyo as the successor. In 2004, Macapagal-Arroyo 'won' in the presidential elections heavily tainted with allegations of electoral fraud. In legal terms, Estrada's acceptance of the executive clemency connotes recognition of the authority of Arroyo. According to Estrada's followers, they want him free but still consider Arroyo's administration as illegitimate.

Filipinos generally believe that Estrada, a former actor who rose from being a mayor, senator and Vice-President before becoming President with the highest plurality vote in Philippine history, is not guilty of any of the charges. Before his arrest and detention, Estrada declined two offers made by the administration of Macapagal-Arroyo for him to live in voluntary exile in exchange for waiving criminal prosecution.

Estrada won as the Philippine's 13th President by a landslide election in 1998 but was unable to finish term after a corrupt governor accused him of pocketing jueteng kickbacks. The accusations mothballed into the so-called EDSA II rebellion backed by the Army's chief-of-staff. Majority of Filipinos believe that Estrada's predecessor, Fidel Ramos and then Vice-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, led the conspiracy that used the kickback issue as a propaganda ploy to bring Estrada into public disfavor.

Objective political analysts suspect that Ramos sought to depose Estrada to avoid prosecution for the scandalous deals his administration entered into. Ramos was named in several multi-million dollar corruption exposes during his term, including the infamous Clark Centennial Exposition project and the PEA-AMARI Manila Bay Reclamation deal, dubbed to be the "grandmother of all scams." Estrada, who assumed office with bankrupt national treasury funds, had threatened to investigate Ramos' complicity in the scams.

The 2001 EDSA II rebellion against the defamed former President acquired the backing of certain business leaders who were disadvantaged by Estrada's pro-poor policies. The Catholic Church led by the powerful Jaime Cardinal Sin also played a part in Estrada's unseating. The politically meddling Cardinal Sin saw a Catholic ally in the successor, Macapagal Arroyo. Despite numerous and persistent allegations of corruption and electoral fraud against the new administration, the Catholic Church continued to support Arroyo, who indeed proved to be a faithful supporter of the Church's positions on various social issues including family planning and the death penalty.

Link to the SWS survey September 2-5, 2007 Social Weather Survey: Majority expected Erap to be acquitted: http://www.sws.org.ph/pr070912.htm.

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