expressed concern that the 'blessings' of a bishop my have emboldened
Malacañang to ignore criticisms from church, multisectoral groups,
media and international human rights groups on the issues of political
killings and urban militarization.
In a 3-page Lenten message entitled "A CALL FOR THE CHURCH LEADERS AND
LAY FAITHFUL TO DEFEND LIFE AT ALL COST," PCPR noted, "Many of us were
shocked and disappointed when Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales was recently
quoted on his view on the wave of extra-judicial killings under Arroyo
as 'mere specks of blood' compared to the number of political murders
and human rights violations committed during the term of the late
dictator Ferdinand Marcos. Apparently, the latest pronouncements of
Cardinal Rosales effectively emboldened Arroyo to congratulate and
give her go-signal for the military to continue their unwanted
presence and operations in Metro communities. The military is equally
emboldened to deny accountability even as they further engage in
extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, warrantless arrests
and other atrocities."
Reference: Fr. Jerry Sabado, OCarm – PCPR Spokesperson
Amie Dural – PCPR Secretary General
Contact: 410723 Email: pcprnatl@gmail.com
***
A CALL FOR THE CHURCH LEADERS AND LAY FAITHFUL
TO DEFEND LIFE AT ALL COST
Lenten Message, April 3, 2007
Many of us were shocked and disappointed when Cardinal Gaudencio
Rosales was recently quoted on his view on the wave of extra-judicial
killings under Arroyo as 'mere specks of blood' compared to the number
of political murders and human rights
violations committed during the term of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
Apparently, the latest pronouncements of Cardinal Rosales effectively
emboldened Arroyo to congratulate and give her go-signal for the
military to continue their unwanted presence and operations in Metro
communities. The military is equally emboldened to deny accountability
even as they further engage in extra-judicial killings, enforced
disappearances, warrantless arrests and other atrocities.
Spectators can simply watch the flow of 'mere specks of blood.' But we
believe that the heart of a true Christian must be outraged at every
single act of atrocity such as when a life is taken away to suppress
the activist stance of a poor farmer, worker, youth, a human rights
defender, and so on. This Holy Week, we enjoin the faithful to also
remember and pray for justice for the victims of modern-day
persecution as an integral part of remembering the passion and death
of Jesus Christ.
Of all people, we wonder how a pro-life advocate could reduce the
lives of more than 830 victims as 'mere specks of blood.' Apparently,
since no Catholic bishop or priest has yet become a victim of
extra-judicial killing, Cardinal Rosales is not alarmed that in the
post-Marcos regimes, the Arroyo regime has claimed the lives of church
people who were deeply engaged both in their pastoral duties and
social ministries. They reached out to serve and help improve the
lives of our poorest brothers and sisters, how can they be mere specks
of blood?
Is it morally correct to remain spectators when there is already an
overflow of 'mere specks of blood?' If Cardinal Rosales has the
passion for Pondong Pinoy and environmental advocacy, why not join the
people's outrage at the staggering number of poor victims of
extra-judicial killings under Arroyo. Not a few of the victims were
environmental activists, and poor peasants and indigenous peoples
affected by large-scale mining and other destructive commercial
projects.
In such a predominantly Catholic nation like ours, the views as well
as actions or inactions of the church leaders like Cardinal Rosales
certainly weigh heavily on the millions of Filipino faithful. As
proven in national events, the stand of the Cardinal or the Catholic
Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on various issues will
either lead the faithful to decisive actions, or inactions.
So far, the CBCP under the leadership of Archbishop Angel Lagdameo has
spoken on the issue, though not as strongly as the Protestant leaders
belonging to the National Council of Churches in the Philippines
(NCCP), especially from the NCCP member churches – the United Church
of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) and the Iglesia Filipina
Independiente (IFI), whose clergy and lay members became victims of
political killings.
We also note of course that apart from the CBCP's official statements
as a body, there have been strong statements from the likes of
Archbishop Oscar Cruz who called for accountability of the Arroyo
government. How we wish for Cardinal Rosales to have the same stance
instead of defending the perpetrators!
At a forum in St. Scholastica's College on March 9, 2006, Archbishop
Cruz stressed that human dignity, human rights and human life are
inter-related. When a person's dignity and rights are violated, the
essence of life is violated; and the moment a person's life is
violated as in the cases of extra-judicial killings, human dignity
and human rights are totally disregarded. Archbishop Cruz strongly
criticized the Arroyo government on the issue of political killings,
noting the case of one of the victims, Bishop Alberto
Ramento – whom he described as his poor friend whose sando always had
holes. After expressing his disbelief that the activist bishop was
killed by plain thieves, he went on to denounce the government's
efforts to deny its hand on the killings of hundreds of
administration critics. And since no Catholic bishop or priest has
yet become a victim of extra-judicial killing, he also managed to
joke, 'I volunteer to be
the next ... I'm old and single...'
Meanwhile, another positive action came from Bishop Broderick Pabillo
who joined people's organizations and the Inter-Faith JPIC Network to
look into the situation of some barangays in Tondo that are currently
affected by urban militarization. During the
dialogue with the barangay chairman at the barangay hall (the second
floor of which was occupied by soldiers), Bishop Pabillo witnessed the
resistance of the military representative to face the questions raised
on the real intent of their presence in urban
communities. When the barangay chairman spoke on behalf of the
soldiers, saying that they are there for immersion, trying to explain
away their usual rounds during the day and sometimes even late at
night, the bishop wondered if it ever was normal to engage the
residents in late night immersion. As to the complaints of the
residents regarding the presence of the military in their community,
when the barangay chairman commented that people who are not guilty of
doing anything wrong should not be afraid of the
soldiers, the bishop replied that if they [the soldiers] are not
guilty of doing anything wrong, then why do they refuse to come down
and "face us here"?
Bishop Pabillo also graced the launching of the Inter-Faith JPIC
Network on March 6, 2006 at the Redemptorist Rudy Romano Hall, where
he also shared a message of solidarity with the struggles of our urban
poor brothers and sisters. His presence in these two events and his
succeeding public pronouncements against urban militarization gave us
a fresh image of a down-to-earth church leader who immersed among the
poor, and that is certainly worthy of emulation.
Indeed, the Church as a major opinion-shaper can either move the
faithful to join militant actions towards meaningful social change, or
leave the faithful in the confines of their individual pursuit of
personal salvation. On the one hand, church pronouncements and
actions that challenge government corruption, human rights violations
and perennial
neglect of the poor, greatly cultivate the moral grounds for the
faithful to be persuaded into supporting the people's actions. On the
other hand, the faithful must be wary of church pronouncements that
attempt to sanctify the wrongdoings of the state and merely echo the
pronouncements of military officials and of the infamous (in)justice
secretary. Thus we must also criticize our church leaders when they
fail to denounce injustice. Ultimately, our discernment, prayers and
actions must always be founded on the people's aspirations for truth,
justice and meaningful social change.
Under Arroyo's undeclared martial rule, the Church must defend life
and civil liberties at all cost. We must be vigilant of even more
repressive measures against administration critics, including the
recently signed anti-terrorism bill, renamed 'Human Security Law,' and
the proposed restoration of the Anti-Subversion Law. Let us
collectively stand in defense of human dignity, human rights and human
life. We must not be mere spectators while our brothers and sisters
are being attacked by assassins under Oplan Bantay Laya II, an
anti-insurgency program launched by the military against critics of
the fraudulent president. We pray that the millions of faithful will
be moved to speak out and act in solidarity with the victims long
before the 'mere specks of blood' turn into a bloodflow of tragic
proportions beyond our power to plug. We continue to hope that more
Bishops will raise their voices in denouncing the state policy that is
behind the killings and the growing urban militarization, and help
generate more pressure on the Arroyo government to immediately cease
in its political assassination plots.
Promotion of Church People's Response (PCPR)
--
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DAVAO TODAY
Davao City, Mindanao, Philippines
http://www.davaotoday.com
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