IN April 2006, the Bishop of Novaliches Antonio Tobias, who was once assigned to Mindanao as bishop of Pagadian, apologized to the convicted plunderer Joseph Estrada on behalf of the entire Philippine Catholic hierarchy: ?I hope you can forgive the Catholic Church for what happened to you. I hope and pray that in the end you?ll come to understand the bishops and priests.?
The occasion was the ousted president?s 69th birthday, and Mass was being said for him at St. Peter?s Church in Quezon City. Bishops do not make jokes out of homilies, and that was the context it was said. The next day, the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines disowned Tobias? statement. So it was no joke after all.
Jokes are a predilection in Filipino culture. It is a convenient factor in the Filipino?s plan B of alternatives in resiliency. To be able to laugh in the midst of sorrow and gloom is no small matter. It is a trait that many cultures of the world do not have. Even when the punch line borders on the idiotic, the Filipino shares one?s laughter heartily. It does not take much to make the Filipino laugh. We know that is common sense. What is not common sense, however, is to say that the following are laughing matters:
That Joseph Estrada is pardoned for his plunder of the people?s money. That it is OK after all to have so many queridas and build palatial love nests for each one of them when many of our poor do not even have a roof over their heads. That it is OK to stash billions of pesos in fictitious bank accounts and hide them under the signature of Jose Velarde. That it is OK to tolerate jueteng because the returns make for juicy additions to presidential coffers. That it is OK to have a president who sleeps his hangover during the day and does the serious business of state governance at midnight over bottles of Johnny Walker Blue.
These are certainly and absolutely no laughing matter. And Estrada was made to answer for them, just as any Philippine president who demeans the office should.
After the ?Erap apology? of democracy?s class act Cory Aquino, all values this nation has upheld, and for which we continue to fight for in the confusion that Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has all brought us into, died. For now, there is nothing to uphold anymore, as Cory has just taught the generations that will come after us. The standard is no more. Everything is just a joke.
Perhaps she neglected to pray for it, as one reader wrote: ?I would like to appeal to former President Corazon Aquino to include in her prayers that the price of ?galunggong? [scad fish] will become affordable to every Filipino family, as this was her battle-cry during her presidential election campaign. I believe she neglected to pray for it.? (Inquirer, 12/16/08)
Was she talking gibberish? Another letter writer said: ?I have been a strong supporter of Cory Aquino and had even fasted for her during her trying times when she was president. Now I can?t understand her and where she is coming from.?
But turning the tables now, how would Cory feel if she was told of the following and then to be told that these were meant just as a joke? ?Former President Corazon Aquino should first take care of the love affairs of her youngest daughter Kris before trying to fix the affairs of state.? (Inquirer, 6/14/05)
How would Cory feel if serious statements she had made in the past were jokingly received by the Filipino people, such as: ?I?m 72, too old for another people power.?
Or this: ?No one can take Edsa away from us. Instead of saying that Edsa I was a ?bogus revolution? that merely worsened political, economic and social conditions, cynics should ask themselves: ?Have we delivered???
Or this: ?Regained RP democracy work in progress?Cory Aquino. Former President Corazon Aquino has urged Filipinos to commemorate the Edsa or ?People Power? uprising of Feb. 22-25, 1986 by praying for peace and helping each other ?so we can make this democracy work for everybody.??
How I wish, however, that the following were truly a joke:
?Oscar-winning filmmaker to do movie on Cory, Edsa. David Puttnam, British producer of 1981 Oscar best picture ?Chariots of Fire? and award-winning films ?Midnight Express? and ?The Killing Fields,? plans to make a movie about former President Corazon C. Aquino.?
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Comments to monta@cu-cdo.edu.ph
