MANILA, Philippines--Here's an unequivocal sign of the times: Even on the holiest days of the Christian calendar, political thoughts continue to intrude. The body politic must be seriously ill, and not even the Filipino faithful's hallowed Holy Week traditions can dull the pain.

In part, this is because of the seeming lack of unity of purpose among the country's Catholic bishops. For the first time in the history of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, prelates are openly taking directly contrary positions on public issues; that is to say, they are perceived to be publicly addressing and countering each other. Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, to give only one example, materialized beside Senate witness Jun Lozada on the night the latter surfaced, it is said on the express say-so of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales; the other day, Archbishop Leonardo Legaspi of Nueva Caceres disallowed priests under his charge in Camarines Sur from celebrating any "Mass for Truth" where Lozada will speak to the congregation.

The CBCP itself seems to be struggling with an unresolved inner tension; less than a month after issuing a pastoral letter sharply contrasting the concerns of Metro Manila with the concerns of the provinces, it issued a second letter recognizing that the entire country, under the weight of allegations of corruption and systematic lying, was in fact facing "a crisis of truth."

Only last Sunday, a group of 16 bishops from the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila issued another pastoral letter. It takes a theological tin ear or deliberate ignorance of the Catholic Church's social doctrine to mistake the statement as an unqualified endorsement of the Arroyo administration--but the latest letter may have only succeeded in adding to the laity's growing confusion.

Political thoughts intrude into the Holy Week also because food prices are going up, and in the last several days rice has become increasingly scarce. Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap has assured the public that, while prices are indeed rising, supply remains adequate. But it is a measure of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's legitimacy crisis that Yap himself faces a credibility test. His statements have been met with suspicion.

To be sure, public skepticism is also fueled by turmoil in the global markets; oil prices have reached an all-time high, the dollar is under severe strain, the prospect of corporate failures is unsettlingly high. But on top of all these, the administration's credibility problem at a time of serious allegations of corruption and betrayal of public trust is a grave concern. The question is not only about the capacity of the administration to level with the people about the looming food emergency; it is also about the readiness of both the administration and its critics, at a time of political instability, to play politics with rice.

Not least, politics casts a pall over our observance of Holy Week because, contrary to what Palace officials like Presidential Legal Counsel Sergio Apostol may want to believe, the long weekend and the close of the academic year do not signify an end to the political instability. Indeed, we can only expect even more of the same, especially after summer classes begin in April.

We are all waiting for the other shoe to drop. What will ex-socioeconomic planning secretary Romulo Neri say if and when he finally returns to the Senate? Where will the now politically engaged youth bring their outrage next? Who will be the next witness, the next whistle-blower, to hammer away at the public's complacency? What will the bishops say, when they meet again in a plenary session in July? Questions like these interfere with the faithful's Holy Week reflections. We can only hope that, in the economy of salvation, it is a necessary interference.