Bishops' apologia for Arroyo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:50:00 03/28/2008
It's good of Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales and the bishops of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila to suggest that corruption is a sickness that afflict most--if not all--Filipinos. But how dare they suggest that at the heart of the Filipino is a thief, and a murderer. "Our people are known to be God-fearing and God-loving; sadly, they fight, deceive and kill for money."
As a fellow Catholic and as their inferior in the Church, let me tell the cardinal and all the signatories to the March 16 pastoral letter of the Metropolitan Ecclesiastical Province of Manila: Filipinos are God-fearing but they are not--repeat, "not"--murderers. And because they are not, generations upon generations of corrupt oligarchs and politicians have enjoyed, with impunity, a life of crimes against the Filipino people.
The callousness and refusal of these oligarchs and politicians to be influenced by their conscience have left the citizenry with very few options--one of those being murder. Do the bishops not appreciate the Filipinos for having the strength to fight such a temptation?
This is what is wrong with our nation: we have leaders who have been given the ear and faith of the public but who continuously disappoint their constituents; leaders who only think of themselves and whose point of view does not go beyond their small circles of friends and acquaintances and limited interests. How dare these prelates suggest that we are all greedy murderers.
The pastoral letter is unconscionable. It is both an indictment of the Filipino and an apology for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her cronies. Jesus Christ! If these bishops really think this way, then I have no choice but to complain to the Vatican.
I encourage other Catholic Filipinos to complain as well. This pastoral letter qualifies as a racist generalization of Filipinos. If the bishops feel disillusioned that ousted President Joseph Estrada's replacement turned out to be worse than him, then let them feel disillusioned with the political class. They can even feel disillusioned with all of the elite. But to condemn Filipinos and ask them to pay penance because of their corrupt government--the logic is stupid, ignorant and arrogant.
Let me tell the cardinal and bishops this: Millions of Filipinos go hungry without ever contemplating of committing a crime. Tens of thousands of teachers work for the Commission on Elections every election day--underpaid, unappreciated and un-bribable. Millions of parents, sons and daughters brave lonely lives in strange cultures to provide their families a decent existence, without a thought of their own happiness.
Your patronizing tone in your pastoral letter and your broad condemnation of the Filipino people are tantamount to spitting on their and other honest Filipinos' faces.--BRIAN BROTARLO, via e-mail
|
