The catholic bishops of Bacolod and Lipa were shell-shocked by the election results. Earlier, they listed the candidates who supported the reproductive health bill under “Team Patay.” Through ads and sample ballots, they urged repudiation.
This is in response to Ma. Ceres P. Doyo’s column titled “Sainthood for Archbishop Oscar Romero” (Inquirer, 5/2/13). I like what she stated in that column: The poor say they are not against reproduction and they are not against health.
Sharp exchanges punctuated the debate among the senatorial candidates on what to do to implement the constitutional ban on political dynasties, the topic of the third and final episode of the Inquirer Senate Forum held in Cebu City on Friday.
If there’s a concerted effort to promote—or create—a “Catholic Vote” in this country in time for the May 13 elections, there’s a parallel effort to muster enough support for the so-called “Purple Vote.”
Recently, retired Bishop Teodoro Bacani remarked that he was “happy” that senatorial candidate Risa Hontiveros was lagging in the Senate race, remaining outside the “winning circle” even if she is part of “Team PNoy” that is dominating the rankings.
In the article titled “Not just anti-RH, Church is anti-dynasty, too” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles was reported to be planning to distribute sample ballots containing the names of his favored candidates for the May elections (Page A9, Inquirer, 4/1/13). He is the same archbishop who ranted that there could be no reconciliation with those who voted for the reproductive health bill. He obviously does not follow the scriptural mandate to hate what is wrong while still loving those who do wrong.
This is a reaction to the news item titled “Bacolod faithful urged to dump pro-RH bets” (Inquirer, 2/23/13).
I, quite simply, fail to understand the Philippine Catholic Church. It vehemently opposes the Reproductive Health Law. Fine, it has every right to. But what it doesn’t have a right to is to dictate its belief to others. The law will give Filipinos of all faiths, or none, the option to request family planning assistance, or not.
The stand of the Inquirer regarding the Reproductive Health Law is very well known. During the debates on the passage of the RH bill, again and again the Inquirer defended the bill in its editorials. Now that the Supreme Court has put on hold its implementation, the Inquirer criticized the decision (“Lives are at stake,” [...]
The order of the Supreme Court suspending the implementation of the controversial law on reproductive health was a real surprise, and not in a good way. Petition after petition against the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 was filed as soon as President Aquino signed it into law last December, but the high court declined to issue a restraining order. Less than two weeks before the law was to finally take effect, however, the tribunal suddenly decided to put it on hold.
The most common defense for the “Team Patay” tarpaulins is that the San Sebastian Cathedral is private property. This is not exactly the case. Because the Diocese of Bacolod is registered as a religious organization, it does not pay property taxes. The public actually subsidizes the façade on which the tarpaulins are posted. The [...]
The efforts of the diocese in Bacolod to malign the senators who voted for the Reproductive Health bill have taken a bit of a comical turn. As most everyone knows by now, a month or so ago the San Sebastian Church in Bacolod City hung a tarpaulin on walls putting two groups of senators under the headings “Team Patay” and “Team Buhay.” After the Commission on Elections remonstrated with it for violating election rules on the size of posters—this one went well past the norm—the diocese decided to cut it in half though one still coming after the other, thereby emphasizing the divide all the more.
