Out of touch

House Bill 6330 or the Freedom of Religion in Government, which bans religious rites and images from government offices, is the most twisted implementation of the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state. The Filipinos are by nature religious and their government is a reflection of their religiosity.

The principle of separation of church and state is a proscription on too much entanglement and interference. It does not prohibit manifestations of religiosity that reflect the indivisibility of Filipinos’ spiritual and temporal being.

The salutary practice of starting off government programs with ecumenical prayers is an indubitable proof of the Filipinos’ belief in the Almighty Providence. The author of the bill must be so out of touch with the Filipino people and their culture so as to seek the “elimination” of one of the Filipinos’ “very Filipino practices.”

—V. EMMANUEL C. FONTANILLA,

3/F Gonzales Bldg., Pioneer Avenue,

General Santos City

The bill’s sponsor has obviously had a change of heart and has pulled HB 6330 out.—ED.