The State and the Church

Almost two ago ago, Corazon Aquino passed away after a lingering bout with cancer. As she approached her final days, the nation prayed. When she died, the nation wept. That sorrow and the accumulated pain and frustration of a people punished by the corruption, the lies and cheating of their own leaders merged into one sentiment – Noynoy for president. Yes, it was an emotional moment, an emotional trigger, but it gave our people and the world a glimpse of what emotional moments can cause.

Noynoy is now P-Noy, thanks to that emotional moment, thanks to people saying, “no more” to what was and who was there. While partisan politics did pull voters to several directions, the least ambitious, the least desirous of the presidency, and the last to prepare for an expensive and bruising campaign did win. And when he did, when he assumed office, over 80% of Filipinos, almost double those who voted for him, cheered for him, approved of him, became hopeful because of him.

That was less than a year ago. It was a moment worth remembering, simply because it was our moment, the people’s moment, the moment when everything seemed possible – even the elusive harmony and solidarity of a people long beset by the divisiveness of their leaders. It is a moment that hangs on to the present, less from inspiration and more from sheer desire of something new, something fresh, from the poor aching for relief to the non-poor hungry for integrity and honor.

P-Noy may not be the knight in shining armor anymore to many, but he remains the knight who can easily still be. He is the only knight out there, he is our president. He is not a fallen knight, not a failed knight, but the sheen of the armor has faded somewhat, and the adulation of a people has waned with some disappointment over broken dreams. True, impatience has caused much of the frustration, impatience over a change that cannot happen at the speed and depth of people’s expectations. At the same time, governance has been less than sterling, less than inspiring – partly from self-inflicted wounds, and partly from expected demolition jobs.

Still, P-Noy is president and the buck stops with him. He has a destiny to live out, a responsibility to fulfill, and a serious accountability for being the president at a moment when life opens more opportunities for change beyond the ordinary. To whom much is given, much is expected. P-Noy has not been given only the presidency, he has been given a divine opening to lead the Filipino people towards their dreamt destination, towards their nationhood and honor as a race second to none.

It will not be politicians who will bring the people to the state of their aspirations. If politicians were the destined ones, another president will be in Malacanang. It was not politics who delivered Noynoy to the presidency, it was the angst of a people hoping to have someone the opposite of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The hopes and determination of enough Filipinos to carve out their future with an honest and people-sensitive leader delivered the votes of volunteers, not party members. Just as much, then, it will be the conviction and courage of enough Filipinos that will build a nation and a future full of hope. It will not be P-Noy, but he definitely can cause it to happen faster, more explosively.

It will have to wait, though. What we dream of will have to stay in the sideline first because the two most powerful institutions in the country, and have been so for four hundred years, are locked in wasteful conflict. The Church and the State, propelled by their respective leaderships, cardinals and bishops, presidents and Congresses, have turned against each other after playing footsies most of these centuries, after feasting on the wealth and patrimony of the motherland, after grabbing the land of others and holding on to them like stolen goods up to the present. They point to each other with holier-than-thou postures when only they have been responsible for the horrible poverty and corruption of the Philippines.

The RH Bill has taken over the center stage, claiming to be Pro-Life and Pro-Choice, pro-life according to the opinion of the Church hierarchy, and pro-choice according to the leadership of Congress and Malacanang. It is an issue that is using morality and poverty as their major reasons. Yet, contraceptives have been making money over several decades in the Philippines, almost exclusively among the rich, with nary a controversy or public admonition from the Church. And the RH Bill is not a solution to poverty but a distraction with its inference that population is a major cause of poverty.

Pro-Life is not the solution to either immorality or poverty, but caring for one another and model behavior approximating sermons and Biblical verses are. Pro-Choice is not the solution to poverty or reproductive health, but land for the landless, homes for the homeless, and food for the hungry are – plus they symbolize that the State cares and will inspire others to do the same.

In the midst of a special moment when transformation beyond reform becomes possible, when the enthusiasm of enough Filipinos drives them to a willingness for action, for sacrifice and contribution, we are being presented with a conflict instead of a vision. If I am given to fantasizing, I could wish that both Church and State would disappear from the people’s sight until they decide to lead by inspiration and by model behavior.

Meanwhile, Filipinos who have remain steadfast in their dreams and determination to be part of the solution will do well to stay away from anything that dampens or discourages their spirit. They must, we must, believe in ourselves, that we are the flock, that we are the citizens – that we are more the Church than them, that we are more the State than them.