I read with great interest Conrado de Quiros’ column titled “About time” (Inquirer, 4/23/13). His take on the honor conferred on President Aquino as one of the 100 most influential people in the world in the Leaders category is as insightful as his analyses of the other issues that he had tackled before.
His perspicacity—couched in biting irony—is most apparent in this statement: “It was Fidel Ramos’ misfortune that he wasn’t a Catholic and could therefore be depicted by the Church as going against mainstream beliefs.”
Indeed, going against the public pronouncements of the most populous and influential Roman Catholic Church—and emerging victorious—is one way to assert some modicum of greatness. It surely was no small feat for President Aquino to stand up to the theology and polity of the Roman Catholic Church. He deserves the world’s recognition for that.
However, FVR took another route to put his own mark of exceptional leadership on the landscape. As though it was not difficult enough to win the presidency against the big religious lobbies—e.g., the Roman Catholic Church and the Iglesia ni Cristo—FVR had to work constantly under the cynical watch of those who did not know what a Protestant (he is an active member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines-Cosmopolitan Church) could really do to succeed in a predominantly Roman Catholic country.
First, FVR demonstrated what he had always passionately believed in. Being Roman Catholic or a Protestant or a Muslim does not equate to being divided. Religious denominations are simply faces of the colorful diversity God has created. As a firm believer in the beauty of interfaith work, FVR worked with every faith organization, and every sector of society for that matter, helping to empower them as partners in nation-building.
Second, FVR had to prove to this country—and to this world—that one does not need to be “marinated” in politics to be great. He learned that from his parents. He drew additional inspiration from President Cory Aquino. Fittingly, President Cory endorsed, supported and actively campaigned for FVR (another mark of her daring character, since she had to break ranks with the official leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Jaime Cardinal Sin, who seemed to have supported everyone except non-Catholics). As a non-traditional politician, FVR had to dig deep into his treasure box of home-grown basics in people empowerment—the principles of caring, sharing and daring, which he espouses up to now. And he showed the world those basics still work.
Third, FVR, while respecting the teachings of all religious denominations, continues to exhibit the very foundations of his character: a deep faith in God which his parents and his own church had helped instill in him, a firm belief in the goodness of every human being, and a unwavering conviction that the Philippines deserves to be ranked among the best in the world.
—REV. DR. JOSÉ ANDRÉS SOTTO,
senior pastor,
UCCP-Cosmopolitan Church
1368 Taft Avenue cor. Apacible St.,
Ermita, Manila