TEXTBOOK EXAMPLES of “conflicts of interest” don’t come simpler than what we have here in our country.
In both the temporal and spiritual spheres, some bishops have compromised their own integrity by being beholden to a political benefactor.
They have undermined their own credibility within their own congregation and with the general community because they boxed themselves into a situation where they are seen to owe this benefactor some degree of support.
Even a parish priest is conscious of the necessity to be above and beyond reproach. What happened here?
I suspect I share with many people a jaundiced view of community mores in the Philippines. What better proof is there than a situation where even the highest prelates no longer know where the line of probity lies?
In a lot of ways, this is a reflection of how our community in general has been too clever for its own good, and how it has lost sight of the basics. How many well-educated luminaries do we have, and are we better off as a community because of them? Why do we exalt the educated and the privileged so much and denigrate the “common touch,” when common sense usually leads to the more sensible perspective?
—JAY MENDOZA,
jose.manrico@gmail.com