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DESPITE the givens of the day, the Holy Week
celebration in the Philippines this year was as thickly
populated as before. The Visita Iglesia, for in-
stance, observed in the evening of Holy Thursday
was elbow to elbow along the road that connects the
Manila Cathedral and San Agustin Church. In Quiapo
Church, a friend couldn’t place himself in due to the
immediate swell of the crowd on the afternoon of
Good Friday.
Although on a different breath, the crowd on
a sweltering noon was unbelievably huge in
Barangay San Pedro Cutud in San Fernando City in
Pampanga. The foreign and local media, the tour-
ists, the penitents—or so the cast of characters
were regarded—and the organizers of a nine-count
crucifixion of warm bodies were all glued to the
main event of flagellations and nailings more fanati-
cally heaved than the recent devastation of Solis by
Manny Pacquiao.
The religious sentiments and fanaticism during
Holy Week in the Philippines are so profound to beg
for comparison. Judging by the external looks of it,
such spiritual manifestations would likely be enough
to convert to thy-kingdom-come a good number of
politicians clowning the streets in the country today.
They hibernated for a day or two, but on
Easter Sunday the politicians were back dancing on
the streets deceiving people like insatiable ogres
baiting on prospective victims.
While religion is a virtue, politics in the Philip-
pines is a vice. The only rub is, in times like the Holy
Week nobody seems bothered about the chame-
leons that masterfully blends religion and politics and
artistically transforms the mixture into a vote for
public trust—albeit an age-old consequence of sure
corruption and machinations of a public service
turning into a self-service.
For quite some time now, social scientists have
been pursuing to understand some unsure phenom-
enon why Catholic countries, like the Philippines,
are distinctively economically poor and politically
chaotic. Could this be a problem with religion? With
politics? Or both? The way Filipinos celebrate the
Holy Week is very telling.
In this issue, Kit Tatad poses “Can anything
good come out of this election?” Very intriguing,
this question, but certainly not in the same way
Nathanael looked down on Nazareth in the Gospel
of John. In our cover story, Msgr. Lope Robredillo
writes Philippine Politics—A Politics of Power?
Indeed, it is true that our politics is about money
and a between-life-and-death survival of the elite.
Read on.
I MPACT April 2007 / Vol 41 • No 4
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
Woman ............................................................................. 23
COVER STORY
Celebrating the Gift of Womanhood:
Putting an End to Violence Against Women .......... 16
ARTICLES
Pulpit and Platform: Discovering the Role of the
Church in the State .......................................................... 4
Authentic Feminine Sexuality ...................................... 7
Cardinal Martini and Euthanasia:
International Women’s Day: Looking Back .............. 8
Multiculturalism and Islam: Suicide of the West
and Women’s Rights ....................................................... 9
A Catechism in Images: A Very Special Edition of
the “Compendium” ...................................................... 11
Population Issue Revisited ......................................... 24
Twenty Five Years, Twenty Five Dreams ................ 25
More Than Business Behind Putin’s
Visit to Italy ..................................................................... 27
STATEMENTS
Freedom to Choose the Candidates ......................... 12
A Month of Prayer and Peace for the Filipino Family
in Celebration of National Women’s Month ..........12
Holy See’s Statement on Status of Women ..............13
Message of the Holy Father Benedict XVI to The
Youth of the World on the Occasion of the 22nd
World Youth Day, 2007 ............................................... 14
DEPARTMENTS
Quote in the Act .............................................................. 2
News Features ............................................................... 20
From the Blogs ............................................................... 22
From the Inbox .............................................................. 28
Book Reviews ................................................................. 29
CINEMA Review .......................................................... 30
Quotes in Quiz ............................................................ 30
News Briefs ...................................................................... 31
Volume 41 • Number 4 3
ARTICLES

N
othing in our electoral history quite
resembles it. No issue defines the
campaign; no question of policy or
principle divides the parties and the can-
didates from one another; issues that had
nearly pushed President Gloria Macapagal
Arroyo out of power are no longer heard at
all; party-switching among the candidates
has made the opposition and the adminis-
tration completely interchangeable.
Despite our recurring history of po-
litical insanity, never before have we seen
so unprincipled a campaign. The parties
and candidates are no longer trying to
outsmart each other; they are all simply
trying to dupe us, the voters. They are all
making deals among themselves, at our
expense. The real conflict now is between
the people and the politicians. This con-
flict must be resolved in favor of the people,
but as of now, the politicians stand to gain
everything and the people nothing.
This is how it looks:
There are two senatorial tickets, with
12 candidates each, representing the
administration’s Team Unity (TU) and the
so-called “Genuine Opposition.” Both are
synthetic tickets, each generously fla-
vored with “balimbings” (star fruit)—the
Filipino argot for the unprincipled turn-
coat.
Of the 12 TU candidates, three—Sen.
Edgardo Angara, former Senators Tito
Sotto and Teresa Aquino Oreta—are “im-

Can Anything
ports” from the opposition. They com-
posed the original “ASO” team, accused
of “biting” the opposition’s presidential

Good Come Out

candidate in 2004, Fernando Poe Jr. But of
the 12 GO candidates, all but one candi-
date belong to walk-in parties not organic
to the coalition, originally composed of

PMP and PDP-Laban.
Two of the three TU imports—Oreta
and Sotto—used to call President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo a “bogus president,”
but seem to have had no difficulty merging
into her team. Sotto had been talking to
Malacañang, and Oreta had been seen in
some Malacañang parties long before their
defection, while Angara had never echoed
the opposition’s anti-Arroyo rhetoric and
had nowhere to go after he was shut out of
the “United Opposition.” On the GO ticket,
nine of its 12 candidates had played a part
in former President Joseph Estrada’s ouster
in 2001 or in the opposition debacle in
2004. They do not seem to have any prob-
lems with one another. They do not seem
to think any principles have been broken
since they do not recall owning anything
so breakable.
But while TU carries the
of This Election?
By Francisco S. Tatad
administration’s official trademark, GO
bears almost no trace of the original oppo-
sition which had succeeded in polarizing
public opinion against Mrs. Arroyo since
2004. Estrada’s own PMP, the biggest
party in the GO coalition, is not presented
at all. After Estrada’s son J.V. Ejercito
pulled out from the race, the former presi-
dent did not nominate anyone from PMP
anymore.
Much smaller parties, however, are
represented—two of them by dynasty can-
didates whose next of kin are sitting sena-
tors until 2010. Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel
III, son of Senate Minority Leader Aquilino
Pimentel, Jr., represents PDP-Laban, and
Alan Peter Cayetano, brother to Senator
Pia Cayetano, is said to represent the
Nacionalista Party, although the party
head, Senate President Manuel Villar,
joined GO, with some equivocation, long
after Cayetano was made a GO candidate.
Nine parties of various sizes make up
the two tickets. Three parties, led by

4 IMPACT • April 2007


© Denz Dayao / CBCPMedia
Danding Cojuangco’s Nationalist People’s
Coalition (NPC), have candidates on both
tickets. NPC has two candidates with TU—
Oreta and Sotto, and four with GO—Nikki
Coseteng, Francis Escudero, Loren
Legarda and John Osmena. Former NPC
president Ernesto Maceda is playing a key
role in GO’s campaign, while “boss
Danding” is backing Malacañang.
To a lesser degree, the Liberal Party
has Michael Defensor in TU, and Noynoy
Aquino and Francis Pangilinan in GO, al-
Can Anything Good Come Out of This Election?
though Pangilinan has apparently decided
to go it alone. The NP has Ralph Recto in
TU, and Cayetano and Villar in GO, al-
though Villar seems to want to cut an
“independent posture.”
There is a more fundamental problem.
Contesting the senatorial election is an
administration that has tried but failed to
abolish the Senate, and has therefore for-
feited its right to field senatorial candi-
dates, and an opposition that now wants
to destroy what the entire nation had fought
for by turning it into the family estate of
some self-seeking families.
TU is now made up of those who tried
but failed to abolish the Senate and those
who would have been abolished if the
former had succeeded. GO is made up of
those who would have been abolished,
and those who were presumably opposed
to the abolition, but who now want to do
the Senate what they would not like the
administration to do.
Neither side, therefore, has anything
to say to our people. What can the TU
candidates say? That they regret having
failed to abolish the Senate, but that they
promise to succeed next time, if ever they
are elected?
And what can the GO candidates say?
That since we have succeeded in saving
the Senate, we should not allow the
Pimentel family of Cagayan de Oro to have
a larger presence in that body than the
whole of Muslim Mindanao, and the
Cayetano family of Taguig-Pateros to claim
a privilege denied to all those who ever sat
there, not to mention the 18 million or so
families that make up the 90-million Fili-
pino population?
In January, the Senate dynasty issue
and the capricious way of choosing sena-
torial candidates prompted me to resign
from UNO—as GO was called at the time.
Reacting to my letter on that occasion, and
to the public support it got across the
nation, Estrada withdrew his son J.V.
Ejercito from the race and asked his wife
Sen. Loi Estrada not to seek reelection
anymore, leaving his first son Jinggoy
Estrada as the only Estrada in the Senate,
and curing an abnormal situation that arose
after his ouster from the presidency in
2001.
But Estrada failed to ask the young
Pimentel and Cayetano to follow JV’s ex-
ample. Neither did the older Pimentel and
Cayetano ask their kin to do the same. So
the dynasty candidates stayed on, saying
there was yet no law against running for
the Senate while one’s father, mother,
brother or sister was sitting there. This
was most unfortunate.
To the average man in the street the
dynasty candidates’ position is wrong. It
is immoral, unconstitutional, and in ex-
tremely bad taste. It cannot be made the
starting point of a senatorial career. Good
taste alone should have deterred them, but
it is not just a question of good taste. It is
a question of law—moral law and consti-
tutional law.
Even when the nation was but a por-
tion of its present 90-million population,
no one ever insisted on running for the
Senate while his next of kin was sitting
there. No law was needed to prevent them
from doing so. It just wasn’t done. Now,
Cayetano and Pimentel insist “there is no
law against it.” This, of course, is non-
biodegradable nonsense.
Article II, Section 26 of the Constitu-
tion provides: “The State shall guarantee
equal access to opportunities for public
service, and prohibit political dynasties as
may be defined by law.” For those who do
not wish to play games with the law, there
is more than enough law in that provision.
But for those who want to put their per-
sonal interests above the Constitution,
there will never be enough law, even if an
enabling law existed.
It is retrograde and perverse for any-
one who wants to be a senator to argue
that since there is no enabling law, what
the Constitution says should be ignored.
A trial lawyer might be forgiven such state-
ment, but not someone who wants to write
the nation’s laws.
The absence of a law does not justify
conduct that would surely be prohibited if
the law existed. Laws are enacted so that,
even without law, the people will conduct
themselves in such a manner as though
there was a law that prescribed it. St. Paul’s
letter to the Romans (2:14-15) says: “When
Gentiles who have not the law do by nature
what the law requires, they are a law to
themselves, even though they do not have
the law. They show that what the law
requires is written on their hearts, while
their conscience also bears witness.”
Far from diminishing the constitu-
tional mandate, therefore, the failure of
Congress to enact the enabling law only
sharpens the obligation of those who sit or
want to sit in Congress to respect that
mandate, rather than exploit the lack of an
enabling law for their own personal advan-
tage.
Adjective law defines what is justifi-
able, but the idea of what is right and what
is wrong always precedes any enactment.
The good of society can only be secured
Volume 41 • Number 4 5
Can Anything Good Come Out of This Election?
by men and woman who will act not ac-
cording to what is written in statute but
above all according to what is written
upon their hearts. Otherwise, our politics
will remain no better than a pigsty, often
unfit even for pigs.
So much has been said about the
candidates supposed intelligence. If true,
that can never be concealed. But moral
character defines a man much more than
any display of intelligence. A man of intel-
ligence will know the difference between
right and wrong, but it takes a man of
character to say No to something appar-
ently desirable but morally wrong. An in-
telligent man without character has noth-
ing to say to anybody, least of all to the
nation.
One who aspires to sit in the Senate
must first be a man of character, whatever
his level of intelligence. He should be able
to argue against his self-interest and his
appetite for power, pleasure or personal
aggrandizement. He must be able to con-
trol his concupiscence—especially if he is
truly intelligent.
Because GO failed to do his duty, the
dynasty candidates now say, “Let the
people decide.” But, of course. If the pro-
cess is clean, the people will decide. But
one who really wants to serve the people
must only propose to them that which is
morally desirable. He must not propose
anything immoral in the hope that the
people are ignorant enough or angry
enough not to know or care about the
difference. Demagogues and charlatans
do that, but not men of real worth and
substance.
There is another fundamental prob-
lem. Despite the charges of “lying, cheat-
6 IMPACT • April 2007
ing, and stealing” the opposition had raised
against Mrs. Arroyo since 2004, they never
insisted on electoral reforms. Within UNO,
I was the only one who wanted to make
electoral reforms a precondition for our
participation in the elections. All the oth-
ers were simply election-crazy, without
any thought of what kind of elections they
would be participating in. Now, they seem
convinced the administration will cheat
again. But whenever they are asked how
they propose to prevent the cheating,
they simply say they would rather leave it
to the people.
It is an absolute let-down. But even
more heart-breaking are reports that some
of them have already made secret contacts
with former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio
Garcillano, the reputed arch villain in the
2004 electoral scandal, as documented in
the famous Garci tape, for possible “help”
in the elections. To his credit, Garcillano
reportedly rejected these approaches at
the time. We do not know the latest devel-
opments. What is obvious is that some
non-TU candidates will not mind benefit-
ing from dirty elections. They also will not
mind being helped by the administration’s
financially supported news forums and
radio-TV programs.
Some GO candidates have been shown
to be outperforming their TU counterparts
in some opinion polls. Some pro-opposi-
tion newspapers have trumpeted these
results as signs of an inevitable landslide
for the opposition. This is a total misread-
ing of the actual situation. Since we have
not heard any opposition candidate say
anything truly damaging to the adminis-
tration, we have to ask who among them
truly represent the opposition.
Given the death of moral principles,
and the dim prospects for clean and hon-
est elections, political turbulence looms
large on the horizon. No one can predict its
precise timing, intensity and form, but it
would be foolhardy to expect an unevent-
ful summer. The people are eager to choose,
but they have nothing and nobody to
choose from. With the distinction between
administration and opposition gone, the
latter has ceased to be an alternative to the
former. The people need an alternative to
both.
If this election were a public bidding
on an infrastructure project, no contract
would be awarded, in the absence of quali-
fied bidders. If it were a literary, art, or
similar competition, no one would be de-
clared winner, in the absence of deserving
entries. But as this is a senatorial election,
the voters are expected to elect 12 senators
at all cost, even if the first one gets only a
hundred votes.
In the novel Seeingby the Nobel Prize
winner Jose Saramago, the people cast
blank ballot papers to express their out-
rage during an election. And with such
results. Taking off from this example, could
we not flood the voting precincts with
crossed ballots rather than filled ones, so
that whoever are declared “winners”, as-
suming the overwhelming number of
crossed ballots does not totally invalidate
the process, will know that they are there
in pure sufferance of the people?
Whatever happens in May, we owe it
to ourselves and to our children to tell our
corrupt and power-hungry politicians in t
he clearest and strongest possible terms
that we have had enough of them and their
kind. I
 ARTICLES

Pulpit
and
Platform:
Discovering the Role of the
Church in the State

(Last of Two Parts)

by Fr. Joaquin Bernas, S.J.

II. Church and State in
Constitutional Law
I now move to a discussion of Church
and State in Constitutional Law.
Briefly, the constitutional provisions
consist of three provisions which can be
reduced to two.
Article III, Section 5: “No law shall be
made respecting an establishment of reli-
gion.”
Article II, Section 6: “The separation
of Church and State shall be inviolable.”
Article III, Section 5: “No law shall be
made…prohibiting the free exercise
thereof. The free exercise and enjoyment
of religious profession and worship, with-
out discrimination or preference, shall for-
ever be allowed. No religious test shall be
required for the exercise of civil or political
rights.”
These provisions are usually referred
to as the “non-establishment clause” and
the “free exercise clause.” Let me begin
with the non-establishment clause.
1. The non-establishment clause
Article III, Section 5’s “non-estab-
lishment clause” came to the Philippines
with the American colonial government
and was enshrined in the 1935 Constitu-
tion. It was copied into the 1973 Constitu-
tion and now remains in the 1987 Consti-
tution. Its minimal meaning is that the State
may not establish a state religion like we
had in Spanish times when the Catholic
Church was the state or “established reli-
gion.” There still are established religions
in Muslim countries and there is an estab-
lished church in the United Kingdom.
Jurisprudence, however, has elabo-
rated on its meaning beyond merely the
prohibition of establishment. One leading
decision described it thus:
Neither a State nor the Federal Gov-
ernment can set up a church. Neither can
pass laws which aid one religion, aid all
religions, or prefer one religion over
another….Neither….can, openly or se-
cretly, participate in the affairs of any
religious organizations or groups and vice
versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause
against establishment of religion by law
was intended to erect “a wall of separation
between Church and State.” Board of Edu-
cation v. Everson, 330 U.S. 1, 15-16 (1946)
The 1973 Constitution, picking up
Jefferson’s “wall of separation clause”
inserted what is now Article II, Section 6:
“The separation of church and state shall
be inviolable.” Has this insertion added
anything to the “non-establishment
clause”? It has not. In fact, what appears
in later jurisprudence is that Jefferson’s
metaphoric “wall of separation” is not
without bends and may constitute a
“blurred, indistinct, and variable barrier
depending on all the circumstances of a
particular relationship.” (Lemon v.

Volume 41 • Number 4 7
I
Pulpit and Platform: Discovering the Role of the Church in the State
Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602, 614 (1971). It
has not, for instance, prevented the State
from giving aid to sectarian schools.
(Everson v. Board of Educ., 330 U.S. 1
(1047) (bus transportation); Board of
Educ. V. Allen, 392 U.S. 236 (1968) text-
books); Lemon v. Kurtzman, 403 U.S. 602
(1971) (teacher’s salaries, textbooks in-
structional materials); Earley v. DiCenso,
403 U.S. 602 (1971) (teacher’s salaries);
Tilton v. Richardson, 403 U.S. 672 (1971)
(secular college facilities); Committee
for Public Education v. Nyquist, 413 U.S.
756 (1973) (maintenance and repair
grants, tuition reimbursement and income
tax relief).
For our purpose, however, what is
important to note is that the “non-estab-
lishment clause,” like the other provisions
of the Bill of Rights, is a command ad-
dressed to the State. Thus only the State
can violate it. As far as the churches are
concerned, they can be beneficiaries of
State violation of non-establishment but
not the violator. Thus when politicians cry
violation of church and state by the
Church and by churchmen, what they are
really doing is violating not only the free
exercise clause but also freedom of speech
and expression.
2. The free exercise clause
I now come to free exercise of religion.
The key provision on free exercise is found,
like the provision on non-establishment,
in Article III, Section 5. “No law shall be
made…prohibiting the free exercise
thereof.” Not content with that, Section 5
adds two other clauses: “The free exercise
and enjoyment of religious profession and
worship, without discrimination or prefer-
ence, shall forever be allowed. No reli-
gious test shall be required for the exercise
of civil or political rights.” Cantwell v.
Connecticut (310 U.S. 296, 303-, 1940)
neatly summarized the meaning of the free
exercise clause thus:
The constitutional inhibition on leg-
islation on the subject of religion has a
double aspect. On the one hand, it fore-
stalls compulsion by law of the accep-
tance of any creed or the practice of any
form of worship. Freedom of conscience
and freedom to adhere to such religious
organization or form of worship as the
individual may choose cannot be restricted
by law. On the other hand, it safeguards
the free exercise of the chose form of reli-
gion. Thus the amendment embraces two
concepts—freedom to believe and free-
dom to act. The first is absolute, but in the
nature of things, the second cannot be.
8 IMPACT • April 2007
The government is thus absolutely
prohibited from inquiring into the truth of
what a person believes. The moment, how-
ever, belief flows over into action, it be-
comes subject to government regulation.
As I always tell my students, you are
constitutionally free to believe that human
sacrifice is the best form of worship. But
the moment you tie up your mother in law,
place her on an altar block and build a fire
under it, you are inviting state interven-
tion.
A violation of the free exercise clause
by the state can come in the form of either
prohibition or compulsion. Philippine cases
on free exercise of religion are relatively
few but not uninteresting. Let me just
focus for a while on the prohibition of
religious test for the exercise of civil or
political rights.
This prohibition is a corollary of the
guarantee of religious liberty. The pur-
pose of this provision is to render govern-
ment powerless “to restore the historically
and constitutionally discredited policy of
probing religious beliefs by test oaths or
limiting public offices to persons who have,
or perhaps more properly, profess to have
a belief in some particular kind of religious
concept.” (Torcaso v. Watkins, 367 U.S.
488, 494,1961).
When the religious test that is im-
posed by law is overt and clear, the consti- said: “The great decisions of government
tutional problem it presents is easy to cannot be dictated by the concerns of
resolve. Torcaso v. Watkins presented a religious factions… We have succeeded
clear case. At issue there was the state law for 205 years in keeping the affairs of the
which required belief in the existence of state from the uncompromising idealism of
God as a qualification for a notary public religious groups, and we mustn’t stop
commission. The Supreme Court had no now!”
difficulty in declaring the law to be an Eloquent the words may be, but the
unconstitutional religious test. Another second sentence could not have been
case is when the law prohibits a cleric from more inaccurate historically. Whether you
running for public office. This too has measure it against American history or
been rejected as unconstitutional. Philippine history, the statement is false.
(McDAniel v. Paty, 435 US 618 (1978); Churches have influence American poli-
Pamil v Teleron, L-34854, November 20, tics from the days of Jefferson down to the
1978). prophetic preaching of Martin Luther King
More recently, you will recall that the and the pastoral letters of the American
Supreme Court was asked to prohibit Car- Bishops. Likewise in the Philippines reli-
dinal Sin, Mike Velarde and other religious gion has been involved in politics from the
leaders from giving directions to their ad- days of Fathers Gomez, Burgos and Zamora
herents on how to vote. The case was down to the pastoral letters on social jus-
dismissed on technical grounds but the tice and on the conduct of elections. I do
substantive question remains alive, at least not see this involvement coming to an end.
in the mind of some. Depending on circumstances, it can even
One person who expressed in very intensify. Thus it is legitimate to ask how
strong language his opposition to reli- religion fits into the Philippine political
gious involvement in politics was Barry culture.
Goldwater. The occasion was when the The issue can be broken down into
Moral Majority leader Jerry Falwell criti- several questions. (1) In their sermons and
cized the nomination of Sandra Day homilies, should religious leaders limit
O’Connor to the Supreme Court. Goldwater themselves to teaching general moral ideas,
e ARTICLES
obligation for all believers. Moreover, I
also believe that, when it comes to con-
tests for the formation of public policy,
individuals cannot effectively deal with
the vastness and complexity of issues.
There is therefore need for organized ac-
tion. But whether engaging in individual
or in organized action, the questions I
have enumerated need to be dealt with.
For me, the simplest among the ques-
tion is whether a member of the clergy,
particularly on who runs a parish or dio-
cese, should run for public office. Consti-
tutionally, the prevailing view is that there
is no constitutional obstacle for a cleric
running for office. As to the obstacle aris-
ing from Canon Law prescription, it is not
insurmountable. What remains therefore
is a question of prudence or propriety. My
view on this is that combining public office
and religious ministry can strain church-
state relation and community unity. I would
therefore follow the principle that one must
choose between being fully a church min-
© Abedin Taherkenareh/epa/Corbis
ister or a public official. Combining the two
can be both religiously and politically
unhealthy.
Another important question touches
on the substance of the preaching of clergy
and religious. By preaching I do not simply
refer to sermons and homilies in church. In
include any public or semi-public pro-
or should they draw specific political con- nouncements.
clusions? 2) Should they oppose or sup- Should the clergy and churches limit
port particular political parties or candi- themselves to teaching general moral
dates? (3) Should they refrain from run- ideas or may they advocate as conclu-
ning for public office? (4) Should they sions specific political actions? Certainly
engage in movements that put pressure on no one will deny the clergy the right to
political officials, e.g., through lobbying preach about morality. That is their task
and demonstrations? (5) Should they ad- and they would be remiss in their duties
vocate specific policy conclusions or if they habitually avoid moral issues. Thus,
should they limit themselves to general no one should deny them the right to
recommendations? (6) When engaging in discuss publicly whether abortion is moral
debate on public issues, should they use or immoral, or that the rich should or
religious arguments or only secular argu- should not help the poor, or that employ-
ments? ers should or should not pay workers a
These are some of the questions that living wage, or that homosexual acts are
come up when one analyzes the objec- sinful or not, or that wars are or are not
tions to religious involvement in politics. morally wrong. This is all part of ordinary
They invite discussion and I shall attempt religious preaching.
to present my own think on the subject. It is a different matter, however, when
First of all, it is not enough to say the out of general moral teachings specific
Constitution guarantees the freedom of public positions are advocated – such as
expression of the clergy. The issue tran- impeachment, charter change, or even the
scends mere constitutionality. Nor is it banning of jueteng. Of course, there are
enough to assert that through the centu- specific conclusions that flow naturally
ries Judaism and Christianity have firmly from general positions. For instance, if a
held that religious duty includes active priest believes that consensual sexual acts
involvement in politics and that Scripture of homosexuals done in the privacy of
indicates that God cares about justice and their bedrooms are not harmful to the pub-
public morality. I too firmly believe that the lic, the natural conclusion would be that
pursuit of justice and morality is a religious they should not be criminalized. But spe-
cific practical conclusions do not always
come out naturally. The fact that an act is
clearly sinful does not lead to the easy
conclusion that therefore it should be
penalized. If they were, our prisons would
be more crowded than they already are.
Why is it that people sometimes do
not want their religious leaders to tell them
what specific actions they should take or
what political conclusions they should
make? I believe that it is all part and parcel
of being a citizen of a democracy. “I have
my own mind. Don’t insult me. Let me draw
my own conclusion!” this is a perfectly
legitimate attitude. To avoid alienating
people who have such an attitude, a cleric
must carefully and respectfully present
his conclusions. If the practical conclu-
sions are presented as the product of one’s
own study and are presented for people to
agree or disagree with, then no one should
feel insulted or offended.
Another objection to specific pro-
nouncements by clerics is that their com-
petence and their access to needed facts
for drawing conclusions are limited. Rarely
is their expertise related to economics, law,
sociology, or politics, etc. but specific
conclusions about the morality of eco-
nomic or political decisions can depend
very much on the dynamics and nuances
of these specialized fields. If the cleric has
competence in these fields, then his con-
clusion can be more persuasive. But it is
also good to remember that the people
whose task it is to make important deci-
sions that impact on the lives of people do
not always have the needed expertise on
what they may be talking about. Some
lawmakers easily talk through their hat.
Ego vero neminem nomino. But this no
reason for a cleric to be reckless.
While a cleric, however, should not be
reckless in his statements, neither should
he be inordinately pusillanimous. There
are political and economic decisions that
have great moral significance. These
should be faced, with prudence, yes, but
not with cowardly avoidance of conflict.
Risks are part of the apostolic mission.
Clerics do make mistakes, out of care-
lessness perhaps or through excess of zeal
or even for more foolish reasons. But in my
own estimate, mistakes and all, courageous
stand of clerics and churches do more
good than harm. The courage of the
churches in the Philippines has made sig-
nificant contribution to improving eco-
nomic and political life. I
(This piece is lifted with permission from the talk given
by Fr. Joaquin Bernas, SJ, at the Central Seminary
of the University of Santo Tomas.)
Volume 41 • Number 4 9
ARTICLES The SDM Opt

M
arital intimacy is one aspect of
family relationship which has
been the subject of so much con-
troversy amongst married couples, the
Church and the government. The subject
has been recently exploited by extremist
groups and is the bone of contention of
various family planning proponents. In
the Catholic Church, only natural family
planning (NFP) methods are licit. Which
NFP method is best should be left to the
discretion and discernment of couples who
decide to achieve, to postpone, or to avoid
pregnancy.
Natural Family Planning was known
as Periodic Abstinence or Periodic Conti-
nence in the 19th century, and it is now
included under the Fertility Awareness
Based Methods of Family Planning.
Church teaching does not in any way
identify or specify any particular natural
family planning method as a preferred or
favored method for Christian couples.
Determination of or the monitoring of the
fertile and infertile days is left to the couples
and does not preclude the use of calen-
dars, thermometers, computers, beads or
other instruments to aid them in doing so.
Church teachings only prohibit direct in-
The SDM Option of NFP
terventions to the act of procreation.

Towards a Clearer
The need for scientific studies to aid
couples in determining their periods of
fertility or sterility is included in Pope Paul
VI’s Encyclical Letter Humane Vitae num-

Understanding and
ber 24 which states “We wish now to ex-
press our encouragement to men of sci-
ence, who can considerably advance the
welfare of marriage and the family, along

with peace of conscience, if by pooling
their efforts they labor to explain more
thoroughly the various conditions favor-
ing a proper regulation of births. It is
particularly desirable that according to
the wish already expressed by Pope Pius
XII, medical science succeed in providing
a sufficiently secure basis for a regulation
of birth, founded on the observance of
natural rhythms”.
The Institute for Reproductive Health
of Georgetown University with funding
from the United States Agency for Inter-
national Development (USAID) developed
the Standard Days Method, a modern sci-
entific method of natural family planning.
The SDM is a calendar-based method, and
is taught as such.
One way of identifying the fertile and
infertile periods of a woman includes cycle
calculations based on the observation of
the first day of a woman’s cycle. In the case
of the SDM, the calculations have been
done for women whose cycles are within
Continuing Dialogue
By Mitos Rivera
the range of26 to 32 days. This means that
the woman’s cycle changes but within a
period of 6 days only every month. Thus
it is not intended for women who do not get
their periods on a monthly basis for what-
ever reason. Fortunately, 75% of women’s
cycles fall within 26 and 32 days. The
Institute for Reproductive Health is aware
of this problem and has developed the
Two Day Method, a mucus-based method,
which addresses the needs of women
whose cycles are outside the SDM range
of 26 and 32 days.
The computer modeled data used in
the SDM study was the data that the
World Health Organization (WHO) col-
lected in its landmark study of the efficacy
of the Billings ovulation method. The
modeling used over 7,400 actual menstrual
cycles and helped establish the theoreti-
cal basis for the SDM. The study used
averaging (which is exactly what com-
puter modeling is), and IRH-GU is not
pretending otherwise. What was likely to
happen in most cases under certain param-
eters (cycles 26-32 days long) was studied
statistically.
The SDM identifies the fertile window
to be days 8 to 19 of the menstrual cycle of
a woman with cycle lengths between 26

10 IMPACT • April 2007

ption of NFP: Towards a Clearer Understanding and Continuing Dialogue
and 32 days. It takes into consideration the
life span of the egg cell which is one day,
the sperm’s life span which is 5 days under
favorable conditions and the 6-day varia-
tion in the cycle length of women with 26-
32 day cycles. Twelve days of abstinence
may be difficult at first to manage for some
couples. In cases like these, the Institute
recommends that they use another NFP
method as SDM is not in competition with
any other method. However, many couples
are able to manage abstinence required for
the 12 fertile days very well.
For women with most cycles with the
average range within a one year pe-
riod (the range being 26-32 days), the
efficacy rate is 95.25%. Efficacy rates
were calculated using the standard
medical/scientific protocols, and were
peer reviewed. WHO and other ex-
perts accept them as valid. In fact,
IRH’s statistical methods were very
rigorous as opposed to some NFP
studies: all users enrolled were in-
cluded in the study from day one. The
study did not have a 3 month learning
period so that 42% of all pregnancies
in the study occurred in the first 3
months. Had these first three months
not been counted, SDM’s efficacy
rate would have been even higher.
Protocol even during the trial
period of the SDM studies has al-
ways been abstinence during the 12-
day fertile period. SDM literature from
most other countries carries the phrase
“abstain from unprotected inter-
course”. Some programs like the Man-
agement Sciences for Health (MSH)
Matching Grant, a defunct program
funded by USAID had taken upon
themselves the task of including SDM in
their family planning training manual. Oth-
ers, in particular, those of faith-based
groups, espouse ‘abstinence only’, em-
ploying a value-based approach to NFP.
IRH Philippines is one such program,
wherein NFP is seen as fitting well into
responsible parenting/population devel-
opment approaches such as health and
poverty alleviation.
Abstinence, after all, is the most ef-
fective way of preventing pregnancy”.
IRH shows figures to prove that the use of
a backup method decreases the SDM effi-
cacy. In agreement with the DOH, couples
who say they use condoms during the
fertile period; are to be reported and
counted as condoms users and not as
SDM users.
The term reproductive health as used
by the Institute in the same light that the
Catholic Church uses the term in its official
documents. A document signed by the
Pontifical council for Health Pastoral Care,
the Pontifical Council for Pastoral Care of
Migrants and Itinerant People, and the
Pontifical Council for the Family dated 14
September 2001 was entitled Reproduc-
tive Health of Refugees: A Note for Bish-
ops Conferences. Again from the docu-
ment of the Holy See at the conclusion of
the First World Conference of Ministers
Responsible for Youth in Lisbon, Portugal
8-12 August 1998 we see the following
excerpts:
1. Regarding the terms “reproduc-
tive health care” and “reproductive
health”, the Holy See considers these
terms in a more general concept of health.
These terms embrace, each in its own way,
the person in the entirety of his or her
personality, mind and body. They foster
the achievement of personal maturity in
sexuality and in the mutual love and
decision making that characterize the
conjugal relationship in accordance with
moral norms. The Holy See rejects the act
of abortion or access to abortion as a
dimension of these terms.
2. With reference to the terms “family
planning” and family life education”, in
as much as it includes family planning,
and any other terms regarding family
planning education and services, the Holy
See reiterates its well-known position
concerning those family planning meth-
ods that the Catholic Church considers
morally unacceptable. Hence, this par-
tial consensus given here should not be
interpreted as a change in the Holy See’s
position in this regard.
Further, the Holy See reaffirms that
education of and information provided to
young people on sexual and reproduc-
tive health is primarily and fundamen-
tally the right, duty, and responsibility of
parents.
The Institute for Reproduction Health
Philippines (IRHPhil) is very much en-
couraged by the positive response of many
couples, program managers, service
providers and church workers to the
IRH-All NFP Training Program which
includes SDM.
Along this line, Church workers
in particular, have expressed their ob-
servations on how easily the teaching
of the unitive and procreative func-
tions of the marriage act become evi-
dent in use of the colored beads to
track the fertile and infertile days.
White beads = baby days, brown
beads = spouse days.
In this way, through the disci-
pline of the methods, sexual mastery,
maturity and responsibility for their
fertility are set as goals by couples
living the educational processes in-
volved in natural family planning. It
has also been said by women that the
deepening of communication with
their husband has come as an empow-
ering effect of knowing their fertility
cycles. The sexual communication that
comes with natural family planning,
they say, has brought them closer as
a couple.
We will continue to journey as Chris-
tians in this modern world, spread the
good news of natural family planning to
the “ends of the earth”. There is so much
to do, and we will not waste our time and
effort arguing about the merits of one
method and demerits of another. We would
rather “light one candle than to curse the
darkness”. There are a lot of candles to
light and pass around. Together we can
bring light to the world and bring Truth
and Peace to everyone. I
Mitos Rivera is a lay Catholic, a loving wife for
36 years, a mother of 6 children She was the
first NFP National Coordinator for the Episcopal
Commission on Family Life (now Family and
Life) and Principal Teacher for the World Health
Organization project on the testing of the fertility
learning package. Ms. Rivera was country co-
ordinator of the Institute for Reproductive Health,
Georgetown University Medical Center before
she became the executive director of the Institute
for Reproductive Health Philippines.
Volume 41 • Number 4 11
STATEMENTS
S
isters and brothers here
and in all the world, we
greet you in the name of
our Risen Lord and ask God to
fill you with the joy and the
strength of the resurrection.
Having opposed early
Christians and, indeed, sought
to bring many of them to trial
for their faith, St. Paul was sud-
denly challenged by our
Blessed Lord as he journeyed
to Damascus. Within a short
time he became a powerful
messenger for Jesus. Reading
his various epistles we see he
has much to say on many as-
pects of the Christian faith.
The statement he sets be-
fore the Philippians is regarded
by many people as the most
powerful: “All I want is to know
Christ and the power of his
resurrection and to share his
sufferings.”
In this short sentence he
links the cross and the Resur-
rection. The sufferings he had
to face for his faith lead him to
become conscious of the
power of the Resurrection
given to those who truly be-
lieve, through the power of the
Holy Spirit.
Yet again, recent months
have shown us much of the
hardships and sufferings
people have to endure, not least
in this land. Much of this bur-
den has arisen from man’s in-
humanity to men together with
the deprivation of basic human
dignity and rights, all caused
by the siege imposed upon us.
Our Blessed Lord chal-
lenges all of us; if we are to be
his disciples we must take up
our cross and follow him. In the
midst of sufferings, we reach
for the power of the Resurrec-
tion and the power of the Spirit
that enables us to take away
the oppressions that are im-
posed upon us.
So, as we celebrate the joy
of Easter we must examine care-
fully where we stand in relation
to God. Many of us need to
abandon the selfish instinct
within us. If we truly seek the
power of the Resurrection in
our lives, then we must disre-
12 IMPACT • April 2007
Easter Message From Jerusalem:
“We Reach for the Power of
the Resurrection”
gard any idea we might have of
self-sufficiency or worldly
hopes that hide from our eyes
the things of heaven and of the
Spirit.
If we believe in the Resur-
rection, we must affirm that our
security is with God and in the
power of the Resurrection.
Again St. Paul reminds us when
writing to the Corinthians: “But
we hold this treasure in earthen
vessels, that the surpassing
power may be of God and not
from us” (2 Corinthians 4:7).
Despite our weakness and
despite the unjust circum-
stances imposed upon us, the
power of God can free us if we
come to understand the logic
of the Spirit in us and if we
behave accordingly.
On the first Good Friday,
the disciples of Jesus doubt-
lessly felt shattered. However,
gradually their faith was re-
stored as they became con-
scious of their Risen Lord. Their
own personal darkness of fear
and uncertainty was suddenly
illuminated by the light of Jesus’
resurrection.
So, as we celebrate the
Resurrection we must be more
diligent in searching for the
light and in using it to build a
better tomorrow for all of us,
Palestinians or Israelis, Mus-
lims, Jews, Christians and
Druzes. We search for the light
that comes from God, illumi-
nates all creation, guides every
true believer in his search to
find God’s freedom for all, to-
gether with his peace and jus-
tice.
As we greet our sisters
and brothers across the world,
we wish them the joy of Easter
and the power of the Risen
Lord in their daily lives. While
conscious of the care and con-
cern shown by many of you,
we again ask for your particular
prayers for this land, that God
will guide all its governors and
show them the path of justice
and equality among all.
Pray for the newly formed
Unity Government of the Pal-
estinians together with the Is-
raeli Government and the Arab
Initiative, to work to remove
fear and all oppression, the
walls, the barriers and the pris-
ons, so that hearts become full
of trust and all can enjoy the
same freedom and the same
dignity.
Then we would ask that
you make a particular effort to
encourage your particular na-
tion to stop the embargo im-
posed upon us and to restore
its aid to the Palestinians. Many
vital areas of community are in
a desperate plight as a result of
the withholding of this aid, not
least [among them, areas of]
justice, economy, medicine and
education, etc. …
As all Christians across
the world celebrate Easter to-
gether we wish everyone, at
home and abroad, that joy
which our Blessed Lord’s res-
urrection brings. We ask God
to bestow upon all the joy and
the power of the resurrection
so that the words of Jesus be-
come real as he said: “I came so
that they might have life and
have it more abundantly” (John
10:10).
Christ is Risen! He is risen
indeed!
May you experience a
happy and holy Easter!
Patriarchs and Heads of the
Churches in Jerusalem
• Patriarch Theophilos III of
Jerusalem
• Patriarch Michel Sabbah, R.C.
Latin
• Patriarch Torkom I
Manooghian, Armenian Ortho-
dox
• Father Pierbattista Pizzaballa,
OFM, Custos of the Holy Land
• Archbishop Anba Abraham,
Coptic Orthodox
• Archbishop Swerios Malki
Murad, Syrian-Orthodox
• Archbishop Abouna Mattias,
Ethiopian Orthodox
• Archbishop Paul Sayyah,
Maronite
• Bishop Suheil Dawani, Angli-
can
• Bishop Munib Younan,
Lutheran
• Bishop Pierre Malki, Syrian-
Catholic
• Archbishop Georges Michel
Bakar, Greek Catholic
• Father Rafael Minassian, Ar-
menian Catholic

Re-living the Story: the Gift of Easter
“The Lord is Risen as he
has foretold. Alleluia.”
I
t is with that message
that we climax the cel
ebration of Holy Week
which started with Palm
Sunday, leading to the Last
Supper in Holy Thursday,
with the night vigil, and
Visita Iglesia, then the Sta-
tions of the Cross and its
Veneration on Good Friday.
A lot of people listened and
reflected on the Seven Last
Words of Jesus from the
Cross. The real message of
Holy Week is not only that
Jesus Christ died for us, but
that Jesus Christ also gave
us hope for new life by ris-
ing to life from the dead.
And so: “The Lord is risen
as he has foretold. Alleluia.”
All four Gospels nar-
rate the event of the Resur-
rection with their respec-
tive nuances, indicating the
individual author’s reflec-
tion with insight on the his-
toric event. All four evan-
gelists—Mark, Matthew,
Luke and John—narrate that
it was the women-disciples
of Jesus, led by Mary
Magdalene, a former sinner,
who bravely came to the
tomb and found Jesus was
no longer there.
This Gospel detail shows
that sinners are also objects
of the Resurrection news and
can be channels through
whom the Good News will
spread. It was through the
witness of women that the
male-disciples of Jesus came
to know about the Resurrec-
tion. Mary Magdalene and
the other women were the
ones instructed: “Go tell his
disciples and Peter that he is
going ahead of you to Galilee,
there you will see him” (Mk.
16/17). St. Mark includes the
initial and logical reaction of
the women. Faced with an
extraordinary and unexpected
event, it was natural for them
to doubt and not to immedi-
ately act. In St. Luke’s and St.
John’s accounts that was also
the initial reaction of the
apostles: one of disbelief and
wonderment (Lk. 24/41, Jn.
20/9).
The Resurrection ac-
count in the Gospel of St.
Matthew emphasizes one
detail to solve doubt and
unbelief. The appearance of
an angel at the tomb, while
frightening to the soldiers,
was intended to dispel the
fear of the women: “Do not
be afraid. I know that you
are looking for Jesus who
was crucified. He is not here.
He has been raised, as he
said. Come and see the place
where he lay” (Mt. 28/5-6).
Matthew emphasizes the
role of seeing in believing
and in dispelling doubt. That
is what happened to the
women. That is what hap-
pened also to the other dis-
ciples. They were told “not
to be afraid” (Mt. 28/10).
They were told to see, to
look at the empty tomb. For,
somehow, to see is to be-
lieve. This is told in particu-
lar about the “beloved dis-
ciple” who reached the tomb
ahead of St. Peter: “He saw
and believed” (Jn. 20/8). But
here, seeing can also mean
seeing not only with the
eyes, but also with the open
mind. And for us in our time
to see the resurrection is to
believe in the witness of
credible lives down through
the centuries.
The Resurrected Jesus
himself removed the dis-
ciples’ doubt and disbelief,
“by opening their minds to
understand the scriptures”
Re-living / p. 26
Witnessing to truth and
justice, the challenge we
must face.
“Before the world was made, He chose us, chose us
in Christ, to be holy and spotless, and to live
through love in his presence” (Eph. 1:3-4).
H
e has let us know the
mystery of his purpose,
the hidden plan he so
kindly made in Christ from the
beginning to act upon when the
times had run their course to the
end; that he would bring every-
thing together under Christ, as
head, everything on earth” (Eph.
1:9-10).
St. Paul teaches us that
God’s plan of salvation has this
goal: one, holy society.
One, holy society is taken
up by our 2007 Alay Kapwa
(AK) Evangelization Campaign
when it proposes this theme:
“Katotohanan at Katarungan:
Hamon sa Sambayanan Tungo
sa Pagkakaisa at Kabanalan”.
Building a society which is one
and holy requires witnessing to
truth and justice. Witnessing to
truth and justice is the chal-
lenge we must face.
Philippine society today is
in crisis. Two radical causes are
chronic lies and rampant injus-
tices. Cheating during elections,
graft and corrupt practices are
glaring examples of lies and in-
justices.
The Catechism for Filipino
Catholics (CFC) teaches us that
“lying plants seeds of division and
mistrust in the minds of others, and
thus weakens the whole network of
social relationships which consti-
tute the community” (#1233).
Injustices on the other hand
destroy harmony: between indi-
viduals; between the state and
its citizens; between states; and
between a state and the commu-
nity of nations (cf. Blessed John
XXIII, Pacem in Terris, passim).
To promote truth and jus-
tice in our society and, conse-
quently, to facilitate the building
Volume 41 • Number 4
STATEMENTS
of one and holy Philippine soci-
ety means to follow Jesus Christ
who is “the Way, the Truth and
the Light” (Jn. 14:6). And obey
his will for us “to hunger and
thirst for what is right” (Mt. 5:6).
CFC states “that Christ calls
all Christians not only to a per-
sonal conversion of mind and
heart. He also calls us to social
responsibility, to work for the
renewal of our communities,
through love, justice, peace and
freedom” (#1135).
In concrete, AK 2007 specifi-
cally challenges all believers in
God, to have a paradigm shift from
an unenlightened and passive
member of Philippine society to an
enlightened and active participant
of social transformation.
This means: (1) vote into
office candidates who are com-
mitted to the common good,
honest and competent; (2) moni-
tor the performance of elected
officials through lifestyle check
and performance chart; (3) par-
ticipate in the electoral pro-
cesses—political education,
cleansing of voters lists, poll
watching, vote count, among
others; (4) campaign against
charter change through a con-
stituent assembly; (5) safeguard
the nationalist and ecology—
friendly provisions of the 1987
Philippine Constitution.
Tough challenges all. But
God is with us.
May Mary, Mother of So-
cial Justice, accompany us in our
mission of building a Philippine
society which is united and mor-
ally upright.
Dinualdo D. Gutierrez, D.D.
Chair, CBCP-ECSA-JP
National Director, NASSA-JP
13
STATEMENTS
A
s we enter Holy Week to
commemorate the pas-
sion, death and resur-
rection of our Lord Jesus Christ,
allow us—your pastors—to
invite you to a communal ex-
amination of conscience over
the serious problem of corrup-
tion in our country in general,
and, in our beloved province of
Pampanga, in particular. To be
able to do this, let us begin, not
by pointing an accusing finger
on anybody, but by humbly
admitting our own part in this
social sin, “in what we have
done, and what we have failed
to do.” Let us feel genuine sor-
row in our hearts either for hav-
ing engaged actively in cor-
rupt social practices, or for
having tolerated them through
our sheer inaction, indiffer-
ence, or cynicism. Let us try to
do concrete penance, not just
individually, but also collec-
tively, with a sincere resolve to
make up for our actions and
omissions through which we
may have contributed to the
aggravation of the social and
moral disease that is afflicting
the Pampanga society.
The prophet Isaiah once
called the whole Israelite na-
tion to conversion, not by
merely putting on sackcloth and
ashes, or by merely engaging
in ritual piety. Rather, he said,
“Put away your corruption
from before my eyes; reject evil,
choose the good, seek what is
right…” (Isaiah 1:16-17a). He
went back to the most basic
kind of election—the choice
for good against evil, the
choice for right against wrong,
the choice for truth against
falsehood. This is the same kind
of choice that the Lord is also
asking of us Capampangans,
as we are again preparing for
elections—one of the most
precious expressions of de-
mocracy, but also one of the
most flawed exercises in the
political affairs of our country.
Too often have we heard
such cynical expressions as
“Let us leave politics to
politicians...We have no choice
anyway...That is none of our
14 IMPACT • April 2007
Reject Evil, Choose the
Good (Is. 1:16-17a)
A Pastoral Statement on the Forthcoming Elections to the
Catholic Faithful of Pampanga and to all People of Good Will
business.” If election is about
choosing, how can we exercise
it meaningfully if we say “We
have no choice?” If Christian
life is about choosing the good
at all cost, how can we say just
choose the “lesser evil”? Re-
ject evil, choose the good!
Dearly beloved brothers
and sisters, allow us, your shep-
herds, to open our hearts to
you about corruption, jueteng,
and the forthcoming elections.
Forgive us for having kept quiet
for a long time now, and for
perhaps giving you the impres-
sion that we have become in-
different about the moral de-
cay that is eating up our be-
loved province of Pampanga.
This statement is in response
to your clamor for us to speak
up and make our stand clear
with regard to the social cancer
that is eroding the moral fiber
of the Capampangan society.
Our invitation to a collec-
tive discernment cannot be
timelier than now that we are
again preparing for elections.
In the light of current develop-
ments in Philippine politics, it
is for very obvious reasons
that the nation’s attention is
focused on Pampanga because
of well-based claims that now,
more than ever, money is again
becoming the very bone of
contention over Capampangan
politics. We speak of money,
either from jueteng or from
questionable quarrying activi-
ties. The shady patrons who
are engaged in illegal and im-
moral business and who have
all the money to spend on elec-
tions are bound to take control
over politics and governance if
we do not do anything to ex-
pose and put a stop to their
underhanded and manipulative
practices.
Over the issue of jueteng,
we can only reiterate the pasto-
ral statement released by the
CBCP in March 2003, in which
the Catholic bishops called for
a total eradication of the said
illegal numbers game, referring
to it as “a moral and social can-
cer.” In that important pastoral
exhortation, the CBCP charac-
terized jueteng as “an insidious
subculture of immense corrup-
tion that involves a shadowy
network of powerful financiers,
protectors, and lords,” and
“…destroys moral values such
as industry and hard work, ac-
countability and honesty, in-
tegrity and justice.” We are
particularly alarmed about the
way this illegal gambling activ-
ity has—of late—been merely
camouflaged by the legal small
town lottery (STL), making it
easier for the former to carry on
with its operation under the very
noses of local government offi-
cials and law enforcers of the
province. In the context of the
forthcoming elections, we have
reason to be seriously worried
that money from jueteng will
again serve as a decisive factor
for the victory of certain candi-
dates.
Over the issue of ques-
tionable quarrying, we likewise
echo the statement of the CBCP
on January 29, 2006, over the ill
effects of indiscriminate min-
ing activities that do not abide
by basic environmental laws
and regulations, and which are
suspiciously tolerated by gov-
ernment agencies that are sup-
posed to be responsible for
their monitoring. Our parish
communities, especially those
located in the vicinity of major
quarry sites have reason to be
worried for their safety espe-
cially during the rainy seasons,
knowing how local government
leaders have kept quiet about
the absence of such safety
measures. Furthermore, seri-
ous allegations of corruption
involving millions of funds
generated from quarrying ac-
tivities in the province have
yet to be accounted for by the
people involved. Such allega-
tions inevitably raise the issue
about the possibility that the
provincial government is be-
ing deprived of the much-
needed revenues that could be
used for projects that will ben-
efit the people. Again, in the
context of the forthcoming elec-
tions, we have reason to be
seriously worried that money
from questionable quarrying
may also serve as a decisive
factor for the victory of certain
candidates.
As citizens of this coun-
try, we call on the faithful to
actively participate in the forth-
coming electoral exercise, ei-
ther through partisan or non-
partisan forms of political in-
volvement. It is the duty of our
Catholic laity, in particular, to

exert all efforts possible so that
qualified, capable, honest, and
God-fearing candidates—who
can be instrumental in effect-
ing change in politics towards
good governance—are elected
into office. It is also the duty of
our Catholic laity, in collabora-
tion with the religious and the
clergy, to take an active part in
the PPC-RV—initiated activi-
ties such as the education of
voters towards a more discern-
ing exercise of their right to
vote, as well as in the guarding
of votes on all levels of count-
ing and canvassing, from the
precinct to the municipal, to
the provincial, up to the na-
tional levels. To insist upon
the seriousness of this task, we
recall the recent CBCP pastoral
statement (January 28, 2007)
that said, “Many of our current
political problems, which have
hindered fuller economic de-
velopment and social justice,
especially for the poor, can be
traced to unresolved questions
concerning the conduct of past
elections. As a nation, we can-
not afford yet another contro-
versial electoral exercise that
further aggravates social dis-
trust and hopelessness.”
As leaders of the Church,
we challenge all candidates run-
ning for any government posi-
tion in Pampanga to categori-
cally and truthfully declare in
public that they have not
been—and will never be—in-
volved in JUETENG AND
OTHER FORMS OF ILLEGAL
GAMBLING, INDISCRIMI-
NATE AND CORRUPT QUAR-
RYING, VOTE-BUYING, ANY
FORM OF CHEATING IN THE
ELECTIONS, EXORBITANT
CAMPAIGNING,VIOLENCE&
EXTRA-JUDICIALKILLINGS,
ILLEGAL DRUG BUSINESS.
We call on all voters, es-
pecially the Catholic faithful,
to reject any candidate who
cannot truthfully and resolutely
make any of the declarations
listed above. We remind the
faithful of their baptismal prom-
ise to reject evil, greater or
lesser, and to choose the good
at all times. We urge them also
to remain vigilant even after
election, over corrupt, immoral,
and illegal practices in gover-
nance. We urge the laity to
encourage and support decent,
upright, qualified, and capable
alternative candidates and to
come up with multi-sectoral or-
ganizations and movements for
good governance. We call es-
pecially on our youth to cel-
ebrate our Easter hope by re-
jecting cynicism and indiffer-
ence, and by redirecting their
energies towards the renewal
of society.
Dear brothers and sisters,
we are a people of God whose
Lenten task is to turn our backs
from our sinful ways in order to
face our Risen Lord. We invite
our faithful, the voters and can-
didates to join all Christians in
making the journey to Calvary
where our Lord reigns on the
throne of the Cross with love
and forgiveness. May this love
saturate our activities and pu-
rify our politics from hatreds
and divisions. For it is only
through our conversion that
we can bring about a new prov-
ince built on justice and love.
As we celebrate our traditional
Easter Salubong’s reenactment
of the removal of the black veil
of sorrow from the Blessed
Mother in her encounter with
her Risen Son, we pray that the
shroud of sinfulness that en-
velops our province be also
taken away to give us a glimpse
of the restored dignity of our
people and our leaders re-
deemed by a God of love.
Through the intercession
of Virgen de los Remedios and
Saint Joseph, we ask the Risen
Lord to heal our province
through the moral vision and
power of the Gospel. May the
Servant-Kingship of the Risen
Christ, not the lure of power
and wealth, lead and transform
our beloved Pampanga.
Issued here in the City of San
Fernando, Pampanga, this 31st
of March 2007.
Paciano B. Aniceto, DD
Archbishop of San Fernando,
Pampanga
STATEMENTS
Take an Active Part
A PASTORAL STATEMENT
ON THE 2007 ELECTIONS
DIOCESE OF SAN JOSE DE ANTIQUE
“Citizens should take an active part
in public life as far as possible.”
(Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church #410)
My dear Reverend Fathers, Religious Sisters and Brothers, Lay
Women and Men:
May the Peace of the Risen Lord be with you all!
The resurrection of Jesus Christ, is not only a historical
event, a thing of the past. It is a reality that continues to have
relevance in the present, in your life and mine – a life that serves
the truth and brings light and hope to a darkened and despairing
world.
The Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) to Dioceses and Parishes dated 28 January
2007 expresses this relevance thus: “In these two years past, we
are only too aware, it has become easier to succumb to apathy
and hopelessness about our country and its political life. But
as followers of the crucified and risen Lord, we are called never
to lose hope that creates energy and the love that creates
responsibility.”
Therefore, let us be the followers of the crucified and risen
Lord we are called to be. Let us be bringers of hope in the coming
14 May elections. May the following be of help:
1. We exhort the qualified and registered voters: GO OUT
AND VOTE. It is your right and responsibility.
2. We plead with passion: Voters, DO NOT SELL YOUR
VOTE; Candidates, DO NOT BUY VOTES!
3. We encourage the parishioners, the LOMAS (lay organi-
zations, movements, associations and societies) in the
parishes, and BECs: HELP MAKE THE 2007 ELECTIONS
A CHAMP (clean, honest, authentic, meaningful, peace-
ful). Volunteer and get involved in our PPCRV (Parish
Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) – DSAC (Dioc-
esan Social Action Center) activities such as voters’ edu-
cation, poll watch and vote count.
4.We ask our lay leaders who are candidates: RESIGN OR
TAKE A LEAVE OF ABSENCE FROM YOUR PARISH/
DIOCESANRESPONSIBILITIES.Thelayleaderswhowill
win shall continue to be considered resigned or on leave.
Those who will lose may re-apply and be re-admitted to their
previous parish/diocesan responsibilities if approved by
the proper decision-making body or authority.
This statement is valid for the 14 May elections and
succeeding ones unless revised by the proper authority.
I end with the final exhortation of the CBCP letter: “The Lord
of truth and justice be with us all in this crucial undertaking to
his greater praise and glory. And may Mary, Our Lady of Peace,
intercede for us.” I also bless you and your endeavors.
Sincerely yours in Christ,
† Romulo T. De La Cruz, D.D.
Bishop of San Jose de Antique
10 April 2007
Volume 41 • Number 4 15
An Attempt to Understand a Certain Pattern in Traditional Politics
I
n theory, it is taught that in gover-
nance, all power derives from the people
and the goal of politics is the common
good. Because, by themselves, individu-
als, families and groups, cannot achieve
full development in order to live a truly
human life, it is the task of politics to make
available to them the necessary material,
cultural, moral and spiritual goods. Conse-
quently, office holders are placed in power
by the people not only to reconcile the
particular goods of groups and individu-
als, but also to interpret common goods
according to the guidelines of the majority
and the effective good of all people. In
view of the enormity of this responsibility,
one cannot but admire politicians—those
who choose to undertake the heavy bur-
den of this task.
Politics: A Struggle for Power
among the Elite
But if the Philippine experience has
anything to tell us, it is that politics is
essentially a power game, played by a few
elite, that hardly makes any marked im-
provement in the lives of the poor, since
the common good is scarcely its goal. Of
course, one can object that this is a gener-
alization, and to generalize is to falsify, but
still, it provides us a pattern, a framework,
and a certain viewpoint to understand its
workings. It does not, it is to be admitted,
offer the whole truth— which is beyond
the capacity of an essay as short as this—
but it has something truthful to say.
Who play the game? Philippine poli-
tics, especially in the national scene, is
almost exclusive of the few who are rich, or
their agents. Historically, the landowning
class dominated politics before World War
II, but partly because of the development
of commerce and industry, the class of big
businessmen and industrialists replaced it
after the war. When Ferdinand Marcos ran
the country through martial law, he re-
placed the post-war wealthy class with his
own, but after EDSA I, the post-war elite
repositioned themselves within the ruling
class.
Philippine politics is thus a game of
the elite. But it is elitist both because those
who play it are the few who are rich, and
also because it has historically denied the
active participation by the poor in the
highest decision-making bodies. Prob-
ably not a single person who occupied a
chair in the senate or in the house has been
known to be poor, even if political aspir-
ants tended to identify themselves with
the poor. Diosdado Macapagal, I recall,
16 IMPACT • April 2007
was known as “the poor boy from Lubao.” councilor, etc.] are the open sesame to
Joseph Estrada was perceived to be poor, wealth and influence… It is because of this
and made “Erap para sa mahirap ” his political education that we have… the elite
campaign slogan. of officials who, after several years of
Of course, one might today point to holding public office… have been able to
the existence of the party-list system that build from nothing handsome fortunes of
the post-Marcos constitution instituted, varying magnitude on the opportunities
but as the Inquirer editorial (Apr 2, 2007 ) afforded by the offices they held.”
noted, the mechanism remains imperfect, Political power, in other words, is con-
even though it is impressive: “impressive vertible to economic power. As President
because it seeks to imbed representatives Diosdado Macapagal once noted, the
of the poor and the marginalized in Con- president and the members of congress
gress, which remains a bastion of the rich have powers that are “so vast and potent
and privileged; imperfect, because party- that economic interests enter into a mutu-
list representatives sometimes turn out to ally protective alliance with them which
be as privileged and well-connected as results in a concentration of economic
any traditional politician.” Indeed, some benefits in their combined hands.”
of these party lists are connected with the
entrenched oligarchy.
A case in point is the first three nomi-
nees of the Ahon Pinoy, a party-list group
newly accredited by the Comelec, which
seeks to represent overseas Filipino work-
ers most of whom are really poor and
marginalized. These nominees, according
to the editorial, “are not OFWs, and can-
not by any stretch of imagination be con-
sidered underprivileged”: Ernesto Herrera
III is a son of a labor leader and former
senator, Bernardo Ople is a brother of a late
labor secretary, senator and foreign secre-
tary, and Dante Francis Ang is a son of a
publisher and close Arroyo ally. Thus,
even what is intended for the underprivi-
leged could be circumvented and used to
place the elite in power.
In this game, it is the elite that vie for
power among themselves. In a way, our
politics could be described as a struggle
for power among the rich and privileged
who are more concerned with their own
advantage and that of their own class than
with the advantage of the majority who are
poor. If it is not self-interest of the elite that
guides politics, history and the present
experience do not bear it out.
Power, Aggrandizement and the
Beneficiaries
Why this vying for political power?
Probably no one might say it explicitly, but
it appears that political power gives the
elite opportunities to increase their wealth.
Indeed, to capture political power is to
self-aggrandize. As Claro M. Recto ob-
served as early as 1958, “ours is essen-
tially a pragmatic and a very simple [politi-
cal education]. It boils down to opportun-
ism through public office… All the politi-
cal offices [that is, from president to mu-
nicipal mayor, from senator to municipal
 C O V E R
S T O R Y

Philippine An Attempt to

Politics -
Understand a Certain
Pattern in Traditional

A Politics
Politics
by Lope C. Robredillo

of Power?

© Denz Dayao / IMPACT

Volume
Volume 41
41 •• Number
Number 44 17
An Attempt to Understand a Certain Pattern in Traditional Politics

But after having built a handsome

fortune by occupying the seat of power, it
would be almost impossible for the elite to
part with it. On the contrary, they are there
to protect their own interest. This partly
explains why equitable distribution of
wealth is almost impossible under a poli-
tics of power. A case in point is land
reform. Since the Commonwealth, there
have been various government efforts to
address the problem of unrest through
land reform legislation—Government Acts
Nos. 538 and 539 in 1940, Republic Act
Nos. 1267 and 1400 in 1954 and 1955, and
R.A. No. 3844 in 1963, R.A. Nos. 6380 and
6389 and Pres. Decree 27 under Marcos,
and R.A. 6657 in 1988 under Aquino. But
as Pedro Salgado observes, “all these laws
never solved landlessness, for they were
never intended to solve the problem in the
first place. Congress is peopled by land-
lords. The legislature thus saw to it that
there would be loopholes in the law in
order that they and their fellow landlords
can escape the law’s provisions.”
The land reform code of 1963 under
Macapagal provides a good example. The
legal loopholes favorable to landlords in-
clude the exemption of lands producing tween Fires, his term ended with a year take office. Indeed, it is a paradox of Phil-
for export which of course were the big that witnessed a deterioration of condi- ippine politics that corruption is assumed
plantations, exemption of fishponds, tions for many of the poor. to be endemic to politics and government,
saltbeds and lands planted to citrus, cacao How power brings opportunities to but at the same time ‘exposing’ corruption
and other permanent trees, and exemption wealth is probably a given in our politics. is a time-tested political tactic and guaran-
of landholdings converted to residential, One who was glued to the TV during the teed vote-getter. The prevalence of cor-
commercial, industrial and other non-agri- impeachment trial of Estrada would recall ruption is a serious problem, but perhaps
cultural purposes. Though the program that the prosecution presented witnesses even more serious is the widespread pre-
was estimated to cost about P200 M within and evidence on the former president’s sumption that corruption is unavoidable.
a year of its enactment and P300 M in the involvement in illegal gambling and his This perpetuates the problem, reduces the
next three years to be successful, Con- maintenance of secret bank accounts, al- credibility of political leaders and most
gress allotted only about P1 M for its though his defense panel denied these importantly undermines the legitimacy of
implementation. The lesson is: democra- allegations. It was also reported that when political institutions.”
tization of wealth, which was one of the Marcos fled the country, the US Customs In her book, Christianity Versus Cor-
centerpieces of Marcos’ New Society, is agents found suitcases of gold bricks and ruption, Miriam Defensor Santiago pre-
hardly possible under an elitist politics. diamond jewelry. It is also alleged that sents a corruption case study in our coun-
It would seem, then, that if the elite they had certificates for gold bullion val- try, and goes over various corruption scan-
that control the government do something ued at billions of dollars. Imelda, of course, dals: P35.7 B laundered money scandal,
that benefits the poor, it is, one can make pointed out that his husband was already P200 B national debt scandal, P60 B oil
an educated guess, because coincides with rich even before he became president, firms tax credit scam, P25 B IMPSA power
their own interest. Nevertheless, all that is because he was already engaged in gold contract scandal, P20 B IMPSA power
done does not go deeply enough to the bars business. contract midnight deal, P9.2 B centennial
fundamental problems of poverty. The The use of public office for self-ag- exposition public works scandal, P7.5 B
benefits seem to be superficial. Probably, grandizement brings with it graft and cor- congressional initiative allocation scan-
among the candidates in our political his- ruption. Says David Timberman in his dal, to mention a few in her enumeration.
tory, no one has ever stirred hope among book, A Changeless Land: “The use of And yet, one wonders whether, in our
the poor more deeply than Joseph Estrada, public office for personal or highly par- history since pre-war politics, there has
not only because hoi polloi perceived him ticularistic purposes causes recurring been a single high official from senator to
to be one with them, but also because his cycles of scandal or alleged scandal at president convicted of graft and corrup-
slogan was pro-poor: Erap para sa every level of government. The political tion. That these seem to cease to scandal-
mahirap. He really enjoyed the support of ‘outs’ charge the ‘ins’ with corruption and ize, still less ignite public outrage simply
the masses. But as Arsenio Balisacan, in abuse of power, only to have the same indicates that people expect leaders to be
his article, “Did the Estrada Administra- charges leveled at them if and when they corrupt. Indeed, although politicians are
tion Benefit the Poor?” in Doronila’s Be-

18 IMPACT • April 2007


wont to level charges of corruption against
their opponents come election period, yet
there has hardly been any record of taking
their accusation seriously to the point of
bringing them to court, most likely be-
cause it would undermine the oligarchic
class, affecting many people, and because
the issue would be divisive.
What about plunder? Plunder is sim-
ply a logical consequence of power poli-
tics for self-aggrandizement and power
perpetuation. One is tempted to think that
some of the elite assume the idea, like the
kings of the old Europe did, that every-
thing in their kingdom in a way belongs to
them. It seems difficult to really distin-
guish what belongs to the government
and what belongs to the ruling elite; oth-
erwise, plunder would not be possible. In
our political history, two presidents have
been accused of plunder: Marcos and
Estrada.
Elections as Tool to Gain and
Preserve Power
If politics is viewed as politics of power,
elections must be seen not just as a politi-
cal exercise in which people choose those
who will hold public office. Rather, they
constitute a struggle among the elite to
capture the power of the state. Elections,
in other words, are a form of war in which
opposing wealthy individuals seek to
place themselves in a political advantage.
Elections thus resolve the question as to
who among the elite should have control
over the country’s wealth and resources.
Today’s conduct of elections has re-
inforced the elite’s control of the wealth
and resources because it costs a fortune to
be elected to government positions. Since
only the moneyed can afford to buy votes,
give substantial donations, provide enter-
tainment, engage in nationwide campaign,
bribe officials, and use other means, fair or
foul, it is logical why only the elite can run
for public office. Many towns suffer a
dearth of candidates, not because no one
is intellectually qualified, but because few
have the capacity to finance their candi-
dacy. So, even at the local level, gover-
nance is becoming dominated by the local
elite. Elections are therefore not opportu-
nities for people to choose the best who
can govern them, but not infrequently to
choose who among the elite will have
access to power. The result is that, elec-
tions have become an instrument for the
continued dominance of the elite.
Equally important, elections also
function as a legitimization of that domi-
I
nance, even if it is less than just. To lend
credibility to his martial law regime that has
been under attack from foreign observers
and to appease restive citizens, Marcos
allowed elections to be held in 1978. The
result, which was condemned by the op-
position as fraudulent, legitimized the
Marcosian dominance, since his party,
Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), won
151 out of 161 seats. To legitimize his long
tenure in office as president, Marcos called
for presidential elections in 1981, in which
he won by a margin of over 16 M votes or
91.4% against Alejo Santos of the
Nacionalista Party who got 8.6% only. Of
course, the largest opposition party at that
time, Ninoy Aquino’s Laban, seeing
through the farce, did not field any candi-
date.
Needless to say, the conduct of elec-
tions practically disenfranchises the poor.
While it is true that theoretically, a poor
man can run for president or senator, in
practice, only the rich have the capacity to
do so, for reasons we have noted above.
Instrument of Elite Dominance
and Power Perpetuation
If monopolies are distributed among
cronies, it is because, in order to survive
and perpetuate themselves in power, the
elite must share the benefits of power with
their own trusted men. Which is why, ours
has been described as politics of patron-
age. Says the CBCP Catechism: “Derived
from the feudal system of master and ser-
vant, the politics of patronage considers
the relationship between public servant
and ordinary citizen as that of patron (mas-
ter) and client (servant). Rewards or ben-
C O V E R
S T O R Y
efits are distributed according to the loy-
alty of clients to their patrons. Clients or
voters depend on their patron or public
officials for every development project or
assistance, and solutions to community
problems. Rewards or development
projects are distributed, then, on the basis
not of justice due to people but on the
basis of the government official’s ‘kind-
ness’ and the loyalty of the people to the
public official. Thus political leaders and
followers who show support are rewarded
with projects, money or jobs. Dependence
and subservience, passivity and inaction
on the part of citizens are characteristic of
such a system. This accounts for the lack
of viable organizations among the poor on
the one hand, and the concentration of
wealth on the other.”
Patronage politics helps the well-en-
trenched elite perpetuate themselves in
office in three ways. First, people are so
placed in debt that they have to pay in
votes come election time. Second, a net-
work of political relations is built and ex-
panded within their political turf and be-
comes a machinery to assure victory. Third,
it divides people into those who are loyal
and those who are not, the better for the
politicians to forestall any move by the
clients to independently organize them-
selves into a powerful body.
Pork Barrel, which is part of patron-
age politics, is one of the instruments of
power perpetuation, though, admittedly,
it has other uses. In the Philippines, prob-
ably because of its not so edifying conno-
tations, it came under different brands—
Countrywide Development Fund (CDF)
and Priority Development Assistance
Fund (PDAF). At present, each senator
Volume 41 • Number 4 19
C O V E R
S T O R Y
gets P200 M in pork barrel allocations,
while each congressman receives P65 M.
Those who benefit from it naturally con-
tinue to be indebted to the politician, and
therefore could be counted upon for votes
in the next elections.
Having stayed long in office, some
politicians seem to have developed a
stance that treats public office as a family
title that could be passed on from one
generation to the next, That is to say,
political power is perpetuated through
family dynasty. One is led to conclude that
the office practically becomes a family
asset that protects its own business and
other interests and shields it from political
jeopardy. This probably explains why
through generations we are familiar with
surnames associated with politics, because
they come up in almost every election
period. Some of these well-known names
may be mentioned: Aquinos—Benigno,
Sr, Benigno Jr, Noynoy, Tessie, and
Herminio. Osmeñas—Sergio Sr, Sergio Jr,
Lito, Sergio III. Estradas—Joseph, Loi,
Jinggoy, JV, Emilio Ramon. Marcoses—
Ferdinand, Imelda, Ferdinand Jr, Imee.
Disenfranchisement of the Poor
Because politics is meant for the con-
tinued dominance of the elite, the wealthy
never really work for what could funda-
mentally better the lot of the poor. For one
thing, they seem to think that what is good
for them is also good for the constituents.
20 IMPACT • April 2007
If one may not admit that the ruling elite are
deliberately blind to the needs of the poor,
one has to say that they have a narrow
worldview. As Miriam Defensor Santiago
puts it, “the biggest problem in our culture
is that many among the Metro Manila rich
identify their selfish private interests with
the general interests of the public; and
their narrow social values, with national
values. The rich think that what is good for
them is necessarily good for the country.
This is the root cause of massive poverty
in the Third World. Over the decades, the
rich have succeeded in identifying their
own social organization with the peace
and order of society in general. Because of
this worldview, the rich consider them-
selves the apostles of law and order. They
support reform, but never a meaningful,
even if peaceful, revolution. They will
support reform as long as they remain rich,
and the poor remain where they are. Their
kind of reform is not only incremental, but
also self-interested. Their obsession with
peace is tied to their privileges under the
status quo. This is why the rich must
assume responsibility for widespread pov-
erty.”
Indeed, even party-list mechanism,
which was crafted into the 1987 Constitu-
tion with good intentions, could be used
to advance the cause of the dominant
power. Though the principle behind the
system is lofty, “it has been used, often
enough,” says a PDI editorial (Apr 3, 07),
“to smuggle political players into Con-
gress, through the party-list backdoor. If
Akbayan party-list Rep. Etta Rosales is
correct, the Arroyo administration is now
in the middle of an attempt to smuggle in
its own party-list representative through
that same door. Last week, she charged
that the Comelec had accredited at least 11
suspect party-list groups, with varying
degrees of connection to Malacañang or
Palace officials…. The object is clear: The
administration has seen the potent role
played by a bloc of like-minded party-list
representatives in both attempts to im-
peach the President. Now, it wants to fill
the party-list seats with friendly bodies.”
Politics in the Philippines: A
History of Power Transfer
It appears that Philippine politics is
by and large a history of transfer of politi-
cal power from one set of elite families to
another, or within the same class. From
1946 to 1968, political powers changed
hands largely between the two parties—
the Liberals and the Nacionalistas, which
were both peopled by wealthy individu-
als. Neither of the two parties made any
fundamental changes in the system, even
though the party in power was always
accused by the other of not giving the
people a better deal. In the 1970s, Marcos
declared martial law to destroy the oligar-
chic structure of society, but he ended up
with “crony capitalism” by distributing
monopolies to his own cronies. When
Marcos fell from power in 1986, the elite
that were removed from the center of power
and privilege were restored and reposi-
tioned and continued the same elite poli-
tics.
Now, in the 2007 elections, we princi-
pally have Genuine Opposition vs. Team
Unity, but from the point of view of prin-
ciples and outlook, one has difficulty in
finding their marked differences, except in
terms of personalities. It is simply a power
struggle between two elite groups vying
for power, pro-GMA and anti-GMA, but
their agenda do not bear fundamental dif-
ferences. Of course, seasons, personali-
ties and names in our political history
change, but the system that the elite ruling
class had installed before the war remains
the same. The majority, on the other hand,
remains mired in poverty and alienated
from the center of power and domination.
“The thing that hath been, it is that which
shall be; and that which is done is that
which shall be done; and there is no new
thing under the sun” (Ecc 1:8).
 N E W S
FEATURES

M
ulticulturalism is not helping the Islam has always been merciless on
West to be itself, nor is it helping homosexual relations. Yet there is silence
the Muslims of Europe to inte- in Italy among Muslims on civil unions
grate better in their new countries. I would and homosexuality. There is a kind of
like to demonstrate this point by examin- manipulation of Islam on the part of lib-
ing the question of homosexuality and the eral progressivism. If Europe and America
family in the Islamic tradition and in today’s want to change the concept of “family”,
Islamic world. they must take account of universal reli-
gious traditions.
Muslims in Italy and the debate
on civil unions
In Italy, it is the supporters of all-out
cultural tolerance who are promoting a law
on civil unions. They were preceded by
other European countries where the same
observation can be made.
Strangely enough, Muslim communi-
ties—who receive so much support from
progressive liberals—have remained si-
lent on this issue. For example, UCOII—an
association of Italian Muslims which claims
to represent the majority of Muslims given
that it controls (often in financial terms) a
large part of mosques in the country—
speaks only when it is politically conve-
nient, when it spots the possibility of ob-
taining a right, a privilege, a prayer hall, a
mosque, a reduction in working hours
during Ramadan, a vacation for a pilgrim-

Multiculturalism and
age to Mecca, etc.
But members of UCOII do not weigh
into the issues that are being debated in
Italy. The problem of the value of the

Islam; Civil Unions and

family and of homosexual couples seems
to not interest them. This is a sign that they
are not carrying forward a project of inte-
gration, but of revindication.

It must be said that the question of de
facto couples has never been put forward,
either in the past (obviously) or in this day
and age. Even more than is the case in
Christianity, Islam puts the accent on pro-
creation in marriage, and secondly on sexual
pleasure, which falls exclusively under the
framework of legality, whether in terms of
marriage or concubinage. Outside of legal
marriage or recognized concubinage, any
sexual act is a grave sin, and this according
to all Islamic schools of legal thought,
whether Sunni or Shi’ite.
Let’s consider therefore what is
Islam’s official position (as expressed in
the most important schools of law) with
regard to homosexuality; then, what is the
reality in the Muslim world (yesterday and
today) on the question of homosexuality;
and lastly, what is the current legislation in
various Muslim countries.
The Koran and the Hadith on
homosexuality
Homosexuality
by Samir Khalil Samir, SJ
In the Koran, anal relations are con-
sidered a very serious sin. The biblical
story of Lot (Genesis 19) is told 6 times in
the Koran, an exceptional number of times
which demonstrates its importance, and is
always condemned absolutely: Koran 7,
80-84 ; 11, 77-82 ; 15, 58-79 ; 26, 160-174 ; 27,
54-58 ; e 29, 28-35. According to Muslim
tradition, these six texts date back to the
Mecca period (610-622), actually to what
scholars of Oriental studies call “the third
Meccan period” which covers the years
619-622. According to editions in Saudi
Arabia, these chapters correspond respec-
tively to chapters 39, 52, 54, 47, 48 and 85.
The condemnation of the actions of
the people of Sodoma is unremitting. For
example, Koran 29 (The Spider), 28-29:
“And when Lot said to his people: Most
surely you are guilty of an indecency which
none of the nations has ever done before
you; you lust after males.”
According to the Tradition of
Muhammad (Sunnah), homosexuality,
both male and female, whether active or
passive, is equivalent to adultery, and is
thus punishable by death.
Doctors of the faith (“ulama”) usually
refer to 3 hadith, which speak of liwât (a
word that derives from Loth), i.e. rela-

Volume 41 • Number 4 21
Multiculturalism and Islam; Civil Unions and Homosexuality

tions between two males (but it also gen- was however frequent. Islam authorizes maintain the purity of Islamic society, and
erally means homosexuality), or of sihâq, chaste love with boys, as long as there was to cleanse it of perverted elements ((Al-
i.e. relations between two females. The no physical contact. And according to a halâl w-al-harâm fî l-Islâm - The licit and
first hadith says “When a male mounts saying (hadith): “He who loves and re- the illicit in Islam).
another male, God’s throne trembles.” mains chaste and hides his secret and dies, How is sharia, the Islamic law, being
The second says “Kill the person who is dies a martyr,” that is for having resisted applied in the Islamic world? In seven
active and the person who is passive.” the greatest of temptations. nations, homosexual relations are officially
The third deals with lesbians: “The sihâq punishable by death: Saudi Arabia, Iran,
of women is fornication (zinâ).” Official position of Islam on Mauritania, Sudan, Somalia, Somaliland,
Furthermore, anal relations with one’s homosexuality, yesterday and Yemen and Afghanistan at the time of the
own wife is condemned by a hadith: today Taliban. In many countries, homosexual-
“Cursed is he who approaches his wife ity is punished with incarceration, or cor-
from behind” (Imam Ahmad Collection, 2/ There are five juridical schools in the poral punishment, as in Bahrain, Qatar,
479). Muslim world today: 4 are Sunni (Hanafite Algeria, Maldives, etc. In some countries
Homosexuality is often practiced, Malikite, Shafite, Hanbalite) and the fifth, (Turkey, Jordan, Egypt, Mali, etc.), homo-
throughout Arab and Islamic history, be- Jaafari, is Shi’ite. The Hanafite school sexuality is not prohibited as such, but
tween an adult and an adolescent boy. A does not consider homosexual relations to gays can be condemned for offending
hadith says to “mistrust young adoles- be adulterous, but leaves punishment to public morality, as happened in Cairo on
cents, because they are a greater source of the discretion of judges. The other four May 11, 2001, when 52 men were arrested
damage than young virgins.” A story is schools consider it to be adultery and on board the Queen Boat Nightclub, an-
told of Imam Sufyân al-Thawrî (died 783) condemn the two partners to death. As chored in the Nile. Iran is the country
who fled from some baths one day, assert- with adultery, there must be 4 male wit- where the situation is of the greatest injus-
ing on the question of sexual temptations nesses or 8 female witnesses. tice: since the Islamic revolution, the Ira-
that “if every woman has a demon who Imam Yûsuf al Qaradâwi, the scholar nian government has executed more than
accompanies her, then a beautiful young most accredited with modern Sunni Islam, 4000 people accused of homosexual rela-
man has seventeen of them.” The famous writes « Islamic jurists have had opposing tions.
Hanbalite jurist, Ibn al-Jawzî, (died 1200) opinions on the punishment for this abomi- On this, as on many other points,
appears to have said, “Those who claim to nable practice. Should punishment be that Islam is in contradiction with the Universal
not experience any desire when they look foreseen for zina (fornication), or should Charter of Human Rights, due to the con-
at beautiful boys and young men are liars, both the active and passive participants fusion made between ethics and law. A
and if we believed him, we would seem him be killed? Even if such punishment can religion can consider an act to be a serious
as an animal, not as a human being.” In seem cruel, it has been recommended to Multiculturalism / from p.26
classical Arabic poetry, there is an abun-
dance of poems on love for young men,
and in fact many would go to monasteries
to contemplate young novices!
A reflection of this love for boys is
also found in the Koran. In the description
of Paradise in Sura 56, 12-19, we read: “In
the gardens of bliss, many from among the
old, a few from among the recent, on thrones
decorated, reclining on them, facing one
another. Round about them shall go the
eternally young, with goblets, pitchers
and cups of pure drink; which shall give
neither headaches nor drunkenness.” And
also in Sura 52, 21-24. “And (as for) those
who believe and their offspring follow
them in faith, We will unite with them their
offspring and We will not diminish to them
any of their work; every man is responsible
for what he shall have wrought. And We
will aid them with fruit and flesh such as
they desire. They shall pass between them
a cup immune to vanity and sin. And round
them, to serve them, shall go boys similar
to hidden pearls.”
The Koran thus completely condemns
homosexuality and equates it to adultery.
The tradition of the Prophet of Islam ac-
cepted by the ulama explicitly says that it
deserves death. Practice of homosexuality

22 IMPACT • April 2007


For Whom the Votes Count
R
ecent Philippines history is a standing witness to
the fact that there have been certain elections
which were anything but honest and credible.
Such is especially true when talking of the 2004 national
elections.
Their eventual and lasting results have become
rather predictable. There is division among the people.
Public disgust and distrust continue to haunt the citizens.
There is persistent socio-political instability productive
of poverty and underemployment. Such public adversi-
ties adamantly refuse to disappear notwithstanding all
glorious and repeated claims to the contrary by the
present administration.
There appears to be one signal truth which is a
distinct teaching that such basically dishonest and unac-
ceptable elections have brought to fore. It is good to
point out this reality in the Philippine elections—irre-
spective or whether those now holding political power
and influence accept it or consider it pure garbage.
There is both wisdom and prudence in knowing the truth
and remembering the teaching.
This: in elections held in this country, it is not really
the voters and the number of their votes that make
political candidates win or lose. Rather, it is the counters
EDITORIAL
of the votes who make candidates as winners or losers.
In other words, it is good for a candidate to have many
voters. It is however best for them to have good
counters.
It is good for political parties to proclaim their grand
platforms and for their candidates to mount vigorous
and unrelenting campaigns. To spend millions for their
tri-media advertisements, to shake millions of hands,
smile left and right, and to convince as many people as
possible to vote for them when election day comes.
But at the end of the day, what will make them
actually win or lose are the three following consider-
ations:
• Who are the ones counting the votes from the
precinct to the COMELEC levels?
• Which one of the two or three people in-charge of
counting the votes have they contracted?
• How much are they willing to pay to all those
counting the votes for every thousand votes taken away
from others and credited to their names instead.
The Philippines is not rated number one in corrup-
tion all over the Asian continent for nothing. Which to
say, the votes count most for those who are willing to be
corrupt the most.
Volume 41 • Number 4 23
N E W S
FEATURES
Seizures and Imprisonment for
Christians Accused of Illegal
Religious Activities
ASTANA, Kazakistan, March 14, 2007—
Seizures and imprisonment for the Bap-
tist Church which persistently refuses to
register itself as is required by Govern-
ment law: Pastor Fauzi Gubaidullin ended
a three-day administrative prison term on
10 March for leading his unregistered
Baptist church in the southern city of
Shymkent. Congregation member Yuri
Pfafenrot told Forum 18 News service
“We can’t agree to having our church
closed down”.
Kazakistan requires that all religious
groups are registered. But the Council of
Baptist Churches refuses to request reg-
istration, which it sees as State interfer-
ence in its internal affairs. Kanat
Nalmagambetov, head of the Internal Af-
fairs Department at the Shymkent city
administration, insists that “any religious
organization must be registered as this is
the law”.
Pfafernrot explains that the State
seeks to control religious communities
through their registration. “officials want
to know how many faithful there are, who
prays and how much money is collected.
We cannot accept this form of interfer-
ence, which is a veritable control mecha-
nism”.
The Shymkent Baptist community
was banned for 3 months in 2006, but the
circa 40 members continue to meet. On
March 7th their leaders Gubaidullin and
Dengof were arrested and immediately
put on trial. Believers protested that
charges against Gubaidullin were laid
before the appeals court judgment was
passed. Pfafenrot now fears that the au-
thorities will bar access to the Church
which is the private property of congre-
gation members and maintain that “they
(the authorities) have no right to do so in
private property”.
Meanwhile in Northwest Aktobe
Baptist preacher Andrei Grigoryev re-
fused to pay fines amounting to 53.980
tenge (circa 430 dollars) for illegal reli-
gious activities. February 24th executors
seized a washing machine and a car to pay
the fines. Kazakhstan’s Human Rights
Ombudsperson, Bolat Baikadamov,
agrees that the law on the obligatory
registration of religious groups is unjust
and adds that “We appealed to the gov-
ernment last year to remove it”, but with-
out success. (AsiaNews/F18)
24 IMPACT • April 2007
Catholic Compendium now Avail-
able in Russian
MOSCOW, Russia, April 3, 2007—As Pope
John Paul II requested, a Russian version
of the Compendium of the Catechism of
the Catholic Church has been published
and will be presented on Tuesday at the
Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception
in Moscow.
For Msgr. Tadeusz Kondrusiewicz,
archbishop of the Diocese of the Mother
of God in Moscow, the new edition is “a
source that conveys clearly and precisely
the essence of the Catholic doctrine, which
one can turn to in order to get a coherent
and authentic idea of the faith and moral-
ity.”
The prelate expressed hope that the
Compendium would become very popular
and “serve as an effective instrument of
evangelization and strengthening of Chris-
tian faith and contribute to cooperation
between the Catholic and Orthodox
Churches in preaching and protecting
Christian values.”
The Catechism of the Catholic Church
contains the official teachings of the
Church and was John Paul II’s idea. The
first edition dates back to 1992.
In 2003, the Pope decided that a Com-
pendium to the Catechism be published so
that anyone interested in the basic tenets
of the faith could study them. But the task
of presenting the Compendium fell on Pope
Benedict XVI on June 28, 2005.
Divided in four parts, the book offers
a clear but simple history of the Catholic
faith in the form of a dialogue between the
catechist and his listeners.
The first Russian edition will be 216-
pages long and will be printed in 3,000
copies.
The Russian version of the actual
Catechism of the Catholic Church has 814
pages. In the last ten years it has already
run to six editions for a total of 12,000
copies, this according to Jean-Francois
Thiry, director of the Spiritual Library
Cultural Centre. (AsiaNews/Agencies)
Another Scandal Hits Research
into Cloning
by Theresa Kim Hwa-young
SEOUL, South Korea, April 10, 2007—A
new, big scandal has hit South Korean
scientific community and its research into
cloning. After the scandal of the false
discoveries of the “pioneer of cloning”
Hwang Woo-suk, Seoul National Univer-
sity said the school’s Committee on Re-
search Integrity has begun investigating
the research team led by professors Lee
Byung-cheon and Shin Nam-sik, who on
March 26 claimed they had cloned two
wolves.
The team announced on March 26
that it had produced the world’s first
cloned wolves in October 2005, and that
the two females have survived for more
than one year and five months. Shortly
after the research was made public, a
group of young scientists claimed the
paper contained manipulated statistics
to exaggerate the success rate of the
cloning.
The University decided to investi-
gate: they are accused of having inten-
tionally omitted a reference to earlier re-
search and used some inaccurate terms, to
exaggerate the success of their research.
Following the attack, both professors ad-
mitted the inaccuracies but maintained
that the fault lies with the magazine that
published their report. According to Lee,
none of the numerous errors found in the
report were intentional.
Lee was one of the key members of
Hwang Woo-suk’s research team, which
faked data in human stem cell cloning
research, and was forced to bow to inter-
national pressure to withdraw their re-
search and admit that results were fabri-
cated in the laboratory.
Because of his role in the “Hwang
scandal”—who is currently on trial—Lee
had been suspended for three months
from his post. Moreover, he currently has
to answer to charges of fraud and charges
of misappropriating research funds.
Kuk Young, chief of the university’s
Office of Research Affairs, yesterday
apologized to the public that another
university research team faced an ethics
charge: “We apologize for failing to cre-
ate a perfect system, but it is impossible
to verify all of the research papers. We
will do our best to improve the review
system”. (AsiaNews)

A Thousand Dollars for the Lives
of Three North Korean Children
VIENTIANE, Laos, April 13, 2007—Lao-
tian police is demanding a thousand dol-
lars to release three North Korean children
detained at its border as they fled Kim
jong-il’s Stalinist regime, according to Life
Funds for North Korean Refugees. A
spokesman for the Tokyo-based organiza-
tion said that the NGO would not pay,
fearing that payment would set off a
“bounty hunt” for North Korean refugees.
Life Funds Chairman Hiroshi Kato
met the children—a 12-year-old boy, his
14-year-old sister and another girl of 17—
in a prison and said they were “in a panic”
after a visit by North Korean consular
staff, who threatened severe punishment
when they are repatriated.
They were arrested 14 weeks ago while
crossing the Mekong River into Laos with
the intention of continuing on to Thailand
and, ultimately, starting new lives in the
US. Their three-month sentence is over
but they remain in prison because the
police still expects payment.
“Groups like ours are short of re-
sources, and we are very concerned that
paying bribes or bounty money could set
a precedent that would see Laotian border
police hunting down North Korean refu-
gees,” said Kim Sang-hun, an international
human rights volunteer from South Korea.
“It’s a lot of money by local standards.”
But what worriers Chairman Kato is
the fact that “under North Korea’s criminal
code, a sentence of 11 years’ forced labor
is possible, although they could also be
sentenced to death.”
Mr. Kato criticized other governments
for refusing to intervene. He is especially
scathing about the South Korean embassy
which is interested in helping only defect-
ing party officials or members of North
Korea’s military.
Letters by the three children have
been brought out of the prison, with Kim
Hyang, 14, saying: “I am writing as the last
chance of a drowning person who will
clutch at a straw. The North Korean em-
bassy interrogated us and took down all
the information on April 6. We are unfor-
tunate children who came here in search of
freedom and are now at risk of losing our
lives.”
Kim concluded her letter with a plea:
“If any person can give us that freedom,
we will remain grateful [to them] for the rest
of our lives. We can accept anything ex-
cept going back to North Korea.”
(AsiaNews/Agencies)
Aging Population Creates Eco-
nomic Problems, Vatican Envoy
Reminds UN
NEW YORK, April 12, 2007—The
Vatican’s envoy to the UN has warned
that demographic trends point to an emerg-
ing problem for economic development, as
workers will be required to support an
aging population.
Speaking to an April 10 session on
population and development, Archbishop
Celestino Migliore said that the economic
problems created by declining birth rates
should be addressed by efforts to provide
education and support for young workers,
increasing their productivity. The
archbishop’s English-language address
was summarized by the Vatican on April 12.
As the world’s population ages, the
archbishop said, “an increasing number of
elderly people will lay a heavier burden on
the active population.” In the long run, he
said, that problem must be addressed by
programs that “foster respect for human
life in all its stages.”
In Africa, Archbishop Migliore ob-
served, the aging of the population is not
as acute, and that fact “should hand that
continent an unprecedented advantage in
economic terms, as a young and numerous
workforce should be available to it until at
least 2050, while the demographic divi-
dend in most other regions will have run
out.” The time is ripe, therefore, for pru-
dent investments in Africa’s economic
development, he said.
The best method of helping Africa
escape poverty, the Vatican envoy con-
tinued, is through investment in educa-
tion. “Investing in people in this way,” he
said, “especially in education, is surely to
be preferred to legal imposition of limits, to
artificial corrective measures and drastic
policies, and to the unacceptable practice
of eliminating fetuses, especially females,
in order to limit population growth.”
(CWNews)
N E W S
FEATURES
The First Catholic Church in
Doha in over 14 Centuries
DOHA, Qatar, March 30, 2007—Work has
begun on the first Catholic Church in Qatar,
which after 14 centuries has finally received
permission to open a place of worship in the
country. The building which lies south of the
capital will not be open to the public, instead
it will draw together in prayer Qatar’s mainly
foreign Catholic community.
Future Parish priest Fr. Tom Veneracion,
tells AsiaNews: “After over 20 years of making
formal requests to the authorities, the govern-
ment has finally granted the Christian confes-
sions land to build their own places of wor-
ship. The Catholic community were given the
largest piece of land, because our presence
here goes back down the centuries and also
because our community is the largest, now
numbering over 100 thousand faithful”.
He adds, the Church land “was given to
us by Emir Amir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani,
who in recent years has promoted a politics of
inter religious dialogue while at the same time
maintaining the laws which forbid any at-
tempts to convert the local population, for the
most part Muslim, to any other religion. This
really is the only great limit to our pastoral
work, but we must comply”. The Church will
be dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.
Roman Catholics from all over the Ara-
bian Peninsula - many of them migrant work-
ers - are helping to pay for the $15m building,
which is scheduled to open at the end of the
year.
The priest who has been working in
Doha for the past three years is originally from
Manila: “Up until now we have been gather-
ing to pray in our homes and in the small
chapels inside the American and Philippine
campus in Doha. Together with all the Catho-
lics who live here we are really delighted at the
idea that soon we will be able to celebrate mass
in a true Church, sign of our presence in this
land.”
He continues that Qatar’s Catholic com-
munity, “is free but isolated. We are growing
in number each year, but in no way can we
carry out our apostolic mission among the
local community. In a way this guarantees
stable relations with the government. How-
ever it also limits our mission”.
Qatar has a population of about 750
thousand, mainly of Islamic faith. The govern-
ment reestablished its relations with the Vatican
only in 2002, and for almost 15 centuries has
opposed the construction of Christian
Churches under pressure from the wahabi
who hold a majority in the country and see
them as a profanation of the “holy land”.
(AsiaNews)
Volume 41 • Number 4 25
ARTICLES
Multiculturalism / from p.23
offence against God (a sin), and no one can
prevent someone from saying so—as in-
stead shamefully happened in the Euro-
pean Parliament with Italian M.P. and E.U.
Commission-candidate Rocco Buttiglione.
But law cannot always correspond with
ethics. Ethics aims at the perfection of
behavior, and must propose an ideal which
will always been difficult to reach, but
serves as a guide for man. Law indicates
the minimum limit after which one can
speak of a crime. Furthermore, and this is
another crime, the media exercises unac-
ceptable and immoral pressure on homo-
sexuals: in the case of the 52 gays in Cairo,
the press published their names, ad-
dresses, telephone numbers, and photos:
this, and not homosexuality, would have
merited incarceration.
There is also a question of incoher-
ence: Islamic moral represses homosexu-
ality, but people usually tolerate it. It is not
rare, for instance, in Egypt between an
adult and a young man. It is so widespread
that we have two terms in Arabic to indi-
cate the active and passive parts (‘ars e
khawal) of a couple.
Conclusion: defending the family
for the sake of dialogue with Islam
I find that there is not much debate in
Europe among Muslims on the question of
homosexuality and on the value of the
family as the union between a male and a
female. I have only found an inter-reli-
gious statement issued in Lyon, France, in
favor of the family.
“It is not a question,” they say, “of a
debate on society, but of an unprecedented
superior choice in humanity’s history,
given that the family as a union between a
man and a woman is a gift that must be
passed on to future generations.” The
letter goes on to say that the family is very
fragile today, because adults are not able
to help young people build their future.
“How can they acquire a solid formation,
face the future with hope, respect the du-
ties of a profession and build their own
balanced family if the institution of mar-
riage is relativized?”
In conclusion:
1. Religions and philosophies have
the right to have their own scale of values,
to consider that such and such an act is
moral or immoral, virtuous or sinful. Every
man has this right. On the condition how-
ever that such moral judgment does not
affect judgment on the person and behav-
26 IMPACT • April 2007
ior in his regard. The act is one thing, the
person is another.
2. Religions have the duty, if they
want to be of help to human society, to
periodically, constantly, re-examine their
positions, both in the light of foundational
texts and of contemporary reflection. As
Pope Benedict puts it: faith and reason
must be harmonized and are inseparable
one from the other.
3. Islam in particular is going through
a phase of returning to its origins, to pro-
tect itself from a West that it judges to be
irreligious and atheist. It faces the easy
risk of regression. To achieve the harmo-
nization between faith and reason, it is
indispensable that faith not be explained
only by “men of religion”, as our jargon
goes (rigiâl al-dîn), but also by scholars
of scientific and humanistic disciplines.
The drama of contemporary Islam is the
dichotomy within the community, the
umma: those who lead (or should lead) the
community study only religious sciences
and whatever explains these; those doing
other studies do not interfere on the intel-
ligence of faith.
4. The concept of family has had an
almost unanimously recognized meaning
ever since the existence of man, namely as
the nucleus composed of a man and a
woman with their children. The concept
can extend to relatives of varying degrees,
but the nucleus remains such. The fact of
homosexuality has always existed in hu-
man history, which has tolerated it without
legitimizing it. The West is proposing a
new approach to the concept of family,
presenting it as “progressive.” Being such
a fundamental matter, it would be neces-
Re-living / from p. 13
(Lk. 24/45). He told them to remember:
“Remember how he told you, while he was
still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be
handed over to sinners, and be crucified
and on the third day rise again” (Lk. 24/6).
And they remembered. Seeing the empty
tomb, they remembered. The Easter Cel-
ebration followed by six weeks called “post
Easter” is one long season of remembering
of the Church. The season includes the
many apparitions of the Risen Lord to
strengthen the Christian community with
the significance of Easter for life.
The gift of Easter is what Christ gives
to whomever he appears “Peace be with
you” (Jn. 20/21), the peace which enables
even a doubting Thomas to believe and
sary to hold in account not only national
opinion, but also the approach held by
humanity as a whole. Europe and America
(or parts of these) cannot think of them-
selves as the motor of humanity and of its
progress: this can be true at the techno-
logical and scientific levels, not at the
ethical and philosophical level.
5. Western behavior on matters per-
taining to the family and to sex confirms
Muslims in the idea that Western civiliza-
tion is decadent, and they attribute this
decadence to the loss of faith and religious
practice. The more determined element
reacts violently against this evil. How does
one explain to traditional Muslims (the
majority of them) that modernity is replete
with values (even if there are deficiencies
as in any human reality), if what appears of
this civilization is contrary to certain rec-
ognized values? Islam’s battle against the
West, seen as depraved, will continue,
taking on violent forms, because Western
behavior violates the conscience of the
Muslim world on important points.
6. I would add a final question. Why,
when it was a question of removing some
visible signs of Christian tradition (the
crucifix, nativity scene, etc…) numerous
voices were heard using the argument of
avoiding offence against Muslims (as if a
nativity scene were an offence to them!),
and when it is a question so fundamental
to them, there is no such talk? It is not
perhaps that the liberal world is exploiting
Muslims only when it suits their own opin-
ions? This is not respect, but
manipulation…and Muslims (or also Ar-
abs) are not so stupid to believe in it.
say “My Lord and my God” (Jn. 20/28).
The gift of Easter is what the disciples then
received, and the whole Church now re-
ceives: “Receive the Holy Spirit,” (Jn. 20/
22). The gift of Easter is in being able to say
once more to God “Yes, Lord, you know
that I love you” (Jn. 21/15) and to say also
to one another “Yes, and I love you too.”
The gift of Easter is to see Jesus again,
to remember what He taught and did, to
live and celebrate our resurrection in Jesus.
Yes, indeed, the Lord is risen as he has
foretold. Alleluia.
+ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO
Archbishop of Jaro
CBCP President
April 8, 2007

2007 Government Debt:
Pesos 3.82 Trillion
A
million pesos while sizable is still,
imaginable, still countable to rela-
tively many people. A billion pe-
sos become already difficult to count and
even highly improbable to have for the big
majority of Filipinos. But a trillion pesos—
this is definitely an amount that baffles the
mind of almost all Filipinos. For the present
administration however, trillions of pesos
are peanuts. And this is especially true
when Malacañang indulges in incurring
debts from all possible local and interna-
tional sources.
There is one thing both interesting
and disgusting in this matter of national
debts. This: The government incurs the
debt at will while the people make the
payments per force. No big deal if the
foreseen national debt this year has a
mind-boggling total estimate of pesos 3.82.
So what if the debt becomes much more in
the years ahead. In fact, to incur more and
bigger debts has become a matter of course
for the present administration.
The principle and the practice remain
the same: the government owes and the
people pay. The government is wallowing
in money while the people are suffering
from hunger and want. No Filipino is spared
from paying taxes from birth to death. It is
not enough that those who are able pay
direct taxes. It was not enough that even
the poorest paid value added tax for all
consumer goods they need. They are now
even required to pay the infamous e-vat
for exactly the same items they consume.
Rice and corn, clothes and shoes, milk
cotton and diapers—not to mention gaso-
line, fuel, and all other consumers items—
are infallibly taxed and a good number of
poor people do not even know that the
water they drink and the medicine they
need, are all taxed by the government,
direct and indirect taxes are all meant not
only to pay for BIG government expenses
but to pay as well for also big government
debts.
The truly disturbing fact is that the
present administration has been long since
making money by deliberately and reso-
lutely marketing abroad people them-
selves. It is not a secret that the country
is kept financially afloat by the taxed remit-
tances of OFW’s, a good number of whom
are working like veritable slaves.
So on goes the ominous and odious
reality in this country. The present admin-
istration goes on borrowing money while
the citizens continue paying with their
hard earned pesos. And where does all the
money go? This is another thorny issue,
another sad story, another sorrowful mys-
tery.
www.ovc.blogspot.com
Honest and Credible Elections
O
n the occasion of the forthcom-
ing May 2007 elections, it can
be readily said that all Filipinos
of goodwill, the young people in par-
ticular—are ardently hoping that the
political exercise will be honest and
credible for a change; and understand-
ably so. They well know and still re-
member the shame and infamy that ac-
companied the 2004 National Elections.
This well-marked event of the country
is definitely not something Filipinos
can be proud of. Their dignity as a
people has been trampled upon as their
key leaders made them appear dumb
and blind.
The people then became deeply
divided. The country was greatly dis-
turbed. There was distrust and anger in
the land. The present is still adversely
affected. In fact, the distinctly shame-
ful particulars that went with the 2004
elections are still remembered, still in-
voked, and still brings disgust and ani-
mosity when recalled.
The present and urgent key ques-
tion these days is in substance one and
the same: may the people really expect
a basically honest and sufficiently cred-
ible elections? No. They are not asking
for a perfect election process espe-
FROM THE
B L O G S
cially in the writing and counting of
votes. No. They are neither expecting a
very orderly and altogether peaceful
election. But yes. They are anxious and
desirous of having even but a “basi-
cally honest” and “sufficiently cred-
ible” elections this coming May 2007.
It is the least that people like to
witness—fair and credible elections.
Even this early however, there are al-
ready marked indications that the forth-
coming elections might not even meet
the minimum expectation of the com-
mon people in the country, needless to
say this is once again bad news for the
forthcoming supposedly democratic
exercise.
The names of some smooth opera-
tors are already being mentioned. There
are also indications that even certain
government institutions have began
working to favor the pro-administra-
tion congressional candidates. It is not
a secret that illegal gambling money is
funding the election expenses of cer-
tain aspirants for public office. There is
also the founded suspicion that even
public funds are helping promote the
candidacy of pro-government candi-
dates.
www.ovc.blogspot.com
Volume 41 • Number 4 27
FROM THE
I N B O X
A Glass of Milk
ONE day, a poor boy who was
selling goods from door to door
to pay his way through school,
found he had only one thin
dime left, and he was hungry.
He decided he would ask for a
meal at the next house. How-
ever, he lost his nerve when a
lovely young woman opened
the door.
Instead of a meal he asked
for a drink of water. She thought
he looked hungry so brought
him a large glass of milk. He
drank it so slowly, and then
asked, “How much do I owe
you?”
“You don’t owe me any-
thing,” she replied. “Mother
has taught us never to accept
pay for a kindness.”
He said ... “Then I thank
you from my heart.”
As Howard Kelly left that
house, he not only felt stron-
ger physically, but his faith in
God and man was strong also.
He had been ready to give up
and quit.
Many years later that same
young woman became critically
ill. The local doctors were
baffled. They finally sent her to
the big city, where they called
in specialists to study her rare
disease.
Dr. Howard Kelly was
called in for the consultation.
When he heard the name of the
town she came from, a strange
light filled his eyes.
Immediately he rose and
went down the hall of the hos-
28 IMPACT • April 2007
pital to her room.
Dressed in his doctor’s
gown he went in to see her. He
recognized her at once.
He went back to the con-
sultation room determined to
do his best to save her life.
From that day he gave special
attention to her case.
After a long struggle, the
battle was won.
Dr. Kelly requested the
business office to pass the fi-
nal bill to him for approval. He
looked at it, then, wrote some-
thing on the edge and the bill
was sent to her room. She feared
to open it, for she was sure it
would take the rest of her life to
pay for it all. Finally she looked,
and something caught her at-
tention on the side of the bill.
She read these words ...
“Paid in full with one glass
of milk. (Signed) Dr. Howard
Kelly.”
Tears of joy flooded her
eyes as her happy heart prayed:
“Thank You, God, that Your
love has spread broad through
human hearts and hands.”
There’s a saying which
goes something like this: Bread
cast on the waters comes back
to you. The good deed you do
today may benefit you or some-
one you love at the least ex-
pected time. If you never see
the deed again at least you will
have made the world a better
place - And, after all, isn’t that
what life is all about?
rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net
The Cherry Tree
WHEN George Washington
was about six years old, he was
made the wealthy master of a
hatchet of which, like most little
boys, he was extremely fond.
He went about chopping ev-
erything that came his way.
One day, as he wandered
about the garden amusing him-
self by hacking his mother’s
pea-sticks, he found a beauti-
ful, young English cherry tree,
of which his father was most
proud. He tried the edge of his
hatchet on the trunk of the tree
and barked it so that it died.
Some time after this, his
father discovered what had
happened to his favorite tree.
He came into the house in great
anger, and demanded to know
who the mischievous person
was, who had cut away the
bark. Nobody could tell him
anything about it.
Just then George, with his
Why Worry
For months I noticed the painted
rock that sat on Karen’s coffee
table. The rock was painted and
its face had a smile that just made
you smile when you looked at it.
I examined the rock and painted
on the bottom was “why worry”.
Curious I asked Karen where she
got the rock.
She told me that during a
very stressful time in her life, a
friend that she worked with gave
her the rock. Her friend told her
that when she looked at this
rock, she was to remember not to
worry so much. Her friend called
it her “worry not bug”. There
was a poem with the rock, she
went and got it and as I read the
poem I thought how true it was:
40% will never happen, for
anxiety is the result of a tired
mind,
30% concerns old deci-
sions which cannot be altered,
little hatchet, came into the
room.
“George,” said his father,
“do you know who has killed my
beautiful little cherry tree yonder
in the garden? I would not have
taken five guineas for it!”
This was a hard question
to answer, and for a moment
George was staggered by it,
but quickly recovering himself
he cried: —
“I cannot tell a lie, father,
you know I cannot tell a lie! I
did cut it with my little hatchet.”
The anger died out of his
father’s face, and taking the
boy tenderly in his arms, he
said: —
“My son, that you should
not be afraid to tell the truth is
more to me than a thousand
trees! Yes, though they were
blossomed with silver and had
leaves of the purest gold!”
rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net
12% centers in criticism,
mostly untrue, made by people
who feel inferior,
10% is related to my health
which worsens while I worry,
and only
8% is “legitimate,” show-
ing that life does have real prob-
lems which may be met head-on
when I have eliminated sense-
less worries.
Karen went on to explain
that she used to worry about
everything and everyone. She
now uses the rock as a reminder
not to worry about the things
she cannot change. She also
went on to tell me that when she
finds herself worrying, she asks
herself what percentage this
worry is. Most of the time she
found what she was worrying
about was the 40% - things that
will never happen.
rowena.dalanon@cbcpworld.net

To Jesus Daily
Through Mary
John Bautista de Mayo
This book is spread in four volumes of
daily spiritual readings; one volume per
quarter. At the preface, the author
prenotes that the volume is a compila-
tion of spiritual reflections which aims
to helping strengthen the devotion to
the Blessed Mother “whose help we can
always rely on, as only a mother could,
in accepting the inevitable contradic-
tions of daily life.” The reflections are
well written according to the rhythm of
the spirit but with the intellect not very
far behind; one would think that it is
scholarly assembled complete with ref-
erence materials which, for curious
spiritual readers, may possibly snatch
an intellectual digression from a con-
templative heart. This book offers a
good daily meditation for the clergy, the
religious and the laity. It is one of the
best there is today. The only downside
with this first edition is that the font is
too small for a content that is too big.
The Star in My
Heart
Joyce Rupp
This book is an easy reading. Read-
ing this stuff is a bonus after going
through the rigors of Lent and Holy
Week. It’s a woman’s tale beautifully
woven in verses and meditation so that
one sinks deeply to review a personal
spirituality—or the lack of it—as the
pages of the books unfolds a different
kind of Sophia, a wisdom not borne of
intellectuality but of sentiments and
warm affection. The Michigan Catho-
lic reviews: “This book would make an
excellent tool for women’s study groups
or for persons looking for a more con-
templative and inward search…Rupp’s
stories are exceptional and each chap-
ter begins with a mandala and ends
with sensitive journaling, discussion
starters. This book is meant to be
slowly and deliberately read, so as to
feel Sophia’s life-giving energy.” Joyce
Rupp is member of the Servants of
Mary (Servite) community. She is
popularly referred to as a “spiritual mid-
wife”.
B O O K
REVIEWS
Passion for Christ,
Passion for
Humanity
Acts of the Congress on Consecrated
Life
Finally, after almost ten years since
Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhorta-
tion on the consecrated life, Vita
Consecrata, the First International Con-
gress on Consecrated Life was held in
November 2004 in Rome. It was orga-
nized by the Union of Superiors Gen-
eral and the International Union of
Women Superiors General. That con-
gress was a trailblazer; a honing of new
perspectives towards living a conse-
crated life amid present realities. The
congress was a deepening of commit-
ment “to walk courageously so that
our presence,” says Sr. Therezinha
Joana Rasera, SDS, “may nourish hope
for a future of greater justice and soli-
darity, where political, economic, affec-
tive, religious and other relationships
will be in accord with the plan of God’s
kingdom…” This book which is pub-
lished by Paulines Publishing House
records not only the proceedings of
this congress but a redefinition of com-
mitment.
Why Marriages Fail
Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz, JCD
This volume is a commentary on inca-
pacity for marriage. As the author ad-
mits, it is primarily written for theology
seminarians, canon law students and
the judicial staff of matrimonial tribu-
nals. But highly canonical as the book
may seem, this may actually be help-
ful even for those in the family and life
apostolate, those involved in marriage
counseling and cana conferences.
Expectedly, every page of this book is
replete with canonical terms. But one
thing good with the author is he always
finds a way for clarity in expression and
precision in the choice of words. Canon
law books, just like canon lawyers are
not so easy to grapple with. But in this
book, Archbishop Cruz arranges his
thoughts logically in a manner of pas-
toral simplicity.
Volume 41 • Number 4 29
ENTERTAINMENT

and on the streets. But the persever-

CATHOLIC INITIATIVE ing Chris gets a break when he im-
FOR E NLIGHTENED presses a high-ranking corporate man
MOVIE APPRECIATION by solving the Rubrik Cube puzzle.
Based on a true story, The Pursuit
of Happyness is half comedy and half
Title: THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
drama that makes use of but a handful
Running Time: 117 mins
Lead Cast : Will Smith, Jaden Christo-
of actors. Outside of the father and
the son roles that form the essence of
pher Syre Smith, Thandie
Newton, Brian Howe, James
the story, the rest of the actors, how-
ever, are given limited screen time.
Karen, Dan Castellaneta
Director: Gabriele Muccino
There is obviously good chemistry be-
tween the two Smiths--it seems they
Producers: Todd Black, Jason
Blumenthal
did not need to act to perform--al-
though delving deeper into their char-
Screenwriter: Steven Conrad
Music: Andrea Guerra
acters could have improved the movie
and turned it from good to great. Di-
Editor: Hughes Winborne
Cinematography: Phedon
rector Gabriele Muccino captures and
highlights in a dramatic context the nu-
Papamichael
Distributor: Columbia Pictures
ances of the father-son relationship.
The Pursuit of Happyness is defi-
Location: USA
Technical Assessment: 
nitely not Oscar material but it is wor-
thy of the viewer’s time and it merits
Moral Assessment: zzz½
CINEMA
our support for its message: persever-
ages Rating : For viewers of all ing in faith against all odds, fighting
for your passions and principles de-
Chris Gardner (Will Smith) was a math spite the personal hardships encoun-
whiz in high school but never had further they can hardly make both ends meet. Fi- tered. The movie’s main achievement is
education. Now married and with a young nally his frustrated wife leaves home, leav- bringing the real-life story of Chris Gardner
son Christopher (Jaden Christopher Syre ing Christ and his son to fend for them- to the theaters and voicing its message to
Smith, Will’s real-life son), Chris makes a selves. With such heavy financial bur- the whole world. The whole family will
living selling bone-density scanning ma- dens and having only each other they are find an uplifting story in the movie though
chines but even with his wife Linda evicted from their home and left with no it would be especially good for fathers and
(Thandie Newton) working at two jobs, choice but to sleep in welfare institutions sons to see the film together.

ANSWER TO THE LAST ISSUE: OUR SOULS MAY LOSE THEIR PLACE AND EVEN DISTURB OTHER PEOPLE'S IF WE ARE ALWAYS TRIVIAL
ACTIONS - WHICH OFTEN ARE NOT REAL DEFECTS AT ALL, BUT WE CONSTRUE THEM WRONGLY THROUGH OUR IGNORANCE
OF THEIR MOTIVES. - ST. THERESA OF AVILA

QUOTES IN QUIZ Booklets available at BOOKSALE stores in SM, Robinsons and selected malls in Manila. For mail order text 0919 2803036.

30 IMPACT • April 2007


S. KOREA
Fire gutted Asia’s larg- Country seeks bids for Blogs for evangelization HRW: Civilians bear
est Benedictine monas- nuclear plants
tery The government of
Investigators are try-
ing to figure out what
sparked a fire at a his-
toric and Asia’s largest
Benedictine monastery in
Waegwan, this country.
Officials say every piece
of fire fighting equipment
in the community was on
the scene of the 5-hour
blaze, but nothing could
be done to salvage the
building owned by the
Benedictines of Sankt
Ottilien Germany, which,
with its 136 monks is the
largest Benedictine com-
munity in Asia. At the
main House in Waegwan,
there are usually about
75 monks, and other com-
munities dependent on the
Abbey exits in various
parts of the territory.
BELGIUM
Hijacked helicopter
used in jailbreak
Two men who pre-
tended as tourists hi-
jacked a helicopter April
15 and forced the pilot to
land in a prison court-
yard, where they picked
up an inmate in a dra-
matic jailbreak. The ac-
complices paid for a heli-
copter ride at an airstrip
east of Brussels. After
the takeoff, they pro-
duced a pistol and hand-
grenade, ordering the pi-
lot to fly to Lantin prison
outside Liege. The fugi-
tive is a Frenchman who
had previously escaped
from prisons in France
and Spain.
IRAN
gaining popularity
Blogging is becoming
Iran is seeking bids to
build two nuclear plants
near the southern port
city of Bushehr. The an-
nouncement comes amid
a standoff with the West
over Iran’s nuclear am-
bitions. Ahmad
Fayyazbakhsh, deputy
chief of Iran’s Atomic
Energy Organization,
said firms from the
world, including the
United States could bid
on the project.
NEPAL
Group urges end to anti-
gay violence
A human rights group
called on the Nepalese
government to stop anti-
gay violence by its cad-
res. In the most recent
known example of dis-
criminatory attacks re-
cently, Maoist soldiers
allegedly detained a
woman and a teenage girl
accused of having a
sexual relationship. Hu-
man Rights Watch (HRW)
said the kidnapping shows
the need for all parties in
Nepal to endorse protec-
tions for full equality, in-
cluding for lesbians and
gays, in the new consti-
tution to be drafted later
this year. “As Nepal tries
to recover from a decade
of conflict, its leaders
should make it clear that
no one’s rights are dis-
posable,” said Jessica
Stern, researcher in the
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual
and Transgender Rights
Program at HRW.
JAPAN
cost of rising insurgent
attacks
more effective in reaching
the Japanese youth for
evangelization as Church
leaders here have set up
their own Weblogs and
gaining growing interest
contact and blog questions
from the Internet surfers.
Bishops Isao Kikuchi of
Nigaya diocese and Kenjiro
Koriyama of Kagoschima
are just two of the many
prelates and priests who
update their blogs regu-
larly. Getting much feed-
back from the public, the
initiative is said to have
became interactive for an
exchange of idea and opin-
ions. The Catholic com-
munity in Japan has de-
cided to focus attention
on evangelization on the
web as a new forum for
announcing the “Good
News”.
PALESTINE
Group says it killed
British journalist
A previously unknown
Palestinian group said on
March 15 it had killed Brit-
ish Broadcasting Corpo-
ration (BBC) Gaza corre-
spondent Alan Johnston,
42, kidnapped more than a
month ago by gunmen in
Gaza City, but the claim
could not be confirmed.
In a statement sent to
news organizations, “The
brigade of Tawheed and
Jihad” said it killed
Johnston to support de-
mands for the release of
Palestinian prisoners held
by Israel. The BBC and
the Palestinians, however,
said there was no evidence
to back up the claim.
Volume 41 • Number 4
N E W S
BRIEFS
AFGHANISTAN
Civilian deaths from in-
surgent attacks here rose
dramatically over the past
15 months, and many were
the result of insurgents’ fail-
ure to respect the laws of
war, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) said. In a report, the
group described how Af-
ghan insurgent groups, pri-
marily Taliban and Hezb-e
Islami forces, sharply es-
calated attacks in 2006 and
early 2007. The report
shows how insurgents have
repeatedly, directly targeted
civilians for attack, and how
even attacks directed at
Afghan and international
military forces have been
launched without due re-
gard for civilians.
IRAQ
Turkish intrusion in
North Iraq would mean
war
Turkey’s intrusion into
the north of Iraq to con-
duct a military operation
against Kurdish separatists
based there is equal to a
declaration of war, an of-
ficial in Iraq’s Kurdish au-
tonomy said. The Turkish
Army chief of staff said it
was necessary to carry out
a military operation against
Kurdish insurgents in
northern Iraq following the
death of 13 Turkish ser-
vicemen in a fight against
the separatists. “If Turkey
starts an Army operation
on Kurdish soil, it would
be treated as a direct dec-
laration of war on Iraq as a
whole,” said Kemal
Kerkuki, deputy parliament
speaker of the Kurdish par-
liament.
31