We pray to you, O Lord, enlighten your shepherds

The recent statement by Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on Jun Lozada shows how far astray from truth and justice the shepherds of the Catholic flock have gone.

Jun Lozada is not welcome in Cebu ? With all due respect to the Cardinal, he does not speak for the entire Cebuano populace. According to Cardinal Vidal, Cebuanos are intelligent enough to understand Lozada’s side of the story. True, but intelligence is of the mind and discernment is of the spirit. And we, Cebuanos, are more than intelligence. Far from it, we discern (and also engage in affirmative actions) because the church, as an institution, has been strongly influencing us to form our soundest judgments and profound discernment so that we would become a collective oasis of strength to those who risk their lives in the name of TRUTH. And for the church to remain an important institution that preaches the HIGHER TRUTH and the good news of salvation, it must be keep its fidelity to its core teachings of justice, truth and fairness.Is it fair & just to spurn Jun Lozada and extend special invitation in a recollection gathering to an administration spinmeister, Mr. Cerge Remonde, and referring to it as a way of exactly knowing the truth? Truth and Mr. Remonde is like white and black.

The clergy recollection is not the proper forum to ferret out the truth with only government’s side clarifying the version of truth. For the head of priests to allow his flock to hear only one side is akin to putting blinders on them. The tragedy in this is these very same priests with blinders on have monopoly of the pulpits and, through these, churchgoers trying to find their moral anchor. We ask, how can the blind then lead the blind?

Lozada is not welcome in Cebu ? Cebuanos are interested to know the truth as well. What set us apart from the Cardinal’s quest of the truth is that we are not only concerned with just knowing the truth, we also need to have a frontal encounter with the source of the truth. This is intelligence with discernment.

And who is making Jun Lozada a hero? If the Cardinal does not realize it, the issue at hand is already beyond Lozada. The crux of the issue now is the systemic corruption and greed that hounds this country; the flagrant decadence of moral values and the defeat of righteousness against the evils of society. And whoever risks his life in the battle against evil is necessarily a HERO; he doesn’t have to be declared one nor be created by the people who are in solidarity with his noble cause.

In the face of this crisis of institutions, may our observance of the Lenten Season find deeper meanings. Lent is a time of prayer and penance as a way to focus on God’s grace. This is the best time to take off our righteous robes and to come before God with a new humility, willing to confess our inadequacies. To kneel down with all humbleness before Him and strip ourselves bare of all pretenses and hypocrisies. By doing so, this might put us in a position to hear God in ways that we have not heard Him in a long time. In this, we may find the beginning of a healing for ourselves and for our country.

O Lord, begin with them. Here. Now.

Alliance of Progressive Labor. Akbayan Citizen’s Action Party. Bukluran sa Ikauunlad ng Sosyalistang Isip at Gawa. Center for Participatory Governance. Fellowhip for Organizing Endeavors. 

The Alliance of Progressive Labor (APL)-Women and AKBAYAN-Women celebrate International Women’s Day with renewed calls for women to unite to end what they call a “regime of plunder.”

“Women’s Day is a celebration of dignity. It is therefore imperative for women around the country to come together to condemn the endless political crises brought about by a corrupt administration which is sadly led by a woman. We must reclaim not only the dignity of women but the dignity of the nation that has been repeatedly bastardized by the Arroyo government,” declared AKBAYAN-Women Convenor Malu Perpetua.

AKBAYAN-Women expresses grave disappointment over the continuing deterioration of the state of the nation which is due to the greed of the Arroyo administration.

“We fear that if not much will change now, the next generation will inherit a nation where massive corruption is a norm, a way of life. We don’t want our children to grow up thinking that power and plunder are naturally synonymous.”

APL-Women criticized the Arroyo government for its persistent neglect of women’s concerns, particularly employment and poverty alleviation.

“Women can only live in dignity if they are free from the clutches of dehumanizing poverty, which this government has miserably failed to address point blank. Because of the administration’s preoccupation with maintaining their hold to power, they have neglected the plight of women and their pressing concerns,” APL Women leader Marlene Sindayen said.

Sindayen explained that the key to alleviating women’s worsening economic condition is full employment. “Even if the government continues to brag about ‘economic growth,’ but it remains a jobless growth, which does not have an impact on the lives of women and the poor. Full employment could only happen if economic policies and programs are crafted with the end goal of providing sustainable jobs to Filipinos,” Sindayen pointed out.

APL-Women also chided the Arroyo government for failing to uphold women’s reproductive rights.

Sindayen explained that “Mrs. Arroyo’s political will seems to be concentrated on perpetuating herself in power. She has repeatedly ignored women’s very basic concerns like reproductive health. It is very unfortunate that under the watch of a woman president, women’s right to reproductive health remained in the back seat of government priorities.”

The women’s groups called for the escalation of protest actions to oust Arroyo’s “regime of plunder.”

“We must root out the main source of corruption in government. Unseating Mrs. Arroyo is the necessary first step in changing the system that continues to marginalize women and impoverish the nation,” AKBAYAN Rep. Risa Hontiveros concluded.