The Contemporary Brand of Political Activism of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP):
Strengthening  Political Structures to Solve
 and Prevent Political Crises

By Fr. Sid T. Marinay

      I argue that the CBCP statements issued from 2004 to 2008 can only be properly  understood on the pretext of the CBCP’s emphasis on strengthening political structures and institutions.

The major part of the book titled, Guided by God  written by Steven Shirley was completed in early 2003. But he wrote an epilogue of his book which covered the political events in 2004 for so many things happened in that year on account of the presidential elections.
          

Shirley, in the epilogue of his book, wrote before the results of the May 2004 elections   to give a cue of what the future of the political landscape of our society would be like:
                 

    
            The author believes, however, regardless of the final results (referring to the presidential elections), that the Church’s mission and political role will not change dramatically.   Five hundred years of history cannot be casually tossed aside by Archbishop Rosales or any other single individual.  The Church cannot escape what has become part of its raison d’etre – the shaping and molding of Philippine democracy.  Cardinal Sin himself once said that the Church must remain “active when necessary and vigilant when required.” Both vigilance and activity may become the new watchwords in 2004 and beyond, as the nation and the Church await their new president.

In Shirley’s observation, Archbishop Rosales is apolitical and rightly so. Yet Shirley thought that Archbishop Rosales’ view on and inclination in politics could not dramatically influence the Catholic Church’s positioning vis-à-vis political activism.
As far as the CBCP’s moral  vigilantism is concerned, I agree with Shirley. But as far as the CBCP’s political activism, I do not agree.  The political activism of the CBCP, since the time of President Marcos until that of Erap Estrada, was very much anchored on the charismatic personality of Jaime L. Cardinal Sin whose jurisdiction as Archbishop of  Manila was very strategic. 

The CBCP statements from the year 2004 to 2008 showed the end of the era of the CBCP’s political activism, in the sense of organizing rallies, that has blurred the line separating the Church and the State.  The era of political activism faded away with the passing away of Cardinal Sin.

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The CBCP, like any institution, cannot make a sudden turn and shift in political move.  It will always go back to its previous discourses and narratives as rationale, justification or blueprint of its present pastoral pronouncement on politics and political moves.
The CBCP statements released in 2006 prove the point that the CBCP is consistent with where it is going, that is, away from any political confrontation and into constitutionality despite the change of CBCP leadership from Archbishop Fernando Capilla, D.D. Archbishop of Davao, perceived to be an ally of Malacañang to Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, D.D., Archbishop of Jaro.
The “Hello-Garci-tape” controversy which erupted in June 2005 remained unresolved. The search for truth seemed hopeless.  But the first pastoral statement under the leadership of Archbishop Lagdameo proved the point that the CBCP was veering away from political confrontation in the sense of what used to be usually resorted to, that is, a parliament of the streets. Instead, it heavily emphasized the importance of strengthening political structures, saying, “We recommend that the search for truth must be relentlessly pursued through structures and processes mandated by law and our constitution, such as the Ombudsman, the Commission on Audit, the Commission on Human Rights, the Sandiganbayan, and Congress itself as well as other citizens’ groups.  This requires that such bodies be led and run by credible people, persons of integrity and probity.”

 
The CBCP declared 2006 a year of social concern.  But its statements hinted at remaining where the CBCP should be: at the background in the political arena but in the forefront of the moral issues. To be at the background of the political arena meant that “it would not provide any political blueprint for the just ordering of society.”  To be in the forefront of the moral sphere meant that “she has her own role to play in promoting justice, e.g., to influence life, public and private, with the integral Gospel, to form the social conscience of her members, to provide a moral light that illumines, a spiritual force that critiques social behavior and structures, denounces or purifies and reinforces in the light of the Word of God.

As far as moral vigilantism is concerned, the CBCP in the pastoral statement titled, “Renewing Our Public Life Through Moral Values: A Pastoral Statement,” issued on January 29, 2006, committed to involve itself in the public sphere by proclaiming the Gospel, which has a public relevance, and denouncing sin: “the sin of injustice and violence that in different ways moves through society and is embodied in it.” It is also the duty of the CBCP to defend the human rights especially of those of the poor, the least and the weak.”

 
It is also the CBCP’s commitment to search for the truth in our social life. It said in this statement that “we respect the position of individuals or groups that wish to continue using the impeachment process to arrive at the truth.”

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As in the time of Marcos, the CBCP at present remains a beacon of hope. In this statement the CBCP concluded that “there is reason to hope”:

In this Year of Social Concern, we turn our thoughts to what our faith in Christ tells us, we must do out of love for our neighbor.  And we see what many of our people, priests and religious, but lay men and women especially - away from the limelight and the glare of publicity - are doing quietly to put into practice what they understand Christian social concern means. Non-partisan groups like Kapatiran and One Voice, when they remain non-partisan, are especially to be commended and encouraged.  So too are the many initiatives (not the least those of our own Church Social Action Centers) at combating endemic corruption in public and private life that are working quietly at the lower levels of government and society. These give us hope that our common task to bring about greater social justice in our country is not without any effect. 

            As was in the time of Pres. Ramos and Pres. Estrada, the CBCP continues to fight against charter change, that is motivated by self-serving interests of the politicians in power. The CBCP remains committed to the use of reason and enlightened discussion,  saying, “changing the Constitution involving major shifts in the form of government, requires widespread participation, total transparency, and relative serenity that allows for rational discussion and debate. . . . The changes that are being proposed for signatures of citizens are dangerously unclear and open to manipulation by groups with self-serving interests. The complexities and variations of the parliamentary system are not adequately explained and have not been sufficiently discussed by our people.”

The CBCP’s commitment to reason and sound debate is linked to its preferential option for the poor: “What form of parliamentary system, how such a parliamentary system will truly serve the common good and the interests of the nation, especially the poor, have not been articulated. Instead, people are given general and sweeping promises of political stability and reform that will allegedly automatically come with a new political system.”

The CBCP under the leadership of Archbishop Lagdameo exerted sustained efforts to strengthen political institutions based on the rule of law: “Our action must not be merely seasonal or ad hoc or crisis driven.  It has to be action that is a sustained ‘ministry of charity exercised in a communitarian, orderly way.’”

The CBCP’s political involvement in the year 2007 under the leadership of Archbishop Lagdameo was seen as moving in a customary way of promoting the welfare of the poor expressed in its statement titled “The Dignity of the Rural Poor – A Gospel Concern,” issued on January 28, 2007 and its ceaseless concern for orderly and honest elections, the basis for a functional democracy, seen by

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concern was expressed in its statement titled, “Working and Praying for Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections,” released on April 24, 2007.

            The year 2008 is full of controversy. Aside from the unresolved Hello-Garci-tape controversy, allegations of corruption broke loose. On January 27, 2008, the CBCP issued a statement titled, “Reform Yourselves and Believe in the Gospel.” In this statement, the CBCP remained almost unperturbed, long on moral generalizations and short on specific political moves.  In spite of the hopelessness of the situation, the CBCP did not encourage the parliament of the streets or rallies.

Instead, it encouraged the faithful to be more reflective and less judgmental of others: “We have always put the blame on people we have chosen to govern us.  Today we have become more aware that despite efforts, successful or not, to remove the incompetent or corrupt, our problems have remained.  We have looked at the enemy as only outside of us.” This is an implicit recognition that EDSA II did not bring about its desired results. Pres. Estrada was ousted but corruption in the government has remained.  

In this statement, the CBCP  focused on moral and spiritual change:
           
We are asking you, our beloved people, to be with us in the moral-spiritual reform of our nation by beginning with ourselves.  This is what we need – conversion, real conversion, to put it in terms of our faith, for all of us to deliberately, consciously develop that social conscience that we say we sorely lack and to begin subordinating our private interests to the common good.  This conversion is for all of us: laity, religious, priests bishops.

            In this statement, the CBCP proved that it neither contradicted nor disregarded its previous statements. In facing the unresolved political and moral crises, it, in fact, affirmed its previous statement in 1986:  “as we your Bishops said back in 1986 after the Snap Elections of that year, to “pray together, reason together, decide together, act together,”

As a moral authority, the CBCP in this statement, defined our greatest shame as a people which is “corruption.” It went on to say that “if it goes on unhindered, it is because, as we have had occasion to point out in the past, we all too often condone it as part of the perquisites of power and public office.”

In February 2008, the anomalous ZTE-broadband deal, whose star witness was Jun Lozada, exploded.  This controversy served as the test of its political compass of whether or not the CBCP is going to be consistent in its pursuit of the newly discovered political route toward the direction which it is going, that is, strengthening the political institutions of the country by means of its hands-off policy in purely political issues. Its pronouncements have shown that the CBCP will continue to remain apolitical. Based on the CBCP statements issued as a response to the ZTE-broadband controversy, the CBCP

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remained consistent with its hands-off policy which it demonstrated in June 2005 during the Hello-Garci tape controversy.  It never asked Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to resign for that would be a purely political statement.


            In response to the crisis of credibility of Pres. Arroyo and the chaos brought about by the testimony of Jun Lozada, the CBCP issued a pastoral statement on February 26, 2008 titled, “Seeking the Truth, Restoring Integrity.”  Its moral and pastoral emphasis is evident in its opening paragraph: “Today in the midst of restlessness and confusion, we come to you as pastors, for that is our precise role.  We do not come as politicians whose vocation it is to order society towards the common good.  Our message contributes to the flourishing of a democracy which must not be built only on political formulae.”  


            The above-quoted message proves that the CBCP is geared towards recognizing the complexity of our society, and it would not anymore give any specific political  prescription to Philippine society for that is beyond its competence. It is now advocating proper role delegation, that is, each institution must perform the task it is assigned to do and not to interfere in the field it is not so familiar with.


            After having enumerated its recommendations which focused on strengthening political institutions, the CBCP concluded by encouraging people to have “circles of discernment”  and to have “communal action” that will  “perpetuate at the grassroots level the spirit of People Power so brilliantly demonstrated to the world at EDSA I.”


            This concluding statement was striking for it mentioned EDSA I as an example to emulate, but it was silent about EDSA II. This was meant to be greatly emphasized as this is strategically placed in the conclusion of this pastoral statement.


            The current direction of the CBCP to strengthen political institutions to solve and prevent political crises is a kind of a corrective measure of EDSA II which weakened political institution in the sense that it did not wait for the verdict of the Senator-Judges in the impeachment case against Pres. Estrada. It did not respect the rule of law. It did not give the duly instituted political institution a chance to assert itself and prove its strength to handle such a political turmoil. For this reason, the CBCP did not mention EDSA II,  for it did not help strengthen our political institutions. The parliament of the streets,  also known as mob rule instrumental in the ouster of Erap Estrada was a  shortcut to achieve political change. It was counterproductive, for it weakened our political structures. EDSA I was meant to prevent bloodshed. People gathered at EDSA in February 1986 with the weapon of religious articles and prayers to prevent the soldiers from killing each other. The “unintended consequence” was that Marcos left Malacaňang.


            In response to the unresolved ZTE-broadband corruption case, the Archbishop of Manila, Gaudencio B. Cardinal Rosales issued a pastoral statement on March 16, 2008, Palm Sunday,  titled, “Towards  a Morally Rebuilt Nation” to be read in all masses all over Manila signed by all the bishops of the Metropolitan See of Manila. It was a reflection of the biblical life in the desert which was the way to the promised land for the chosen people Israel. It talked about sharing and discipline for the people to survive in the desert. It described corruption as the cancer of the nation. It also emphasized that in our situation, we need the grace of God.

In his analysis of the pastoral statement of Cardinal Rosales published by the Philippine Daily Inquirer on March 17, 2008, Amando Doronila looked at it as full of

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religious platitudes without clear political direction. Doronila wrote: “Phrased in generalities, the letter sounded innocuous, underlying its disengagement from political activism and interventionist role that was its hallmark during two people power movements in 1986 and 2001.” Doronila attributed this shift of political positioning to Cardinal Rosales, saying, “Cardinal Rosales is now shifting the Church from the activist interventionist mode set by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin in two people power uprisings and is firmly imprinting his own less politically aggressive leadership style.” Doronila concluded that political activists can’t derive support from this studied neutrality of  Cardinal Rosales, “They have to look elsewhere for allies to drive their rage to the streets.”


These long religious platitudes, observed by Doronila, without suggesting any political moves to take should be understood in the light of the CBCP’s emphasis on strengthening  political institutions and structures.


The kind of political activism, the CBCP is trying to espouse at this point in Philippine history is at the service of the stability of our political institutions to be able to solve political problems and prevent political crises.  This emphasis on making the political institutions strong by promoting the “rule of law” serves as a grammar that can help accurately interpret the language of the CBCP at this point in Philippine history, and the thread that coherently links all of the CBCP statements from 2004 - 2008, the post Cardinal Sin era of the Catholic Church in the country.

References

Lagdameo, Angel Lagdameo,  D.D. CBCP President. “Renewing Our Public Life Through Moral Values: A Pastoral Statement.” January 29, 2006.
 
_________________________.“ Shepherding  and Prophesying  in Hope, A CBCP Pastoral Letter on Social Concerns,  January 29, 2006.

_________________________. “Pastoral Statement on the Alleged “People’s Initiative” to change the Constitution,” April 7, 2006.

_____________________. “Building a “Civilization of Love,” A Pastoral Exhortation for the Year of Social Concerns.” May 11, 2006.

_________________________. “CBCP Statement:  ‘Reform Yourselves and Believe in the Gospel!’ (Mark 1:15),” January 27, 2008.

_________________________. “Seeking the Truth , Restoring Integrity.” February 26, 2008.

Steven Shirley,  Guided by God: The Legacy of the Catholic Church in Philippine Politics,  Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, c. 2004.

 religious platitudes without clear political direction. Doronila wrote: “Phrased in generalities, the letter sounded innocuous, underlying its disengagement from political activism and interventionist role that was its hallmark during two people power movements in 1986 and 2001.” Doronila attributed this shift of political positioning to Cardinal Rosales, saying, “Cardinal Rosales is now shifting the Church from the activist interventionist mode set by the late Jaime Cardinal Sin in two people power uprisings and is firmly imprinting his own less politically aggressive leadership style.” Doronila concluded that political activists can’t derive support from this studied neutrality of  Cardinal Rosales, “They have to look elsewhere for allies to drive their rage to the streets.”


These long religious platitudes, observed by Doronila, without suggesting any political moves to take should be understood in the light of the CBCP’s emphasis on strengthening  political institutions and structures.


The kind of political activism, the CBCP is trying to espouse at this point in Philippine history is at the service of the stability of our political institutions to be able to solve political problems and prevent political crises.  This emphasis on making the political institutions strong by promoting the “rule of law” serves as a grammar that can help accurately interpret the language of the CBCP at this point in Philippine history, and the thread that coherently links all of the CBCP statements from 2004 - 2008, the post Cardinal Sin era of the Catholic Church in the country.

References

Lagdameo, Angel Lagdameo,  D.D. CBCP President. “Renewing Our Public Life Through Moral Values: A Pastoral Statement.” January 29, 2006.
 
_________________________.“ Shepherding  and Prophesying  in Hope, A CBCP Pastoral Letter on Social Concerns,  January 29, 2006.

_________________________. “Pastoral Statement on the Alleged “People’s Initiative” to change the Constitution,” April 7, 2006.

_____________________. “Building a “Civilization of Love,” A Pastoral Exhortation for the Year of Social Concerns.” May 11, 2006.

_________________________. “CBCP Statement:  ‘Reform Yourselves and Believe in the Gospel!’ (Mark 1:15),” January 27, 2008.

_________________________. “Seeking the Truth , Restoring Integrity.” February 26, 2008.

Steven Shirley,  Guided by God: The Legacy of the Catholic Church in Philippine Politics,  Singapore: Marshall Cavendish Academic, c. 2004.