Restoring Trust: A Plea for Moral Values in Philippine
Politics
(Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines)
The Pastoral Situation
1. As a people we seem to have passed from crisis to crisis in one
form or another. For many analysts, reinforcing these crises are ambivalent
cultural values such as palakasan, pakikisama, utang ng loob, and
family-centeredness. As Bishops we have long contended that the crises
that we have suffered are basically moral—the lack of moral values
in ourselves,in our relationships, in our social structures.
2. Today we are beset with yet another political crisis of such magnitude
as to polarize our people and attract them to various options ranging
from the extreme right to the extreme left. In this grave situation,
various groups take advantage of one another, manipulate situations
for their own agenda and create confusion among our people sometimes
by projecting speculation or suspicion as proven fact, with the aim
of grabbing power.
3. At the center of the crisis is the issue of moral value, particularly
the issue of trust. The people mistrust our economic institutions
which place them under the tyranny of market forces whose lack of
moral compass produces for our people a life of grinding, dehumanizing
poverty. They also mistrust yet another key institution—our political
system. This mistrust is no recent. For a long time now, while reveling
in political exercises, our people have shown a lack of trust in political
personalities, practices, and processes. Elections are often presumed
tainted rather than honest. Congressional and senate hearings are
sometimes narrowly confined to procedural matters and often run along
party lines. Politics has not effectively responded to the needs of
the poor and marginalized.
4. This question of trust in national institutions has taken a critical
urgency with the resignation of some key Cabinet members, the realignment
of political parties and the creation of new alliances. Amid this
realignment of forces we commend the clear official stand of our military
and police authorities who reiterated their loyalty to our Constitution
that forbids them from engaging in partisan politics.
5. Moreover within academe, business, professional and civil society,
varied positions have been taken with regard to President Macapagal
Arroyo. Some want her to resign; others want her to go through due
process. Some want a Truth Commission, others impeachment. Some want
a constitutional process and others an extra-constitutional process.
On the other hand there is also a wide manifestation of support for
the chief executive by a cross section of society.
6. Today we ask ourselves, “As Bishops what can we offer to
our people? Can we provide some clarity and guidance in the present
confusing situation?” We can only answer these questions from
who we are. We are not politicians who are to provide a political
blueprint to solve political problems. Rather we are Bishops called
by the Lord to shepherd the people in the light of faith. With Pope
Benedict XVI we do not believe in the “intrusion into politics
on the part of the hierarchy.” But we are to interpret human
activities such as
economics and politics from the moral and religious point of view,
from the point of view of the Gospel of Jesus and of the Kingdom of
God. We are to provide moral and religious guidance to our people.
This is what we offer in the present crisis. Not to do this would
be an abdication of our duty.
Our Pastoral Role and our Stand
7. In the welter of conflicting opinions and positions our role is
not to point out a specific political option or a package of options
as the Gospel of choice, especially so when such an option might be
grounded merely on a speculative and highly controvertible basis.
In the present situation we believe that no single concrete option
regarding President Macapagal Arroyo can claim to be the only one
demanded by the Gospel. Therefore, in a spirit of humility and truth,
we declare our prayerfully discerned collective decision that we do
not demand her resignation. Yet neither do we encourage her simply
to dismiss such a call from others. For we recognize that non-violent
appeals for her resignation, the demand for a Truth Commission, and
the filing of an impeachment case are not against the Gospel.
8. In all these we remind ourselves that a just political and moral
order is best promoted under the present circumstances by a clear
and courageous preference for the constitutional process that flow
from moral values and the natural law. Hence, we also appeal to the
people, especially their representatives and leaders, to discern their
decisions not in terms of political loyalties but in the light of
the Gospel values of truth, justice and the common good. We urge our
people in our parish and religious communities, our religious organizations
and movements, our Basic Ecclesial Communities to come and pray together,
reason, decide, and act together always to the end that the will of
God prevail in the political order. People of good will and credibility
who hold different political convictions should come together and
dialogue in order to help move the country out of
its present impasse. We believe with Pope Benedict XVI that through
prayer the Filipino people and their political representatives and
leaders, guided by moral principles, are capable of arriving at decisions
for the common good that are based not only on political realities
but, above all, on moral precepts.
9. Yet having said this we wish to subject specific situations to
moral
inquiry to guide our people in deepening their moral discernment.
Restoring Moral Values
10. On Moral Accountability: “political authority is accountable
to the
people. Those who govern have the obligation to answer to the governed”
(Conpendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 408). President
Macapagal Arroyo has admitted and apologized for a “lapse of
judgment” for calling a COMELEC official. The admission further
eroded the people’s trust on the already suspected electoral
system and raised serious questions on the integrity of the elections.
Beyond apology is accountability. Indeed, with forgiveness is justice.
To restore trust would require a thorough, credible, and independent
process to examine the authenticity of the so-called Garcillano tapes,
verify any possible betrayal of public trust, and mete out due punishment
on all those found guilty. Punishment should also be imposed on those
duly found guilty of corruption and illegal acts, such as jueteng
and wire-tapping. Moral accountability calls for radical reforms in
various
agencies of government to make them ore responsive to the requirements
of integrity as well as to the needs of the poor.
11. On Constitutionality: In the present crisis some calls are being
made for measures that are counter-constitutional. The Constitution
enshrines cherished values such as human dignity and the common good,
freedom, the rule of law and due process. On this basis, we reject
quick fixes that cater to selfish political agenda and advantage rather
than to the common good. We deplore the attempts of those groups who
seek to exploit our vulnerable national situation in order to create
confusion and social chaos, in order to seize power by unconstitutional
means. We reject calls for juntas or revolutionary councils. Our political
leaders have to be the first to observe and faithfully implement the
Constitution. Resolving the crisis has to be within the framework
of the Constitution and the laws of the land so as to avoid social
chaos, the further weakening of political systems, and greater harm
in the future.
12. On non-violence: Violent solutions, as Pope Paul VI taught us,
“Produce new injustices, throw more elements out of balance,
and bring on new disasters.” (Populorum Progressio, 31). There
are today, on different sides of the social, political spectrum, those
who would instigate violence in order to promote their own agenda
or causes. We reject the use of force and violence as a solution to
our problems. Such cannot be an option of the Gospel for we know that
Jesus the Lord taught a Gospel of Love and non-violence.
13. On Effective Governance: “Public authority in order to promote
the
common good…requires also that authority be effective in attaining
that end(Pacem in Terris, ch. 4). Together with competence, personal
integrity is one of the most necessary requirements of a leader. Ineffective
governance may be due to a lack of personal integrity or lack of competence.
It could also be the result of a confluence of factors that has eroded
trust and credibility and hence, effectiveness. In our present situation
we recognize that blame could be attributed to many, even to all of
us. Yet, we would ask the president the discern deeply to what extent
she might have contributed to the erosion of effective governance
and whether the erosion is so severe as to be irreversible. In her
heart she has to make the necessary decision
for the sake of the country. We all need to do the same. Indeed, moral
discernment is very difficult since it is not based on political allegiances
and alignments but on moral considerations.
Conclusion
14. Dear People of God, Sadness and anxiety were our feelings when
we as bishops first met to study the various aspects of the crisis.
To confront the fears and hopelessness that are the daily companions
of our poor is to realize that we, of the Church, likewise contributed
to them by our neglect, our bias, our selfishness.
15. To respond to the pastoral situation we commit ourselves to a
more
effective evangelization in word and deed, so that moral values may
become dynamic forces of human life in economics, politics, and culture.
We especially commit ourselves to the formation of men and women endowed
with competence and integrity and empowered to effective leadership
in the economic and political spheres. With the Gospel of Truth, Justice
and Love in their hearts, they might, indeed, be a leaven of social
transformation for our country.
16. This Year of the Eucharist reminds us of the abiding, loving,
and
healing of the Lord Jesus in our midst. By the grace and mercy of
God and the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray
that a deep sense of hope will prevail in these dark moments of our
history. Our loving God will not abandon us no matter what pit of
evil we have fallen into. We shall emerged stronger from crisis. We
shall rise endowed with greater integrity. We shall be witnesses to
the power of God’s grace to transform us into a noble nation,
a holier Church, a united People.
For the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines
+FERNANDO R. CAPALLA, D.D.
President
Archbishop of Davao
