hay naku, these holy men in skirts, they’re as messed up as romulo neri, ha! they say/know that the corruption goes all the way up to the president, yet they balk at removing her, and would rather that we trust HER to herself fix the problem instead of people resorting to another EDSA. as if!
as if she or her people would be stupid enough to ever tell the truth on the hello-garci tapes, or on the jocojoc bolante fertilizerscam, or on the grossly overpriced nbn-zte-fg deal. sure, she might give in to pressure and give up on e.o.464, but not on executive privilege, no way.
clearly the bishops are divided, we don’t know lang how divided, they won’t say. but bishop deogracias iniguez warned us feb 17 in diyos at bayan with brother eddie villanueva. the bishop was not optimistic at all that the 120 bishops would agree to ask for gma’s resignation.
medyo mahirap marating ang pagkakaisa . . . magkakaiba ang priorities . . . kanya-kanyang ugnayan sa gobyerno . . . merong mga obispong tumatanaw ng utang na loob sa government officials.”
hmm. ano kayang klaseng utang na loob? at bakit SILA ang nasusunod? the bishops should be setting the example, rising above self-centered, or should we say, vested, interests for the good of the whole. instead they’re behaving just like the lower house of congress. how saklap.
The Queen knows the price of a bishop.
That’s the price they pay to Arroyo and her allies in Congress for supporting pro-Catholic initiatives (e.g. discouraging artificial contraception in government population programs and barring anti-sexual discrimination bills).
Hence, not supporting calls for Arroyo’s resignation is a purely political move by the bishops.
Lesson learned: Post-Cardinal Sin CBCP is simply a lobby group.
The sooner the GMA resign movement realizes this, the less bitter they’d sound.
When the Church threatened to stop giving communion to a councilor and his family for advancing artificial contraception in the councilor’s district sometime last year, no beating of the chest was heard from the same people now who exort the Church to be a beacon of Morality.
The reason why the GMA resign movement is so bitter against the CBCP is that they want to style their political action as the MORAL choice by having the bishops endorse it. Having failed them, the bishops have been called by the GMA resign people from faggot in robes to prostitutes.
There’s a palpably hostile attitude now against people who would not call for Arroyo’s resignation.
Being called “a Solita Monsod” is now derogatory. Funny.
interesting, no? she’s sorry she helped put gma in the palace but won’t help remove her.
I think she’s like Neri; both are pragmatists. A moral argument will be unconvincing if the “moral” solution is not optimal (ie, a solution that makes the best given the constraints).
I think the rally this Friday will close the lid on Edsa revolution-style of changing governments. Ironically, the resignation of the so-called Hyatt 10 in 2004 may have actually strengthened GMA’s hold on her Cabinet (which is a strong institutional force in Edsa 2). The Hello Garci scandal was the loyalty test; those who turned blue and resigned were those who will most likely by unloyal to her in future scandals such as this one.
hmm. palagay mo? i’ve been thinking nga that it does not have to be an edsa revolution kind of change, but people-powered pa rin, like a civil disobedience and crony boycott campaign a la cory’s in 86? or what about a people-powered initiative, a signature campaign, as enshrined in the constitution? or we could wait til july ba or october to file an impeachment complaint? naku, uunahan na naman tayo ni lozano with a no-substance one. future scandals? i’d think she would try and go straight from now on, kung malulusutan niya ito. but maybe she’s too deep into deals with china? actually i think what’s keeping the gma resign movement from getting anywhere at this point is that there’s no attempt na magkaisa on who replaces her.
Carl: Those bishops in the CBCP have much to lose if ever they speak out against the corrupt activities of this administration.
Not only will they be threatened with the possible taxation of Church properties, a mountain of sexual scandals could be exposed and unleashed their way….
hi peter, nograles threatened them nga with taxation, but the prospect of sex scandal exposes could be even more frightening.
halo halo na siguro ang takot nila…
Masaklap talaga ang tindig na ito ng mga obispo.
Siyempre, totoong nakakadagdag sa pagiging “moral” ng paglaban kay Gloria ang pagsuporta ng CBCP.
Taumbayan din ang magpe-pressure sa CBCP na tumindig sa wasto. Masaklap lang talaga dahil sa kabila ng malawak na pagkilos ng mga tao, ganoon pa rin ang tindig nila.
Angela, nagtatanung-tanong nga yata ang mga tao ng creative forms of protest. At isa sa epektibong pormang ikinuwento mo sa libro mo ay iyung boycott.
Suggestion: Puwede ka bang magpalawig sa susunod mong entry? Maganda ngang gawin iyan. Hehe.
parang me nadinig akong nagtanong kay enteng romano ng black and white movement tungkol sa pag-launch ng boycott campaign and ang sagot niya, parang oo pinagiisipan, parang oo, when the time is right. sana nagre-research na sila to pin down exactly the business establishments in which the arroyos and their oligarch cronies have vested interests. nung i-launch ni cory yung kanyang civil disobedience campaign me listahan agad siya ng banks and companies na dapat iboykot. at siyempre yung civil disobedience, wag magbayad ng taxes, etc. ah, at wag magbayad ng electricity and water bills, kasi nung panahong yon, gobyerno ang nagpapatakbo ng meralco at nawasa. e ngayon, hehe, mga lopez na, at mga ayala, so medyo tagilid, no? kailangan muna mag-research, puwedeng pagtulung-tulungan.
meanwhile, type ko munang tututukan ang predicament ng mga lopez at ng mga monsod, na obviously caught between the devil and the deep blue sea ;)
Sana nga ma-research natin ang business interests na sumusuporta kay GMA.
Weird nga ang tindig ng mga Lopez at ng mga Monsod.
Dati, laging iniisip na boses ng mga Lopez ang mga Monsod.
Ang kakaiba lang, parang absolutong tumindig na si Winnie Monsod laban sa People Power. Hindi ko lang alam kung tama ang kuha ko sa konteksto, pero sinabi niyang “I will not do it again.”
Sobrang pagtanaw naman ng utang na loob iyon ni Winnie kung dahil lang sa pinatakbo siya sa People Power Coalition. Hehe.
Carl,
The Bishops’ avoiding a resignation call was calculated. That is expected but it was terribly foolish for them to ask that the moral change be led by Gloria and her cohorts.
It’s like giving a kilo of crack to a shabu addict and pleading with him to throw it away. Defies all logic.
I’d like to call these Bishops morons, but that will be unfair to all the stupid people!
hey tongue, reminds me of a brother-in-law’s comment back in hello-garci times when the bishops similarly disappointed with a neither-here-nor-there statement: ano ba yon, napaka-bakla! no offense meant to my gay friends ;)