Sin: Mercy without justice is ‘kalokohan’

"Justice without mercy is un-Christian but mercy without justice is kalokohan (nonsense)."

That was how Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin described efforts to try to persuade the Sandiganbayan to allow ousted President Joseph Estrada to seek medical treatment in the United States.

During Mass at Our Lady of Peace Chapel in Quezon City yesterday to celebrate the 16th anniversary of EDSA I, Sin said it is "plain stupidity" for people to commit the same, past mistakes, and likened Estrada to the late President Ferdinand Marcos.

"If we made a mistake in allowing the dictator to flee in the name of health, shall we do it all over again?" he said. "To err is human. To forgive is divine but to repeat is stupid."

Sin said the Lord brought the people to EDSA in 1986 for their four days of transfiguration as a nation that led to the overthrow of the Marcos dictatorship.

"Here we saw the greatness of the Filipino," he said. "Here we saw that prayers are mightier than guns. That praying hands are stronger than tanks. Here we saw that the only means to attain peace is through the instruments of peace."

On the other hand, Sin said he remembers the "mantle of black humanity" that covered the streets and flyovers around the "holy ground" at the EDSA Shrine last year when Estrada was overthrown.

"We stood up together to ask for morality in public office," he said. "Here we stood together last year against a leader who had lost his moral ascendancy to govern. By the power of faith, by the strength of our songs and chants, we were given another opportunity to bring back morality in public office."

Sin said the people were reminded yesterday of the events 16 years ago in 1986 when the multitude at EDSA forced Marcos to flee the country in the same way that rallyists at EDSA last year toppled Estrada.

"The gift of memory is one of the best gifts that God has given the people," he said. "Because we can remember, we are able to move on with courage. By the power of remembering, the events of the past became opportunities for us to learn and to give thanks. Remembering gives us hope."

Sin said the people were at EDSA yesterday to remember what happened in 1986 and last year because they do not want to forget anything.

"Those who want to forget the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them," he said. "We must not forget the lessons of history."

Sin said "justice" is the first challenge to Filipinos by the two uprisings at EDSA, and that the victims of the dictatorship and human rights abuses are still seeking justice.

"If we cannot give justice yet to those innocent victims of decades ago, shall we allow that nation which almost bled to death because she was plundered by her own leaders to suffer the same fate?" he asked. "There is no justice for Ninoy (Aquino). There is no justice yet for the countless victims of human rights abuses."

Sin said Filipinos also learned about "vigilance" which is a "small price" to pay to preserve the lessons of the EDSA uprising against Marcos in 1986 and Estrada last year.

"There are some who say that the spirit of EDSA has been lost," he said. "If it is indeed lost, we have no one else to blame, but our own ningas cogon. We are guilty and responsible for the sad state that our nation is in. EDSA beacons all of us to be responsible, not to wait for the mass of people to come."

Sin said the people who took part in the EDSA I and II uprisings in 1986 and last year were "not a mob," unlike the thousands in EDSA III who laid siege at Malacañang on May 1 last year and fought combat troops with sticks and stones.

"There were a mass gathering of people who have studied the issues of the day, prayed over them, and made a personal individual stand, and these personal convictions came together in this holy ground at EDSA shrine," he said.

Sin said EDSA is about ordinary people and not personalities like Presidents Aquino, Ramos, Arroyo nor himself as leaders of the two uprisings that overthrew Marcos and Estrada.

"The EDSA story cannot be retold without the thousands of unknown and unrecognized people who came and made a stand personally, individually, courageously," he said. "The new heroes of EDSA are the ordinary people who made extraordinary heroic stand for the nation and the Lord."

The two events at EDSA in 1986 and last year stood on "moral" ground as they proclaimed the message from a spiritual plane, "inspired by God" and grounded in His commandments, he added.

Groups which helped President Arroyo oust Estrada are disappointed with the Catholic Church’s and the Arroyo administration’s ban of political rallies at the EDSA Shrine.

Anti-riot police blocked around 200 demonstrators who assembled at Santolan Road near Camp Crame in Quezon City before they could march to the People Power Monument beside Camp Aguinaldo, also in Quezon City.

Joel Rocamora, Akbayan president, said the People Power Commission had invited them to join the ceremonies at the People Power Monument.

"EDSA I which ousted Marcos from power, and EDSA II which put Mrs. Arroyo at the helm of the presidency, were a promise in radical reforms," he said.

"Mrs. Arroyo is duty-bound to deliver her promise because she owes her presidency to the people. Hasn’t anybody learned anything? EDSA II was basically a clamor for the same things as EDSA I: good government, a stable future, decency in our leaders."

Rocamora said Mrs. Arroyo forgot her promises to the people after she took over the government and was safely ensconced in Malacañang.

"She has been given a last chance for change, after which the promises of democracy will fade," he said. "The fundamental problems of Philippine society remain–poverty, social injustice, mendicancy and dependence, landlessness, thievery in public office. These are the sources of violent conflict and social strife and they will remain until Mrs. Arroyo addresses them."

Gina dela Cruz, spokeswoman for Alab Katipunan, branded yesterday as "elitist hypocrisy" Sin’s statement that people should no longer celebrate EDSA I.

"This statement only echoes the fear of the ruling elite of being toppled from power when the genuine people power – an EDSA ng Masa – happens," she said.

Alab Katipunan is campaigning for an "EDSA ng Masa, di ng Elitista (EDSA of the Masses, not of the Elite)," she added.