Catholic bishops express their stand on issues

We admire the way the Catholic bishops have been expressing their collective and – we must say –independent stand on national issues. Through its president Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, they expressed their opposition to Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s stand on lifting the moratorium on the imposition of the death penalty. This is perfectly understandable on the church’s part that believes that life is a gift of God, ergo only God has the right to take any life away. This is not altogether true. The classic example is killing in self-defense. Advocates of the death penalty believe that the execution of death convicts does precisely the opposite. It upholds the sacredness of life. In short, though they may take two totally opposite stands, both believe that they are upholding the goodness of life.

Anyway our real point is that the Catholic bishops disagree with the President in some particular issues, but they have also taken a very strong and logical stand on the issue regarding her tenure of office. First, they pointed out that there is no legal alternative to President Macapagal Arroyo. Estrada was removed from office because of the criminal cases that have been filed against him. So the church would continue its critical solidarity with the Arroyo regime. They added that the nation has grave problems, but these were not caused by the Arroyo administration. President Arroyo’s role is precisely to face and solve these problems. Lastly, they emphasized that the only realistic option for the people to take today is to allow the President to finish her term of office.

The last thing we need today is another revolution. We have been very fortunate that EDSA I and II were peaceful revolutions. There was a legal basis for both. Unquestionably both Marcos and Estrada had violated the laws that governed their office. Macapagal-Arroyo was the duly elected vice president and so she was the successor of Estrada. Now, we are in a totally different situation. Our vice president was appointed, not elected, to said position. If we have another upheaval, it may not be peaceful. And even if it is peaceful, we will become a banana republic, where governments change at the whim and caprice of certain powerful groups. We must first of all uphold our democratic traditions.

We are glad that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines is a prime example of a democratic group in action. It disagrees with some of her decisions, but uphold her general program to sustain peace and achieve progress during her term.