The country bids farewell to THE CARDINAL of people power

The Philippines buried Cardinal jaime sin on tuesday with full honors and warm memories for a man who spoke out against injustice and rallied two popular uprisings that shaped the country’s history.

Filipinos lined the streets around Manila Cathedral as political and business leaders, nuns, students and thousands of others inside heard the funeral rites for Sin, who died on June 21 at age 76 after a long-standing kidney ailment.

Sin, once called "the divine commander in chief" by former President Fidel Ramos, was revered in Asia’s largest Catholic country for marshalling million-strong protests that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986.

Sin, one of Asia’s most prominent religious leaders, was known for his outspoken stance on everything from birth control to poverty, politics and the U.S.-led war in Iraq. Seen as the moral compass in the overwhelmingly Catholic Philippines, he even once apologized for the church’s alleged neglect of the poor.

But the former archbishop of Manila left a mixed legacy in a nation still struggling with vast political and social divisions after the uprising 19 years ago and another in 2001 that drove out Joseph Estrada as president.

The 1986 "people power" revolt catapulted Sin to global prominence and cemented his reputation at home.

"He was more than a pastor. In the context of the country’s... dictatorship, he was the ultimate outspoken prophet who was completely unafraid of despots and those who were unjust, dishonest and oppressive," Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales said.

But the 2001 uprising against Estrada has been portrayed by some as an unconstitutional power grab by the Church and political elite angry at the president’s sweeping election win on a pro-poor agenda.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who rose from vice president when Estrada was chased from office, now faces allegations of election fraud that the government says are part of a plot to unseat her.

Notably absent at the funeral was the leadership of the political opposition, many of whom are linked to former presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada, both ousted in public rallies called by Sin.

While critics branded him a "politician-priest", Sin believed the church had an important role to play in politics.

"Politics without Christ is the greatest scourge of our nation," he said in his retirement speech in 2003.

"Why did we listen to the voice of Cardinal Sin? The answer is simple: We heard God through his voice," Bishop Socrates Villegas, Sin’s longtime aide, said in his homily.

"He was our voice," said Cardinal Ricardo J. Vidal. "He guided us to where we wanted to go."

"He was a brother who regaled us with his humor and who came to our support in times of need," Archbishop Fernando Capalla, president of the powerful Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, told the mourners. "He saw the great need for unity among Filipinos but it must have pained him deeply that his charisma remained insufficient to accomplish this elusive goal."

Sin spoke out about the plight of tens of millions of poor Filipinos but also rubbed shoulders with the rich and powerful who resisted moves to break up their vast estates of land.

He was a staunch opponent of artificial birth control and abortion. Butting heads with Ramos, a Protestant, Sin mobilized hundreds of thousands of people in 1994 to denounce a policy encouraging condoms and pills to curb rapid population growth.

But the cardinal also had a renowned sense of humor, often joking about his name by welcoming guests to the "House of Sin".

Alex Magno, a political commentator, recalled how he and crowds of others heeded Sin’s calls on radio in 1986 to form human barricades on Manila’s main highway to protect a band of 300 army rebels against advancing tanks loyal to Marcos.

But Magno cautioned there might not be a voice like Sin’s to bring Filipinos together during another "dreadful moment".

"Let us ensure that civic leadership is always available so that we might not have to rely on miracles to save ourselves from ourselves," he wrote in The STAR.

Two years ago, Sin stepped down as head of the Manila archdiocese, which he served for nearly three decades, after reaching the retirement age of 75. Declining health forced him to curtail his appearances, including at the Vatican conclave that chose a new pope in April.

Before Sin was laid to rest alongside other bishops in a crypt beneath the altar, his mahogany casket was draped with the Philippine flag and paraded around the cathedral’s plaza on a horse-drawn carriage. Soldiers then fired a 21-gun salute.

Only the 50 people closest to Sin were allowed into the crypt to witness the lowering of his casket into a tomb lined with brown marble.

Pope Benedict XVI sent his condolences in a letter to Manila’s archbishop. The Pope said he was deeply saddened by Sin’s death and said he was praying for his soul. He recalled Sin’s "unfailing commitment to the spread of the Gospel and to the promotion of the dignity, common good and national unity of the Philippine people." –With reports from Teresa Cerojano, AP and Mynardo Macaraig, AFP