“Excuse me, please. ‘Corruption in government’ has not only ‘remained,’ it has grown to monstrous proportions.”
by Ducky Paredes
It is pretty funny (if it were not so awfully tragic) that Malacanang’s reaction over the regrets expressed by our still unrepentant bishops on the Church’s role in Edsa Dos’ not leading to less corruption in government is this: “That is already water under the bridge. Yan ay fait accompli na, it’s already an accomplished fact. Wala na tayong magagawa.”
Then, as if to turn the shaft of the sword he has thrust into the very soul of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) still had to be given an extra turn, the Press Secretaty added: “Pero maganda naman ang sinasabi nila, they will not support any people power, yan ang sa akin mas makabuluhan.
“Kung people power ang paguusapan natin, ang people power ngayon kailangan natin para labanan ang kahirapan, di ang pagbagsak sa pamahalaan.”
The sad reality, of course, is that if we had let Joseph Estrada be, we might actually have made some dent on poverty. If we had allowed to let Erap do what he wanted to accomplish, we might have had a better society by now. The problem is that the elite (and that category includes our bishops) had no respect for the election that brought a man of the masses to Malacanang and the elected President himself. After all, Estrada was voted on primarily by our mindless masses whose only claim to fame is that they are more numerous than those of us in the elite class and (because we are a democracy) every man – educated or not, moral or immoral, of whatever status in life – have one vote each. To the elite, while this is democratic, it, of course, does not mean that the masa are the best people to choose who should lead this country. Since they voted for Erap who the elite diod not approve of, it was clearly the wrong choice and did not have to be respected at all.
Thus, was Erap dethroned. Ask everyone who marched against him if what they did was the right thing to do and they will – to a man – forgive themselves for giving the country a worse government that we would have had if we had let the will of the people be – no matter that it was primarily the will of the mindless masses — by saying that the man was pretty bad himself.
The CBCP for itself is also quite unrepentant, as expounded by Manila Archdiocese vice chancellor Fr. Sid Marinay:
“The current direction of the CBCP to strengthen political institutions to solve and prevent political crises is a kind of a corrective measure of EDSA II which weakened political institution in the sense that it did not wait for the verdict of the senator-judges in the impeachment case against President Estrada. It did not respect the rule of law. It did not give the duly instituted political institution a chance to assert itself and prove its strength to handle such a political turmoil.”
If EDSA Dos did not respect the rule of law, what does that make of the CBCP, the bishops, priests and nuns who encouraged Edsa Dos? In fact, Marinay defends the Church by putting the blame elsewhere:
“The era of political activism faded away with the passing away of Cardinal Sin.
“We have always put the blame on people we have chosen to govern us. Today we have become more aware that despite efforts, successful or not, to remove the incompetent or corrupt, our problems have remained. We have looked at the enemy as only outside of us. This is an implicit recognition that EDSA II did not bring about its desired results. Pres. Estrada was ousted but corruption in the government has remained.”
Excuse me, please. “Corruption in government” has not only “remained,” it has grown to monstrous proportions. Imagine that we now blame the World Bank to finding out that people in power aE stealing funds that the WB has been lending us for infrastructure that would make life better for our impoverished people. If this had happened under Erap, the elite would have been up in arms; so would our congressmen. Now, no one among the elite is even paying attention; the Church is deaf and blind and the official line is that the WB has no business worrying over how their money is being spent.
Are we better off now than before Edsa Dos?
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I am writing this from the media center for the 62nd PAL Interclub which is in the clubhouse of the Apo Golf and Country Club in Toril, Davao. The other venue is Rancho Palos Verdes located 12 kilometers north-east of downtown Davao in Barangay Mandug/Indagan,
Buhangin District,
Davao City. For the PAL Interclub, a venue must have two 18-hole courses close enough to each other. There used to be three in Davao. With the privately owned Dacudao Course converted into an SM Mall, only two are left. A nine-hole course in Lanang – Davao City Golf Club is owned by the Villa-Abriles.
The first tournament PAL tournament in Wack Wack had 120 participants. Participation has been growing with each year. This time, however, proably as a result of the economic slow-down, there is a slight decrease from the 61st Interclub. In Bacolod lasyt year, there were 160
Last year in Bacolod, there were 83 clubs entered in the 21st Senior Tournament and 77 in the Men’s competition. This year, seventy-six teams – 32 from abroad including those from the US, Canada, Saudi Arabia, Australia, 19 from Luzon, 12 Visayas and 13 Mindanao – are taking part in the Men’s regular championship and 77 squads in the Seniors.
As I write this, the final winner in the main senior grouping is still being played. The two teams – Luisita and Canlubang are just a point apart with Canlubang having the lead. This is the closest finish ever in the Seniors.
* * *
The Federation of Philippine Amaterus Senior Golfers. Inc. (FPASGI) will hold its Directors’ Cup golf tournament and the formal induction by Chairman Emeritus Frisco San Juan of this year’s directors at the Aguinaldo Golf Course beginning at 7:00 in the morning. FPASGI President Clyde Fernandez invites all FPASGI members and their guests to attend.
Besides Clyde and myself, the board members are Cip San Miguel, Jack Perez, Arsenio Paredes, Emiliano Joven, Lirio Escano, Rodolfo Cabangbang and Usec Melchor Morales of the DILG.
The usual raffle will be a highlight of the tournament.
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hvp 02.22.09)
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