By Mariano Santos, PINOY Publisher/Editor
A polite guest avoids religion and politics in his conversation, so it has been said. Either topic inevitably leads to a rancorous argument. Combined, it can be, indeed, toxic. But back home, mixing faith and politics is lucrative for many cults that morphed into semi-state religion. Founders of these enterprises became arbiters of crucial electoral contests.
Candidates make pilgrimages to their headquarters to promise endless favors, if the votes of the followers are delivered to them wholesale. If there is a bastardization of faith in God this is it. It leads to crippling corruption that gnaws the moral fabric of a nation.
It is happening in our homeland. When I was in Manila early last month, a leader of a religious group in Mindanao summoned the presidential candidates. Seven dutifully came. Noynoy Aquino excused himself because he was sick while Manny Villar apologized for failing to come because of mix-up in his schedule. Both were promptly cursed with the wrath of god by the cult leader.
A leader of a Catholic charismatic group that claims at least a million voters in his roster surely made good in his real estate investment during the Erap administration but this time he is not delivering his votes to the former movie idol who is running a poor third in the survey. Instead, he made known his intention to run as a party-list candidate himself. Hey, why not?
Again Erap can’t also count on his fellow San Juan City resident and cult leader who always make sure first that his future favors are delivered, so he ascertains, above all, who is the probable winner.
So cynical and corrupt is the practice of Christianity in the Philippines that it is not at all an exaggeration to say that most Filipinos are actually crucifying Jesus Christ over and over again. This claim is most appropriate at this season of Lent which is marked just about a month away from May 10 when Filipino voters go to the polls to select their political leaders.
How does a Christian act amidst these challenges? The simple answer perhaps is to be like Christ and to study his teachings and to imitate how he lived his life. Catholic Bishops ask church members to discuss issues and how they affect the common good, then only vote after discerning. That is a good admonition from men of faith. It is neither about selfish transactional block voting nor about personal favor.
The worst move that Christians can do is to feel hopeless and to refrain from voting. The fact is, now is the time for upright people to assert their right of suffrage if only the save many from the wrath of poverty.
“A Man for All Seasons”
England for its glory has gone to a painful transition before it reached political maturity. It is not too long ago that good Englishmen literally lost their heads for doing the right thing. Way back in 1966, I saw the film “A Man for All Seasons” and I was introduced to Thomas More who was one of the most powerful political leaders in the court of King Henry VIII. Apart from his political astuteness, Sir Thomas was so morally upright for his own good. Because of his impeccable reputation, King Henry wanted Sir Thomas to change the rule of the land to suit the King’s immoral dalliance. What the royalty wanted contradicted the teachings of Christ. Even with the promise of enormous political favors, Sir Thomas defied King Henry VIII and upheld his godly principles.
I once visited Canterbury and my English guide showed me the place where Sir Thomas More’s daughter brought home the head of his father after he was decapitated in the Tower of London . Sir Thomas is now known as the patron saint of politicians. (“A Man for All Seasons” went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and the Best Actor award went to Paul Scofield for his title role. Your local library most likely will have a copy of the film or the play of Robert Bolt from which the movie was based.)
It is too much to ask of our political leaders to lose their lives for doing the right thing for God and Country. But is it too much to ask not to take the positions they are running for as license to steal but an opportunity to make good with God who wants us to love our neighbors as He loved us? Thomas More just wanted to be right with God and he became instrumental in making England a mature and a civilized nation. Not to forget, he also gained a niche in the pantheon of saints. Faith and politics—used correctly can lead to heavenly bliss.
Aetas, Bilaans and Tagbanuas
I finally visited Palawan—not the main island but the island of Buswanga (also known as Coron) on early March as part of our High School Class Golden Jubilee. It coincided with the government return of the island to the Tagbanuas, a tribal minority which was deprived of their ancestral land during the martial law regime of Ferdinand Marcos. The dictator converted it into some kind of safari-like hunting ground for them and their friends.
The island is ideal for livestock but it is also rich with minerals and an ideal spot for eco-tourism. Certainly, the Tagbanuas needed the turnover to lift them from marginalization.
A week later, my wife and I saw the aftereffects of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991. After almost 20 years, the Aetas, the indigenous tribe living on the slope of that destructive volcano are benefiting from a Korean enterprise which converted the hot springs that appeared after the eruption into health spa. Nearby is a Gawad Kalinga village for Aetas built by Filipino Canadian benefactors. (This trip was through the courtesy of the Chicago office of the Philippine Department of Tourism. A separate article will appear in the May edition of PINOY.)
These two encounters are most reassuring for this writer who headed for 12 years the Fr. Carl Schmitz Award Committee which was established in 1988, after a Passionist priest was murdered on that year’s Holy Thursday because of his defense of the Bilaan Tribe from illegal loggers and land grabbers who were taking over the ancestral lands of this tribe in Bulol, Southern Cotabato.
This martyred priest from Elmwood Park, a west suburb of Chicago , was beatified–a Catholic Church process leading to sainthood. The “katutubos” or aborigines tribe as they are called by the residents of Sapang Bato, a barrio in Angeles City , that borders the land of the Aetas who run the hot spring resort, are slowly getting the support they need to survive in a hostile society.
In Coron, a Tagbanua leader gave us a lecture on how the environment should be sustained and protected. He said that the Tagbanuas only take what they need so their land remains rich for the future generation.
But a lot remains undone. Back in the crowded streets of Tandang Sora in Quezon City , our struggle to get through heavy traffic was occasionally made worse by misshapen women blocking our way to beg for alms. “Etong mga Mangyan ito, sobra na!,” shouted our frustrated relative who was on the wheel. The Mangyans are, of course, the tribal minority of Mindoro where their tribal lands were mostly taken over by Christian carpetbaggers.•
(Photos are the property of PINOY.)
A Tagbanua leader talks on how the tribe manages the island of Coron.
An Aeta family with their shanty home outside a Gawad Kalinga Village in Sapang Bato outside Clark Air Field.