Bp.pabillo - Moral Implications of Con-Ass

8/14/2019 Bp.pabillo - Moral Implications of Con-Ass

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Thoughts on COD-assNazaren SchoolJune 10,2009

Is the issue opened by House Resolution 1109 only a political matter or hasit moral implications? If it is a purely political matter then the bishops havenothing to sayar do about it. I f it has moral implications then the bishopsshould speak out to guide the faithful.When is a matter purely a political question without moral implications?When either side of the issue being dealt with is a-moral, that is, not a matterof right or wrong, but just a matter of one's preference, for example, whetherto name this street Rizal or Bonifacio. However, when the choice wouldimply harm to the citizenry, there is already a matter between right or wrong,this is already a moral issue. This is all the more true if a political decisionwould cause long term suffering to many people, especially the defenseless,or would bring about injustice.Is the issue of having con-ass a matter of right or wrong or is it just a matterof political preference? In itself, the Philippine Constitution allows bothmodes of amending the constitution, that is, by constitutional assembly orconstitutional convention. This is purely a political matter. But there arecircumstances to our present case that have moral implications andramifications that we cannot simply say that this is a purely political matter.It is a moral issue, and a very grave one. What are these circumstances?1. The spirit of the constitution is not being followed. In fact the basic

law of the land is being bastardized.A. the common understanding of congress as acting as two separate

houses is being denied. Of course the Supreme Court is the finalarbiter of this, but we have to admit that in our present situation thejustices in the Supreme Court are mere mortals who can also bemanipulated and unduly influenced.

B. the process by which the House Resolution was passed is verysuspect. We all witnessed how it was railroaded. It was figurativelyand literally a midnight deal!C. in spite of all the denials of the executive branch, there is unduepressure and manipulation of the members of the HOR by theexecutive branch. All the talks about millions of money beingdangled and finallygiven from the port barrel c;mnot be withoutbasis. Who distributes the port barrel but Malacanang? The palace

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is already lying when it says that it is all the decision of the LowerHouse.In short we say that there are manipulations here, and manipulation iswrong. It is an ethical question.

2. We all witnessed the passage of the resolution with undue haste. Whatcould be the motive for the haste? We can surmise...A. The overt motive, according to the proponents is economic - toopen our lands and natural resources to foreign ownership tomake us more competitive in a global economy. This is not

what the foreign investors are asking for in order to invest inthe country. What they are asking is less corruption, moreinfrastructures, less red tape and more political stability. It isvery unfair for Filipinos, especially our small fanners andentrepreneurs, to be gobbled up by the money of foreigners.This will lead to accumulation ofwealth in the hands of thepowerful at the expense of the poor. This will be against theprinciples of subsidiarity and equitable distribution of the goodsof creation.

B. The covert motive that is plain to all is the perpetuation topower of the present rulers to avoid accountability to thepeople. This is wrong. All the while this present governmenthas been avoiding accountability by discrediting whistleblowers, by issuing EOs, extrajudicial killings and mysteriousdisappearances, by influencing the legislature and the judiciary,or by simply playing deaf and blind. There can be no justicewithout accountability. Any motive to avoid justice is morallywrong.

3. In a democracy we cannot allow ourselves to be complacent about ourelected officials or else they will take advantage of their position and henceunjustly hold on to power by changing the rules of the game. They can thuslegitimize themselves under the cover of the "law" which they themselveslegislate. To be complacent in an impending evil is moral irresponsibility.i


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duty is to make our sheep good Christians. They cannot be goodChristians if they are not good citizens. In a democracy a mark of a goodcitizen is active concern and participation in governance since thegovernment is from the people, by the people andfor the people. The callto active non-violent protest in our present situation is called for. Asleaders we should see the writings on the wall. The active non-violentprotests should give a strong message to our present officials that we areall watchful and we do not allow people to trample on our rights bychanging laws in their favor. We are asking not only for the right to vote- because they can allow us to vote in a parliamentary form ofgovernment. We are asking for the right to truth and accountability whichhave long been denied us. We see the election of 2010 as our hope to .ferret out the truth from our present officials. When their term ends andthey are out of office then they can be asked to answer questions that theyhave been dodging all this time.Many times our present officials tell those they harass with'legal cases:"face the music." Now it is their turn to face the music, and not changethe music in the middle of the dance. Our officials always say that theyare on the "rule of law". Now face the law, and not change it!The constitution is the fundamental law of the land. It is a moral questionthat it should be treated with respect and be amended with greatdiscretion for the sake of generations of Filipinos. We would not havejust laws if our fundamental law would be defective. I am not a lawyer,much less a constitutionalist. I do know what needs to be amended in ourConstitution of 1987. Old as it may be but from a layman's point of viewour present constitution has some very good points that is the basis of ourvarious calls. It is expressedly pro-life. It is pro-land reform. It is propoor and pro-Filipino. Precisely these are the issues that many peoplewhat to do without in the name of conformity to our globalized world!Let us be very careful in changing our constitution. We can end up with aworse one, especially when done with such haste.So we in the Church have been calling for Constitutional Conventionafter 2010. After 2010, so that there be no suspicion of ulterior motivessuch as term extensions. By Constitutional Convention, so that the properqualified people can be chosen for this most important task. It would bevery irresponsible for us bishops to close our eyes to allow our presentcongressmen and women to tinker with the fundamental law of the land

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men and women whom we clearly see are not responsible, men andwomen who are being driven by party concerns, and are even carried byforeign pressures and not by the good of the Filipino people, especiallythe poor.A great disease that we see among our people is apathy for the good ofthe nation, the lack of the sense of common good, selfishness hidden in"mind-your-own-business-attitude". As moral and spiritual leaders of ourpeople we bishops and religious leaders have the duty to get our peopleour of this cul de sac. It is a dead end road. Ifwe do not get out of thisapathy and cynicism our politicians will just take advantage of us and dowhatever they wish, anyway the people do not care or do not dare. Wewill not only not get our people ou t of this dead end by not resolutelyacting now but we will further, as we are already doing, this attitude byourselves not being involved and speaking out clearly in our presentsituation. Let us not be accused by Jesus our Good Shepherd that we haveallowed our sheep to stray and be scattered around by not being braveenough and farsighted enough to call evil evil.

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Bp.pabillo - Moral Implications of Con-Ass