What follows is the full text of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the political crisis facing President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
In the #3 you can find some lines which will tell you that they are already positioning in the line of battle i.e. against the economic system that enjoys making them absolutely paralyzed economically
RESTORING TRUST: A PLEA FOR MORAL VALUES IN PHILIPPINE POLITICS The Pastoral Situation
1. As a people we seem to have passed from crisis to crisis in one form or another. For many analysts, reinforcing these crises are ambivalent cultural values such as palakasan, pakikisama, utang na loob, and family-centeredness. As Bishops we have long contended that the crises that we have suffered are basically moral--the lack of moral values in ourselves, in our relationships, in our social structures.
2. Today we are beset with yet another political crisis of such magnitude as to polarize our people and attract them to various options ranging from the extreme right to the extreme left. In this grave situation, various groups take advantage of one another, manipulate situations for their own agenda and create confusion among our people sometimes by projecting speculation or suspicion as proven fact, with the aim of grabbing power.
3. At the center of the crisis is the issue of moral value, particularly the issue of trust. The people mistrust our economic institutions which place them under the tyranny of market forces whose lack of moral compass produces for our people a life of grinding dehumanizing poverty. They also mistrust yet another key institution – our political system. This mistrust is not recent. For a long time now, while reveling in political exercises, our people have shown a lack of trust in political personalities, practices, and processes. Elections are often presumed tainted rather than honest. Congressional and senate hearings are sometimes narrowly confined to procedural matters and often run along party lines. Politics has not effectively responded to the needs of the poor and marginalized.
4. This question of trust in national institutions has taken a critical urgency with the resignation of some key Cabinet members, the realignment of political parties and the creation of new alliances. Amid this realignment of forces we commend the clear official stand of our military and police authorities who reiterated their loyalty to our Constitution that forbid them from engaging in partisan politics.
5. Moreover with academe, business, professional and civil society varied positions have been taken with regard to President Macapagal Arroyo. Some want her to resign; others want her to go through due process. Some want a Truth Commission. Others impeachment. Some want a constitutional process and others an extra-constitutional process. On the other hand there is also a wide manifestation of support for the chief executive by a cross section of society.
6. Today, we ask ourselves, "As bishops what can we offer to our people? Can we provide some clarity and guidance in the present confusing situation?" We can only answer these questions from who we are. We are not politicians who are to provide a political blueprint to solve political problems. Rather we are Bishops called by the Lord to shepherds the people in the light of faith. With Pope Benedict XVI we do not believe in the "intrusion into politics on the part of the hierarchy." But we are to interpret human activities such as economics and politics from the moral and religious point of view, from the point of view of the Gospel of Jesus end of the Kingdom of God. We are to provide moral and religious guidance to our people. This is what we offer in the present crisis. Not to do this would be an abdication of our duty.
Our Pastoral Role and Our Stand
7. In the welter of conflicting opinions and positions our role is not to point out a specific political option or a package of options as the Gospel choice, especially so when an option might be grounded merely on a speculative and highly controvertible basis. In the present situation we believe that no single concrete option regarding President Macapagal Arroyo can claim to be the only one demanded by the Gospel. Therefore, in a spirit of humility and truth, we declare our prayerfully discerned collective decision that we do not demand her resignation. Yet neither do we encourage her simply to dismiss such a call from others. For we recognize that non-violent appeals for her resignation, the demand for a Truth Commission and the filing of an impeachment case are not against the Gospel.
8. In all these we remind ourselves that a just political and moral order is best promoted under the present circumstances by a clear and courageous preference for constitutional processes that flow from moral values and the natural law. Hence, we also appeal to the people, especially their representatives and leaders, to discern their decisions not in terms of political loyalties but in the light of the Gospel values of truth, justice and the common good. We urge our people in our parish and religious communities, our religious organizations and movements, our Basic Ecclesial Communities to come and pray together, reason, decide and act together always to the end that the will of God prevail in the political order. People of good will and credibility who hold different political convictions should come together and dialogue in order to help move the country out of its present impasse. We believe with Pope Benedict XVI that through prayer the Filipino people and their political representatives and leaders guided by moral principles are capable of arriving at decisions for the common good that are based not only on political realities but above all on moral precepts.
9. Yet having said this we wish to subject specific situations to moral inquiry to guide our people in deepening their moral discernment.
Restoring Moral Values
10. On Moral Accountability: "Political authority is accountable to the people. Those who govern have the obligation to answer to the governed " (Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 408) President Macapagal Arroyo has admitted and apologized for a "lapse [in] judgment" for calling a COMELEC official. The admission further eroded the people's trust on the already suspected electoral system and raised serious questions on the integrity of the elections. Beyond apology is accountability, Indeed, with forgiveness is justice. To restore trust would require a thorough, credible and independent process to examine the authenticity of the so-called Garcillano tapes, verify any possible betrayal of public trust and mete out due punishment on all those found guilty. Punishment should also imposed on those duly found guilty of corruption and illegal acts, such as jueteng and wire tapping. Moral accountability calls for radical reforms in various agencies of the government to make them more responsive to the requirements of integrity as well as to the needs of the poor.
11. On Constitutionality: In the present crisis some calls are being made of measures that are counter-constitutional. The Constitution enshrines cherished values such as human dignity and the common good, freedom, the rule of law and due process. On this basis, we reject quick fixes that cater to selfish political agenda and advantage rather than to the common good. We deplore the attempts of those groups who seek to exploit our vulnerable national situation in order to create confusion and social chaos, in order to seize power by unconstitutional means. We reject calls for juntas or revolutionary councils. Our political leaders have to be the first to observe and faithfully implement the Constitution. Revolving the crisis has to be within the framework of the Constitution and the laws of the land so as to avoid social chaos, the further weakening of political systems, and greater harm in the future,
12. On Non-Violence: Violent solutions, as Pope Paul VI taught us, "produce new injustices, throw more elements out of balance, and bring on new disasters" (Populorum Progressio 31) There are today, on different sides of the social and political spectrum, those who would instigate violence in order to promote their own agenda or causes. We reject the use of force and violence as a solution to our problems. Such cannot be an option of the Gospel, for we know that Jesus the Lord taught a Gospel of Love and non-violence.
13. On Effective Governance: "Public authority in order to promote the common good… requires also the authority to be effective in attaining that end" (Pacem in Terris, ch. IV) Together with competence, personal integrity is one of the most necessary requirements of a leader. Ineffective governance may be due to a lack of personal integrity or lack of competence. It could also be the result of a confluence of factors that have eroded trust and credibility and hence effectiveness. In our present situation we recognize that blame could be attributed to many, even all of us. Yet we would ask the President to discern deeply to what extent she might have contributed to the erosion of effective governance and whether the erosion is so severe as to be irreversible. In her heart she has to make the necessary decision for the sake of the country. We all need to do the same, Indeed moral discernment is very difficult since it is not based on political allegiance and alignments but on moral considerations.
Conclusion
14. Dear People of God, sadness and anxiety were our feelings when we as Bishops first met to study on various aspects of the crisis. To confront the fears and hopelessness that are the daily companions of our poor is to realize that we of the Church likewise contributed to them by our neglect, our bias, our selfishness.
15. To respond to the pastoral situation we commit ourselves to a more effective evangelization in word and deed so that moral values might become dynamic forces of human life in economics, politics and culture. We especially commit ourselves to the formation of men and women endowed with competence and integrity and empowered to effective leadership in the economic and political spheres. With the Gospel of truth, justice, peace and love in their hearts they might, indeed, be a leaven of social transformation for our country.
16. This year of the Eucharist reminds us to the abiding, loving, and healing presence of the Lord Jesus in our midst. By the grace and mercy of God and the maternal protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we pray that a deep sense of hope will prevail in these dark moments of our history. Our loving God will not abandon us no matter what pit of evil we have fallen into. We shall emerge stronger from this crisis. We shall rise endowed with greater integrity. We shall be witnesses to the power of God's grace to transform us into a noble nation, a holier Church, a united people.
FOR THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS' CONFERENCE OF THE PHILIPPINES
Fernando R. Capalla, D.D. President Archbishop of Davao
How to store value, rice banks, 10'000 local banks in Madagascar, giving tons of surpluses. How to cope those dangers, usurers at 1'000 % interest rate , rodents at 50 % of the crop, violence at 100 % ( robbers), i.e. love of money...Communal spirit, commons, self-defense as in Switzerland.
Raccards are traditional granaries that can be found in parts of the Swiss Alps (usually in Valais). These structures are built above ground and are supported by wooden stilts around 50 cm. A circular stone slab ( radian 50 cm ), forming an overhang, is intercalated between the stilts and the granary to prevent rodents from gaining access to the grain or fodder reserves.
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"Another kind of terrorism:
The unjust economic system"
Archbishop Concessao
On October 5, 2001, Most Rev. Vincent Michael Concessao, Archbishop of Delhi, India, gave the following speech at the general Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, in the Vatican (taken from the Oct. 31, 2001 issue of the Vatican weekly, L'Osservatore Romano):
A few days ago, we were all stunned when we saw on the television the destruction of the World Trade Center, and heard about the death of over dox-thousand innocent people. In some countries of the world today, it is a daily affair, and often a sign of despair stemming from helplessness.
There is another kind of subtle, hidden, little spoken of terrorism. I mean the terrorism of an unjust economic system which grinds to death thousands of people every day. According to a study on international debt published two years ago, eleven million children under the age of five die every year the world over mainly for lack of food and health care against preventable diseases.
With the present trend of globalization, the situation of the poor is getting worse. Small industries are closed down, depriving thousands of people of gainful employment; the state-spending on the basic requirements of the poor is reduced as part of the structural adjustment programme; the poor are getting further marginalized and driven to despair. They become easy victims to politicians and fundamentalists. Do we have a message of hope for them, not just in words but in concrete action programs?
The statistical situation of poverty in the third millennium is frightening. While nearly one billion of the people of the world are illiterate... nearly 1.3 billion people lack safe potable water, and about half of the world's population is without access to adequate sanitation.
There is a frightening sentence in the Second Vatican Council (Gaudium et spes) from the Decree of Gatian: Feed the man dying of hunger, because if you are not feeding him, you are killing him. It is a case of murder by omission.
There is enough in the world today for all that people need, but not enough for their greed (Mahatma Gandhi). Should we not take a clear stand with and for the poor, and against the system in which they do not count? It will be part of our commitment to a culture of life and a civilization of love.
"The worst form of terrorism:
the economic and financial mechanisms"
In the first week of January, 2002, a meeting took place in Delhi, India, organized by the Justice, Peace and Development Commission of the Indian Conference of Catholic Bishops, which was reported by Vatican Radio on January 9. In his speech, the Archbishop of Delhi, Most Rev. Vincent Concessao, developed on the subject he had mentioned at the Synod of Bishops in the Vatican last October (see page 5), defining social injustice as the worst form of terrorism. He stressed the fact that the terrorist attacks of September 11 made much ado in the world, but that one continued to keep silent on another type of terrorism that makes, every day, thousands of victims, and which does not seem worth the attention of governments. Archbishop Concessao referred to the economic and financial mechanisms that rule the globe and which, according to statistics, are more deadly than terrorism in its common interpretation. "We live in a state of scandalous social injustice," he said, "and the tendency goes towards an aggravation of the situation. The Church must therefore fight for social justice, without which peace and harmony cannot exist."
Most Rev. Vincent Michael Concessao
This article was published in the January-February, 2002 issue of "Michael".
http://www.michaeljournal.org/econodemo.htm
6. L'indispensable raccard
Vous pouvez observer ici cet élément fondamental et typique de la vie rurale valaisanne traditionnelle qu'est le raccard. Utilisé pour battre et stocker le seigle, dont la culture était extrêmement répandue, ce bâtiment indispensable pour les villageois est omniprésent dans la vallée.
«Les raccards sont en général grands et leur nombre est plus élevé que celui des granges, ce qui se justifie par le fait qu'il n'était pas nécessaire d'avoir plus de lait et de fourrage que les besoins de la famille, de sorte qu'une ou deux vaches y suffisaient. Par contre il fallait assurer un pain quotidien abondant pour tous.» (René Berthod, personnage public valaisan né à Praz-de-Fort en 1938)
A l'image de toutes les constructions locales, y compris les maisons d'habitation, un raccard peut appartenir à plusieurs propriétaires. Ce partage se repère à des doubles portes séparées par une colonne arborant des croix de délimitation. Bien que similaires aux autres bâtiments, les raccards possèdent une particularité importante. Le plancher de leur aire à battre le seigle est construit avec des planches de forte épaisseur, rainurées et crêtées. Il permet ainsi l'usage du fléau tout en évitant toute perte de grain à travers des fentes.
L'Orsérien n'avait pas l'habitude de conserver son grain dans le bâtiment appelé grenier, mais plutôt dans une partie du raccard. C'est pourquoi ce dernier est la seule construction qui soit montée sur des «grès», ces piliers formés d'un plot carré et d'une ardoise ronde de forte épaisseur. Cet habile stratagème empêche les invasions de loirs et autres rongeurs nuisibles. Il est cependant rendu caduc par tout objet posé contre le mur, qui sert alors de rampe d'accès.
A l'image de toutes les constructions locales, y compris les maisons d'habitation, un raccard peut appartenir à plusieurs propriétaires. Ce partage se repère à des doubles portes séparées par une colonne arborant des croix de délimitation. Bien que similaires aux autres bâtiments, les raccards possèdent une particularité importante. Le plancher de leur aire à battre le seigle est construit avec des planches de forte épaisseur, rainurées et crêtées. Il permet ainsi l'usage du fléau tout en évitant toute perte de grain à travers des fentes.
L'Orsérien n'avait pas l'habitude de conserver son grain dans le bâtiment appelé grenier, mais plutôt dans une partie du raccard. C'est pourquoi ce dernier est la seule construction qui soit montée sur des «grès», ces piliers formés d'un plot carré et d'une ardoise ronde de forte épaisseur. Cet habile stratagème empêche les invasions de loirs et autres rongeurs nuisibles. Il est cependant rendu caduc par tout objet posé contre le mur, qui sert alors de rampe d'accès.
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