All eyes on the Philippines
Whatever the outcome of the papal conclave that is electing at this very moment—if it has not already elected—the successor of Pope Francis or the 267th pope after St. Peter, eyes around the world are already being trained on the Philippines because of the likelihood that a new pope might come from our neck of the woods.
Also, in a few days, we will have national elections, with every talpulano/a and his/her siblings and cousins up to the third degree simultaneously running for national and local posts. And how, as elected officials, will they serve this woebegone nation? Will they be a source of national pride or embarrassment?
Our history as a predominantly Christian/Catholic nation (after Brazil and Mexico in numbers) is likely to be dredged up, from the time the Spanish conquistadores bearing swords and the cross stepped on our shores when we were not yet called Filipinos, later to be deprecatingly called indios. But now, more importantly, why the Philippines, which has the biggest number of Christians in Asia, continues to elect corrupt leaders and their minions who get away with impunity, while exhibiting a yawning gap between the very rich and the very poor.
Oh, but not likely to be ignored is the fact that the immediate former president, who called God stupid and Pope Francis a son of a whore, has been languishing for two months now in the Scheveningen Prison of the International Criminal Court at The Hague in the Netherlands to be tried for crimes against humanity. Proof that many Filipinos, militant church members among them, are driven by the love of God and country, risk their lives, and stand up to authoritarian rule, cruelty, corruption, and injustice.
Throwback to 2013: “You can do better than this,” then Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle said while holding back tears in a press conference which I attended. He was referring to the staggering P10 billion in lawmakers’ pork barrel funds channeled through fake nongovernment organizations.
In an opinion piece, I paraphrased some of Tagle’s words that stuck in my mind. How he wished, he said, that those who were involved in the scam—an intricate web, he called it—would walk the city streets at night and behold the hungry poor while they spread out on the sidewalks pieces of cardboard that would serve as beddings for the night. Choking on his words, Tagle said that if only they (the plunderers) would touch the poor and look into their eyes. But no, he said sadly, slowly, emphatically. “The poor are absent in their minds.” What burst the dam inside me were his direct words to THEM: “You can do better than this.”
No fire and brimstone from him, only simple words that carried a big message, a plea. And I remember the movie ”Priest” and the words unleashed by an angry bishop to one of his priests caught in flagrante delicto committing an indiscretion; “You are a boil on the body of Christ, a disgusting boil about to erupt and spill out its pus.”
In the case of Filipino public officials who steal, gentle admonitions or even unprintable fire-and-brimstone tirades from church leaders only land on deaf ears. Many voters are still held in thrall by showbiz personalities who project themselves as God’s gift to Filipino citizens, whose entertainment value outweighs their worthiness as public officials.
In less than a week, we will know the winners in our national elections (lawmakers and local officials), and in a few hours or days perhaps, the new pope, the supreme pontiff of 1.4 billion Catholics around the world. There has been last-minute bashing of one of our own who might end up filling the “shoes of the fisherman.” So Pinoy. But remember, Jorge Mario Cardinal Bergoglio who would become Pope Francis, beloved worldwide, was himself bashed by some sectors in Argentina when he was archbishop. One reason perhaps why he never went back to his home country after he became a larger-than-life citizen of the world.
For now, I bear in mind Jesus’ words: “No prophet is acceptable in his own country” and “You did not choose me, I chose you.” No one is good enough for a particular calling or vocation if not for the grace of God. Pope Francis had chosen, while still a bishop, the motto: Miserando atque eligendo which means lowly or unworthy but chosen. Tagle’s is “Dominus est! (It is the Lord!),” a stunned disciple’s cry after seeing the risen Jesus.
Habemus Papam?
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