Why did God give us Duterte?

MY friend emailed me this question. It intrigued her and it intrigues me too. To clarify my thoughts on the matter, I have to sit down, pray, reflect and write.

First and foremost, God did not give us Duterte. In a democracy, leaders are not divinely ordained. They are elected by the people. We cannot say vox populi, vox Dei, that is, the voice of the people is the voice of God. Not necessarily! Besides that saying is not even found in the Bible. Many very bad leaders had been elected by their people. Let us just name Hitler, Mussulini and even our Marcos. They came to power by election. Duterte was elected by 16 million voters, not even the majority of our 50 million voters in 2016. He is not even a majority president.

 Duterte was very much against the Church after the election because the church leaders cautioned the people about his track record of killings in Davao, about his use of foul language, about his lack of respect for human rights and for women. Now in hindsight, have these cautions been proven to be true?

But now he is already here as the elected president. God allowed us to have a leader we have chosen. While on the one hand Scripture tell us: “Let every person be subordinate to the higher authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been established by God. Therefore, whoever resists authority opposes what God has appointed, and those who oppose it will bring judgment upon themselves.” (Romans 13:1-2), the same Scripture also tells us: “‘But Peter and the apostles said in reply, ‘We must obey God rather than men.”’ (Acts 5:29) They were speaking to the Sanhedrin, the highest authority in their time in Jerusalem. Jesus gave the principle: "Then give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God." (Luke 20:25) Taxes are due to Caesar but everything belongs to God. We render all, including Caesar, to God. He is the first, and loyalty belongs to him first of all. This is the essence of the first and foremost commandment: "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment.” (Matthew 22:36-38) Therefore subordination to civil authority is secondary to subordination to God, especially if the civil authority is no longer serving truth, justice and peace.

Is this true of Duterte now? We are told “rulers are not a cause of fear to good conduct, but to evil. Do you wish to have no fear of authority? Then do what is good and you will receive approval from it.” (Romans 13:3) With his orders to kill and his swearing, does he not cause fear even to innocent people? With his trolls, using government money to pay them, people are now confused and his critics are being bashed. With his machinations, even the justices of the Supreme Court are being co-opted and used.

But there is always the injunction to pray for leaders as the Good Book tells us: “First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. This is good and pleasing to God our savior.” (1Timothy 2:1-3) Even how evil and unfit they may be we should pray for them. Even if they persecute us, as Jesus said: “But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your heavenly Father.” (Matthew 5:44-45) Let us pray for them all the more. Let us never cease praying, especially in these dark times.

God did not give us Duterte to be our president. The 16 million voters chose him to be president and he is now president. But God can write straight with crooked lines. Even from something bad, good can come out. First, I hope we can become better voters this time. We help each other to vote wisely. We vote wisely not only for the president but for all the officials of the land. We are in this mess not only because of Duterte but because of our congress people, our senators, our governors and the like who have no guts to stand up for what is right but are instead very subservient, for their main concern is their political future and not what is right and just and good for the people.

Secondly, in our desire for change and for a strong leader, hopefully we have learned the lesson  not to be blinded by propaganda, like tough talks ( which later proved to be empty) and now, the social media. We are faced with another propaganda once more, this time for charter change to bring about federalism. Again there are promise that with federalism, people will have homes, jobs, and a better life. I hope we have learned the lesson, or else we may blame God again for our foolishness.

Thirdly, people are now more courageous. If before many are apathetic, now people are standing up because our beliefs are being maligned. We could not have arrived at this stage if already before we had sounded the alarm when the swearings have been happening. We gave him the liberty to swear, now he even swears against God! We should learn the lesson now that if we do not control the power of those on top they will abuse their power. If we do not make a stand, we allow abuse to take place.  I like this quote from Elie Wiesel, a Romanian-born writer, political activist, Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor who said: “Always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victims. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

How should we respond

This has been a busy week on the topic of the badmouthing of no less than the President of the country on no less than God himself.

The media has been hot on this issue. Many people too have come out to speak against Duterte saying that he has gone too far, but some continue to come to his defense. Let me add a few of my thoughts on the matter and on the reactions of people.

I am happy that many people are now speaking out. Duterte has crossed the red line when he insults our God. People have come out of their stupor. I say to all, wake up and stand up. Evil should not be tolerated.

Some continue to tolerate Duterte on the ground of freedom of speech and even of freedom of religion. Freedom of speech should not be given as a reason for such a blasphemous attack. Freedom of speech brings out with it responsibility to respect what others hold dear. If Duterte does not believe on the teachings of our faith we cannot do anything about that. He can believe what he wants. Anyone each one of us will stand in front of the judgment seat of God one day. But he should not call our God stupid! He should not denigrate our faith in a public forum. People deserve respect, so much more our God for whom down through the centuries people have given their lives because they love him.  A person who has no respect for others and even for God is himself not respectable, even if he is the highest official in the land!

There is a call on the side of the government for dialogue with the churches. We welcome dialogue. It should have been done long before in the first place before the tirades should have come. We cannot then fault people who see this offer for dialogue as a damage control measure for the strong protests against Duterte and his cohorts. It may just be offered as a face-saving strategy. Is there really sincerity in this offer of dialogue? Unfortunately the track record of this government does not point to this. First, the persons that are asked to conduct this dialogue on their part do not have a good record of openness to the truth. Do Roque, Saycon and Panelo have the ability to understand their dialogue partners and not jump to conclusions and false accusations as they are doing now? How can you dialogue with persons who already accuse you and see you in a bad light? Second, the peace negotiations with the CCP/ NPA have shown the inability of the government in coming to any agreement. Duterte can whimsically cut off negotiations and pull away from hard-earned agreements with flimsy reasons and accusations.

Yes, the call to pray for Duterte and his government is worthwhile and should be heeded. This is very much in accord with the clear teaching of Jesus who said:  “I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44) But we should also heed another passage of Scripture: “Proclaim the Word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching.” (2 Timothy 4:2) While we pray and beg for mercy from God in reparation to the blasphemy we should also not refrain from saying that this is wrong and should stop, for the sake of the people who are weak in the faith. We cannot just gloss over this incident as if it is a small matter. This either shows that we do not value God and it is alright to belittle him, or we are weak and cowed down. In either case, we become weak shepherds who allow the flock of God to be scattered. We should give clear directions. 

Let not the accusations of the Prophet Isaiah on the religious leaders of his time be applied to our present religious leaders: “All the sentinels of Israel are blind, they are without knowledge. They are all mute dogs, unable to bark; dreaming, reclining, loving their sleep.” (Isaiah 56:10) Let us not be mute dogs, unable to bark…. loving our sleep in wonderland with our feet off the ground in the harsh realities of our days. We all are shepherds: parents to their children, lay leaders to their members, priests to their people, and bishops to their flock. We pray, we beg for mercy from God, and we speak out and guide our people. But in no way should we be silent.

Anti-Tambay drive, a drive against the poor

Another directive against the poor: the anti-tambay drive. It is really against the poor. The poor are the ones who are always in the streets “loitering”. Have we asked why? It is because they have nowhere else to go. Their homes? Many have very small houses that is not even fit for human habitation. There is no ventilation and even light inside. The heat must be terrible in there. And not a few have no houses at all. With this drive they can round up all the street people!

 It is a glaring generalization that tambays cause criminality. Some of them do, but many are just innocently whiling away the time. If the government is serious in addressing loitering, they should give the poor decent housing and most of all, provide them jobs. If people are gainfully working, they would not be loitering in the streets! In our city planning, there are no parks or open places where people can stay and enjoy the sunlight. Instead of doing their work – proper housing, proper city planning, sufficient jobs for the people – this government is blaming and punishing the people, and most of the time, the poor, for their failures.

Now that Genesis “Tisoy” Argoncillo has been killed due to this drive, the excuses and the blame game has begun. Even Duterte tries to extricate himself by claiming that he never ordered the police to arrest tambays. But what do we make out of what he said at the oath-taking ceremony of newly promoted police, coast guard and jail officers on June 13 in Malacañang? He is put on record saying, “My directive is, if you’re just standing by (in the streets), tell them, ‘Go home. If you don’t go home, I’ll bring you to the office in Pasig.’” He even added: “I’ll take care of it. Tie their hands together and I’ll throw them in (the river).”

After nearly 7,300 people have been rounded up in the anti-tambay sweep by the police in just a week since June 13, the PNP now is saying that they do not arrest people. Why was Tisoy brought to the Quezon City Police District Station 4? Why was he put in the overcrowded lock-up cell? Is this not arrest? One life has been lost, and maybe others more because of this ill-thought of drive. It is a knee-jerk response to an impulsive pronouncement of a non-thinking Head of State.

Commission on Human Rights Chair Jose Luis Gascon rightly remarked that the current police operations lack “appropriate and clear guidelines.” This is open to great harm to the citizens. This is another drive that is not only anti-poor but is open to grave abuse of power, and again, to impunity on the authorities! Now no one takes responsibility.

The country is faced with so many big problems: like the rising cost of living, the high inflation, the weakening of the peso, the security threat of China. Instead of facing these problems why has Duterte to micromanage the tambays. Are they really problematic? There is even no serious study that would correlate them to rising criminality. A hunch is that Duterte in just looking for another scapegoat for his increasingly clear failure in governance. Naghahanap na naman ng masisisi at ang mga tambay ang napagtutuonan ng pansin.

Hello PNP! Please pay attention to the more than 23,000 cases of homicide that is “under investigation” in your War on Drugs.  Solve these for this is clearly your job, instead of going after the tambays!

Quiapo homily

June 18, 2018

Quiapo Church

1 Kings 21:1-16;   Matthew 5:38-42

Naimbitahan ako na magmisa dito sa Quiapo ng mga dalawang lingo nang nakaraan para sa nobena. Kilala ang Quiapo dahil sa Poong Senor Nazareno pero ang patron ng Simbahang ito ay si San Juan Buatista. Pinaghahandaan natin ang kanyang  kapistahan sa June 24. Nasa panahon tayo ngayon ng pagnonobena. Para sa atin sa simbahan ang pagnonobena ay paraan ng espiritual na paghahanda para sa fiesta. Sa siyam na araw nang sunod-sunod na pagdarasal at pagsisimba nabubuksan ang diwa natin sa pagdiriwang ng kapistahan.

Pero nagkataon din na ngayong araw ay ika-siyam na araw ng pagpatay kay Fr. Richmond Nilo ng diocesis ng Cabanatuan. Kaya ialay din natin ang misa na ito bilang pagsisiyam para sa kanyang kapahingahan. Bigla at hindi inaasahan ang pagpatay sa kanya. Bagaman naghahanda siya para sa misa, siguro naman hindi niya inaasahan na haharap sa siya sa Panginoon. Kaya tulungan natin siya ng ating panalangin. Salamat po sa inyong pagdalo para sa nobena na ito at para sa ating pasisiyam para kay Fr. Richmond.

Ang Bibliya ay hindi lingid sa kalagayan natin. Sinasalamin nito hindi lang ang kabutihan ng Diyos at ng tao. Pinapamukha din sa atin ang kasamaan ng tao sa kanyang kapwa, pati na ang kasamaan ng mga namumuno sa kanyang pinamumunuan. Iyan po ang unang pagbasa natin sa aklat ng mga Hari. Inapi, pinagsamantalahan, pinatay at inagaw ang ari-arian ni Nabat ng Haring si Acab at ng Reynang si Jezebel. Ayaw ibigay o ipagbili o ipagpalit man ni Nabat ang kanyang ubasan sa hari, kahit mas magandang lupa ang ipapalit sa kanya, dahil sa iyon ay minana niya sa kanyang mga ninuno. Ang ubasang iyon ay hindi lang ari-arian kundi isang biyaya ng Diyos sa kanilang pamilya at bawal na iyan ay mapasa-iba. Kaya may kaugalian sila na ang makabibili lang ng ari-arian ng pamilya na galing sa Diyos ay ang kamag-anak lamang. Hindi dapat ito malalayo sa pamilya. Alam ito ni Haring Acab dahil sa siya rin ay Israelita kaya wala siyang magawa kundi magmukmok at magtampo. Ngunit si Reynang Jezekel ay isang dayuhan na taga-Sidon. Hindi niya iginagalang ang kaugalian ng mga Israelita. Kaya siya ang gumawa ng paraan para pagbigyan ang layaw ng hari. Talagang layaw lang iyon. Hindi naman niya kailangan ang ubasang iyon. Gusto lang niya kasi katabi ng kanyang harden!

Ano ang paraan ni Jezebel? Una, ginamit niya ang kapangyarihan ng hari. Gumawa ng sulat at tinatakan ng tatak ng hari. Pangalawa, ginamit ang mga leaders of bayan. Inutusan niya ang mga ito at sunod-sunoran naman sila. Pangatlo ginamit ang relihiyon ng mga Hudyo – nagpatawag ng ayuno at ang bintang ay ang paglapastangan sa Diyos. Pang-apat, ginamit ang kasinungalingan, tumawag ng mga huwad na saksi. At panghuli, ginamit ang batas na nagsasabi na ang maglapastangan sa Diyos ay dapat batuhin hanggang mamatay.

Si Acab ay nabuhay ng mga 800 daang taon bago dumating si Jesus, samakatuwid, mga 2800 taon na mula sa ating panahon. Pero ang pangyayari na ating napakinggan ay sumasalamin sa ating kalagayan. Si Acab at si Jezebel ay gumamit ng kanilang pamumuno upang apihin ang kanilang pinamumunuan. Ginamit ang kanilang kapangyarihan upang mang-api at pumatay para lang makuha ang gusto nila. Hindi ba natin ito nakikita kay Duterte? Hindi ba natin nakikita na ginagmit din niya ang ibang mga leaders ng bayan para sa kanyang mga disegno? Ginagamit niya ang lower house sa pagsusulong ng kanyang panukala ng Death Penalty, ng impeachments, ng pagtatanggal ng budgets ng mga hindi sumusunod sa kanya, at ngayon, sa pagsusulong sa cha-cha at sa huwad na pangako ng federalism. Ginagamit niya, at nagpapakamit naman, ang mga justices ng corte suprema, sa mga gusto niya na ilibingh si Marcos sa Libingan ng mga Bayani, na panatalihin ang Martial Law sa Mindanao, at bukas, na patalsikin si CJ Sereno. Ginagamit niya ang kapulisan na pumatay na mga mahihirap sa bintang na gumagamit daw ng druga. Bakit mahihirap lang ba ang gumagamit ng drugs? Sila lang ang pinapatay kasi mahihirap lang ang kaya niya. Ang mga mayayaman at mga negosyante ay sinasayaw niya, tulad ng ginagawa niya sa Tsina. Gumagamit ng kasinungalingan para manira ng iba. Huwag na natin banggitin ang mga bayarang trolls at bayarang spokesmen and women na walang ginawa kundi pagtakpan at ipaliwanag ang mga kapalpakan niya. Ginagamit ang batas – to have a semblance of legality – in whatever he does. Talagang palaging napapanahon ang Bibliya. Ito ay nagsasalita sa atin. Sinasalamin niya sa ating ang ating kalagayan.

Ano ang gagawin natin?

Ang Bibliya ay hindi lang Lumang Tipan. Mayroon din siyang Bagong Tipan at dito nakalagay ang mga salita at pagkilos ni Jesus, ang Anak ng Diyos, ang Salita ng Diyos na naging tao. Hindi palaging madaling sundin ang aral ni Jesus. Pero hindi lang tayo pipili ng gusto nating sundin. Kung naniniwala tayo kay Jesus na siya ang Daan, Liwanag at Buhay, ang lahat ng kanyang salita ay dapat nating unawain ng maayos at sundin, kahit na mahirap. At ano ang aral niya sa atin ngayon? Huwag tayong maghiganti. Huwag nating gamitin ang mga sandata ng mang-aapi. Haharapin natin ang kasamaan ngunit hindi sa paraang ginagamit nito.

Kaya kung ang gobyerno ay gumagamit ng kapangyarihan, ng tao, ng kasinungalingan, ng tiwaling pag-unawa sa batas, at ng pagpapatay – hindi iyan ang gagamitin natin. Kapag tayo ay gumagamit ng sandata ng kasamaan, kahit na manalo pa tayo, naging masama na rin tayo. Natalo tayo ng kasamaan.

May headline kahapon na may mga pari kuno na nag-aarmas na rin para hindi sila mapatay. Hindi ko alam kung totoo ito. Kung totoo man, hindi ito tama. Ang baril ay hindi sandata ng pari. Kung hindi man ito maintindihan ng mga armadong grupo, at least sana tayong mga pari at kamadrehan ay nakakauna na ang kapayapaan ay hindi makukuha ng hindi mapayapang paraan. Ang pagpatay ay hindi masusulusyunan ng pagpapatay. Iyang dahilan ng self-defense ay masyadong overstretched.

Kahapon narinig natin ang sinabi ni San Pablo sa kanyang liham sa mga taga-Corinto: “Palaging malakas ang ating loob.” At bakit? “Sapagkat nabubuhay tayo batay sa pananalig sa Diyos at hindi sa mga bagay na nakikita.” We live by faith and not by sight. Kaya handa tayong iwanan ang buhay na ito na pansamantala upang maratnan ang tahanang pangmagkailaman. Hindi tayo mabubuhay ng wagas kung takot tayong mamatay! Kaya ang dapat pagsikapan natin ay, sa mabuhay man o sa mamatay, tayo ay kalugod-lugod sa Diyos

Kaya ano ang sandata natin? Baril? Hindi! SALITA! SALITA NG DIYOS! Ito ang ginamit si San Juan Bautista. Ito ang ginamit ni Jesus. Magpahayag! Magsalita! Mga kapatid, dito tayo nagkukulang ngayon. Ang tanong ng mga tao ay bakit tahimik ang simbahan? Hindi inaasahan ng mga tao na may baril ang mga taong simbahan. Inaasahan niyang magsalita ang taong simbahan – kaming mga Obispo, ang mga pari, ang mga kamadrehan, ang mga lay groups. Sa dami-dami natin hindi na tayo kailangang sumigaw pa. Magsalita lang tayong lahat, aalignawgnaw na ang tinig natin, maririnig ng buong bansa na masama ang pumatay, na huwag ng magsinungaling, na huwag ng magmura, na iligal ang quo warranto, na ayaw natin ng cha-cha, na itigil na ang EJK, na huwag nang ipagmigay ang Pilipinas sa Tsina. Magsalita! Ito ang ating sandata!

May isa pa tayong sandata: Panalangin. Bukas maririnig natin sa pagbasa sa ebanghelyo: Ipanalangin ninyo ang umuusig sa inyo! Mga kapatid, hindi pa sapat ang ating pagdasal. Dagdagan pa natin. Noong tinanong ng mga alagad bakit hindi nila mapalayas ang masamang espiritu sa bata, ang sagot ni Jesus ay “Mapapalayas lamang ang ganitong uri ng espiritu sa pamamagitan ng panalangin!” (Markos 9:29) Mapapalayas lang ang masamang espiritu sa Malacanang sa panalangin na may pananampalataya. Napapakita ang pananampalataya sa atin panalangin kung sinasamahan natin ito ng penitensiya, ng ayuno. Ganoon tayo kaserioso sa pagdarasal na ito ay may kalakip na ayuno. Ginagamit ba natin ng sapat ang sandatang ito?

Hindi ba ito rin ang ginawa ni San Juan Bautista? Siya ay kilala, maliban sa kanyang pagbibinyag,  sa kanyang umaapoy na salita at sa kanyang buhay panlangin at penitiensiya.

Labanan natin ang pang-aapi, ang pananakot, ang pagsisinungaling. Labanan natin ng ating SALITA. Huwang tayong manahimik. Labanan natin ng ating panalangin na may penitensiya. Simulan na natin ngayon sa misang ito.