Php 70.00 Vol. 47 No. 07 • July 2013 - IMPACT Magazine Online!

STATEMENTS
On the Commemoration of the 28th Anniversary
of the Disappearance of Fr. Rudy Romano, CSsR
My dear Brothers and Sisters
in our Lord Jesus Christ,
The Fourth Diocesan Synod of
Cebu in 1986 declared, “Option
for the poor is a Christian
option. Defending the human
dignity of the poor and their
hope for a human future is not
a luxury of the Church. It is
its duty.” (Cebu Synod 4, The
Servant Church, #6)
Similarly, our Holy Father
Pope Francis said that
the Year of Faith should be
“less preoccupied by nonessential
rituals but more focused
on our being agents of
God’s mercy to the poor, the
suffering and those alienated
from the Church because
the mercy of God is always
victorious!”
He also expressed his
wish, “Ah, how I would like a
Church that is poor and that
is for the poor.”
Our Holy Father would
be happy to know that in the
1980’s, this was realized in
the life and advocacy of Fr.
Rudy Romano and other church
people. Fr. Rudy and other
church people defended the
rights of the poor and the oppressed,
“even when doing so
meant alienation or persecution
from the rich and powerful.”
(PCP II, 131)
The Archdiocese of Cebu
notes that in 1986, the City
Government of Cebu installed
a marker at Tisa, Labangon,
Cebu City to mark the place
“where Fr. Rudy Romano,
a Redemptorist Father and
human rights fighter was abducted
by armed men of the
deposed Marcos Regime on
July 11, 1985.”
Likewise, the Cebu Provincial
Government in 1987,
passed a resolution “Adopting
Fr. Rudy Romano as a Son of
the Province of Cebu” since
even if he was from Samar,
“prior to his disappearance,
Fr. Romano contributed much
in terms of promoting human
rights, rendering concrete
assistance and social service
to less-privileged Cebuanos
and in making Cebu a strong
bastion of the people’s successful
fight for freedom and
justice during the dark years
of the deposed dictatorship.”
The abduction and disappearance
of Fr. Rudy and a
student leader, Levi Ybañez,
28 years ago have not been resolved.
Meanwhile, until today,
the poor peasants, fisherfolks,
workers, urban poor and other
marginalized sectors continue
to strive for their human dignity
to be upheld.
We are called to follow
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who
“lay down his life for the sheep”
(John 10:11). Fr. Rudy showed
us how to be advocates for
social renewal. He showed us
how to be like Jesus, who loved
the poor, lived and died for the
salvation of all.
Non nobis Domine,
+ JOSE S. PALMA, DD
Archbishop of Cebu
July 11, 2013
Diocesan Pastoral Statement on the May 13, 2013
National and Local Elections
FILE PHOTO
In a few days’ time, winners of the May
13, 2013 National and Local Elections
shall take their oath of office and start
serving the people who elected them into
their respective posts.
Looking back at this event, I wish
to reiterate the teaching of the Church
on our role as Catholic Voters. In the
Catechism of the Catholic Church #2240,
the Church teaches that “Catholics have a
moral obligation to promote the common
good through the exercise of their voting
privileges.” This means that citizens
should participate in the political process
at the ballot box. The Church also teaches
us that we need to vote according to the
dictates of “conscience…to follow what
he knows to be just and right” (CCC no.
1778).
There are several observations that I
wish to underline since they involve some
aspect of the Catholic Teaching on faith
and morals mentioned above:
1. There was the prevalence of vote
buying and vote selling during the elections.
We have seen long queues of people
Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
waiting for dole outs from candidates.
There are even instances when those
who are buying votes would knock at
the gates and doors of houses in order to
buy the votes of the residents therein. It
seems that people’s votes are for sale. It
seems that the sole determinant of whom
to vote is the amount of money that they
are willing to shell out.
2. The hype about obtaining the
results of the elections in a matter of
hours due to the automation of our national
and local elections proved to be
just plain words due to the fact that the
PCOS machines failed in some instances.
These delayed further the transmission of
the election results. The Filipino people
paid for these expensive machines and
the people did not receive the desired
results. Surely, some people need to admit
culpability in this regard.
3. The spirit of Volunteerism and
Cooperation was also made manifest dur-
22 IMPACT • July 2013