03 MARCH 2019

Sunday, 3 March 2019
Daily Tribune
“Such sad
episodes in
this period
of its
existence of
2,000 years
is not only
humbling
but, indeed,
humiliating.
In less than two weeks, two top
leaders of the Catholic Church fell
from the graces of men and laws,
but not necessarily from the grace
of God, for ultimately, it is God
who would judge all of us, sinners.
Cardinal Theodore McCarrick
of the Archdiocese of Washington
was defrocked by no less than the
Pope himself after the Vatican
investigation found him guilty of
sexually abusing altar boys and
seminarians decades ago. The
decision was definitive in nature.
A few days ago, another prominent cleric,
Archbishop George Pell of the Archdiocese
of Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, was
convicted by the court of sexual abuse and
is awaiting sentencing. At the time of his
conviction, he was prefect of the secretariat
for the economy of the Vatican and a member
of the council of Cardinal advisers to the
Pope — both trusted positions in the Roman
Curia, the central government of the church.
Presently, some 120 bishops, mostly
presidents of their respective bishops’
conferences, are cracking their heads and
Last year, Patricia Fox, an elderly Australian nun
who delighted in participating in anti-government
protest activities in the Philippines, was deported.
This year, it’s the Australian parliament that’s
meddling in Philippine domestic affairs.
On 18 February, the Australian
parliament passed a resolution
“Without truly
understanding
what happened
in the De Lima
case, this
Australian
politician dared
to interfere.
“ This
writer
attended
that
ceremony
as a guest
of two
of the
graduates
that year.
calling on the Australian
government to “use all its
diplomatic measures” to urge
the administration of President
Rodrigo Duterte to release
Sen. Leila de Lima from her
detention cell at Camp Crame in
Quezon City. The resolution was
sponsored by Chris Hayes of the
Australian Labor Party who visited the Philippines
last year.
Hayes told the parliament that De Lima is under
detention because of her open criticism of President
Duterte’s unrelenting war on drugs which, Hayes
claimed, led to
the deaths of drug
suspects and small-time
drug pushers. He also
alleged that Philippine law
enforcers used “untested
statements by convicted drug
lords, police officers and
prison officials” to keep De
Lima behind bars.
To justify his interference
in Philippine affairs, Hayes
said an attack on human
rights is an attack on
collective humanity.
Hayes’ accusations
are groundless and
are based on his very
limited appreciation
of why De Lima
was detained by
the Philippine
government. Without
truly understanding
what happened in
the De Lima case, this
Australian politician
dared to interfere in
a local concern of the
Philippines.
The rude and irresponsible
behavior of Hayes is an outright
insult to the sovereignty of the Republic
and Manila should give the Australian
ambassador to the Philippines a dressing down.
From the sweeping generalizations Hayes said to
the Australian parliament, it is obvious that either
he was fed the wrong information, or he did not
bother verifying the information he obtained.
The humiliation of Catholic Church
TABLETS OF STONE
Larry Faraon
Hayes
may have
visited the country
for a brief period,
but unless he
went around
to interview
President
Duterte, the
secretary of
Justice
or the
It should be obvious by now that
Imee Marcos, the eldest daughter
of the late President Ferdinand
Marcos, is running for the Senate
in the coming elections. No less
than President Rodrigo Duterte
himself is campaigning for her.
The surveys consider Imee
Marcos as a likely winner in the
senatorial race, and the Marcos
camp is confident that she will
win in the May polls because of
the longevity of her incumbency
as an elected official.
Imee’s staunch supporters believe she
will win also because the Marcos name has
regained widespread public acceptability,
as demonstrated by the 2010 senatorial
victory of her brother, ex-Sen. Ferdinand
“Bongbong” Marcos Jr. and his near victory
in the vice-presidential derby in 2016.
It cannot also be discounted that their
mother, former First Lady Imelda Romualdez
Marcos, has held elective public office
numerous times since the post-Marcos years.
As in any election, candidates are
vulnerable to issues. For Imee Marcos, the
issue is about her academic credentials.
The news media has created quite a
hearts on how to address the
biggest crisis ever to hit the
Catholic Church since the
Protestant Reformation in the
16th century.
In the words of Cardinal
Blaise Cupich, a member of
the executive committee, the
purpose of the summit would
be to “advance a framework
of protocols for responding to
allegations of clergy sexual abuse,
including identifying concrete
steps required to implement
practices that safeguard children and to bring
justice to victims in a way that is responsible,
accountable and transparent — even in cultures
where law enforcement or the government may
not be reliable partners.”
For the Catholic Church, which is holy, one,
apostolic and universal, such sad episodes in
this period of its existence of 2,000 years is not
only humbling but, indeed, humiliating.
Matters concerning sexual aberrations
inflict a more or less permanent sting than,
for instance, graft and corruption, especially
for persons who are expected to take the
prosecution
witnesses, the
information he got is
one-sided and unreliable.
What Hayes did is sloppy
and reckless research. Just
because he is a politician
from a wealthy and powerful
country does not excuse him
from checking the veracity of
what he was told.
T h i s
“The
information
he got is
one-sided and
unreliable.
politician
conveniently
overlooked
that De Lima was
detained not because
she is a critic of
President Duterte, but
because of the evidence obtained by the
Department of Justice that seriously
implicates her in the illegal drug trade
at the national penitentiary, when she
was still the secretary of Justice under
then President Benigno Aquino III. As
the secretary of Justice, De Lima
had direct authority over the
national penitentiary.
Hayes also failed
to consider that it
was the news
media which
first exposed
the glaring
higher ground of moral ascendancy.
Of course, sexual abuses committed by
the clergy, like those committed by ordinary
people, are private in nature. The Church, like
any other organization, has its own internal
mechanism which includes conviction and
punishment in addressing such problems
between its clergy and the Christian faithful.
Depending on the nature and gravity of
the offense, the punitive actions range from
a simple suspension of ministries to being
defrocked, meaning the permanent deprivation
of one’s priestly ministry.
Of course, romantic
relationships with women,
including paternity issues,
are violations of the priestly
celibacy, but still are
considered within the purview
of the “normal” dispositions of
a healthy male.
“Pedophilia,
however,
is neither
normal nor
outside the
normal.
Sexual relationships with the same sex,
although loathsome, could still be subject to
internal processes and resolutions, but
are considered as “outside the normal”
dispositions of the male kind. Most often,
cessation of the exercise of one’s ministries
Imee Marcos’ UP graduation issue
stir when they questioned
Imee’s announcement
that she graduated from
the University of the
Philippines (UP) College
of Law in April 1983. From
what the news media
have so far gathered,
Imee’s name is not in
the university’s record of
graduates as attested to by
a top official of the state
university.
It is also reported that
although Imee’s name does not appear in
the 1983 yearbook of the UP College of Law,
she is prominently featured in a publication
marking the 25th anniversary of the college’s
graduating class of 1983.
In support of the assertion that Imee
graduated from the UP College of Law,
her camp has shown to the news media
photographs which show that she participated
in a college ceremony held at the Meralco
Theater in the Ortigas Center in Pasig in
April 1983.
This writer attended that ceremony as
a guest of two of the graduates that year.
One was an executive of the Philippine
THE SCRUTINIZER
Victor Avecilla
anomalies in the national penitentiary,
particularly the special treatment detained
drug lords were getting from prison authorities
for extended periods. The special treatment
included air-conditioned accommodations,
catered restaurant food and unbridled
access to mobile phones, laptop computers
and other electronic devices.
A raid subsequently
conducted by prison
National Bank and the other later became a
commissioner of the National Labor Relations
Commission. Another invited guest was my
fellow law student, Dennis Socrates, who is
now the vice governor of Palawan.
President and Mrs. Marcos, together with
Bongbong, were present at the ceremony, and
sat at the front row. The President and his
family arrived in a black limousine.
On the stage throughout the
ceremony was Dean Froilan
Bacungan of the UP College
of Law.
The guest speaker of the
occasion was then Supreme
Court (SC) Associate Justice
Hermogenes Concepcion Jr.,
whose speech was about the
constitutionality of executive
warrants of arrest.
Other important personalities who also
“Honors
were given
to the
outstanding
students
present
at that
ceremony.
sat in the front row were SC Chief Justice
Enrique Fernando and Court of Appeals
Justice Serafin Cuevas.
Every graduate went on stage for the
usual ritual. Honor graduates were given
special acknowledgment on the stage. Imee
was given honors.
The ceremony started around 8 in the
COMMENTARY
5
while undergoing intensive psycho-spiritual
treatment to reorient the cleric is applied more
commonly.
Pedophilia, however, is neither normal nor
outside the normal, but obviously “criminal”
and, therefore, the external recourse to civil
courts would be required. There are already
cases of clerics serving time in jails.
Unfortunately, publicity, mostly negative,
both from the multimedia and social media is
prejudicially maligning and hurting the image
of the Catholic Church and even experts in
damage control are whirling their heads on
how to beat the cracks.
Those who are neutral, biased, judgmental,
vindictive or indifferent over such flagrant issues,
probably are coming from what President Duterte
often says: That the “Catholic Church is the most
hypocritical institution in the world.”
And the humiliation it now faces is welldeserved,
so to speak!
Yet, as in the past, in the midst of such
unfortunate turn of events and trying moments,
the Church which remains as a society of
human beings, subject to weaknesses and
limitations would still come out much better,
for the better.
That meddling Australian parliament
authorities revealed the presence of narcotics,
firearms, gambling equipment, electronic
entertainment devices and plenty of money.
The extent of the special treatment was so
conspicuous that if De Lima conducted unannounced
inspections of the national penitentiary, it would
have been impossible for her not to have noticed
the anomalies.
Law enforcers have linked De Lima to the drug
mess also through different witnesses, including her
own driver, who was allegedly her bag man. The
news media likewise
asserted that
her driver
was
also
her
lover
whom
s h e
showered
with expensive
presents.
Under the
Constitution, bail
is a matter of
right, except when
two conditions
concur — the
crime charged
in not bailable
and the evidence
of guilt is strong.
Serious drug
offenses like the ones De
Lima is facing, are not bailable
under Philippine law. The initial
evidence obtained against De Lima has
been assessed by both the prosecution
and the judiciary as sufficient enough
to pursue anti-narcotics raps against
her. These are the reasons why De Lima
remains detained at Camp Crame and
not those imagined by Hayes.
Instead of recklessly meddling in
Philippine affairs, Hayes should first
do something about the way Australia
treats its own aborigines. These native
Australians are treated like second-class
citizens there.
morning, and ended long after lunch.
President and Mrs. Marcos posed for
photographs for some of the guests.
Withal, the big mystery concerns the
status of Imee Marcos as a graduate of the
UP College of Law Class of 1983.
If Imee Marcos is not in the official
roster of graduates of the UP, why did the
UP College of Law hold a college graduation
ceremony at the Meralco Theater in April
1983, with Imee and the members of her
family, the college dean and the entire
graduating class in attendance?
To repeat, honors were given to the
outstanding students present at that
ceremony. What will be the status of those
honors if the ceremony is bogus?
It isn’t going to be easy for the news media
to assert that Imee is not a graduate of the
UP, because there was a graduation ceremony
held at the Meralco Theater. In the same vein,
Imee will have a difficult time insisting she
is a graduate of the UP because her name is
not in its roster of graduates.
Difficult situations like this allow only
one practical way out. The voters should
decide, not so much as regards the academic
credentials of Imee Marcos, but as to whether
or not they want her as senator.