Open letter to Fr. Ed Panlilio

We, in Kaalagad Katipunang Kristiyano, wish to join your provincemates in celebration and thanksgiving on your election as governor of Pampanga.

With our heartfelt congratulations go our fervent prayer that God will continue to bless, guide and strengthen you and your team. So that your dream for a province that is characterized by transparency, honesty, justice, equal opportunity and, hence, authentic peace will have a chance to be born and to grow.

We see your victory not just as an electoral victory for you and those who voted for you. We see it, moreover, as a moral triumph of good over evil, of the people’s genuine will over that which has been twisted, exploited and coopted by years of illegal and corrupt practices, sweet talk and broken promises.

Your electoral victory has become a powerful witness for the whole nation that dishonesty and corruption can be beaten when true leaders are given a chance to emerge, and when all people of good will unite and decide that enough is enough, and real change is possible.

For us in Kaalagad, an ecumenical fellowship which daily strives to translate into action the Gospel mandate to love and serve the neighbor, your political project and eventual victory also take on another and higher significance.

It is a powerful example of a prophetic intervention, inspired by a living faith, in the service of a community long paralyzed and exploited by greed and personal/family ambition.

The long and arduous personal discernment you underwent, as well as your sincere efforts to seek the advice of your superiors, your fellow priests and your parishioners before you made your final decision, inspires us immensely. To us in Kaalagad, you manifested the freedom and creativity of a pastoral leader empowered by and obedient to the Spirit of Jesus alive in the people.

We are not, therefore, inclined to share the opinion of Marbel, Cotabato, Bishop Rinualdo Gutierrez, who sees in your decision to run for governor of your province as an “indication that the church [in Pampanga] has failed to empower the laity”(PDI, May 24, 2007). He quotes Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical Deus Caritas est to support his claim: “The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society. She cannot and must not replace the State.”

With due respects to Bishop Gutierrez, we feel that he does not adequately appreciate the concrete political situation in Pampanga, aptly described by current CBCP president, Archbishop Lagdameo, as a political field which has “embedded, ingrained and systematic problems.” Or, as you yourself, Governor Ed, described as an “extra-normal situation” that demanded an extranormal solution.

Furthermore, we, in Kaalagad, think that Bishop Gutierrez might have been oversimplifying the total message of Deus Caritas est, when he cites this as the basis of his opinion: “The Church cannot and must not take upon herself the political battle to bring about the most just society possible. She cannot and must not replace the State.” 

But we do not see your decision as contrary to what the encyclical says. In your interview with dzRH, you said as much: “We priests in normal situations would not want to enter politics. But the situation was extranormal in Pampanga. No one wanted to challenge Lapid and Pineda.”

One of your bishops in Pampanga has reportedly corroborated this when he said that you both searched in vain for laypeople to challenge the two candidates. And your eventual decision to go ahead seems in conformity with what the same encyclical quoted by Bishop Gutierrez says: “Yet, at the same time, she [the Church] cannot and must not remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice. She has to play her part through rational argument and she has to reawaken the spiritual energy without which justice, which always demands sacrifice, cannot prevail or prosper.”

Be assured that we see your courageous decision as your spirit-inspired translation of this awesome challenge of the encyclical “not to remain on the sidelines in the fight for justice,” and  to play your part, even with that painful sacrifice of taking a leave from your priestly ministry, so that justice will finally prevail and prosper.

We pray, likewise, for other bishops, priests, religious and all pastoral workers to be inspired by your great example. Not indeed to copy your extranormal response to an extranormal situation, but to stay close to the people, where the Spirit dwells, and be ever ready to answer His challenge and His call.

So how come nobody’s talking at all now about the “7-8-9” formula much hyped in the media by one of the country’s economic managers during the campaign period? 

The effective means of controlling the presidency lies not in law but in politics. For the American president rules by influence; and the withdrawal of consent, by Congress, by the press, by public opinion, can bring any president down.

— Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr. in “The Imperial Presidency”

The National Power Corp. (Napocor) gave a rather odd, if not downright funny, response to the column I wrote last week, entitled “Cyril del Callar—incompetent or corrupt?”

Studies show that there is a marked increase in the incidence of child abuse, neglect, exploitation and violence.

We, in Kaalagad Katipunang Kristiyano, wish to join your provincemates in celebration and thanksgiving on your election as governor of Pampanga.

Many thanks for your article on our microfinancing services initiative, Hapinoy. This is an initiative that we definitely hope will help tens of thousands of our fellow countrymen, and will be a powerful tool in poverty alleviation.