SONA 2021: Religion in play in PHL politics

By Esther Abegale Cinco and Flory Ann Tacuban

Five years ago, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) announced to the public that they are supporting the then presidential bet Rodrigo Roa Duterte and vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The INC supposedly delivered two million voters to Duterte during the 2016 elections.

The Duterte-Marcos tandem was indeed backed by the INC, but they also received support from Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, the founder and leader of the religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name.

While Duterte’s victory was not anchored to the support of religious groups, it is obvious that they have become a powerful and influential body in politics who do not only spread the “word of God” but also has a persevering role in government.

But it is worth noting that 80 percent of the more than 108 million Filipinos are members of the Catholic Church which has no love lost for the Duterte administration.

In an online forum hosted by the Philippine Press Institute on Wednesday, Fr. Jerome Secillano, the Executive Secretary of Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP)-Committee on Public Affairs, reiterated several points on how CBCP looks at Duterte’s administration performance over the five years: human rights records, social services intervention, poor COVID response, peace efforts and corruption records.

Secillano further explained, “Sa human rights cases, nakikita natin dito tumaas ang bilang ng namamatay at yung ay hindi lang pulitiko, kundi mga ordinaryong Pilipino na nasasangkot umano sa paggamit ng drugs, ito ay hindi natin dapat ipagmalaki dapat tayong maging alarmed.”

He described the President’s COVID response and the social services as unequal.

“Mukhang hindi pantay-pantay at very chaotic ang pag-implement ng kanilang programa at very disorderly at ang indicator nito ay ang hindi pagkakaparehas ng listahan. Naglaan sila ng malaking pera ngunit di naman naubos at kakarampot lang ang ibinigay sa nangangailangan.”

Secillano added that although there are efforts to talk peace with rebels, it is unsuccessful because of the Anti-Terror Law.

“The peace efforts were marked by accusations. Although we have peace talks in Mindanao with our Muslim brothers and the CPP-NPA-NDF, may patayan pang nangyayari, di pa natin fully ma achieve,” he said.

Secillano also mentioned anti-corruption measures during Duterte’s term, especially the infamous pastillas at the Bureau of Immigration and the PhilHealth scam.

“Itong corruption, malapit na malapit talaga to sa simbahan dahil pag ikaw nagnakaw, yung ninakaw mo intended talaga yan para sa nangangailangan. Kaya may social services tayo na ginagawa din ng simbahan,” Secillano noted.

 

CHURCH’S ROLE IN POLITICS 

Lawyer and former Commission on Elections chair Christian Monsod cited two events when the church “went astray” – during the murders of UP Los Baños students Eileen Sarmenta and Allan Gomez; the struggle of the farmers of Hacienda Luisita against the Cojuangcos.

“During the murders of the UP students in Los Baños, they were looking in the wrong direction. They were looking at the UP-student body, [instead of] Mayor Antonio Sanchez of Calauan, Laguna. So, I went to the Bishop of Laguna and asked him if he could direct the investigation to Mayor Sanchez and not on the students. The bishop said to me ‘You know Chris, I side with the truth, but I hope you don’t mind, Mayor Sanchez is very generous to the church’,” Monsod explained.

He said that he received the same answer during his discussion with the Bishop in Tarlac regarding the plight of the farmers of Hacienda Luisita against the Cojuangco’s.

According to Monsod, 95% of the time, the church has been helpful to “popular causes”, but now is the time to be 100%.

“The presidents and senators don’t even reach the ground, and it’s up to us to start it now, from the bottom. This is where the church should be helpful. The church should nurture the young people who are awakening to this and are committing to this,” he added.

Monsod said that there are only three institutions in the country that are nationwide – the church, the LGU and the military and police.

“The role of the church is to identify the good people in the barangay, support them, and make them win the barangay elections,” he explained.

For Monsod, the most important election in this country is the barangay elections because the barangay is the closest government entity to the people.

Duterte will deliver his sixth and last SONA on Monday, July 26, 2021 from the Batasang Pambansa.

(Esther Abegale Cinco and Flory Ann Tacuban are Communications and Media Studies students of UP Visayas)