Let Us Vanquish The Darkness With Our Light

‘The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it’ (John 1.5)

The people of this beleaguered nation now find themselves in a nightmarish situation as calm and civility have been sold in exchange for brute power and barbarity. This comes about as President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has unjustly placed the country under a state of national emergency, a euphemism for martial law, through Proclamation 1017 over a presumed military mutiny aimed against her government. President Arroyo’s proclamation has plunged the country into dictatorial rule and has instantaneously malformed the military and police organizations into instruments of state repression. Grave infringements on civil liberties and the people’s democratic rights were committed against the unsuspecting populace through a vicious string of warrantless arrests and manhunt of the president’s critics.

Certainly, a dark night of terror has befallen the country. President Arroyo has turned her back from her constitutional oath and moral duty to protect the citizenry and discriminatorily put the Filipino people under siege. What we see is the aggressive emergence of a military state in response to the people’s growing dissent over President Arroyo’s unrealized promises to institute good governance and meaningful socio-economic and socio-political reforms and to the mounting call for her to step down from the presidency.

The present circumstances cannot but deserve the indignation of the Filipino people. What our nation needs today is a way out of the ever-worsening economic and political maladies, and not another authoritarian rule. A people engulfed by the blinding darkness of the night can only but rightly light their torches and lift them high up to vanquish the frightening onslaught of a dead darkness. In the same spirit, the Filipino people have all the right to fight back to defend themselves and the freedom that they have victoriously regained and earned for themselves when threatened by the violence of tyranny. Martial rule cannot quash the courageous spirit and strength of a heroic people to bring about a Philippine nation that is truly sovereign and a government for the Filipinos that is truly democratic.

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente denounces in the strongest possible terms President Arroyo’s act of placing the country under a state of national emergency. It lacks constitutional and moral grounds for it gravely contradicts the people’s aspiration for the building of a peaceful, just and humane Philippine society. The most that it can provide is a false sense of security and stability to her government as much as it only leads to state fascism and graver violations of human, civil and democratic rights of the Filipino people. We therefore strongly call on President Arroyo to withdraw Proclamation 1017 in the soonest possible time and respect the inherent right of our people to live in freedom. We also reiterate our appeal for her to take the patriotic duty to step down from the presidency to spare our country from the agony of further dissent and division and to give way for the establishment of a democratic government that can truly unite and represent our people. The Filipino people deserve a president and a government that will truly uphold their aspiration, promote and protect their wellbeing, and bring about a country that is genuinely independent and democratic.

We also urge the faithful and the rest of the Filipino people to stand firmly and courageously resist martial rule. Enshrined in our very soul as a nation is our inherent right to freedom, and it is our solemn duty as a people to protect and preserve this legacy. Let us persevere in our journey towards just peace, democracy and sovereignty as a people and a nation. The Spirit is bidding us; ‘Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made (you) free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.’ (Galatians 5.1)

Pro Deo et Patria.

† RT REVD EPHRAIM S. FAJUTAGANA
General Secretary

26th February 2006
Obispado Maximo, City of Manila

Oppose Charter Change, Pursue Genuine Social Reforms

‘The wicked are filled with cursing and deceit and oppression… they murder the innocent… and seize the poor and drag them off their net.’ (Psalm 10. 7-9)

The psalmist laments over the way the mighty trample upon the weak beneath their feet. He condemns the violent ways and deceptive designs they wrought to feed their greed for power and wealth, which drag the poor to deeper destitution. In the midst of oppression and exploitation, the psalmist assures the poor that God will bring them relief and do them justice, as God will certainly stretched out his hands to topple the tyrants and rebuke their wicked ways.

We steadfastly cling to this promise of relief and hope for God’s justice in the midst of the ever worsening and devastating crisis that plagues the nation and continue to impoverish our people.

The Philippines is a country beset with crisis. Year in and year out, our nation has been besieged with all kinds of debilitating crisis that have greatly affected our economic, political, social and moral life as a people. The national soul and our sense of pride as a nation state are being consistently eroded to the point where the social fabric that welds the Filipino as a people is at its critical point of breaking down. The moans and cries of a desperate citizenry, shouts for help and deliverance are heard everywhere - in the countryside, in the parliament of the street, even in the halls and corridors of power – of this our battered land.

Our national life is in disarray. There is a breakdown in governance and in our democratic processes and institutions. The national leaders are divided along party lines and personal interests. From all indications, the common good is no longer the primary agendum of politicians and political leaders both in high and low echelons of power in government. Those who have been elected and charged with the primordial task of promoting the common welfare and well being of the Filipino people have turned their back against the citizenry fleecing the people with more taxes while facing, with subservient attitude, the authors and executors of imperialist globalization. Meanwhile, graft and corruption has turned from bad to worse. The consequence of this mockery and betrayal of public trust is a people perpetually chained to a life of poverty and death.

The present dispensation under Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is offering Charter Change as the solution to the political, economic, social and moral crisis engulfing the Philippines. As in ages past, the powers-that-be in this our troubled land do not think twice in raising an accusing finger elsewhere but to themselves. Like Pontius Pilate of old, the incumbent leadership want to wash their hands by pointing to the system of government as the culprit in bringing about this national malady debilitating our beloved country.

The 1987 Constitution is the product of the collective wisdom, good will and intentions of men and women whose integrity and credibility are beyond reproach. It contains all the essential provisions that would enable the country in its march toward national development and progress. What is sorely lacking is the political will to pursue to the letter the provisions and stipulations of the 1987 Constitution. A change in the constitution or in the system of governance for that matter is no guarantee for the country to extricate itself from the quagmire of poverty and underdevelopment. What is needed is a complete change of heart and a strong political will to pursue the common good, one that puts prime import the welfare and well being of the Filipino people.

Any move to change the constitution at this time without observing time-tested democratic and participative processes, and without due respect to the genuine interests of the vast majority of our people is construed to be self-serving to the political elites and their foreign masters. Whose interest will Charter Change or a change in the system of government promote among these contending interests:

• The vast majority of the Filipino people who clamor for genuine change and a life in its fullness through genuine land reform and nationalist industrialization?
• The tiny minority of political elites, landed gentry and big businessmen whose interest is to hold on to economic and political power and lord it over the majority?
• The agents of imperialist globalization whose interest is to have an unbridled access to the nation’s resources including 100% ownership of land, utilities, mass media; an overseas base of foreign military troops, and a storage facilities of nuclear weapons, and other warheads and instruments?

Clearly, Charter Change only shows Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s disrespect towards the Constitution and her brazen disregard to the people’s legitimate interest. It contradicts the aspiration of the Filipino people for economic productivity and growth through genuine land reform and nationalist industrialization and the establishment of a genuine democratic government in the Philippines. Charter Change, therefore, must be opposed.

The Iglesia Filipina Independiente reiterates, in the strongest possible terms, her opposition to Charter Change for it is not the answer to the present economic, political, social and moral crisis. The grave problems we face today cannot be simply attributed to the ‘flaws’ in the Constitution as the government wants us to believe. They are the outcome of irresponsible governance by leaders whom the people perceive to be with questionable authority, credibility and integrity, and centuries old structures and systems that promote/protect the country’s tiny elite at the expense of the huge majority. Our faith urges us to make a stand – and that is a resounding NO TO CHARTER CHANGE while we commit our continuing support to the Filipino people’s struggle to install a truly democratic government where their interests are truly heard and served. Let us all help in building a nation where people live with dignity and integrity.

Pro Deo et Patria,

† RT REVD EPHRAIM S. FAJUTAGANA
General Secretary

20th February 2006
Obispado Maximo, City of Manila