Villegas through his teeth

Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Socrates Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, is truly a big disappointment to the millions of Roman Catholics who struggle to keep their faith in face of so much hypocrisy among the supposed leaders and models of their beloved church. How can the faithful, beset by so many temporal challenges, hope to find solace and hope in their spirituality when spiritual leaders and models like Villegas let them down?

In a newspaper report earlier this week, Villegas supposedly said in a television interview that he is praying for the success of the Duterte administration and that criticisms of the government's aggressive campaign against illegal drugs that has resulted in hundreds of suspects getting killed has been mistaken as a denunciation of President Duterte himself.

I am truly aghast at the ease with which a ranking member of the Roman Catholic Church can twist the facts and mouth untruths. Here is how the newspaper quoted Villegas as telling the TV station: "I hope it is clear that we are not personally against (Mr. Duterte the individual). We are taking a stand on issues and I hope the discourse will remain on the level of issues and not on persons."

I nearly puked on reading that. In case people have forgotten, Villegas was the one who used the name of the Church in mounting a last ditch campaign against the election of Duterte as president. On the eve of the 2016 election, Villegas, as president of the CBCP, issued a pastoral letter directly telling people who not to vote for.

True, the CBCP pastoral letter did not mention Duterte by name. But it enumerated all the characteristics that have come to be openly associated with Duterte during the campaign. Only a little child or a foreigner with no interest in Philippine politics would not know who the pastoral letter was referring to. Never in the history of contemporary Philippine politics has the name of the Roman Catholic Church been so blatantly used for partisan politics than by Villegas.

If you do not believe me, go ahead, Google it. Look for the CBCP pastoral letter issued by Villegas just before the 2016 elections. Then tell me if you do not think it was Duterte being referred to minus any direct mention of his name. And now Villegas has the gall to say it is not Duterte he continues to criticize but the killings?

I submit that the Roman Catholic Church is perfectly within its bounds to criticize the killings. But please do not insult our intelligence by saying Duterte is not right there sandwiched between the lines because Duterte was right in the heart of the denunciations even before the elections. The Church, because of the huge influence wielded by some of its leaders, was right there in front of the campaign to deny Duterte the presidency.

But why is Villegas so against Duterte? Because he used to be the spiritual adviser of Cory Aquino, that's why. And he has remained very close to the Aquino family, from one Aquino presidency to another. There is no problem with members of the clergy spiritually advising and befriending politicians. But you cannot use that friendship to engage in partisan politics yourself. Worse, you cannot use that political friendship to overshadow the spiritual nature of your person and mission.

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