The Gospel of Judas and ‘Da Vince Code’ take back seat to row over people’s initiative

The televised projection of the Gospel of Judas and the "Da Vince Code" may have been timed to erode the faith of Christians and local Catholics during the observance of the Holy Week.

But the fact is it did not create as much stir among the local faithful as the strongly worded pastoral letter of Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra calling for the signature campaign as a fake "people’s initiative."

Navarra’s pastoral letter was read in all Catholic churches by pastors. The two-page letter said in Ilonggo that, according to some signatories, they had been paid to do so.

"This is an unjust move of the government on the many who were made to sign something they did not even understand," the pastoral letter read.

The Bacolod prelate pointed out that Congress must pass the enabling act that will set the guidelines on how the 1987 Constitution will be amended. Despite the absence of such a requirement, the administration continues to deceive the people into signing the fake people’s initiative.

The Church, he added, should not turn its back in the fight for justice. He added, "the painful injustice when the ignorant and simple people are used to manipulate and pursue the vested interest of those in power."

"If the Constitution is not properly changed, it could mean prolonging the stay of those already in power, similar to what was done when Marcos changed the Constitution in 1973," the Bishop stressed.

The Gospel of Judas was reportedly studied and analyzed by a team of scholars and biblical scholars under the aegis of the National Geographic Society and it was pronounced as of "gnostic" origin. The Gospel of Judas had been declared heretics by early Church leaders. These were Christians who adhered to the belief that Christ was never human but a sort of phantasm whose crucifixion was apparently a mesmeric drama.

Most Catholics and Christians had never been steeped much in biblical study that the "new gospel" virtually failed to shake their faith. Besides, as pointed out by Fr. Emilio Henares, the Church had never condemned Judas for his act of betrayal.

A group of local believers whom I am very well acquainted with, pointed out that the "mercy of God is such that even in the last moment, he could still have pardoned Judas." And that could have been the triumph of Christ — a display of God’s mercy."

In the case of the "Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown, the author himself has taken pains to point out that it was a work of fiction and not a scholarly research. There have been a lot of written works, especially the compilation of scholarly commentaries by Dan Burdett, which traced much of what Brown wrote as having been lifted from a previous work, the Holy Grail.

Unfortunately, Brown’s writing technique sort of misled a lot of readers, especially conspiracy lovers who swallowed hook-line-and-sinker a work of fiction as "truth" or a revelation of hitherto "secret" realities.

Otherwise, the "Da Vinci Code" convinced a lot of people that they were given the chance to stumble into a "secret" knowledge about Christ and his marriage to Mary Magdalene. But the Gospel of Judas remained an unintelligible revelation to believers in the Gospel story of the Betrayal.

The dangers

The Holy Week and the timing of Navarra’s pastoral letter may help the faithful focus on the "people’s initiative."

It also presages an open conflict between the Church following the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ (CBCP) position opposing the people’s initiative, saying that it is being pushed by politicians who are thinking only of their interests.

The CBCP had also stressed that politicians and their supporters are collecting signatures without explaining to the people what Charter change is all about. A bishop called it as a "manipulation of the people."

As mentioned in my previous column, the Ilonggos’ Movement against Arroyo’s Charter Change (I-March) announced last Tuesday that they will carry their campaign against Cha-cha to parishes and barangays.

Among the I-March leaders are former Iloilo vice governor Ramon Duremedes, Iglesia Filipina Bishop Gaspar Benes, Msgr. Meliton Oso, executive director of the Iloilo Archdiocese Social Action Center, Bagong Alyansa Makabayan, Gabriela, and the Promotion of Church People’s Response.

Duremedes said the signature drive was questionable and a futile exercise.

In Bacolod, lawyer Mariano Acuna also assailed the claim of Commission on Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos that there was nothing irregular with the poll body’s validation of the signatures collected in the people’s initiative drive during the previous week’s assemblies.

He may be correct but the election registrars will have to ask themselves "what for are we to validate the signatures?" By that time, the question invariably presents the intent — to support people’s initiative. Then, it becomes immediately apparent that that action is illegal because it does not carry the enabling act by Congress.

Acuna was interviewed by a panel made up of lawyer Joel Dojillo, Modesto Saonoy, former Negros Press Club president, and NUNCA chair Babes Alvarez.

The I-March said the people’s initiative used deceit to gather the signatures, and pointed out that it is a desperate attempt (of President Arroyo) to maintain herself in power.

The reaction to the surprise move by the administration through local government officials and barangay leaders may have initially disarmed the opposition, but the delay has started what could be a bruising national confrontation that could divert public attention from focusing on the Holy Week celebration.

There may be a temporary ceasefire, but that it sure to give way to a more strident debate post the Holy Week.

Unfinished WNC graduates’ case

I may have prematurely closed the book on the controversy over the issue on the exam results of the exam of West Negros College nursing students. It seems that while all of them took their oath of membership in the Philippine Nurses Association Sunday, it seems there is still the standoff insofar as their registration with the Board of Nursing (BON).

The nursing graduates took their oath before Philippine Nurses Association regional governor Noel Cadete Sunday at the WNC gymnasium.

Two congressmen — Reps. Jose Carlos Lacson (Negros Occidental) and Ferjenel Biron (Iloilo) — and Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia were present.

Marilice Jocson, faculty and administrative coordinator of the WNC College of Nursing, said she is expecting BON chairman Eufemia Octaviano to sign today the resolution allowing the successful board passers to be registered by the BON. She had reportedly committed to sign it in the presence of Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez in Iloilo City recently, Ms. Jocson added.

Rep. Biron, senior vice chair of the Committee on Health of the House, said the WNC passers should give the BON and the Professional Regulations Commission a chance to comply with the agreement they had signed on March 22 or face the possibility of having no budget for the PRC unless they fulfill their commitments.

That remains a puzzling question — the pussyfooting by the PRC and the BON on the issuance of the licenses to the board passengers.

Incidentally, the WNC graduates’ percentage of passing, based on the release of their examination records, showed that the college exceeded the percentage of passing by a side margin.

Rep. Lacson, on the other hand, said that there are some schools that apparently do not meet the required standard of the BON and these schools should be closed if that is the finding. But in the case of the WNC graduates, it seems that based on the outcome of the nursing licensure examination they more than passed the exams with flying colors.

That was what the standoff that lasted for several months was all about. And even if the PRC and the BON had caved in to the demand for justice and fairness by the congressmen from Western Visayas, it seems the two agencies have been delaying what they had agreed to do. For what reason? It has not been properly explained.

But if things are not adhered to as agreed upon, there is bound to be hell to pay, starting of course with the non-approval of the PRC budget.

Oh, well, there are a lot of things that need to be explained, including transparency in the actuations of some PRC and BON officials.