A vacuum of leadership

The Catholic Church campaigned against Joseph Estrada in 1998, and since his election to the presidency, Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin has rarely had words of praise for the Estrada administration. So it was easy for government officials to dismiss Sin's latest tirade. In a pastoral letter last Wednesday, Sin raised concern about a vacuum of leadership and scored the government for what he said was its failure to get its act together. One of the President's supporters said Sin no longer spoke for the Catholic Church in the Philippines.

Cardinal Sin may be ailing, and he may have some disagreements with the bishops, but he remains a powerful voice in the Church. He continues to speak for his flock, and he was merely expressing the people's fears when he said, "We now have before us a series of unresolved kidnappings, bombings, hostage-takings and many more acts of terrorism that remain hanging without any leads." Who can dispute that assessment?

The vitriol in the reaction of the President's supporters to Sin's pastoral letter merely indicated that deep in their hearts, they sensed a grain of truth in the archbishop's criticisms. It was not the first time that certain quarters had criticized the administration for lack of direction, consistency and vision. President Estrada has been under withering criticism for the great part of his two-year incumbency. His supporters should only expect intensified tirades when normal life is no longer possible in Mindanao, when Filipinos can no longer even indulge in their favorite pastime -- going to the malls -- without worrying about their safety.

Sin was articulating his flock's concern about the President's capability to lead the nation in this critical period. If the President and his supporters feel slighted, their best response is not to disparage Sin but to prove the archbishop wrong. Get those hostages safely out of Basilan and Sulu, stop the bombings, wipe out the Abu Sayyaf and start the process for lasting peace in Mindanao. Make the people of Metro Manila -- make every Filipino, Christian and Muslim alike -- feel safe and proud to be Filipino. If the administration thinks these goals are impossible to achieve, then there really is a vacuum of leadership.