Waiting for more signs from God

The late foreign secretary Blas Ople warned only weeks ago that the Republic cannot afford another Oakwood mutiny. Filipinos will be torn by civil war if reforms come only in spurts. Vice President Tito Guingona also foresees a bleak new year ahead. With politicking driving the nation to the brink, elections might not even push through. For more than a year, Teddy Benigno has been writing about a palpable breakdown in faith and respect for institutions: the government, church, the courts, police, the media. Only a uniting third force, crushing traditional politicians of the administration and opposition, can reverse the swift slide to chaos.

Two decades their junior, Bro. Eddie Villanueva was jolted by their analyses of what’s wrong with society. At 57, the born-again Christian bishop figured that the fertile life experiences of Manongs Blas, Tito and Teddy have given them the wisdom to discern. As a charismatic leader, he thus felt it his patriotic duty to rise to the challenge of the times.

For Bro. Eddie, salvation lies in nationwide moral renewal. With other leaders of his Jesus Is Lord ministry and the Philippines for Jesus Movement of Christian churches, he looked around and perceived a land afflicted by plague and famine. Farms are failing, an industrialization long dreamed of has never taken off. The educated class is uprooting for greener pastures abroad, leaving the poor to fend without the knowledge that can advance them. The rich continue to rule politics with perfected corruption, while the working-class majority keeps sinking in poverty. It does not help any that the poor live hand-to-mouth from destructive ways like slash-and-burn farming or blast fishing, then turn to sex-bomb entertainment that media mindlessly offer.

Bro. Eddie and his colleagues sought explanations from the Bible. Their readings showed that a wicked people will see their crops wilt, their hopes sag and their cities collapse from selfishness, hatred and corruption. Conversely, a nation that turns to God is blessed with peace and plenty. They formed a Bangon Pilipinas National Renewal Movement to pull the nation to a path of righteousness. "It’s the only way we can help," Bro. Eddie said, "to stop the country’s slide to revolution, which will only lead to a military junta and more suffering."

Bro. Eddie’s announcement Monday that he would run for President under Bangon unnerved the ruling Lakas. He had supported party founder Fidel Ramos and president Jose de Venecia in the presidential runs of 1992 and 1998. Also Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s rise in 2001. He was their on-and-off spiritual guide. Now he was subtly disengaging from them.

Upon returning from Bahrain Tuesday night, a teary-eyed President Arroyo met with Bro. Eddie at her brother’s house in Makati. With her were Ramos and de Venecia, asking Bro. Eddie and the bishops to reconsider. The JIL and PJM flock consists of five million voters. While Bro. Eddie is averse to using religious preaching for political, much less for financial, gain, born-again followers read his body language and elect those whom they see he can influence with spiritualism. His presidential run will split the administration votes, already weakened by the breakaway of Raul Roco and possibly Noli de Castro too.

In truth, Bro. Eddie is hesitant to run. The odds are against winning. When the bishops, along with friends in government, business and even Muslim leaders, first broached the idea of electoral politics in August, his knee-jerk reaction was to turn them down. Other PJM leaders warned that it would destroy the JIL, which he built for 25 years into a church with centers in 35 countries. Bro. Eddie’s family didn’t like it either. His son Joel, a sectoral congressman from the Citizens Battle Against Corruption, is said to have threatened to leave the country the minute he files candidacy. He would be derided as a clown joining the electoral fray, or likened to the Pharisees he has denounced for block-voting and political horse-trading. Besides, the vast majority of voters readily go for the popular, not for the platform. Bro. Eddie’s recourse was to look for a sign from God.

He saw it in part in scanning the world landscape. Bro. Eddie is an economist by training and a former radical leader who dabbled in political history. He noted that in other countries like Norway and Fiji, churchmen had resigned their ministries to become president as the first step to moral renewal of their people. He could do it too, perhaps. More so since the administration he supports not only is slow with reforms, but also harbors many dreaded grafters.

In his talk with President Arroyo, Bro. Eddie confessed to agonizing about the decision. He has read and reread Isiah (32, 6:8) about the need to answer God’s call to lead. He also meditated on the promise of a better life for a nation led by a righteous man (2 Chron. 34-35). He wishes he would not have to be that leader, and is thus waiting for more signs from God.

The meeting ended with an agreement to be not only spiritual but also practical. Bro. Eddie believes he should run only if he can win. After all, the work of evangelizing can go on, with more vigor this time, even if he stays out of politics. Bangon’s Task Force Pagbabago is to run a survey about his chances. De Venecia told reporters later, with a sigh of relief, that it was the most gruelling yet constructive meeting he had ever attended.

What more Divine signs will come, Bro. Eddie has yet to see. He has decided to delay filing his candidacy up to the last day on Jan. 2. But for now his declaration of a presidential run, even if he does not push through with it, already has jolted the Lakas and many voters to their senses.

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Catch Sapol ni Jarius Bondoc, Saturdays at 8 a.m., on DWIZ (882-AM).

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