Revolt of the power brokers

The imbroglio on Charter change is a blessing in disguise, it may be the breakthrough we needed to confront an issue we have closed our eyes to for too long – the role of the Church and religious cults in politics. This is the problem our national hero, Jose Rizal refers to as a ‘cancer of the eyelids.’ Some church officials, El Shaddai, INC, Jesus is Lord are getting away with using their control over the masses to frustrate much needed change which doubly victimizes the poor, first at the collection box and second in disabling them to think for themselves. When history looks back at these events, future generations of Filipinos will be grateful that it took the Charter change feud to force out a festering wound in our culture which needed to be confronted.

Some CBCP officials, El Shaddai, INC, Jesus is Lord, vested interests led by the Makati Business Club, the Senate and the Opposition led by the discredited Erap have now cross ranks to project themselves as the "people’s" opposition to Charter change sans a plebiscite. The result is to put them in bold relief as the elements of conservatism in Filipino society. Please do not be misled. This is not a revolt of the people but a revolt of the power brokers. The Charter change advocates did not have to do it, they did it all by themselves and showed up the true intent of their moralisms – to protect their turf as power brokers. There can be no doubt or mistake that they are the principal stakeholders of the present presidential system. All that razzmatazz about constituent assembly or people’s initiative is merely a smokescreen.

Charter change which would shift the country from a presidential system to parliamentary federal system will break up the political power they have enjoyed for generations. When these reforms succeed, this motley alliance will lose their control on the reins of power. As for the senators, they were never for Charter change of any kind or method. All that time wasted in thinking that it would be possible to engage them in a debate. That was never in the cards. As a foreign political watcher of the Philippines told me, you must be kidding if you think these senators will give up such highly paid and privileges for which they have invested millions campaigning to attain. But it cannot be said that Charter change advocates did not try. They went through the process, however flawed as mandated by the Constitution. It took many lessons to finally accept that the debate was a sham and certainly no room for rational argument against the power of numbers of the unthinking followers of pseudo religion. There is no better way to understand just what is wrong with our system by textbook explanations or as the One Voice head and Lopez honcho, Chris Monsod’s ‘empirical evidence’ – the defects will just have to be played out again and again – until Filipinos understand and learn the lessons themselves.

I am particularly incensed that some church leaders should take advantage of their constituencies in the name of God and morals as political weapons. They have the effrontery to criticize that the signers of the people’s initiative were not informed as if they have themselves informed their followers on the substantive issues of Charter change. What else is new? This highhandedness of religious officials did not happen today. It was there from the beginning of our colonization under the friars when our national hero, Jose Rizal, wrote the Noli and the Fili. Revisiting that part of our history may help us understand what is happening today with some religious leaders arrogating unto themselves political power. After Rizal wrote the book, a Fr. Jose Rodriguez wrote a pamphlet to warn Filipinos from reading the book entitled CAIÑGAT CAYO! or they would be committing a mortal sin.

After a discussion, the liberal Governor General Terreros appeared to have been appeased but the friars would hear nothing of it. The persecution can be discerned from Rizal’s letter to Leitmeritz: "My book made a lot of noise; everywhere, I am asked about it. They wanted to anathematize me (to excommunicate me) because of it . . . I am considered a German spy, an agent of Bismarck, they say I am a Protestant, a free mason, a sorcerer, a damned soul. It is whispered that I want to draw plans, that I have a foreign passport and that I wander through the streets by night . . ."

It was not long before Rizal’s friends fought back the poisoned words of Fr. Jose Rodriguez. They cleverly disguised their book to look like the original booklet with title, CAINGAT CAYO (Be slippery as an eel) under the pen name of Dolores Manapat, Salvadora Liwanag or Dimas Alang which was a pen name often used by Rizal.

Here’s a funny story. An account in the book Ang Buhay at mga Ginawa ni Dr. Jose Rizal by Pascual Poblete (1909) states that on October 4, 1888, at the feast of St. Francis of Assisi the people packed the churches to attend a major mass. When the mass ended, several boys were seen handing out booklets that looked like the pamphlet of Fr. Jose Rodriguez’s Caingat Cayo. A Franciscan Friar peering out from the convent window saw the boys and asked one of the altar boy to get a copy. The boy obediently run to get a copy and handed it back to the Franciscan friar. To his surprise, the book turned out to be the pamphlet CAINGAT CAYO (Be slippery as an eel) which was the writing against Fr. Jose Rodriguez. It is said that it was this unjust suppression that finally drove Filipinos to the wall.

Looking back at Saturday’s press conference, I was surprised that in my anger I found my voice. I suffer from laryngitis. Had I been seated a few chairs away from Mr. Renato Constantino I might not have had the adrenalin to shout. But I sat directly behind him and it would have been wrong to allow him to rave and rant, bent as he was on stealing the show. My reaction was instinctual and immediate against an intruder. Keeping quiet then would have been to accept this unacceptable behavior in a civil gathering. But what really grates is when he was later interviewed on ANC television and projected himself as an ordinary citizen wanting to speak up and that he was the victim and not the aggressor.

The following information has been passed on to this column: It turns out that this ‘victim’ has been reportedly charged with rebellion on the Feb. 26, 2006 plot to overthrow the government. He is also known as an ally and personal friend of Joseph Estrada, even part of his inner circle and served as the link between Dodong Nemenzo and the left of the ERAP Movement. During those perilous times, this aggressor claiming to be a victim had 24 hour access to Erap when he was president at the time. Constantino, called RC is mentioned in the affidavit of a 1st Lt. Patricio C. Bumidang Jr., one of the officers of the Oakwood who escaped and later captured.

The relevant portion of the affidavit reads, "On the day Lt. San Juan was captured (21 Feb 2006) we were told by Ma’am Angie to pack up and prepare to be transferred. We were fetched by Ma’am Angie and her son, Mike Yangson and brought us to a house in Quezon City. It was there we met Maui for the first time. I learned later that her father is Mr. Renato Constantino, Ma’am Angie/Sixta told us that the house is owned by their parents. Sarmiento and Baldonado arrived an hour later. We were informed by Ma’am Angie that the reason we were transferred was that, an exercise to be conducted by other military and police groups is imminent and we might join them if necessary. We learned that it was the group of B. Gen. Lim and Col. Querubin . . .

We stayed on that house from 21-27 Feb 2006. Gen. Malajacan stayed with us for more or less 4 days. Cpt. Dante Langkit arrived in that house on 23 Feb 06 and stayed with us until 27 Feb. 06. Cpt. Langkit informed our group that the exercise is actually a peaceful march in EDSA to be launched by the PSB (PARA SA BAYAN) group to protest the rampant graft and corruption in all branches of the government and the election fraud. We all agreed to join the protest but with arms so Atty. Belmonte went out to get firearms. After less than an hour, he arrived and brought along with him several high powered firearms like 4 M4’s, 5 Galils, 1 MP5, 1 sniper rifle and pistols . . . In one of the days we stayed in that house, there were personalities who visited our group. Atty. Belmonte introduced us to Mr. Dodong Nemenzo and Mr. Nilo dela Cruz, Atty. even proudly said, "Yan ang tunay at original na boss ko" referring to Mr. Nilo de la Cruz, Mr. Renato Constantino with his wife also arrived on that night. Ret. Col. Galvez went there twice . . . "

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