I’ve already written this piece, but for the sake of emphasis allow me to repeat that our battle against the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill is the best thing that ever happened to the Catholic Church… because it really gave us a bird’s eye view of who are those Catholics who are loyal to the church that was founded by our Lord Jesus Christ. As Scripture says on judgment day, our Lord Jesus Christ will separate the sheep from the goats… and in this spiritual battle, we saw who were the goats and who were the sheep.
Of course, this is without prejudice to those goats who would repent and return to the fold of the Catholic Church, after all, our Lord Jesus Christ told us that a Good Shepherd would leave the 99 sheep in his flock in order to look for the lost sheep. With the blessing of the new Pope Francis, I’m sure that the clergy is motivated to search for the lost sheep, lest they turn into permanent goats and be thrown into the eternal fire in Gehenna.
Last Tuesday at the 888 Forum, the candidates present from UNA like Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, Mang Ernie Maceda and the Kapatiran Party bets led by Lito David, Marwil Llasos and JC delos Reyes were asked about the credibility of the surveys conducted by Social Weather Station (SWS) and Pulse Asia. Come now, didn’t we just lambast SWS & Pulse Asia about the way they conducted their surveys, which in effect allows for the “trending†of candidates in this election and the last one in May?
Rep. Mitos Magsaysay was very vocal in demanding to know who conducted those surveys…who paid for them and what kind of questions were asked? She clearly pointed out that those surveys did not reflect the sentiment of the people of Mindanao who are today suffering from those pesky 8-hour brownouts. Yet SWS tells the Filipino people that 81% are satisfied with our lives? Shame on you SWS for lying to the Filipino people!
If you didn’t know, there is a satellite photo of the earth that you can access so you can see the areas of any country that are clearly well lighted they are very visible from space. If you looked into the Philippines, you will see Metro Manila glowing at night and even Metro Cebu for that matter. But move down to Mindanao and you will only see darkness. That satellite photograph clearly shows the effects of brownouts in Mindanao. It is a power problem that the Aquino Regime hasn’t solved in his 3 years in power.
So in effect, Rep. Mitos Magsaysay is correct that if SWS surveyed the people in Mindanao, surely they could never get an 81% satisfaction rate. I reckon that what SWS is doing is to paint a nice picture of the Aquino Presidency at a time when he is most saddled with problems here at home and abroad. PNoy’s mishandling of the Scarborough Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc or the Sabah case only shows his incompetence and ignorance of diplomacy. Worse of all in the Sabah case… when the lives of Filipinos were in dire danger of being shot at by the Malaysian military, and they did kill many Filipinos, PNoy goes on campaigning for his senatoriables.
Last Wednesday, a national newspaper came out with a front-page report that blared, “1 out of 11 thinking of leaving church.†Of course it meant the Catholic Church. As the SWS figures show, 9.2 percent of those they surveyed “sometimes considers leaving the church.†This was supposedly collated from Feb.15-17th. The SWS further revealed that compared with other denominations, Filipino Catholics were less devout and active in attending church services.
And so once more, we ask SWS who asked for this survey? Didn’t both SWS and Pulse Asia reveal that each survey they conduct cost upwards of P4 million? Surely SWS is not telling us that the Catholic Church spent that money in order to find out what they already know? But perhaps the bigger question that we ought to ask SWS is…why conduct this survey to a question that no one was asking? Ah… the plot thickens!
All we need to do is find out who are the enemies of the Catholic Church… and surely you will find them in those left-leaning organizations like Gabriela, Akbayan, Bayan and many others who are in truth allied front organizations that bow fealty to the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP). They are no doubt the real enemies of the Catholic Church because as you all know… Communism, despite it’s being passé is still active in this part of the world. Just look at the communist government of North Korea under Chairman Kim Jong Un…who is now threatening the world with his nuclear missiles and could usher a nuclear holocaust!
Meanwhile, President Emeritus of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) retired Arch. Oscar Cruz accused the Aquino Regime of commissioning that survey in order to undermine the Catholic Church. Perhaps this was the Aquino Regime’s way of getting back at the church for the Team Patay tag and the “White Vote Movement. Whatever it is, it has proven our point that SWS has lost its credibility.
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For e-mail responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.