SC sets guidelines on oral arguments

CEBU, Philippines - The Supreme Court (SC) has issued guidelines for the oral arguments of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Diocese of Bacolod regarding the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) tarpaulin.

In a three-page notice signed by Clerk of Court Enriqueta Vidal, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday the oral arguments on March 19 will determine the constitutionality of the Comelec order to take down the “Team Patay, Team Buhay” tarpaulin at the façade of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod.

It will also check if the February 22 and 27 orders by the Comelec violate the constitutional principle of separation of Church and State, and whether or not the poster is a form of freedom of expression.

The Diocese of Bacolod also needs to explain if posting the tarpaulin is against the same principle.

The Court also wants to know if it is relevant to determine whether the tarpaulin is political advertisement or election propaganda, considering that the diocese is not a political candidate.

Each camp will be given 20 minutes to explain their side to be followed by the interpellation of the justices. The discussions of additional issues, meanwhile, may be included in the memoranda to be submitted by the parties.

The legal team of the Diocese of Bacolod is ready for the oral arguments. “Yes, we are all set for the oral arguments on Tuesday,” Ralph Sarmiento, one of the three legal counsels of the Bacolod diocese, said in a text message.

Bacolod election registrar Mavil Majarucon-Sia said Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. has ordered her to attend the oral arguments. But the Office of the Solicitor General will be tasked to defend her and the Comelec as the respondents to the case, she explained.

Controversy

The “Team Patay-Team Buhay” tarpaulin sparked a nationwide controversy after a giant version of the poster listing the names of senatorial candidates and party-list groups who either opposed or supported the RH Law was put up in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod.

The diocese listed several lawmakers who voted in favor of the RH Law as “Team Patay” and those who did not support it as “Team Buhay.”

The tarpaulin, which Comelec said measures approximately 6x10 feet, violates the rules on the size of campaign materials. Comelec Resolution 9615 states campaign materials should measure 2x3 feet at the maximum.

On February 22, Majarucon-Sia issued a notice to Navarra to re-size the tarpaulin within three days. When the Church did not comply, Comelec Law Department Director Esmeralda Ladra wrote to Navarra on February 27 ordering him to remove the tarpaulin or he would face election offense charges.

On March 1, the Diocese of Bacolod asked the high court to issue a temporary restraining order (TRO) to stop the Comelec from enforcing its order.

In his petition, Bishop Vicente Navarra claimed that the Comelec order and notices violate the right of the Diocese to freedom of religion, violation of the principles of the separation of the Church and the State, and violation of the right of the Diocese to freedom of expression.

Four days after the filing of the petition, the High Tribunal granted the diocese’s petition and set the oral arguments on March 19.

Last Tuesday, Msgr. Victorino Rivas, judicial vicar of the Diocese of Bacolod and rector of the Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help (also known as the Redemptorist Church), hit the decision of Navarra, saying the “Team Patay” tag is “unChristian” and maligns people.

The tarpaulin is also a violation of the Canon Law of the Catholic Church, said Rivas who holds a doctorate degree in Canon Law.

Under the Canon Law, the Church should not name political candidates as that would be partisan politics, he added.

As stated in the Second Vatican Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom, the Church must denounce what is wrong but the person believed to be erring still has the right to be respected, heard and given human dignity, he said.

“As a priest, I am sensitive about maligning people,” he said.

Rivas said he is against the RH Law but his church is only displaying red flags to express that stand.

Other churches under the Diocese of Bacolod have also posted smaller tarpaulins that bear only the words “Pro-Life Forever, Team Patay Never” under a yellow background.

The tarps do not bear the names of those who voted for the RH Bill, unlike the one at the San Sebastian Cathedral.

The churches that have posted the smaller tarps are the Abad Santos Parish, St. Joseph the Worker, and the Fatima Parish.

Last Monday, 30 churches belonging to the Diocese of Bacolod have mounted more “Team Patay” tarpaulins in their respective premises this week, although smaller in size and bearing no names of lawmakers who voted in favor of the Reproductive Health (RH) Law.

Msgr. Louie Galbines, vicar general of the Diocese of Bacolod, said by the end of the week, the same tarpaulins will be seen in more than 60 churches under the Diocese of Bacolod, whose churches extend outside Bacolod city proper, or situated in other towns and cities of Negros Occidental.

Some Catholic churches under the Diocese in Bacolod, however, have not posted the “Pro-Life Forever, Team Patay Never” tarpaulin.

Two other dioceses in Negros Occidental are not following suit.

The Dioceses of Kabankalan and San Carlos said they are not putting up “Team Patay- Team Buhay” tarpaulins at their churches, although they stressed that they are supporting the campaign against the RH Law./JMO (FREEMAN)