The Third Mystery

From a public perspective, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has been consistent in its opposition against all forms of gambling. It therefore came as a surprise to many
when, some years ago, a number of bishops admitted to having received funds from the country's biggest gambling lord--PAGCOR.

The bishops explained that what they did was a way of transferring money from the rich to the poor (or something to that effect). Such a rationalization may have helped resolve issues expressed in terms of raised eyebrows, but it is one argument whose clarity and meaning nevertheless remains a mystery to me.

At the height of protests mounted against the Arroyo government over allegations of official malfeasance suggested, first, by the Garci Tapes and, second, by the NBN controversy, the CBCP issued a statement that exhorted the laity to seek the truth. The statement said in part: "... We are convinced that the search for truth in the midst of charges and allegations must be determined and relentless... For this reason, we strongly... Condemn the continuing culture of corruption from the top to the bottom of our social and political ladder...."

I find it difficult for one to condemn something about which he or she still needs to find what is true. That CBCP knew there was corruption but asks the people to seek the truth was, to me, the second mystery.

Lately Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, along with four other bishops, came out in public to slamn the Arroyo government and, with tones that sound seditious, called for a change in the leadership of the national government. Although Lagdameo's blaster does not carry the full weight of a CBCP statement, his being its president certainly makes it hard to ignore.

I certainly would not mourn the death of Arroyo's regime. But to wish it ill at a time when even the political opposition has started positioning its warring key figures to take advantage of early campaigning enroute to the 2010 presidential elections, this one seems totally out of rythm. What did the bishops see in Arroyo's government that the public did not? What fueled this
sudden surge of radicalism? Are people here trying to play the numbers game in Congress? For what--the new impeachment complaint or the reproductive health bill? I suspect it is about the one and not necessarily about the other. I am clueless whichever way. This is the third mystery.