‘The agenda of the adminis-tration is not to
stop corruption,
but to silence the bishops.’
Corruption is corrosive.
Church leaders were correct in spurning a government offer to become partners in
the implementation of projects at the diocesan and parish levels. It’s bad
enough that some bishops have succumbed to the transactional politics of Gloria
Arroyo. It’s worse if the Church as an institution allows itself to be used to
deodorize a hopelessly rotten administration.
The "partnership" offer was made by Budget Secretary Rolando
to Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, who along with four other bishops recently
called for the installation of a new government to put an end to the previously
unheard-of level and extent of corruption that characterizes the Arroyo regime.
The call, the five prelates stressed, were their personal
stand and does not reflect the position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of
the Philippines, of which Lagdameo is president.
The context of Andaya’s offer, however, shows the partnership
the administration was seeking involves not only the Lagdameo and the four
others but the whole CBCP. For how else could the "partnership" be brought down
to dioceses and parishes without the imprimatur of the bishops’ group?
The bishops should be familiar by now with the
administration’s congenital deceit. Every time they denounce the
administration’s abuses, Arroyo is quick to give the assurance she, her family
and her political allies would reform and sin no more. After that, she and her
spin masters then go around town spreading the word that no less than the
bishops have given her absolution.
Which was what Andaya exactly did as he exited the room where
his meeting with Lagdameo took place. Andaya announced that an agreement had
been reached on the "partnership." Under the "agreement," Church leaders would
participate in the implementation and monitoring of projects, making them
"observers from within."
Lagdameo, told about Andaya’s disclosure, immediately denied
the whole thing.
Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of the United
Opposition, was quick to spot the fraud.
"While multi-sectoral participation should be encouraged in
monitoring government projects, the motive behind the offer is tainted," Binay
said. "The agenda of the administration is not to stop corruption, but to
silence the bishops."
