Vol. 14 No. 6 March 15 - 28, 2010 Php 20. 00 The CROSS A Supplement Publication of KCFAPI and the Order of the Knights of Columbus • A3 • C1 ‘There is a great need of priests that speak of God’ • B1 Namfrel bids goodbye to quick count SAYING that the poll body is ‘not interested,’ the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) finally gave up its application to become citi- zens’ arm of the Commission on Elections. Namfrel officials said it decided to withdraw their plan to be accredited for the May 10 local and national elections because their fight is going nowhere. “It’s obvious that the Comelec is not inter- ested in Namfrel’s assistance,” said Jose Cuisia Jr., head of the poll watchdog which pioneered the parallel quick count in the country. Philippine health sector dying, says doctors’ alliance A FEW days ago, news reports quoted former Health Secretary Jaime Galvez-Tan saying that there are 200 hospitals in the country had ceased its operations, while 800 more are now partially close due to the lack of health personnel. Most of these hospitals are in the Visayas and in Mindanao, and majority of them are either run by the local government units or the national government itself. Almagro Community Hospital in Western Samar, the Capul Municipal Hospital, Tangkil Municipal Hospital, Pangutaran District Hos- Quick count / A6 Dying / A6 Solid priestly identity essential as secularism grows, Pope tells priests Protest mounts over condom promotion Illustration by Bladimer Usi By Roy Lagarde NOW it’s the lay people speaking. In an apparent show of disgust over the government’s aggressive campaign for condom use, more people are coming out in the open to protest the State’s pro-contra- ceptive policy. In Manila and Cebu City, various groups and concerned parents took the streets to protest what they call government’s ‘immoral propaganda.’ The health department is currently under an aggressive campaign to pro- mote the use of condoms and pills to avoid unwanted pregnancies and stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. The government estimates that in 2009 there were around 4,400 cases in the country with 126 new ones in January alone. The rallies in different parts of the country break the impression that contra- ception is only a fight between the government and the Catholic hierarchy. In Cebu City, a group of doctors, parents, students and professionals are still vehemently opposed to condom use, despite the health department’s ambitious HIV/AIDS prevention campaign. In a protest rally through Cebu streets on March 16, demonstrators called for a total ban on condom advertising to protect children from early exposure to sex. Dr. Josef Bullecer, national director of AIDS-Free Philippines, said that the promotion of condom use to combat the dreaded disease was an “immoral and misguided weapon”. ENVIRONMENTAL advocates representing indigenous peoples, farmers, women, youth and elderly from affected communities have denounced the public scoping consultation recently conducted by two mining companies in Palawan. Amid accusation of bribery and collusion with the Department of Envi- ronment and Natural Resources (DENR), anti-mining groups slammed the highly irregular joint public consultation by MacroAsia Corporation and Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC) at Barangay Mambalot, Brooke’s Point, Palawan on March 13. “This process relentlessly favors mining companies, which share the ex- penses in the conduct of a joint public consultation, limits the time for public scrutiny or inquiry for each proponent, breeds questionable stakeholders representation and has an irregular and confusing social acceptability stan- dard procedure,” said Jaybee Garganera, national coordinator of Alyansa Tigil Mina. Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM) is an advocacy group on environmental and human rights issues and people’s movement, composed of more than 80 organizations from mining-affected communities and civil society organiza- tions nationwide. “How DENR allowed this joint public consultation of MacroAsia and INC came no surprise to us knowing that this happened under the leadership of IN the face of slowly rising politics in the “pulpit”, Tandag Bish- op Nereo Odchimar warned his clergy against overtly par- tisan preach- ing. As Elec- tion Day approaches, with local and national positions up for grabs, Odchimar has sent a circular to all his priests and the religious not to express support for political candidates. The circular warns explicitly the church’s role of becoming instrument for unity could be at risk if the rule is violated. Odchimar, currently the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said that under Canon Law, clerics are forbidden from playing “an active role in politi- cal parties.” He said the Church has clearly defined laws for priest in dealing with partisanship and politics. The soft-spoken prelate also cautioned his priests against candidates’ “political gimmicks involving church leaders and other people whom they think are effective and capable of doing such.” Odchimar, a Canon lawyer, advised fellow pas- tors to mind what they say or do, and make sure they will not be misunderstood. Exception The CBCP head said priests can only break the non-partisanship rule when a political figure or group opposes divine laws and principles. But as far the Diocese of Tandag is concerned, the situation does not require Church to engage in partisan politics. “In our prudent discernment, concrete situation in the diocese does not warrant a justifiable devia- tion from this general principle,” said Odchimar. Moral judgment While priests are discouraged to actively take part in partisan politics, the Church must not abandon its competence in passing moral judg- ment, Odchimar added. In other words, he also said, while the lay faithful are urged to engage in political activity, pastors can teach moral principles and issue moral guidelines regarding political activity but cannot engage in partisan politics. “It must be admitted, though, that sometimes even teaching moral principles is actually in- terpreted by some as partisan politics because of actual circumstances; nonetheless we have to contend ourselves with it,” Odchimar said. (CBCPNews) IN celebration of Women’s Month, leaders of various organizations in the Philippines condemned what they de- scribed as “the utilization of women in demeaning advertisements” includ- ing the one which was published in a national broadsheet last March 3. Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines’ Office on Women’s Ex- ecutive Secretary Zenaida V. Rotea, MD said the advertisement supposed to advertise a mobile phone but “uses a woman with her legs spread wide open.” She added that the mobile phone was “strategically placed between” the model’s legs. Anti-mining groups question mining consultation in Palawan CBCP head warns clergy off partisan politics pro-mining longtime Mines and Geosciences Bureau director, now DENR chief Horacio Ramos, who is determined to fast-track all mining applications and process before the Arroyo Administration ends,” added Garganera. Artiso Mandawa, National Coordinator of Ancestral Land/Domain Watch (ALDAW), said the joint consultation was an obvious attempt to rush the issuance of the environmental compliance certificate (ECC) to mining com- panies to fully operationalize their operations. He said the joint consultation demonstrated irregularities that should not be taken lightly by authorities and stakeholders. “Originally, people were informed that a separate public consultation of MacroAsia and INC will be facilitated. The mine projects of MacroAsia and INC are both located in Brooke’s Point and to a certain extent the proponents have the same affected areas such as Barangay Ipilan but this should not be the basis for the joint consultation,” said Mandawa. Earlier, INC conducted a consultation with local government units but failed to get social acceptability from the barangays of Ipilan, Maasin, Mam- balot and Calasaguen, Mandawa said. The law provides that a mining company should allow an interval of one year before it can conduct another consultation with concerned stakeholders. “We fear that INC is riding with MacroAsia’s consultation with the attempt AFTER the Davao Archdiocesan Committee on Evangelizing the Electorate (DACEE) launched its “Kay Kristo Ako, Sagrado Akong Boto” campaign, it is also planning to intensify this by producing a new campaign slogan “I VOTE for LIFE”. The “I VOTE for LIFE” campaign is similar to the Vote God campaign which was launched in the Archdiocese of Cebu through the initiative of the Circles for Discernment for Elections (CiDE). Gagmayng Kristohanong Katilingban (GKK) Coordinator Fr. Pete Lamata said that there is a sense of urgency to launch the “I VOTE for LIFE” in order to guide the electorates in making an enlightened choice this coming election. In Cebu, Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal said the Vote God campaign will further help out in sus- Davao will have Vote for Life; Cebu, Vote God taining political awareness among the electorate. “Vote God initiative complements what we have been undertaking on a sustained basis through our Cebu Citizens Involvement and Maturation in People Empowerment and Liberation (C- CIMPEL),” he said. Vidal has also thanked and blessed the CiDE for their initiative to continually educate the people for the coming elections. The prelate has earlier reminded the public to exercise their voting responsibilities efficiently. In a report, Vidal said candidates unconsciously invoke God in their decisions whether to run or not to run. “If we are going to consider all the declarations we have heard so far from candidates about God’s will for them, we get the impression that God is as confused as our electorate on whom to side with this coming elections,” he said. But Vidal cited “God is not God if He confuses us for He is the God who gave us our reason so that we may think with clarity. He is the God who gave us our conscience so that we may act righteously.” The campaign challenges every Filipino Christian to use their conscience in casting their votes while urging candidates not to practice vote buying. It also aims to raise awareness among those who need discernment in choosing the country’s next leaders for the 2010 May elections. This is also in response to the clarion call of Pope Benedict XVI to evangelize politics. (Mark S. Ventura w/ Kate Laceda) Women’s groups dismayed on demeaning ad In an open letter addressed to gov- ernment authorities and private institu- tions, the signatories led by Rotea pro- tested the “deplorable use of a woman’s body in advertisements that in effect reduce it to a mere commodity.” She said the advertisement not only tries to sell the product but “subliminally promotes a mentality that actually insults the consumer’s intelligence.” In a separate interview with CB- CPNews, Rotea cited Article IV of the Advertising Code of Ethics, particularly a provision in its Section 1 entitled Presentation which states “Advertisements should not cause serious or widespread offense against generally accepted moral, social or cultural standards or offend public sensitivities.” The provision further stated “Advertisements should not depict or exploit persons as sex objects.” The letter was also signed by representatives from the Association of Major Reli- gious Superiors in the Phil- ippines, National Council of Churches in the Philip- pines, Religious of the Good Shepherd, Batis-AWARE, Institute of Women Studies, SPA-St. Scholastica, Citizens Disaster Response Center and Gabriela among others. (Melo M. Acuña) Bishop Nereo Odchimar Condom / A6 Anti-mining / A6 A mother distributes anti-condom flyers during a protest rally by a group of parents in front of the Department of Health’s (DOH) main office in Manila, March 12. The demonstrators also slammed the agency’s promotion of condoms and pills to stop spread of AIDS and unwanted pregnancies. © Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media © Roy Lagarde / CBCP Media
