Here’s the first part of Rep. Gloria Arroyo’s brief statement after being ousted the other day from the deputy speakership of the House for voting against the President’s death penalty bill:
“The issue of the death penalty is unlike any other, in that it touches the core of each person’s fundamental view of human life. I believe that the issue required a vote based solely on conscience and the deepest of personal convictions. Thus, despite my support for President Duterte and Speaker Alvarez, I voted against House Bill No. 4727.”
It was a conscience vote, and she willingly paid the political price for it. This is just another rule of the game for veteran politicians like Mrs. Arroyo—or the President or the Speaker for that matter—although the degree of conviction she brought to this issue remains admirable.
* * *
Me, as I’ve written here before, I’m much more sanguine than she is about the death penalty. Before the God of mercy so beloved by Pope Francis, there was first, and still is, the God of justice who stands for a simple proposition: Do good, punish the evil.
As recently as under Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, that earlier Holy Father declared that while Church opposition to abortion and euthanasia is non-negotiable, there is still room for the faithful to disagree about the death penalty.
As we all know by now, the Philippine Church has aggressively declared itself against that penalty. So aggressively, in fact, that a prayer against the death penalty has temporarily supplanted the “prayers of the faithful” at Mass; Catholic schools routinely display streamers against it; and the most outspoken bishops all but mention the President’s name when inveighing against it.
Which brings me to my question: Having entered so obtrusively into the public commons, how far are the bishops willing to go with what they started?
With Mrs. Arroyo now publicly taking their side, will the CBCP president, Archbishop Soc Villegas—who’s never bothered to hide his sympathies for the Yellow crowd—come out to praise her for this? If His Grace doesn’t, should we begin to wonder about the purity of his intentions whenever we hear his anti-administration statements being read from the pulpit at Mass?
The same question is raised on a different but related issue: The refusal of the Church to accept the PNP’s invitation to join them on their house-to-house visits under the renewed and improved Oplan Tokhang Part 2.
General Bato has repeated his invitation, imploring the Church to send, if not priests, then any other representatives they wish. Instead, the bishops have decided to join the Yellow-led Commission on Human Rights in sniping at the administration from the sidelines.
They might wish to hearken back to a certain itinerant Jewish preacher from two thousand years ago: Stick your neck out for the poor and powerless. Walk your talk.
* * *
Here’s the second part of Mrs Arroyo’s statement:
“I thank the President for his expression of understanding late last year regarding my position on the issue. I also thank the Speaker for the honor of having served as Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. It meant much to me. As a plain Congresswoman I will continue to do all I can to support both President Duterte and Speaker Alvarez.”
If the first part may be called principle, this second part is simple statesmanship. Hopefully the substantial minority of congressmen whose loyalty she enjoys will heed her example and continue to hold the line against bigger battles ahead.
The next battle coming up is about comprehensive tax reform (HB 4774 and HB 4888). This was no less than item 2 on the President’s original 10-point economic agenda.
People may recall that the EVAT reforms under former President Arroyo in 2005 reversed the decline in our fiscal health and credit ratings and set the stage for practically irreversible macroeconomic stability. The current tax reform bills, with their focus on financing infrastructure and human capital investment as well as transferring wealth from rich to poor, may have even farther-reaching impact.
And yet, even now, resistance to reform is already building up. In the House, the ways and means committee, although chaired by the bill’s sponsor Congressman Dax Cua, has punted the bill over to a technical working group. This may or may not be a dilatory move; let us see.
Within the President’s own official family, the DSWD has publicly complained that its conditional cash transfers program will no longer be enough to offset the higher prices of goods expected due to the excise taxes provided by the bill.
This is simply an incomplete complaint based on what is only a partial reading of the bill. It is clearly not worth violating protocol and publicly breaking ranks with the President, whose alter ego the heads of DSWD and every other Cabinet agency are nothing but.
* * *
Today it’s tax reform. Tomorrow it will be charter change, with federalism and economic liberalization at the top of the agenda. If anything, that will be an even bigger battle.
We don’t envy the Speaker the challenges facing him. With or without what must have been the able deputy-ship of Mrs. Arroyo, we must wish him well. There is a lot more at stake here than the fortunes—or consciences—of individual politicians, no matter how senior they might be.
Readers can write me at [email protected].
