A Different View

The media continues to conjure the specter of Martial Law to cow us into absolute fear and terror. Many of us just do not see the evils that media and the editor of Pakabuhay (official newsletter of the Resurrection Of Our Lord Parish in BF Homes) see in the proclamation of the state of emergency. The President only exercised her power as the Armed Forces’ commander-in-chief in calling out security forces to quell reported threats to the government. She did declare any decree and therefore did not usurp Congress’ legislative power in a way Ferdinand Marcos did when he declared Martial Law in 1972.

The maverick bishops are suspected to have connived with groups plotting to overthrow the Arroyo administration. They said the Arroyo administration has lost its moral and legal authority to lead and urged the formation of a transition government in its stead. The bishops said that their group will make sure that the new government will adopt their announced economic agenda.

At the risk of being repetitious, the bishops are not experts on economic policy. They are not even experts on Catholic teaching, as the widespread heresy in their clerical ranks illustrates.

Nor do they appear paragons of virtues. When they are questioning GMA’s prudence and morality, it is reasonable to ask: What about theirs? Are they experts on assessing evil and removing it? The sex abuse scandals in the Catholic Church suggest not.

Why can’t the bishops restrict themselves to the presentation of Catholic teaching and not squander their teaching authority on personal opinions on economic and political affairs? By taking a divisive stance on secular matters open to legitimate disagreement amongst Catholics, they are not even serving the cause of peace in their own church.

The Resurrection Parish in its Pakabuhay editorial has taken issue with BF Homes residents for tossing the blame to the local government for the rapidly deteriorating peace and order situation after the forcible opening of the village gates. Let me put it this way. When you see a storm coming, you close the windows. After the storm and you see the mess, you don’t say, “the storm did this.” You say, as Clint Eastwood might put it, Who left the windows opened?”

BF Homes residents have to protect themselves. The police can’t. They are nowhere to be found. Let me share with you a typical frustration of residents: “Hi… we had another break-in last night a few houses away from mine. Valuables and electronics were taken by the burglars. It took more than 30 minutes for the police to arrive. Kailangan pang sunduin. Grabe na talaga dito sa atin.”

Voluminous outsider traffic and on-street and on-sidewalk parking vehicles make for a daily dose of traffic jams, making going out and coming home difficult and hazardous. Adding to this misery is the plan of the mayor of requiring and charging motorists vehicular “stickers” to enter BF Homes Subdivision. Good grief! Since when can City Hall decree the requirement of vehicular “stickers” for residents to enter their own private subdivision? Unbelievable.

Parañaque Mayor Jun Bernabe forcibly opened the gates of the subdivision to a huge influx of outsider traffic that includes commuters, short-cutting motorists, commercial vehicles of all types, and let loose legions of squatters, carjackers, carnappers and even prowlers, thieves, rapists, and all sorts of criminals.

And why not, considering that even within BF Homes, residents and the parish church cannot seem to put their acts together on the subject of keeping the subdivision safe for their families whose welfare has been shoved aside in the interest of commerce as so loudly asserted by a persistent minority.