Recently I went to a conference and met an awe-inspiring Thai pharmacologist, Dr. Krisana Kraisintu. For the last eight years she has been helping peoples all over Africa to produce and distribute essential medicines that would combat Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Without a doubt, of all regions of the world, Africa is devastated the most by HIV/AIDS. There are over twenty million people now living with the disease in the poorest countries. Liberia, Burundi, Mozambique, Botswana. Dr. Kraisintu also served in the Thai Ministry of Health.
As pictures of her flashed on the screen I couldn’t help remember the predicament of our own Department of Health Secretary, Esperanza Cabral. Here was a Thai doctor, from a still developing country, now able to transfer knowledge on how to combat a fatal disease to even poorer countries. In the Philippines, Sec. Cabral was excoriated by the Catholic Church for daring to give out condoms last Valentine’s Day in an effort to raise AIDS awareness. When she refused to back down, the bishops wanted her axed.
“Secretary Cabral should not continue serving until June because the culture and morality of society will be endangered under her. First, she does not respect the big number of Catholics in the country who oppose the distribution of condoms. Second, is she Catholic? I doubt that she is. Because if you are a Catholic and in the government, you should be living the teachings of the Church. But she is doing the opposite” said Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez.
“It is immoral for a government official to support the distribution of condoms which we know do not really reduce or stop the spread of HIV-AIDS” said Archbishop Ramon Arguelles.
Sec. Cabral has long been staring down the clergy’s double barrel of fire and brimstone. As DSWD Secretary she was a vocal supporter of the Reproductive Health Bill. When she was transferred to the DOH, her stance scarcely changed. With the entire Catholic hierarchy breathing down her neck, Sec. Cabral continues to do her job.
Now, yet again, the CBCP is calling for her head. They are of the opinion that Presumptive President Noynoy Aquino should not retain her as DOH secretary. “Secretary Cabral’s position and policy is very consistent with the RH Bill so if she’s retained she can effectively promote this contraceptive commotion regarding AIDS prevention and her very aggressive policy on condom use” says Fr. Melvin Castro of the CBCP’s Episcopal Commission on Family and Life. This is the same Fr. Melvin Castro who seems to think graft and corruption is a lesser evil compared to support of the use of pills and condoms.
I suppose we should be thankful. In the olden days, the Church would have nabbed Secretary Cabral, tortured her for all she’s worth then be made to recant her Un-Catholic beliefs. These days, the men in robes can only play the big bully on the playground.
Popularity: 2% [?]
Funny how this priests would openly condemn condom distribution but not electoral cheating and corruption.
Why is this “bullying”?
let me state the argument as simply as possible.
in a democracy, people have different ideas about policy. we can argue about whether or not he is wrong (define wrong here), but at the very least, we shouldnt be surprised that different people hold different policy prescriptions AND want their own policies followed.
thats not bullying. thats the reality of democracy.
GabbyD:
In a democracy, people have different ideas about policy. We shouldnt be surprised that different people hold different policy prescriptions. We shouldn’t be surprised when one group would argue that their position is the one that should be followed.
Then there is bullying. Bullying is the tactic — to frighten into submission — another group.
Malacanang would be bullying if it sends Tax-Notices or men-with-guns to harass and frighten the opposition. To be frightened about being another Jonas-Burgos statistic —- bullying.
There is nothing frightening about millions of citizens going to polls to vote. 50 farmers picketing the Malacanang gates — not frightening. Thirty-five thousand or a hundred thousand farmers holding and pulling at the gates of Malacanang yelling and screaming would be frightening.
School thugs would be bullying when they harass other students in that manner that frighten others into submission. The CBCP would be bullying when it discourages thinking and dialogue and instead it frightens into submission.
Dean telling the nabobs of negativism to stand down. Not bullying, unless Dean alludes to Noynoy’s LIST-of-Smugglers-and-Tax-Evaders to frighten nabobs of negativism into submission; that would be bullying.
If the ‘nabobs of negativism’ are smugglers and tax evaders then Dean showing them the LIST is not bullying nor is it to frighten them into submission but a warning to them to stop their illegal ways. If they are on the LIST, then Dean is not bullying them, just telling them that Noynoy means business.
bullying is the implicit/explicit use/threatening to use violence.
i would also include verbal violence here.
nobody is doing that yet. so “bullying” is a little extreme.
Tumbok mo bert kumbaya!
Fr. Melvin Castro is an imbecile….and his moronic ideas are preserved on the internet forever. Thank god.
The Catholic Church is more interested in protecting the rights of a drop of sperm than the unprotected girls getting coathanger abortions in the dark tattered alleys of squatters villages.
In the old days; if you go against the Catholic Chgurch. They will subject you to Inquisition. To drive away the Devil inside you. If worse, they will burn you in the stake.
GabbyD,
The Catholic Church has no business in the implementation of secular state’s policies. Unless and until it could prove that the use of condoms is actually hazardous to individuals’ health, a secular government bureaucrat should not be bullied/pressured/coerced by an organization whose archaic concept of governance is far from being democratic.
Bingo.
True, very true. But GMA-administration did nothing, and I don’t expect the Noynoy-administration to be issuing orders to Fr Melvin Castro or any CBCP bishop to shut them up from talking about secular public health policies.
“The Catholic Church has no business in the implementation of secular state’s policies. ”
why not? this is unclear.
GabbyD,
Today is June 7, 2010.
Today is not June 7, 1510.
Clear?
unfortunately not. why ought the church be unable to lobby for its policy positions?
i’m not saying the CBCP is right. i’m saying, they can speak. the state should follow the positions it feels that maximize its goals, whatever that is.
why not?
“The Catholic Church has no business in the implementation of secular state’s policies. ”
why not? this is unclear.
Because some people disagree with the Catholic Church and believe their right to express their position on policy matters should be suppressed.
To be clear, I disagree with the Church myself: the individual person or family has a right to decide how to determine the means by which they reproduce (or not). People ought to be able to have access to the latest scientific advances that would promote their health, including reproductive health. But I would rather have them expressing their stand on issues and being annoyed by them than having them suppressed.
Other countries have leaped over contraception hurdle but are still struggling with the issue of abortion. The problem in RP is the church’s stance on contraception is – it is tantamount to abortion which is blatantly false.
It is at this point where our sense of enlightenment as a people must prevail and it should be led and expressed by our elected leaders. The problem is our elected leaders are fearful of voter backlash for they will be branded as criminals, baby killers in the pulpits and fear that they may lose their seats in the elections.
If we are an enlightened nation, our citizen’s mind set on this contraception issue should mirror that of our politicians’. If I were an elected leader, I would pass this bill and ignore the meddling of the church, and somehow trust that the people are with me on the issue. Or perhaps, we aren’t as enlightened as we think we are.
On one hand, this is a test of how our elected official view the constituencies they represent. I have a feeling they think the voters are dumb and behave like robots to the dictates church. The best way to preserve their seats is to do nothing controversial that might upset the church. So perhaps the problem is with our elected officials who are more interested in preserving their seats and pogi points than solving the debilitating problem of population explosion in the country.
I remember GMA saying in a CNN interview that RP being “under the dominion of the Vatican” or something to that effect. A case of a president failing Constitution 101.
“In the Philippines, Sec. Cabral was excoriated by the Catholic Church for daring to give out condoms last Valentine’s Day in an effort to raise AIDS awareness. When she refused to back down, the bishops wanted her axed.”-Sparks
This is bullying for sure. “Axe” is a lethal instrument used to ‘exterminate’, or to threaten for the purpose of submission. I hope this is clear to GabbyD now.
I believe Pilipinas is well-served if Cabral remains DOH secretary in Noynoy administration. Reason: Cabral has been consistently professional, applying public health principles and pursuing UN Millenium Development Goals for Pilipinas.
What I don’t know is if Noynoy would view Cabral’s public health principles (which includes “condoms’ role in HIV/AIDS public health” and United Nations maternal health goals for married and unwed mothers) to be a violent contrast to “parental responsibility” of Noynoy campaigning.
Wait, what? Cabral is now suddenly a hero? How quickly we forget. That we suddenly hold up this secretary as some kind of freedom fighter for standing up to the church is typical. The RH bill before Congress has the same provisions against criticism that Cabral has typified when she harassed a blogger who criticized her. So I guess the advocates of the RH bill are willing to overlook this teeny-tiny bit of a flaw in the way Cabral behaves as a government official. There are other people better qualified to provide reproductive health to our countrymen than her. Off the top of my head, I can think of Juan Flavier and Jaime Galvez-Tan.
Cabral can be both a hero and a villain, depending on the context. The context is RH where she is an ally. If we are pro-RH, then we should support her against her political enemies, which in this case, is the Clergy. If the topic is about human rights, then we should condemn her…but it is not. One of the keys to succeeding in political movements (and politics in general) is the ability and willingness to compartmentalize.
Yes, but we cannot compartmentalize a secretary of the DOH which is what certain people want Aquino to do — retain her. They are willing to ignore her record simply because she is pro-RH bill. Like I said there are others more qualified and will not use their position to harass critics.
“Netizens to Noynoy: Retain DOH Sec. Esperanza Cabral, she has “balls” to get job done.” Ironic, what? Such short memories.
I just signed the petition to retain her as DOH secretary. As much continuity of the good aspects under GMA is a good thing. As for the suit against the blogger, i don’t agree with it as well. (I also did not agree when Cory sued Louis Beltran back in 1987 but that disagreement was not enough reason for me to withdraw support.)
DoH chief says she would be reappointed
By Jerry E. Esplanada Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 13:52:00 06/28/2010
MANILA, Philippines—Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral on Monday hinted that President-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III had reappointed her head of the Department of Health.
Cabral, however, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer “we all have to wait for his announcement.”
======================
Romulo keeps DFA post
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer First Posted 00:56:00 06/28/2010
MANILA, Philippines—President-elect Benigno Aquino III is holding on to one of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s most trusted and longest-serving Cabinet members, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, despite opposition from a bloc in Aquino’s coalition.
Romulo, who also served as executive secretary and finance secretary of Ms Arroyo, Sunday said he had accepted Aquino’s offer shortly after he and the President-elect had a brief meeting at 1 p.m. at the latter’s home on Times Street in Quezon City. Romulo was the first of Ms Arroyo’s Cabinet to openly express support for Aquino’s presidential bid in September last year.
Let me just clarify one issue here about bullying.
Based on Random House Unabridged Dictionary “Bullied” translate to…
bul·ly [boo l-ee]
-noun
1. a blustering, quarrelsome, overbearing person who habitually
badgers and intimidates smaller or weaker people.
• “of course CBCP, does it all the time, dem bastard…!”
2. Archaic. a man hired to do violence.
• “I wonder if CBCP hire any gun[hit]man on motorbikes, huh…”
3. Obs. a pimp; procurer.
• “CBCP; can they be a pimp? being procurer, I guess they can be…”
4. Obs. good friend; good fellow.
5. Obs. sweetheart; darling.
• “4 and 5 definitions, this is how they entice these young boys and girls…”
• “ heard them Catholic Priest in the news too many times”
-verb (used with object)
6. to act the bully toward; intimidate; domineer.
• “all the Politicians gives in to CBCP at all times”
• “so as we, Filipino Citizens”
• “I don’t think (joe am) does”
-verb (used without object)
7. to be loudly arrogant and overbearing.
• “CBCP, very true to their natures, and an accurate definition”
-adjective
8. Informal. fine; excellent; very good.
• “as I always say, be true to your TEETH, they will never be FALSE to you…, I don’t know about CBCP”
9. dashing; jovial; high-spirited.
• “CBCP, that they are…”
-interjection
10. Informal. good! well done!
• “Amen“
When Italy wanted out of the grip of the Vatican so it can do its business of governing, it did a bold step in 1984 by revising its time honored concordat with the Vatican by ending Catholicism as its official state religion.
Interestingly, it is the endnote article written to “avoid any difficulties of interpretation” and not the body of the agreement itself that gave clarity to the issue of official state religion.
quote :
“The principle, originally stated in Lateran treaties, that the Catholic religion is the sole religion of the Italian state is no longer in force.”
The amendment might not serve as complete antidote to the unsolicited intervention of the church in the affairs of the state but it is a major leap towards reinforcing the separation of church and state, a major tenet of democracy that had always been a challenge for governments to implement. Perhaps something like this could be enacted in the Phil. constitution because the country isn’t 100% Catholic in the first place, even more diverse than Italy.
http://www.concordatwatch.eu/showtopic.php?org_id=878&kb_header_id=39221
Bingo! too, Joe.