Philippine Reproductive Health: a circus turning into a soap opera

Everyone loves a drama and everyone loves the martyr in said drama. That is if by “everyone” we mean Filipinos — a people renowned for their addiction to the telenovelas and teleserye that proliferate in mainstream media. As such it is not surprising that our “noble” men-in-robes now play the victim card in the on-going circus surrounding the “debate” over Reproductive Health in the Philippines. The Philippines is, after all, a society renowned for a deeply-ingrained victim mentality. Not only that, Filipinos are also renowned for exhibiting a pathological response mechanism to anything perceived to be “evil”.

Sympathy for “victims” + Reflex response to “evil” = Pinoy Mentality

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And so, not surprisingly, the latest song-and-dance of these “Roman Catholic prelates” in response to the threat of sedition charges made by President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III against those who seek to mount a “tax boycott” to protest the passing of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill makes full use of these two as its key cinematic devices. To this threat of jail time for breaking the law, these Catholic Bishops are defiant

“He can put us all in jail. We are willing to pay the price to save the unborn from modern Herods and save the executioners from the grasp of the evil one,” Lipa Archbishop Ramon Cabrera Arguelles said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

“the unborn”
“modern Herods”
“the executioners”
“grasp of evil the evil one”

It’s all just gone hilariously biblical.

Note the two key ingredients in this spiel: (a) playing the victim, and (b) demonisation of the holder of the opposing view. The irony here seems to escape consistently vacuous minds — that these “priests” apply a tactic virtually identical to that applied by their adversary himself. Indeed, Noynoy is the “humble” one and his favourite self-appointed nemesis, former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the “Eeeeevilllllll One”.

Indeed, the two camps deserve each other, and Filipinos, perhaps deserve to be led by both camps.

Such is a society that likes to pretend it forms a modern nation yet at its core continues to think like a Medieval kingdom.

“Let him charge all of us bishops, priests, religious, all the faithful with sedition,” he said

“It is better to obey God rather than men and immoral laws,” added Bastes.

Grounds for sedition, or not? Perhaps not, not in a theocratic state, that is, where the law is designed precisely to enforce obedience to a “God”.

Indeed, this last gem further reveals what could be the true political agenda of the Philippine Roman Catholic Church — to see the Philippines ruled under some sort of Christianic Law. Maybe we should ask our Muslim “brothers” what they think of this.

“We obey God rather than man,” said Bagaforo

“In the end, we must obey God and not man,” Lagdameo said while stressing the need for both sides to be calm, reasonable, and “consider the moral aspect of the issue.”

Perhaps. So let’s hear what God has to say. Everyone start listening. These “priests” and “bishops” need to be quiet even for a minute so that we can hear God talk for a change.

12 Replies to “Philippine Reproductive Health: a circus turning into a soap opera”

  1. The questions to the Bishops and Priests is: Who is the God you are obeying?
    It is now becoming amusing…allies are now at each others’ throats; because of the Reproductive Health Bill.
    The Theocrats want us to multiply like Rabbits; because, it is the command of their God…the country, represented by Noynoy Aquino, cannot find enough food to feed people…he is watching Food Riots coming…
    I’m interested to see the result of this unfold…

  2. “These ‘priests’ and ‘bishops’ need to be quiet even for a minute so that we can hear God talk for a change.”

    Bingo. Spot on. Brilliant.

    I have said previously that the Catholic Church is on the path to irrelevancy, and the only thing that prevents them from being that now is the vast pool of ignorance and superstition before them. As long as people are afraid to confront these blustering fools, they will persist inn driving this beautiful nation into the ground. Cheers to President Aquino for confronting those who would undermine the secular nation for a particular manmade interpretation of God.

    1. Proposed Secular Creed:

      We hold that God’s mystery is His beauty. Man’s highest respect for Him is to be found in secular laws that do not condemn one man’s beliefs in favor of another’s, but pronounce the rules by which civilized people live and carry out work to build a safe, invigorating, productive society. We ought not to limit God according to man’s limited comprehension and moral capacity, but hold that He is beyond the grasp of the few, and therefore available to all.

  3. In other words, return God back to man and remind the Church that they merely facilitate growth of their flock’s spirituality on the basis of their personal regard for said spirituality.

  4. I wonder these so-called civil disobedience has a basis in the bible for their stupid cause no wonder why they didn^t participate in debate what a bunch of cowards

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