I was with my daughter at Chocolat and we were waiting for our slice of choco cake and frozen hot spanish chocolate when the headline of Manila Bulletin, March 2, 2008 issue, caught my attention. Bishops: Not Taking Sides On Politics . And to quote:

Catholic bishops are neither “pro” nor “anti”-Arroyo, Lingayen-Dagupan (Pangasinan) Archbishop Oscar Cruz, a former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said yesterday.”As shepherds of the Church and people, bishops, who provide moral and spiritual guidance to people, do not take sides when it comes to the issues involving politics”

I was kinda surprised because the leadership of the Catholic Church has made known their guiding principle. That their primary role is to guide the flock spiritually and not to take sides on politics. They affirmed their respect for the separation of the state and the church. This, I believe should silence their critics. The present crop of Bishops deserve a pat on the back for resisting pressure.

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It’s (political) rally season again in the Philippines, as various groups call for the President to step down from office due to the alleged kickback and overpriced national broadband network (NBN) deal with Chinese corporation, ZTE. Some friends have asked what is my take on the issue? And I replied with this question.

Do we have democracy in action or mob rule?

Mob Rule, according to Wikepedia is:

Is government by mob or a mass of people, or the intimidation of constitutional authorities. In English, the word mobocracy is sometimes used as a synonym.

The modern theories of civil disobedience and satyagraha bear some resemblance to mob rule and its mechanics. Certainly it is quite frightening for large numbers of people, even peaceful ones, to be marching and shouting common demands, if one is charged with the uncomfortable task of refusing them… The 1986 EDSA Revolution in the Philippines, the Velvet Revolution in former Czechoslovakia, and the resistance to the attempted military coup in the Soviet Union in 1991 that led to the collapse of that state, are situations where it is possible that it was the “mob” which won the day due to defections by authority.

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