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Jess Martinez Airs His Side |
Buencamino is a fellow of Action for Economic Reforms. This article was published in the Business Mirror, June 4,2008 edition, p. A10.
Securities and Exchange Commissioner Jesus Martinez, Commission on Higher Education Chair Romulo Neri, and Supreme Court Justice Renato Corona were batch mates at the Ateneo de Manila High School (ADMHS).
ADMHS '66 calls itself the "MOBB" (Men of Blue Blood) because they were dubbed mga balasubas by one of their teachers. Romy Neri's Senate testimony surprised and disappointed many of his batch mates. Rene Corona's concurring vote and opinion on Romy Neri's case elicited a similar reaction. Much was expected of Romy and Rene because they were in the honors class.
Jess was not in the honors class. He was just one of the boys, as the saying goes. Still, I was a bit put off when I heard he signed a cease and desist order against Meralco based on a complaint filed by Winston Garcia, the hand puppet of Bonnie and Clyde.
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Going Beyond the Disappointment |
The “Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action” that was circulated by the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus Commission on the Social Apostolate last Easter Sunday was the Philippine Daily Inquirer’s “Talk of the Town” on April 6 and April 13. This should be a welcome development; as stated in the accompanying endorsement letter from Jesuit Provincial Fr. Danny Huang, the invitation was precisely that “communities and institutions read, reflect, pray over and discuss these Guidelines.”
I was able to read critical reactions to the Guidelines. It seems that the overriding sentiment is disappointment over the Guidelines’ failure to join calls for resignation.
I should have been disturbed too. I was Ateneo Student Council president when the “Hello, Garci” scandal broke out and, at that time, we called for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s resignation. I have even recently reiterated my call for Ms Arroyo to resign within my own circles at the height of Jun Lozada’s whistle-blowing. I maintain that calling for her resignation and punishing her and her family members and minions who brazenly drag their weight around are legitimate and appropriate demands because of their accountability to acts of corruption and abuse of power that ultimately undermine hard-won institutions, delay reforms that demand time and crush the hope of the Filipino people.
Nevertheless, I was not disappointed by the Guidelines. It seems that the disappointment is misplaced since it is premised on two misinterpretations.Be first to comment this article |
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Columnist John Nery (Armchair Radicals, Philippine Daily Inquirer, 22 April 2008) asserted that we "have committed the old crime known in the free-spirited Sixties as libel by label," and he wants us "to account for (our) intellectual dishonesty."
Nery responded vociferously to our piece, titled "Jesuitic Placebo," which was published in the Inquirer's Talk of the Town, 13 April 2008). Our essay was a criticism of the Guidelines of the Philippine Jesuits' Commission on the Social Apostolate.
Our main argument was that the Jesuits' Commission paper devalued the call for Mrs. Gloria Arroyo to resign and the need for people power to effect Mrs. Arroyo's resignation. We likewise argued that, absent the frame of Arroyo's resignation, the Commission's recommended action, especially having an independent counsel, would become a distraction and a waste of resources.Be first to comment this article |
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Your reply to our criticism of the Jesuit guidelines
for action was to label us Armchair Radicals.
You wrote,
“Buencamino and Sta. Ana have committed the old crime
known in the free-spirited Sixties as libel by label;
it will do all of us who take part in the public
discourse good if we say so plainly—and call them to
account for their intellectual dishonesty…The thrust
of the Buencamino and Sta. Ana critique can be summed
up neatly enough in the label in its title: “Jesuitic
placebo.” Essentially, they criticize the guidelines
as an exercise in casuistry, in merely clever double
talk.”
Eto yun.
Unang una, libel is committed against a person not a thing.
Our article, Jesuitic Placebo, criticizes the
statement of the Jesuits. If after reading our
criticism you concluded we were calling the authors of
the “guidelines” a bunch of switiks eh that’s because
it’s impossible to separate an author from his
creation…unless, of course you use switik methods.Be first to comment this article |
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Platform for Building Consensus for Communal Action |
The “Guidelines for Communal Discernment and Action to Address the National Crisis” recently issued by the Philippine Jesuits received mixed reactions, some triggered by the somewhat erroneous reporting of its contents by the media. Without dwelling on the specifics of the paper, I wish to share my views on how it can be used by individuals and groups that want to respond to the problem of corruption besetting our country through concerted political action. The interested reader is referred to the website of the Philippine Daily Inquirer for the full text of the guidelines.
First it should be made clear—as the Jesuit Provincial Fr. Danny Huang, S.J., emphasized in his letter endorsing the guidelines—that the document is not a “statement” or a “manifesto” of a “Province position or stand.” Primarily intended for Jesuits and Jesuit institutions in the Philippines, what it offers is an analysis of the present national situation and of the positions and courses of action taken by various groups, seen through the lens of Catholic moral and social teaching. Thus, a unique contribution of the document is the explication of the “nonnegotiable” principles that form the basis of the actions that are presented later for the consideration of groups and individuals.
The nonnegotiable principles offer a tool for personal values clarification. But equally important, it also serves as a platform for building consensus for collective or, in the language of the recent statement of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, “communal” action. If people do not and cannot agree on the basic principles, they cannot be expected to agree on the courses of action to be taken, assuming that everyone acts rationally on the basis of their beliefs and convictions. Be first to comment this article |
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