Orlando Quevedo, Juan de Dios Pueblos, and Romulo Valles share things in common. They are not plain men of the cloth only but are bishops of the Roman Catholic Church; they are honourable men and highly respected princes of the Church.
Recently, the three, together with four other bishops, were top news sharing the headlines as Philippine media went into frenzy about situations they should have never been in.
Quevedo, former president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and once president of Notre Dame University, my alma mater, is at present the Archbishop of Cotabato, Pueblos is bishop of the Diocese of Butuan, while Valles is the Archbishop of Zamboanga. Another thing that puts them in common is that their first assignments as bishops was as head of the then nascent Diocese of Kidapawan, after it was carved out of the Archdiocese of Cotabato.
Kidapawan, now the capital city of North Cotabato, is said to have the best water in the world (I couldn’t disagree as I was born there). It is also said that whoever has drunk its water eventually would come back home. Nothing is said, however, about its water affecting ones judgment on what is appropriate and what isn’t. And after all, it is not just the water of Kidapawan that is common to all three.
For me, what caused it is poor judgment on their part. It is not for me to say that what they have done were evil in the eyes of God; in the eyes of men perhaps. Poor judgment is just that — poor judgment.
All three bishops are faithful and sincere to their calling as shepherd of Christ’s flock on top of having had stellar accomplishments as priests and later as bishops. I personally admire Quevedo and Pueblos and had personal dealings with both of them, as a student and as a practicing journalist in Kidapawan during the time when danger for media people lurked everywhere.
My faith in them is not erased by what they are now facing. Shame and embarrassment would be enough repayment for whatever wrong they have done. They are men of faith and their conscience is their best judge.
They were tagged by media as “the Pajero Bishops” after having been named as recipients of said brand of vehicles plus other largesse from then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, through the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office.
The Philippine Senate was quick to pounce on a chance to conduct an investigation and summoned all seven bishops to appear in a hearing. Not a bad move, after all the present administration’s mission is to go after those who have been involved in wrong doing. The senate is doing its job.
The bishops deny having done improper as their intentions were pure. They said that all that they had received from the PCSO were used for charity and community work. It’s similar to Robin Hood taking the money of the rich to be given to the poor but it may be stretching it too far and could be a wrong metaphor.
Let us leave the investigation to those who are equipped to do so. The bishops have now expressed how sorry they are while at the same breath they say that there was no malice in their acts. Great men do great things and owning up ones faults and being sorry for them are acts of greatness. Let’s wait and see how things unfold.
How does this compare with Davao City Mayor Sarah Duterte’s latest antic? Using stress, and a sheriff’s obstinate sticking to a Court’s Order to demolish squatters’ structures, used her “mayoral kamao” to demolish the sheriff’s face, instead. Although she took a leave and apologized, her vice mayor father Rodrigo Duterte took the cudgel for her and stuck out his middle finger on national television.
Any form of violence is wrong. No one has a right to do violence, in any form, to another human being or to any living creature. Any Filipino I asked living in the Philippines, from my siblings to nephews and nieces sing in chorus to praise the deed of the mayor.
Understandably so. Ordinary people in the country are frustrated with how the wheels of justice are turning. It is not only unfair but sometimes the wheels are turning against them. That is the reason why people think and react that way.
Since they see the law as not protecting them they hail those who stand up for them, although in a violent way. Since they see the government as not for them, they do what the government is what is supposed to do in the first place to look after its citizens.
This is true in the case of the bishops and this is true in the act of the Davao City Mayor. Doing anything what they could for the poor in the case of the bishops and using ones fists to stand up for the weak in the case of Davao’s Mayor.
Both Kidapawan and Davao have the best waters.
