GOVERNANCE MATTERS
Former Vice President Jejomar Binay
The prestigious John Hopkins University has released a list of countries with the most COVID-19 cases. The Philippines, with over 300,000 cases and new cases being recorded in the thousands daily, ranked 20th in the list.
Another list by a medical journal ranked countries who had successfully managed the coronavirus. Six countries from ASEAN made it to the top 10. The Philippines was ranked 66th.
These results underscore government’s failure to effectively contain the virus. The consequences of this appalling ineptitude are disquieting. In its September survey, the Social Weather Stations (SWS) revealed that a total of 7.6 million families experienced hunger as a result of the lockdown imposed by government in March. The 30.7 percent hunger rate is the new all-time high since SWS began tracking hunger 22 years ago.
Amidst this gloomy backdrop, we are being treated to what appears to be a long drawn-out spectacle, akin to a political telenovela, of a fractured lower chamber.
By now, we have all become familiar with the protagonists, namely the incumbent speaker of the House of Representatives and a legislator from Marinduque. Both had sealed a supposed gentleman’s agreement to share power.
Even with last week’s mediation by the national leadership, it appears that the incumbent speaker is determined to cling to his seat and disregard the gentleman’s accord. The timely approval of next year’s budget was the main argument raised by the incumbent speaker to justify his stand that he should stay on until December, and not by October as previously agreed. Ironically, the 2021 budget was the biggest casualty of the stunt pulled off by the speaker just a day after another mediation round at the Palace. After the speaker delivered his rambling speech, and his allies voted to reject his “offer” to resign, the budget session was effectively cancelled.
Some unparliamentary remarks made by the speaker elicited a serious pushback from the legislator from Marinduque, who painted the speaker as “desperate” and “power hungry.” The speaker, the solon charged, was merely using the 2021 budget as a pretext to continue extending to himself and his supporters a bigger slice of infrastructure projects. With the speaker reported as receiving a whopping P8 billion in projects next year for his congressional district, the Marinduque legislator asked, rather rhetorically, if the 2021 budget was a budget for the nation or a budget for the speaker and his clique.
I am the least bothered by these back-and-forth of accusations. Knowing fully well the character of the man, I paid little attention to the speaker as his speech was being broadcast last week over a television network.
But I cannot ignore his tasteless use of the Bible as one of his props (The other one was a copy of the Treaty of Paris).
As a Catholic, I am deeply offended by the speaker’s act of waving the Bible around in the presence of his allies in Congress.
I have always been bothered by the speaker’s propensity to quote the Scriptures liberally, as if doing so makes him a better or even superior person. The saying goes that even the devil can quote Scriptures. But invoking God’s words will not make a person morally, spiritually, or ethically superior, especially when this person’s public conduct is far from moral, spiritual, or ethical.
The speaker needs to be reminded that the Bible is God’s living word. It blankets the soul with comfort. The Bible guides us Christians as we walk the uncertain path of our worldly existence, so that we may be nearer to the Almighty and lead our lives according to His divine purpose. It should not be wielded to attack one’s enemies, to achieve selfish ends, or to mask impure and un-Christian acts. The Bible is not a weapon for destruction, but a guide to peace and healing.
In the hands of a self-righteous and deceitful politician, the Bible is merely a convenient prop. Its words and lessons are misquoted and misapplied to frame a selfish agenda. To use the holy word in order to justify the act of clinging to power – and profiting from its perks - while millions suffer from hunger because of the pandemic is not only hypocritical. It is an affront to the living word.
The speaker’s many sins – in his heart and in his deeds – will not be extinguished by quoting the Bible. Neither will it bring him closer to God.