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Quezon City , Philippines
16 February 2009
delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson
Reverend Bishops, the members of the National Council of Churches , allies and friends in the cause of human rights, good morning.
Much has been said about the dividing line that separates the Church from the State. In an era of religious tolerance and diversity in a largely Catholic country such as ourselves, the secular government stands against a backdrop of sectarianism. It is in secularity that our government seems to draw its authority, its impartiality and ascendancy over all divisions of sectarianism that compose the full strata of a deeply religious people, Christian, Muslim or otherwise, the Filipino Nation. Much has been said of separating Church and State in the manner of governance – a securely secular Constitution and government, cut from a fabric of religiosity and faith, run by self-professed religious for the benefit of a religious people.
In analyzing this separation, we find a crucial common thread between any form of faith and the form of government that we have in place. Both represent the highest ideals held dearly by people. The faith in a supreme being or divine providence direct the faithful to emulation of the characteristics that define our religions – to be prayerful, to do unto others as we would have them do unto us, to care for the needy, to respect one another, to be deliverers of peace and justice, and to be answerable to one higher being. Our allegiance to one Constitution and one country, ingrained in us through our National Anthem and the Panatang Makabayan , direct all Filipinos to love our flag, our Nation, to respect our parents, to live harmoniously with our countrymen and to be useful and industrious members of society.
The values have never been fundamentally different between the secular and sectarian. After all, nations and religious communities are composed of people. The values of people always rise to the surface in every aspect of our lives. While every child is shaped by the country or creed to which he or she is part of, in the greater scheme of things, every child who grows up, in community with others, eventually shapes the country or creed to which he or she is part of. The more we separate the Church and the State, the more that we find that the values are not only the same, but that they must remain the same.
Perhaps the reason that we, people from all walks of life, people who are typical of the communities that make up mankind, fight so hard for the cause of human rights and the ideals that are common to every man, woman and child is because these ideals permeate every structure we find ourselves in, be it secular or religious. In the face of the gravest of violations of our values, these deeply inculcated values rise to the surface to strengthen our resolve to do what is right and what is just.
The Ecumenical Report, as the authors have stated, is not just a depiction of the state of human rights, but a depiction of the incongruity between the values of the state and the church. It is not merely a clash of values, but a ghastly display of state-sponsored violence against the members of religious communities. And since the values that make up our state and our religions are the same, and the people who comprise them, the Filipino people, are the same, essentially violence committed by the state against the church is a violence committed against itself. Whoever these insidious forces maybe, they perpetrate a violence against themselves by committing vicious acts against their fellow man. They violate a social contract of the Filipino nation, a value system to which they themselves are part of. The commission of extralegal, enforced and arbitrary killings , and abductions inflicts a wound not only against the victims, but against all of us.
The call to action directed at the government, in the context of the Ecumenical Report, is not only a plea to compel our State to take drastic action against crimes of impunity. It is a call for the men and women in government to fall back in line, to return to values that define our society. It is a call to the government to take action that people everywhere, from the religious community, community organizations to human rights defenders, had already undertaken. We call on the government not to simply invent an intervention, but to uphold what we already know – the values upon which our freedom and democracy are founded upon.
Much has been said about the efforts of the government to curb crimes of impunity. There remains so much dissatisfaction in the outcomes of investigations. Many people remain missing, remain unvindicated. Many fathers and mothers still do not know where their children are held, or their fate. Husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters, many colleagues remain without having attained justice.
But to understand the breadth of the violation against victims is to call all of us to action. If we have called out the government on these crimes, it is only because we have called on ourselves to address the same. The efforts of the religious communities and civil society, of every upstanding citizen, must continue – not because we cannot rely on the government – but because we have no choice but to uphold the values that comprise our faith and our society.
As the letter of Father Rex Reyes reads, this book that we launch today is “our small contribution in the furtherance of the quest for justice for all victims of human rights violations.” I ask you now – can there be anything more than our small contribution to a quest that is incumbent on all of us to undertake? Justice, as lofty and abstract as it may be, is for everyone and we all play a part in upholding it. It is not attained by some grandiose gesture, by government or otherwise. It is attained through the small efforts of everyone, crossing boundaries of secularism and sectarianism, rich and poor, educated and uneducated. The quest for justice, the quest to quell extralegal killings, the quest to find the missing, the quest to attain vindication for those who have died, continues... and our unfailing contributions must continue.
On the part of the Commission on Human Rights, while we attained much progress in the areas of promotion and advocacy of human rights, we continue to struggle, as there is much much more to be done in the fulfillment of our protection mandate. People have yet to see results, justice and vindication of the victims. On a personal level, and as I undertake my own struggles as CHR Chairperson, I have validated, what I’ve always believed- It’s more difficult to fight your own battles from within.
To the NCCP, I wish to express our solidarity with you and your efforts. Congratulation on the launch of your book “Let the Stones Cry Out”. May this contribution serve as reminder and an inspiration to all who endeavor to make their own contributions to our enormous struggle for justice and human rights.
Thank you and once again, good morning.