Rational hero

Last week, I had dinner with fellow Reproductive Health (RH) activists Carlos Celdran, Beth Angsioco, and Ryan Tani and got around to talking about our national hero, Jose “Pepe” Rizal.

We reminisced about the colonial days: the men of the KKK, and the ilustrados (educated bourgeois nationalists) like Pepe. Actually, we spoke about Pepe with deep affection, as if we knew him personally. We tried to imagine how liberal Pepe must have been perceived as; how ballsy he was to go against the Church; how intelligent he must have been, being a doctor, a poet and author. We even analyzed Rizal’s class stature and educational attainment, imagining that these must have made him a charismatic leader and—since we thought of Pepe being a pal—how all these things about Pepe must have made him attractive to the ladies.

But, most of all, Pepe was an inspiration to us. He was among the first generation of freethinkers who challenged the oppressive practices of the government and fought to expose the likes of Padre Damaso, the holier-than-thou friar who fathered Maria Clara.

We came to the conclusion that Padre Damasos’ continue to live among us today. Filipino priests continue to wield the Church’s power and have gone on YouTube, made PowerPoint presentations and hung banners outside their Churches condemning the passage of the Reproductive Health bill—evidence of myopic thinking which assumes everyone in the Philippines in Catholic.

Priests rally for exemption from Section 13 of the Magna Carta of Women which guarantees “equal access and elimination of discrimination in education, scholarship and training” and thus, prohibits any school from dismissing and expelling students and teachers who become pregnant out of wedlock—a move that shows lack of compassion and forgiveness—fundamental values on which the pillars of Catholicism is based.

We continue to be oppressed through our religion.

Feeling very much like the ilustrados must have back then, we formed Oplan Pepe: a movement for a secular government comprised of the next generation of freethinkers who are tired of being silenced and blindly following priests, some of whom literally, don’t practice what they preach. These are people who want to speak up about their disappointment and disillusionment with the Church.

It’s time to make a difference and continue the fight Rizal started. It’ll be just like the good old days, except this time—we have laptops and the Internet.

In the week since we started Oplan Pepe and set up www.rationalhero.com, we have gotten a number of testimonies from other like-minded freethinkers. One particular e-mail that Carlos received was from a closeted supporter of the Reproductive Health bill, who wished to remain anonymous. Their testimonies are below:

Mike Aquino, a former Catholic speaks:

I no longer consider myself a Catholic.

No matter how fondly I remember the good parts of being Catholic—the songs, the retreats, the lessons—Catholicism for me became increasingly difficult to reconcile with common sense and decency.

I can’t reconcile so-called Catholic values with the Catholic institution’s nasty tendency to close ranks around its priests. Child abuse in the priesthood has been given cover for so long because bishops would rather hide abusive priests rather than confirm that such abuse took place. Justice became secondary to the preservation of appearances.

I can’t reconcile so-called Catholic virtue with its hierarchy’s politics, often exercised to uphold retrograde policies against family planning and reproductive health.

In Manila, doctors were forbidden to prescribe contraceptives to patients, because Mayor Atienza thought he could implement Catholic doctrine into municipal governance. Church pressure has distorted the Reproductive Health debate; the simple question of “should government-run health centers provide reproductive health services, including artificial family planning methods” has been drowned out by priests railing against it from the pulpits and banners hung from churches.

Dolores: a closeted RH supporter:

I have long been for the passage of the RH bill and would really want to help.
Unfortunately, I ain’t got no balls.

My family, especially my in-laws are mostly “Saradong Katoliko” and so are many of my dearest friends.
They follow whatever the church dictates. It’s very difficult for me. I am also a practicing Catholic and wonder why I so don’t agree with the Church on this issue. I support the [RH] bill but I’m afraid to speak up because I don’t want to be condemned or ostracized especially by my friends.

The Church has been such a big bully in all this. Although I’m sure you can find people to speak up, I think there are perhaps more people who are just like me, supporting the bill but not openly.

Many months ago, or was it maybe a year or so ago, (when this issue was all over the news), my parish church was working very hard to get our support for their anti-RH stand. They would pass a paper for us to sign DURING THE MASS—how desperate, I thought. I didn’t sign it and I think a lot just passed it on without signing also. We’ve also recently had speeches from members of the parish talking about the “evils” of the bill, before the mass ended which meant that they had a captive market.

Also about the same time, I got into a discussion about this with a very close friend who was anti-RH bill.

After I put forth all my arguments and she was kind of “losing the debate”, she told me, this was not going to be passed because the church had already convinced GMA not to sign this. I guess this meant that even if I was right, it didn’t matter because they [Church] were stronger and worked harder to block it.

In my daughter’s school, they are always praying that the bill will not be passed. My daughter knows how I feel about this bill but I told her to just follow what the school says so she doesn’t get into trouble. I, on the other hand, have been praying but for the passage of the bill and for the enlightenment of those working against its passage.

Sorry if I seem like a big coward to you. I don’t really think I can handle going up against the church. I’m no David against that Goliath.

Well, maybe you should take a poll on just how many there are of us—who are Catholics and support the bill but are afraid to openly go against the church. Maybe there’s a way those of us who are not so courageous can show our numbers without identifying ourselves. –Ana Santos, Manila Times

For details, visit www.rationalhero.com.