Team PNoy on controversial poster: Gov’t should just let Church be

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Just let them be. 

Regardless of how voters view the “Team Patay” and “Team Buhay” posters outside a cathedral in Bacolod City, the government should just let the Church be, senatorial candidates of Team PNoy suggested yesterday.

“As I’ve always said, I would rather allow the Diocese of Bacolod to just do it because I think not everybody will follow,” Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo Angara told reporters here.

“What is important is that Filipinos vote for the right person, not just on one issue. Who knows, it might even backfire, they (candidates) might gain sympathy,” the lawmaker, who voted in favor of the reproductive health (RH) law, said. 

Church leaders in Bacolod had branded lawmakers who voted for the RH law as members of Team Patay, while those who voted against the RH measure belong to Team Buhay.   

Angara, a lawyer, also pointed out that it is entirely the prerogative of the Catholic Church, through the priests and bishops, to campaign for their preferred candidates, adding it is the job of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to determine electioneering.

Re-electionist Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III said that if he were the judge handling the case, he would resolve it in favor of the church, anchored primarily on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression and religious belief.

“If I were to resolve it I would just simply rule that when it is the Church saying something, it is not a campaign paraphernalia so let us allow it – freedom of expression and freedom of religious exercise,” he said.

Unlike Angara, Pimentel belongs to Team Buhay, having voted against the RH law.

“In this particular case, we should be more lenient towards the Church,” the PDP-Laban stalwart said, adding that there is also the third concept enshrined in the 1987 Constitution – the “separation of church and state or religious freedom.”  

“Strict regulations governing campaign paraphernalia with regard to posters in Bacolod City, this was not meant to be a campaign paraphernalia but as a means of communicating with their parishioners. This is a complicated issue,” Pimentel, also a lawyer, explained.   

Sen. Loren Legarda, another re-electionist who belongs to Team Patay of the church, said she “respects the Supreme Court (SC) decision just as much as I respect the Catholic Church.”

“I will proceed with my campaign, respecting the views of the Catholic Church or any other religion, because that is democracy. I will continue to pray as a devout Catholic, pray the rosary every night, hear Mass every Sunday, have communion,” she said.   

Church lawyers prepare defense

The legal team of the Diocese of Bacolod is preparing for their defense of the controversial tarpaulin listing the senatorial candidates that belong to Team Patay and Team Buhay, as the SC sets the oral arguments of the case on March 19, Ralph Sarmiento, one of the three legal counsels of the Diocese of Bacolod, told The STAR.

The SC granted last Tuesday the petition of the diocese for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on the Comelec order to remove the “oversized” tarpaulin on Team Buhay/Team Patay from the façade of San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod.

Bishop Vicente Navarra attributed the granting of the TRO to a “miracle” brought by the arrival of St. Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face to Bacolod.

“I believe it’s a miracle. The Church of Bacolod glorifies the Lord for this special grace received,” said Navarra.

The relics of St. Therese were being venerated at the San Sebastian Cathedral in the afternoon when news of the granting by the SC of a TRO to the diocese was announced by Fr. Segundo Chua, the bishop’s secretary.

The relics will stay at the Carmelite Monastery in Bacolod until today.

In a three-page resolution, the SC granted the preliminary relief sought in the petition of Navarra and issued a TRO enjoining the poll body from implementing the notice to remove campaign materials issued by Bacolod election officer Mavil Majarucon-Sia and affirmed by the Comelec Law Department.

The SC has ordered the Comelec to justify its order in a comment to be submitted within 10 days from receipt of notice, as it also set the case for oral argument on March 19 at 2 p.m. in its session hall in Manila.

The TRO, however, was only preliminary as the high court is still set to resolve the merits of the case after hearing.

Meanwhile, the SC has again deferred ruling on calls for issuance of a TRO on Republic Act No. 10354 or the RH law.

In a two-page resolution released yesterday, the high court instead ordered the Palace and Congress to answer two more petitions against the controversial law filed recently by former Sen. Francisco Tatad and his wife Fenny, and a group of doctors represented by lawyer Howard Calleja.

“The Court resolved, without giving due course to the petition, to require the respondent to comment on the petition within 10 days from notice hereof,” read the order. – With Edu Punay, Danny Dangcalan