The Lipa Declaration: An Urgent Call for NationalTransformation

(In 4 parts)

The Date, 27 August 2014, should be considered unprecedented and historic. It has never happened before and it was an event with significant consequences for the future of our country. I was there and was one of the 5 speakers. I also signed the Declaration with more than 400 signatories. I was consulted on some of the points of the historic document.

The writer, Charlie Avila, was a former SVD theology student who also speaks and has a working knowledge of Spanish,  Latin and Greek, is a contributor to the CBCP magazine IMPACT. He wrote a book on Private Property according to the writings of the Church Fathers. He is also a leader of a coconut farmers national organization. He tells the story of the event. He was there.

Since the gov’t-controlled media hardly mentions the NationaldTransformation Council, I suggest the reader to buy The Manila Times and its columnists Kit Tatad, Rigoberto Tiglao, Yen Makabenta, and Ric Saludo,

The prediction published earlier this month that moral leaders would thunder in unison against a morally challenged political order came true August 27th 2014. A movement of national transformation is underway. Moral leaders fire the first salvo.

Rumors were rife that some 300 geographic and sectoral delegates nationwide were traveling in the direction of Lipa City, Batangas on invitation by the Catholic Archbishop of that area to hear and discuss important moral pronouncements on the political order.

It turned out, however, that not 300 but four times more – some 1200 delegates, including more than 50 from Muslim Mindanao – made it on 27th August to the Archdiocesan gym in gym in the premises of the Archbishop’s residence. With Lipa Archbishop Arguelles were Cardinal Emeritus Vidal of Cebu, Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao, Zamboanga Archbishop de la Cruz, Manila Bishop Cortes, Butuan Bishop de Dios Pueblos, Evangelical Bishops Corpus and Gomez, Muslim Ulamas and Ustadzes, and several other moral leaders.

It was definitely a multi-sectoral gathering with the bigger numbers coming from the peasant and worker sectors and representatives of People’s or community organizations. The civilians formed the broad majority but there were as well prominent retired members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines peacefully chatting with equally retired freedom fighters of not-so-long ago.

As they said in their “ Lipa Declaration: An Urgent Call for National transformation, “to which they affixed their signatures:

“ Se are Filipino citizens of different personal, professional, social and economic backgrounds and political and political persuasions and religious beliefs. We have gathered here in Lipa city on this 27th day of August A.D. 2014/2nd day of Dhu Al-qa’ da A.H. 1435, under the auspices of the National transformation Council, to reaffirm our deeply held convictions and beliefs about the common good our highest national interests, in the face of the most pressing challenges.”

Did they spell out these pressing challenges? Yes, they said:

“Unbrilled and unpunished corruption and widespread misuse of political and economic power in all layers of society have not only destroyed our common conception of right and wrong, good and bad, just and unjust, legal and illegal, but also put our people, especially the poor, at the mercy of those who have power to dictate the course and conduct of our development for their own selfish ends.”

They had earlier stated:

A crisis of unprecedented proportions has befallen our nation. The life of the nation is in grave peril from the very political forces that are primarily ordained to protect promote and advance its well-being, but which are aggressively undermining its moral, religious, social, cultural, constitutional and legal foundations.”

Not mincing words. The signers of the declaration went to the heart of the matter by accusing PNoy no less:

Far from preserving  and defending the constitution, as he swore to do when he assumed office, the incumbent president Benigno Simeon Aquino III has subverted and violated it by corrupting the congress, intimidating the judiciary, taking over the treasury,  manipulating the automated voting system, and perverting the constitutional impeachment process;

“Presidnet Benigno Simeon Aquino III also damaged the moral fabric of Philippines society by bribing members of congress not only to impeach and remove a sitting supreme court chief justice but also to enact a law which disrespects the right to life of human beings at the earliest and most vulnerable stages of their lives, in defiance not only of the constitution but above all of the law, the customs, culture, and conscience of Filipinos.”

Logically exploding the bombshell, the signatories said:

“Therefore, faithful to the objective moral law and to the universally honored constitutional principle that sovereignty resides in the people an all government authority emanates from them, we declare that president Benigno Simeon Aquino III has lost the moral right to lead the nation, and has become a danger to the Philippine democratic and republican state and to the peace, freedom, security and moral and spiritual well-being of the Filipino people.

“We further dexlare that we have lost all trust and confidence in President Benigno Simeon Aquino III, and we call upon him to immediately relinquish his position.”