Gloves are off

In boxing, fighters normally wear gloves so they don’t inflict too much injury on each other. When gloves are taken off during an election, expect the match to be cruel and nasty.

I kept hearing the remark over the weekend from fellow media workers who were a bit stunned by reports that the local Liberal Party (LP) has drawn first blood in the gubernatorial contest. To recall, a local LP campaign volunteer Roberto Letaba filed a complaint before the Visayas Ombudsman urging it to conduct a lifestyle check on One Cebu candidate Pablo John “PJ” Garcia.

Garcia, who is incumbent 3rd district congressman has acquired a property in Guadalupe, Cebu City worth P10 million, with market value placed at P14 million. Residents around the neighborhood say PJ paid P2 million for road right of way acquisition. He met the issue head on, saying this is all par for the course for any public official.

The issues with respect to PJ’s property are not only limited to his lifestyle, but also on his priorities as a second-term congressman.

Ten million pesos is quite an obligation even if payment stretches up to 20 years unless you’re running a profitable business. When he took out the loan, did he expect to remain congressman for three more years, or in the current set up, become the next Cebu governor?

A political debacle would see him set up his own law office or join the private sector. Either way, he would need a head start of at least three to five years to build a lucrative career, one that would ensure payments for the house loan.

The LP move pushing the Ombudsman to conduct a lifestyle check on Garcia indicates the local LP will strike at gut issues and hit hard on allegations of graft to win votes. This is going to be very interesting in the sense that PJ is not a pushover.

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At the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Easter Vigil Mass, it was difficult not to watch what Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma would say and do in relation to the no-frills style of Pope Francis who is known for his simplicity and humility.

In his homily, Palma alluded to the Jesuit Pope’s previous message, in which he talked of Easter as the summit of the faith, grander and much more important compared to other Catholic feasts including Christmas.

Man can grasp the birth of Jesus when he looks at a new born baby, but Christ’s Resurrection cannot be fully understood in the sense that we have not encountered anyone who came back from the dead.

The Cebu prelate summed up Easter through a set of three Ps, for paglipay (rejoicing), pasalamat (thanksgiving) and pagsaulog (celebration).

The Easter Vigil is replete with rituals, symbols and lengthy liturgy. Thankfully, there were no extras added to the early evening ceremony, otherwise dance or song numbers would have extended the celebration to another 30 minutes. Saturday’s vigil Mass at the cathedral started at 6 p.m. and ended a few minutes before 8 p.m.

The archdiocese decided on holding an early vigil Mass to allow people more time to rest in preparation for Easter Sunday rituals like the Sugat, which the local parish scheduled at 3 a.m.

After the vigil Mass, Archbishop Palma invited people to watch the Sugat and compare it with productions staged in the neighbouring cities of Naga and Carcar. I think he wanted people to stay close to the city if they live around the area and not make unnecessary trips just to watch the tableau. Talk about ecclesiastical endorsement. The reenactment of the Risen Christ’s meeting with Mary Magdalene and the disciples was staged in the street fronting the cathedral.

Staging the program is a logistical nightmare which is why some local government units subsidize the production. This is the setup in Carcar and the tableau has since become a major tourist attraction. Other parishes are able to seize the challenge through donations of private corporations and generous individuals.

In the era of Pope Francis, the question of whether such programs (whether subsidized by the Church or not) are really relevant needs to be asked. Do they really contribute to the deepening of the faith? I’m all for tradition but I think such activities need to be presented in low key fashion or they end up like showbiz presentations that leave the audience impressed more by their technical merits rather than their message.

Something is out of key when the Church pours scarce resources for stage shows and then finds itself constrained to help poor people or distant parishes that are in dire need of financial support.

Transparency is not just a problem that plagues civil government. It is also a key issue in the governing body of the Church and it is here that observers are keeping an eye on Pope Francis to see whether or not he has the resolve to reform the Curia.

Good governance is also a factor in running local parishes. For example, parish priests should understand that even if their parishioners give freely, they would like to see their parish engage in relevant programs especially in the areas of education and health.

Priests can express simplicity and humility when they shun luxury like driving around in a BMW, or in subtle ways when they don’t badger people for donations that end up only in lavish programs that have no place in “a church that is poor and for the poor,” to borrow the words of Pope Francis.