SOMETIMES, it does look as if there is a state religion after all, despite the constitutional provision prohibiting the Philippine government from having one. I have always been mystified by the "separation of Church and State" and have asked several lawyer friends to explain it to me. Some argue that this does not place the Roman Catholic Church and other religious congregations above and beyond the laws of the land. Others say that it forbids the creation of a religion by the State, similar to what England’s King Henry VIII did when he wanted to get rid of Queen Catherine and marry Anne Bolyne. Many of us believe that because it is embodied in the Constitution, the State has to be non-sectarian, lay, and ecumenical in orientation and not give preference to any particular religion, whether it be the majority or minority in the country. That is why even devout Catholics (like this writer) maintain that the display of religious images in government offices, notoriously the Santo Niño and various manifestations of the Blessed Virgin, as well as the celebration of mass and the recitation of the Rosary and the Angelus, on official time and with government-owned sound equipment, should be discouraged if not totally prohibited. Invocations and doxologies during flag ceremonies, anniversaries, and inaugurations should not be heavily Catholic/Christian but meticulously ecumenical in compliance with the Constitution.
Is the Roman Catholic religion a "de facto" state religion? That struck me like a lightning bolt last Sunday afternoon, at a Pagana Maguindanao which opened the weeklong Kuyog Festival of Region XII. The Secretary of Tourism, former Cebu congressman Ace Durano, was principal host. He looked very boyish in blue jeans and a crisp, white longsleeved shirt which he quickly changed for a tunic of malong fabric to accept the "adopted son of Region XII" decoration. In his acceptance speech, he heaped praises on our Muslim brethren and heralded Mindanao as the key to economic progress, a politically correct statement to utter in the presence of prominent citizens and local government officials from Region XII. Briefly, he sat beside Governor Daisy Fuentes of South Cotabato but after the first number of the cultural presentation, Secretary Durano disappeared behind the stage only to reemerge in his original metrosexual garb. Hastily, he bade us goodbye. He had to go to the requiem mass for Pope John Paul II, upon orders of President G. Arroyo. Frankly, I had mixed feelings about the turn of events. How did the Muslim brethren present feel about that? I should have asked Secretary Durano whether the mass was for the head of the Vatican, a state with which the Philippines has diplomatic relations, or for the successor of Saint Peter whom we Christians revere as the Vicar of Jesus Christ. I hope the Muslim contingent did not take offense. After all, the Kuyog Festival of Region XII was held under the auspices of the Department of Tourism, a government agency pertaining to the Executive Branch.
For a few days, the Philippine flag will be flown at halfmast. In the interest of national unity, and with "separation of Church and State" in mind, I wish the present dispensation would explain why a lay, non-sectarian republic is doing this. (gemma 601@yahoo.com)
