Marlon’s World

Jaime Cardinal Sin, archbishop emeritus of Manila, died when we most needed him to speak. Amid the scandal that now rocks the Arroyo Administration, the feisty primate of the Philippine Church would surely have given us a piece of his mind.

After all, it seems that this administration is not afraid to bear false witness against other archbishops — especially Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz who leads a crusade against jueteng and who has said before that false accusations would be hurled against him. It makes me cringe to no end that in order to save themselves and their sacred cows, some people can do anything, however ridiculous or contrived it may be. Some people can even sacrifice the economy that they feign to protect to save their own hide.

Archbishop Cruz is fighting a lonely battle since, for all we know, jueteng money fuels this government. What really scares me now is the possibility that our elected officials — be they from the Administration or from the Opposition — all have corrupt connections that catapulted them to office. Scarier still, no matter who leads us, corruption and illegal practices have become so ingrained in government.

As Jaime Sin would probably say to us had he been alive, it would be our cardinal sin to remain quiet…