The Issue:

MANILA, Philippines – Saying all Catholics have the right to the sacraments, a Catholic nun questioned priests in Cebu and Bicol Tuesday for refusing to say the Mass for ZTE deal witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr.
In a radio interview, Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines executive secretary Estrella Castalone said it was sad that the bishops in the areas denied Lozada his basic Christian right.
“Bakit si Jun ang palagi ninyong kinukutingting? Bakit may bishops ayaw magmisa? Yan ang di ko talaga maintindihan at ayoko pag-isipan pa ng mas malalim baka ano pa pumasok sa ulo ko. Nalulungkot lang ako sinasabi ko yan nakakalungkot we speak of our rights as Catholics to receive the sacrament (Why are they picking on Jun? That is what I cannot understand and I don’t want to think about it because malicious thoughts may enter my mind),” Castalone said in an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas.
Castalone also asked the bishops if Lozada personally offended them such that they refused to allow priests to hold Mass for him.
“Ano ba ang directly offensive na ginawa ni Jun Lozada sa mga obispo na ngayon ay ayaw siyang basbasan sa misa (What was so offensive about what Jun Lozada did that the bishops refuse to allow masses for him)?” Castalone asked.
“We have a right to approach the sacraments,” she added.
The AMRSP provides sanctuary to Lozada and his family since the witness surfaced last Feb. 7. In his Senate testimony, Lozada has linked First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo and resigned Elections chairman Benjamin Abalos to alleged irregularities in the $329.48-million ZTE national broadband network deal.
AMRSP also provides sanctuary to the family of another ZTE witness, Dante Madriaga.
In the interview, Castalone noted Lozada is now on a campus tour to make people aware of the details behind the ZTE broadband deal mess.
“Nakakalungkot, ganoon lang (It’s very sad, that’s all I can say). I won’t elaborate on that,” she said of bishops’ refusal to say mass for Lozada.
Besides, she said the gatherings that led to the calls for truth and accountability stemmed from the “circles of discernment” they formed, as per instructions of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.
Lozada has been hounded by supposed directives from ranking church officials banning priests from saying mass for events attended by Lozada.
This was true in Bicol where Nueva Caceres Bishop Leonardo Legaspi said that a Mass should be free of political undertones.
The Bicol bishop’s comment came days before the March 24 Mass which will be attended by key ZTE deal witness Lozada.
“Ang hindi ko pinapayagan, huwag gagamitin para akitin ang tao ang misa. Mas sagrado ang misa diyan (What I’m prohibiting is the use of the Mass to encourage people to join rallies. The Mass is sacred),” Archbishop Leonardo Legazpi told church-run Radio Veritas Monday.
Before this, Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Vidal’s spokesman denied reports that a directive was issued telling Cebu priests not officiate masses for Lozada events.- GMANews.TV/03/18/2008 | 07:59 AM

The Opinion:
SECTION 6, ARTICLE 2 of the 1987 Philippine Constitution states that the separation of the Church and State shall be inviolable.

Inviolable certainly do mean unbreakable. If this would be the case, then the definition of the said constitution’s section is that there is a simple barrier between the two factions—the Church and the state. And what would be the barrier? Even I don’t know it. But it would always be a clear sense that the church and the state both have different principles.

I am not a hypocrite to not say that it’s quite obvious that the separation between the two has originated on the idiom “power.” Which of the two has the greatest power in our country? Some would definitely say it’s the state since the whole country operations are on its shoulders while some would identify the church since it became a potent tool in the numerous transformation and changes occurred in the Philippines, both in politics and religiosity.

What I’ve commented in the previous paragraphs clearly manifests the position of the church behind the controversial ZTE scandal and how its star witness, Rodolfo Jun Lozada, has to do with it. I don’t mean to be rude (and I’d commend Lozada’s diplomacy and tactics, too), but he’s been good in providing the people a chance to open to possible changes but if truth is on our side and politics is now a clashed value, then there would be no need to go out and prove to the people, with the obvious frequent use and consent of the church, the importance of revolution and social transformation.

This issue has been so much sensationalized and the longer it treks, the more it become absurd.

Two former justices of the Court of Appeals(CA) yesterday asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporay restraining order to Two former justices of the Court of Appeals(CA) yesterday asked the Supreme Court to issue a temporay restraining order to stop Senate from conducting its reinvestigation into the controversial “Hello Garci” wiretapping incident. In their 13-page petition, former CA justices Santiago Javier Ranada and Oswaldo Agcaoili stated that the Senate hearing into yhe wiretapping incident, which starts today, will be in violation of the Costitution as well as Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-wiretapping Law .

Named respondent in the petition was the Senate represented by Senate President Manuel Villar. Ranada and Agcaoili argued that the alleged wiretapping incident had already been thoroughtly discussed in the hearings of several committees of both houses of Congress in relation to the impechment case against President Arroyo.

The petitions said that the Senate could not start and continue with its probe into the alleged wiretapping incident that reportedly involved former Commission on Elections officials Virgilio Garcillano and President Arroyo, Without firts establishing the rules of procedures

The petitioners also argued that under RA 4200, the mere possision of an unauthorized wiretapped material is already a violation of the law and that even a discussion on the contents or the transcriptio of an alleged wiretapped is also strictly prohibited.

” The Garci tape is in clear violation of the individuals alleged to be parties to the recorded conversation. Notably, one of the persons whose conversations wee recorded has come forward to categorically.

stop Senate from conducting its reinvestigation into the controversial “Hello Garci” wiretapping incident. In their 13-page petition, former CA justices Santiago Javier Ranada and Oswaldo Agcaoili stated that the Senate hearing into yhe wiretapping incident, which starts today, will be in violation of the Costitution as well as Republic Act 4200 or the Anti-wiretapping Law    Named respondent in the petition was the Senate represented by Senate President Manuel Villar. Ranada and Agcaoili argued that the alleged wiretapping incident had already been thoroughtly discussed in the hearings of several committees of both houses of Congress in relation to the impechment case against President Arroyo.

The petitions said that the Senate could not start and continue with its probe into the alleged wiretapping incident that reportedly involved former Commission on Elections officials Virgilio Garcillano and President Arroyo, Without firts establishing the rules of procedures

The petitioners also argued that under RA 4200, the mere possision of an unauthorized wiretapped material is already a violation of the law and that even a discussion on the contents or the transcriptio of an alleged wiretapped is also strictly prohibited.

” The Garci tape is in clear violation of the individuals alleged to be parties to the recorded conversation. Notably, one of the persons whose conversations wee recorded has come forward to categorically.