Month: February 2023

Bishop Bagaforo described the anti-graft court decision as “a major setback for the Filipino people”

LiCAS News
February 24, 2023

The social action arm of the Philippine Catholic bishops’ conference expressed alarm over a court decision dismissing a civil case against former president Ferdinand E. Marcos in relation to his alleged ill-gotten wealth.

“We are disappointed and alarmed by the recent ruling from the Sandiganbayan’s fifth division regarding the former dictator’s acquisition of ill-gotten wealth,” said Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, national director of Caritas Philippines.

He described the anti-graft court decision as “a major setback for the Filipino people who have already been robbed of a better future and are currently experiencing high levels of poverty, as well as rising prices for basic necessities, education, and healthcare.”

The Sandiganbayan Fifth Division dismissed the civil case against Marcos and his alleged cronies for lack of evidence.

“This court finds that the plaintiff failed to prove by preponderant evidence that the properties alleged in the complaint are ill-gotten and/or was beneficially owned and controlled by former President Marcos and his family,” read the Sandiganbayan decision.

The civil action was filed in July 1987 “to recover from them ill-gotten wealth consisting of funds and other property which they, in unlawful concert with one another, had acquired and accumulated in flagrant breach of trust and of their fiduciary obligations as public officers, with grave abuse of right and power, and in brazen violation of the Constitution and laws of the Republic of the Philippines.”

However, the court noted there was no “competent evidence” to prove that the corporations in the amended complaint were dummies and the former president had a hand in them.

It added there was no sufficient proof that other defendants had close associations with Marcos or any members of his family.

Bishop Bagaforo called on government agencies “to work diligently to gather, validate, and preserve substantial and indisputable evidence that can be presented in court.”

“We remain optimistic that one day, the Filipino people will emerge victorious over corruption, poverty, and tyranny,” said the bishop in a radio interview.

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The proposed measure was an offshoot of Pope Francis’ position to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church

Philippine News Agency
February 24, 2023

The House Committee on Population and Family Relations on Thursday, February 23, approved a bill seeking civil recognition of Church annulment to make it accessible and not expensive for many Filipinos.

The bill has been endorsed to a technical working group (TWG) tasked to consolidate all eight related measures and craft a substitute bill.

Representative Jude Acidre of Tingog party-list said if the bill becomes law, a declaration of nullity (of marriage) decreed by the Church will hold as much weight and have the same effect as a civil annulment.

He said the measure removes the burden of undergoing the civil annulment process such that Catholics who have sought annulment in the Church should not anymore be “long oppressed by the darkness of doubt” over whether their marriages, already declared null and void, should also be recognized as such by the State.

House Bill 1953 proposes that a marriage duly and legally solemnized by a priest, imam, rabbi, or presiding elder of an established Church or religion in the Philippines which is subsequently annulled, dissolved or declared a nullity in a final judgment or decree in accordance with the canons and precepts of the Church or religious sect, shall have the same effect as a decree of annulment, dissolution or declaration of nullity issued by a competent court.

“A marriage solemnized by the Church therefore should have not only canonical but civil effects as well. Priests, pastors, imams and rabbis who solemnize marriage must have the authority to solemnize granted by the State,” the bill’s explanatory note read.

The authors said the proposed measure was an offshoot of Pope Francis’ position to simplify the procedures for annulling marriages in the Catholic Church.

“If a marriage can be legitimately contracted under the laws of the Church, then it follows that under the same laws, such marriage can also be nullified or annulled,” they said, noting Pope Francis’ issuance of “Mitis Iudex Dominus lesus,” which streamlined the process of the declaration of nullity of marriage.

“The Family Code of the Philippines recognizes as valid a marriage solemnized under the laws of the Church. If marriages so solemnized are recognized by the State, it is only proper that the very Church that solemnized the marriage should also have the power to rule that attendant infirmity that rendered a marriage null and its effects binding on the State. This is also the same to all other established churches and religions,” the authors explained.

Under Section 3 of the bill, “the status of children of marriages subject to a decree of annulment or declaration of nullity by the Church or religious sect shall be determined in accordance with the provisions of Executive Order No. 209, otherwise known as the Family Code of the Philippines.”

In case the grounds for the Church annulment or declaration of nullity are not similar to any of the grounds provided in the Family Code, their common children born or conceived before the issuance of the decree of annulment or declaration of nullity shall be considered legitimate, according to the bill.

Without prejudice to the conditions set forth by the Church or religious sect, the measure also proposes that either of the former spouses may marry again after complying with the requirements provided under Section 5 and Article 52 of the Family Code, otherwise the subsequent marriage shall be null and void.

To secure a marriage license, the spouse involved must present a true certified copy of the decree of annulment or declaration of nullity issued by the church or religious sect and registered with the appropriate civil registry.

They added that under Presidential Decree No. 1083, the State recognizes divorce under the Code of Muslim Personal Laws of the Philippines, which is based on Sharia, or Islamic law.

“Under the principle of equality before the law, if a Muslim divorce is recognized, there can be no serious objections towards the recognition of the civil effects of a marriage by an established and duly recognized religious denomination,” they added.

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The people called on the government to stop the construction of the Kaliwa Dam in the provinces of Quezon and Rizal

Jire Carreon
February 23, 2023

About 300 indigenous people belonging to the Dumagat-Remontado tribe in the Sierra Madre mountain range arrive in the Philippine capital Manila on Feb. 23, 2023, after a nine-day protest march against the building of a dam in their ancestral land. (Photo by Jire Carreon)

About 300 indigenous people belonging to the Dumagat-Remontado tribe in the Sierra Madre mountain range arrive in the Philippine capital Manila on Feb. 23, 2023, after a nine-day protest march against the building of a dam in their ancestral land.

The people called on the government to stop the construction of the Kaliwa Dam in the provinces of Quezon and Rizal. (Photos by Jire Carreon)

Many expect Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to serve as the voice of minorities at the Dicastery for Culture and Education

UCA News Reporter
February 13, 2023 11:16 AM GMT

Pope Francis has appointed Archbishop Jose Palma of Cebu as a member of the newly-established Dicastery for Culture and Education.

“This symbolized the pope’s trust not only in the archbishop but in every Filipino,” Cebu Archdiocese said in a statement while announcing the appointment on Feb. 12.

The dicastery under the Roman Curia was formed through the merger of the Congregation for Catholic Education and the former Pontifical Council for Culture, where Archbishop Palma previously served as a member.

The dicastery works to promote culture and enhance cultural heritage. Its education section deals with fundamental principles of education regarding Catholic and ecclesiastical institutions, as published Church documents show.

Some priests in the archdiocese said Archbishop Palma would serve as the voice of minorities in the Vatican.

“There are so many cultural minorities in the Philippines. We hope Archbishop Palma will bring to the body his experience with cultural minorities here,” Father Mhar Balili from the archdiocese told reporters.

The dicastery is headed by Portuguese Cardinal José Tolentino de Mendonça, who was appointed as its prefect last September.

A group of catechists in the capital Manila praised the pope for appointing Archbishop Palma.

With his experience, the Vatican can now put forth guidelines for cultural minorities, Manila catechist Silvia Paredes told UCA News

“We need to disseminate faith by opening doors of culture,” Paredes said.

A human rights group fighting for indigenous people urged the archbishop to highlight the abuses of the Lumads, an indigenous people in Mindanao, whose ancestral lands are allegedly grabbed by private corporations.

“Our Lumads are continuously deprived of their ancestral lands. Certainly, they need to be protected,” James Cruz, a member of Karapatan, an alliance of human rights organizations, told UCA News.

Archbishop Palma has been heading the country’s biggest archdiocese since Oct. 15, 2010, replacing the late Cardinal Ricardo Vidal, who served as Cebu’s archbishop for 29 years.

Earlier, Archbishop Palma served as vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines from Dec. 1, 2009, to July 11, 2011.