Responding to our request, His Excellency, Most Rev. Leonardo Z. Legaspi O.P., D.D., Archbishop of Caceres, sent in his message for the New Year to the CRANE MONITOR which we gave prominence on the front page. Briefly but clearly it underscored the need for unity and solidarity among our people to be able to rise above our predicaments aggravated by the recent disaster caused by typhoon Reming.
It has diverse implications because the need for unity and solidarity, comes in many forms.
For us to rebuild from the catastrophe and surmount other pressing problems of the community, there is first of all the need to unite with people in distress, to feel their needs, assess their most urgent inadequacies and requirements for survival. There is need to synchronize and dialogue with those who really suffered most.
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Both the government and private sector have been in frenzied relief operations immediately after the typhoon but there was hardly the kind of coordination necessary to ensure that the right goods are delivered to the right people. Worst, some of the relief goods may have ended up with the wrong persons. Greed pervades even in this hour of crisis and this is a disease some of us find difficult to overcome. How sure are we that relief funds are not diverted or reserved for the elections just months away?
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Various entities, whether government or private corporations, which promptly responded to the call of President Arroyo to pool their resources for the historic relief mission of some 250 trucks this month should be commended. It was also a manifestation of unity and solidarity.
Yet, the effort may have not fully achieved its purpose because while there was unquestionably an abundance of goods it was doubtful if they were what the people needed.
If you give GI sheets to a family that has lost a nipa shack that would instead be a headache.
The convoy bore cargoes said to be valued at P200 million. 200,000 families most affected by the calamity could each have received at least P100 worth of goods and if they were exactly what they needed they would not just lift up their spirits but really help them start a new life.
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We have to unite to have a common purpose. Some are launching relief operations not because they are motivated by genuine sympathy and desire to help the victims but because of their hunger for publicity. Unity with the victims means not just giving something but talking to them, feeling their pulse, and making them feel there indeed is a warm heart near them.
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More than ever before, there is a need now for government leaders to come together without necessarily sacrificing their partisan beliefs. The proposal to funnel to the Bicol Region about P7 to P8 billion from a planned P10 billion outlay that could also benefit Southern Luzon should provide the breakthrough for the region which even before the calamity was already categorized as among the most depressed in the country. But politics could derail the urgent proposal; it is very seldom that our leaders so obsessed with their personal motives and party designs are united even for the welfare of the people. Obviously without thinking anymore, whatever the administration proposes the opposition true to its name opposes.
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Sheer arrogance and utter lack of humility are the main obstacles to unity and solidarity. Lack of humility and apparent craving for more power are what obstruct unity and solidarity here in Camarines Sur, factors that will always deter growth and development and shatter the dream of our people for better life.
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The penchant of some metropolitan and local media to fan the flames of animosity by coming up with stories intended to sow intrigues by blowing up inane and frivolous issues just to create conflicts is the continuing deterrent to unity and solidarity. Some media establishments have in reality failed to serve as instruments for growth and as paragons of healthy exercise of the freedom of the press.
The Catholic Church itself should perhaps be the lead in this indispensable need for unity and solidarity. But the likes of Archbishops Cruz and Tobias who habitually disown the stand of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) now loom as political figures instead of respectable men of the Church because of their repetitive intrusions into every political issue.
They have degenerated into poor models for our youths and for future leaders.
Fortunately here in Camarines Sur Archbishop Legaspi has always been a judicious, sobering influence. That is why he is loved and revered everywhere.
