2 pastoral letters 36 years apart show nothing much has changed

In July of the 4 th year of President Corazon "Cory" Aquino's term, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), ordered the reading of the pastoral letter "Thou Shall Not Steal" during Sunday Masses in all churches throughout the country.

- OSCAR P. LAGMAN, JR.

The letter was in reaction to the persistent and high-level corruption in government, even after the EDSA People Power Revolution, which was inspired by the promise of massive reforms in governance by the leaders of that change in government, foremost of whom was Cory Aquino.

Here are excerpts from the pastoral letter of the CBCP, signed by Leonardo Z. Legaspi, OP, Archbishop of Caceres, President of the CBCP, on July 11, 1989.

"Graft and corruption - in the plainest of language, stealing from the public through the misuse of influence or position - has become, to our shame as a people, an ordinary fixture of our nation's public life. President Aquino herself has admitted that it has returned, if not to the same extent, at least with equal shamelessness during her administration.

"Acts of graft and corruption are no longer considered as sin or offenses against the Lord who has commanded us not to steal. This sin is today especially hateful before God because it steals money from the already poor.

"Under present circumstances, it becomes a sin of the blackest hue, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance.

"We are conscious that we your bishops also have our share in this sin, and hence we express our repentance. But while acknowledging our own sinfulness, we want to exhort you to likewise condemn this sin which tarnishes our name as a Christian nation."

The bishops exhorted the faithful to form anti-graft-and-corruption councils at all levels of our society to monitor the appropriation of public funds at the level on which they operate, and to act as the civilian arm of the ombudsman in the reporting and prosecution of graft and corruption cases.