The political relevance of Pope Francis visit to the Philippines

The visit of Pope Francis comes at a critical juncture in Philippine history when the people of this country will choose their next president. The importance of the next president cannot be overly simplified. Whoever the next one is, he stands to lead the nation towards the next decade. And if we base our analysis with what government plans for the next six years, this period is all about ushering in the next stage in economic development of our country.

Now, let's analyse Pope Francis' visit using our socio-political lenses. For the past decade, the influence of the Catholic church remains in the perceptual level, strong. Basing on the Edelman Trust Index for the Philippines (released by Eon Incorporated), the church is still the most trusted institution in the Philippines. The people repose much trust into it, higher than the media, academe, government and non-governmental institutions.

However, insofar as it being a major political player, the church's role has diminished considerably these past few years. There has been hits and misses, with the misses unfortunately in the arena of major concerns, like the contraceptive law, utilities and human rights.

The church suffered from numerous political setbacks, the biggest is the fight against contraceptives. To even makes matters worst, the Aquino administration formally appointed as Health secretary a person who actually led the Congressional fight for the law to be approved. That appointment implicitly stated, albeit, even overstated-ly, the government's resolve to side with the huge multi-billion dollar contraceptive industry.

The church took a firm stance against the mining industry last year. That led to an impasse with the Executive department intervening and leading to several changes in the Philippine Mining Act of 1995. I heard that this year, there is an expected resurgence in the industry after industry players and the government arrived at a compromise.

This visit is very timely because, as I said, in terms of political influence, the church is slowly losing its grip. It has to regain it especially here since the Philippines is the only remaining country which the Church remains a very strong player in civic affairs. It is time to flex its political muscles once more and show to the world that Catholicism remains firmly rooted in Asia, particularly here.

The first step, which is the correct one, is for the Church to re-impose its influence over the Filipino family. The second step is for them to influence the policies of the state, which it is slowly losing.

The Visit of Pope Francis and the controversies surrounding the Contraceptive Law at the DOH

Just a few days prior to the Papal visit of Catholicism's Pope Francis. Francis is the successor to Simon Peter, whom Jesus Christ appointed as the head of his church on earth. His visit to the Philippines comes at a time when the Church is perceived to be losing political influence in this island archipelago, the strongest bastion of Catholicism in Asia.

Just last year, the Catholic church lost one battle dearest to its heart--the argument against the use of contraceptives in the Philippines. As it licks its wounds, the Church again got another--the permanent appointment of Undersecretary Garin as Health secretary. Garin is now head of the department which will implement the highly controversial 2 billion peso contraceptive program of government.

Remember that Garin spearheaded the campaign for the passage of this controversial law. She now is being considered to permanently replace Ona. Take note that Garin's possible appointment was made days prior to the Pope visit. How ill-time this is, you tell me.

Many says that Garin's ascension to the top post is a political decision. The former health secretary Ona is a technocrat, not a politician. Ona belongs to the group of Foreign Affairs secretary Alberto del Rosario, who is close to the Aquinos. The buzz says Ona is not a party man--meaning he is not a member of the Liberal party, which is now, according to several people, on a fund-raising mode.

That explains why Garin replaced him because Garin, again according to several people, was tasked as one of the party's "fund-raiser." I don't know what this meant and I do not attest to the veracity of this assertion.

What I can say is that Garin is a loyalist--she gives her all for the party to which she belongs. During Arroyo's time, Garin stood by the former president until the end. Now, she is a member of the Liberal party, and owns her appointment to his closeness with DILG secretary Mar Roxas, who happens to be the "sentimental choice" for president by the party, according to Senate president Franklin Drilon. Garin is expected to "stand by until the end", and behind the party.

What does this mean, I"ll just leave it up to your imagination, my dear readers.

Apart from its religious or spiritual nature, there is a reason why the head of the Vatican, the smallest state in the world, chose to visit the Philippines a year and a half from Aquino's term end and the holding of the presidential elections. Surely, as head of state, Pope Francis is expected to discuss the bilateral relations between the Vatican and the Philippines.

Will Garin's appointment as health secretary be discussed between Pope Francis and Pinoy? What would be their agenda of talks?