Julio Labayen
Bishop Julio Labayen is a Filipino cleric.
Communist sympathizer
Bishop Labayen said Infanta´s model of Church of the poor had been misunderstood by the military and some bishops in the mid-1970s and 1980s during martial law under the late president Ferdinand Marcos.
He said the military had suspected the Church of Infanta as "promoting the dictatorship of the proletariat" because it preferred to be with the poor in the peripheral areas. The bishop said they were accused of "consorting with the (communist) New People´s Army" who were based there.
"We passed through real critical situations, trials and crises. I myself was accused of being a subversive, a communist," Bishop Labayen said, adding that there was "a sort of eyebrow-raising" among some bishops.
He felt some bishops doubted whether he was still "towing the line of the Catholic Church and her mission."
"To me this was a real crises of faith because all my life I have always made as my pastoral guideline to think and feel with the living Church," Bishop Labayen said.
He headed the Philippine Church´s social action apostolate 1966-1982 and the Federation of Asian Bishops´ Conferences´ Office of Human Development 1972-78.
He recalled that some of his own people walked out from Infanta´s 1983 pastoral conference that had the theme "Listening to the voices from below."
"I felt slapped in the face. Momentarily, I was so angry I wanted to declare martial law in the prelature," the bishop said.[1]
Soldiers rebellion
Over 50 military and civilian dissidents remain in custody following the storming of the Manila Peninsular luxury hotel on November 29, 2007, by troops loyal to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to dislodge a group of soldiers who had seized the hotel and used it to hold a press conference calling for a "people's power" uprising against the unpopular president. Civil society and religious leaders joined the rebels at the press conference.
While their demands met with public sympathy, that was reflected at the thousands-strong workers' march the next day, the rebellion was suppressed before a "people's power" uprising had time to materialise.
The dramatic events began with a session of the trial of Senator Antonio Trillanes and a dozen other military officers for their role in an anti-Arroyo uprising in 2003. In May, while in detention awaiting trial, Trillanes was elected to the Senate with 11 million votes.
At the trial, Trillanes and the other defendants got up and marched out of court. Instead of stopping them, the soldiers assigned as their guards marched out with them. After holding a rally outside the court, they marched to the Manila Peninsular, joined by religious and civil society figures, including Bishop Julio Labayen, former vice-president Teofisto Guingona and left-wing academic Professor Francisco Nemenzo from the socialist organisation Laban ng Masa.
Inside the hotel the rebels, numbering about 30 soldiers and 20 civilians, were joined by representatives of the local and international media. At the ensuing press conference, Trillanes explained that the soldiers had no intention of taking power for themselves, or any other section of the armed forces, but called on the people to rise up and overthrow the corrupt regime.
Arroyo came to power in 2001 after a mass uprising overthrew president Juan Estrada, in whose administration she was vice-president. Estrada was later imprisoned for corruption and links with organized crime but pardoned by Arroyo. While Arroyo won presidential elections in 2004, evidence has since surfaced, including taped conversations, that has confirmed the widespread suspicion that this was achieved through electoral fraud.
The rebels called on other members of the armed forces to withdraw support from the Arroyo regime, which did not eventuate. About 1000 pro-government military and paramilitary forces surrounded the hotel before launching an assault that involved ramming armoured personnel carriers through the front of the hotel and tear-gassing and handcuffing journalists and TV crews as well as the rebels. A curfew was imposed until the following morning.[2]By Tony Iltis
References
- ↑ [http://www.ucanews.com/story-archive/?post_name=/2001/08/09/bishop-labayen-75-reflects-on-journey-with-people-recalls-crisis-of-faith&post_id=18961. UCA News, BISHOP LABAYEN, 75, REFLECTS ON JOURNEY WITH PEOPLE, RECALLS CRISIS OF FAITH Philippines August 09 2001]
- ↑ GLW, Philippines: Rebellion fails but dissatisfaction continues Saturday, December 1, 2007 - 11:00