Soc Villegas's role in hijacking Edsa

This is the brave churchman who once led the fight to oust Erap via Edsa Dos noong 2001. He was also the guy who helped this administration by backstabing whistleblower Vidal Doble by "releasing" him to his ISAFP superiors, who were after him because of the Garci tapes. Nagtago kasi sa seminary si Vidal eh, and this Villegas guy was the one who kicked him out.

Eniwey, nabasa ko itong post ni Ed Ching about the Church's role in selfishly hijacking Edsa for itself. Bida na naman dito si Soc Villegas, again! lol.

DENIAL is one big word dominating local news headlines nowadays. The big fact exposed recently by UN special rappoteur Philip Alston about military involvement in extra-judicial killings during the Arroyo administration, and the continuing arrogance displayed by people inside the Arroyo government in the midst of continuing hardship among the Filipino poor, is one reason why everything that the Filipino people did at EDSA 21 years ago has gone for naught.

What the proponents at the EDSA Shrine also need to know is that they too have a hand in the contribution of a "dying" EDSA spirit. In case Msgr. Soc Villegas had forgotten, he himself had told publicly some years ago, after the rowdy EDSA III staging by pro-Estrada supporters at the EDSA Shrine, that he had declared the EDSA Shrine as off limits to rallies and demonstrations, and had directed the PNP to make sure that the shrine premises will not be allowed to be used as a staging area for future rallies and demonstrations of any kind, except for religious activities.

Such stifling of freedom to use the Shrine, is in itself dampening the spirit of the EDSA celebrations of late. Especially now that the military and the police are buoyed up by President Arroyo's unconditional support for their ranks.

The short memory of Msgr. Villegas is clearly evident. He had forgotten the very purpose why the Shrine was put up in the first place. In case he forgot about the history of the Shrine, that very spot 21 years ago was just a grassy field when the nuns and priests came face to face with the tanks of the military and they prayed for the soldiers. According to those who have been there in 1986, they also claimed that Mama Mary had miraculously intervened in what would have become a bloody encounter had it not materialized.

The spirit of EDSA is at its strongest in that spot where the EDSA Shrine now stands. It is the spot that Msgr. Villegas some years back had decided that it would not be for the free use of any Filipino citizen for any rally or demonstration except for religious activities. It is also the same spot that President Arroyo was swept into power by a second people power revolution.

Msgr. Villegas must have forgotten that his own pronouncements on the use of the EDSA Shrine had in itself killed the public's enthusiasm for the EDSA celebrations itself. His forgetfulness of this fact I'm afraid, would not make the Filipino anymore think of celebrating this momentous event in our history. Most of them believe they will now only be there to serve as props for the Arroyo government's propaganda machine, not really to emphasize the call for reforms that the EDSA Revolution was known for.

Word.