Macapagal-Arroyo Upstages Bishop’s Final Rites
Poor parishioners, militants barred from attending Mass

BACOLOD CITY – The burial of former Bacolod Bishop Antonio Y. Fortich became a pre-election gimmick of sorts for President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo when hundreds of her security men and soldiers barred thousands of mourners from attending the final rites for the fallen bishop.

By Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat.com

Richard Sarrosa, spokesperson of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)-Negros, lambasted the president for manipulating the funeral rites for the Bacolod bishop that limited it to politicians and the elite while barring thousands of people, especially the poor, from entering the church and joining the funeral service.

Early morning of July 15, about 50,000 people including Catholic devotees, farmers and workers from people’s organizations and church groups marched from various assembly points in the city and converged outside the San Sebastian Cathedral where they were supposed to attend the rites.

Bishop Antonio Fortich

But Sarrosa said this never happened because Macapagal-Arroyo’s entourage, backed by 400 security guards in civilian clothes and soldiers, sabotaged the entire religious service to fit the president’s publicity campaign.

Reports and radio broadcasters also note that the funeral rites which were supposed to be dedicated to the poor whom Bishop Fortich served and loved, excluded thousands of poor peasants, workers, urban poor, fishermen and Basic Christian Community constituents, as they were blocked from entering the cathedral by presidential security.

Special security passes

Only people with special security passes including members of the media, were allowed entry in the church.

Danilo Ramos, KMP secretary general, also slammed Macapagal-Arroyo for using what would have been solemn funeral rites to boost her presidential bid in the May 2004 elections.

Ramos said however that despite the unexpected outcome of the rites, the KMP will continue the fight which Fortich had started for the benefit of farmers, especially now that land reform has become remote and social injustice under the Macapagal-Arroyo administration has worsened.

“Mahalaga na ipagpatuloy ang pakikibaka ng sambayanan para sa tunay at pang- matagalang kapayapaan” (It’s important that the people’s struggle for genuine and enduring peace continue), the KMP leader said.

Teddy Casiño, secretary general of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan – New Patriotic Alliance), who also attended the funeral said his alliance will continue to uphold the principles of the late bishop especially his service and love for the poor.

“Fortich had always been an inspiration to most of us in Bayan and now that he’s dead we vow to continue everything he had started,” Casiño said.

The Negros-based National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW) said Fortich had been there whenever oppressed and exploited sugar workers and other laborers struggled to protect their rights and dignity.

Shepherd of his flock

 “Bishop Fortich was a man of God, a shepherd of his flock, one who had genuine love for the poor.”

With these words, meanwhile, Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra led Church leaders and other prominent personalities in paying tribute to the late Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich before he was laid to rest at the San Sebastian Cathedral burial grounds.

Thousands of people crowded the cathedral – with many more spilling out to the adjoining public plaza - to attend the funeral mass of Bacolod’s former bishop who has been considered by many as a figure in the struggle for peace and social justice in the province.

Bishop Fortich would have turned 90 on Aug. 11.

Bacolod Mayor Luzviminda Valdez , Rep. Monico Puentebella of the city’s lone district and national government officials headed by President Macapagal Arroyo also attended the funeral mass.

In his eulogy, Bishop Navarra said Fortich “taught us how to read the signs of times and to act accordingly” and made strong decisions which elicited adverse reactions. “He was rejected, hated and maligned, nevertheless, he was willing to suffer risk and consequences,” Navarra said.

Extolling the late bishop’s life and works, Navarra said Bishop Fortich “will continue to inspire us, to challenge even to the point of disturbing us.” His legacy was to provide us “with a compass, a navigational chart, a point of reference. “He was a prophet in his own way,” Navarra said.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, in his homily during the mass, likewise extolled Fortich in serving the poor. He said Fortich lived a simple, frugal and scandal-free life.  “But if there was one scandal in his life he could be guilty of,” Lagdameo said, “it is one when many choose to look the other way around when confronted by the suffering of the people. Bishop Fortich took the side of the poor even to the point of losing some of his friends.”

Macapagal-Arroyo, on the other hand, delivered her message in Ilonggo. She cited the Cantomanyog Peace Zone initiated by Bishop Fortich as an experience “which taught the way of peace especially for the many of us who dream for peace.” 

Thousands of Catholic devotees filed past his coffin to pay homage to the former Bacolod prelate who once described the Negrense’s miserable conditions particularly during the Marcos dictatorship as a “social volcano” about to erupt.

Bishop Emeritus Antonio Y. Fortich was interred at the right side of the cathedral’s altar at around 3 p.m. Bulatlat.com

Back to top

We want to know what you think of this article.