‘Unite,’ Bishop Pabillo tells splintered opposition vs Marcos, Duterte

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Lacking money and power, ‘if we don’t even have unity, what is our fighting chance?’ says Bishop Broderick Pabillo at EDSA Shrine

MANILA, Philippines – The politically outspoken Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged the country’s opposition groups to unite and shelve differences for the common good, inspired by the 1986 revolt that toppled dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos. 

Pabillo, who heads the Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay in northern Palawan, made this appeal as he led a Mass on Tuesday evening, February 25, the 39th anniversary of the EDSA People Power Revolution. The Mass was held at the historic EDSA Shrine in Quezon City.

“We don’t have money because we’re not in power. We don’t have strength. If we don’t even have unity, what is our fighting chance?” Pabillo said in Filipino.

“Our fighting chance is to unite,” he said. “We cannot get 100% that people will agree with us. But we can move together. We can let go of some of our ideas, some of our ways, for the sake of the common good.”

This comes as opposition groups remain divided on whom to criticize and hold accountable: President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. or Vice President Sara Duterte — or both. 

The division among the opposition’s ranks became apparent on January 31, when government critics staged separate protests and made different calls.

At EDSA Shrine on that day, protesters pushed for Duterte’s impeachment and sought to hold Marcos accountable over the controversial national budget for 2025. At the nearby People Power Monument, however, protesters called only for Duterte’s impeachment and hardly criticized Marcos, believing that to weaken Marcos is to strengthen the more objectionable Duterte.

The bigger picture is the country’s worst political crisis in years, after the erstwhile alliance between Marcos and Duterte broke down as rivalry intensified between their political dynasties.

In the face of these national problems, Pabillo looked back at the Marcos dictatorship from the early 1970s to the mid-1980s. At that time, he recalled, the situation seemed hopeless until one day, in the words of the Bible, “light has shone.”

He then emphasized that in aiming for peace, Filipinos should aim for truth and justice. He cautioned Filipinos, however, to “speak the truth with love” as Saint Paul states.

“If we are angry at our enemies, at those who commit evil, how can we be at peace? Let us first remove anger from our hearts. Then we can find ways to bring about the truth in love,” he said.

“We have to tell the truth but not weaponize the truth,” he added. 

Pabillo, 69, is a Negros-born and Rome-educated priest who is known for his biblical scholarship and political activism. From 2006 to 2021, he was an assistant bishop at the 3.3-million-strong Archdiocese of Manila — and, in this capacity, made headlines for criticizing public officials of different political colors. 

Now in the much smaller Apostolic Vicariate of Taytay composed of 694,000 Catholics, he is leading the charge against mining and other environmental problems in one of the country’s most resource-rich provinces. Events such as the EDSA anniversary, however, allow Pabillo to be heard again on key national concerns.

Father Jerome Secillano, rector of EDSA Shrine, echoed Pabillo on Tuesday about the need to keep the spirit of EDSA alive.

The Catholic Church plays a crucial role in this effort, said Secillano, who also serves as the Archdiocese of Manila’s spokesperson.

“Sometimes, the Church would not like to speak because there are critics among us who believe that the Church should not speak. The Church should be muted. The Church should be quiet,” Secillano said in Filipino. “But what is the Church fighting for? The Church is not fighting ​​for her rights. The Church is fighting, first and foremost, for the rights of citizens.” 

“Instead of you criticizing our Church and our priests for being very active in social issues and political issues as well, we even have to be thankful. We have to be thankful because you have priests and the church on your side,” Secillano said. – Rappler.com