6th in a series on GMA's 9th State of the Nation Address

MANILA - If being blessed by the Catholic Church is determined by numbers, then President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has got it.

With reliable supporters in the Church hierarchy, Arroyo has had an easier time than her two predecessors when it comes to church-state relations.

It could be that she is a woman and a devout Catholic, like former President Aquino, that bishops tend to be kinder, or more tolerant of her.

Previous presidents Fidel Ramos and Joseph Estrada clashed with the Catholic Church, specifically Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin. From population control programs to Charter change to moral issues, the bishops used the pulpits in criticizing Ramos and Estrada.

But when it came to Arroyo, the sermons were rather muted.

In recent years, though, Arroyo has had a harder time dealing with some Church leaders—but they belong to the minority. A greater number are actually more sympathetic to her and her problems in government.

With the election of a new president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, it is expected that Arroyo would have an easier time, at least in the last few months of her presidency.

Divide and rule

Arroyo enjoyed a honeymoon with the Church, which is traditionally critical of the ruling administration, in the first years of her term. Former CBCP presidents Fernando Capalla and Orlando Quevedo, including Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, were generally supportive of her.

Since Ramos’s time, the CBCP has become a strategic institution for government. Sin, on one hand, and the collegial body of bishops, on the other, provided a powerful combination that government could not ignore. Sin and the CBCP blocked Ramos’s attempt to introduce population control programs and to tinker with the Constitution. Sin and the CBCP gradually chipped away at Estrada, cutting short his stay in power.

But the critical voices were muted when Arroyo assumed power. Her carefully planned investments with Church officials had paid off.
Arroyo was known to pay personal visits to the Church leaders in her campaign sorties—in the senatorial and the vice-presidential races—and this endeared her to the bishops. It was just a matter of charming her way again when she became president.

But this didn’t work with Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo who became CBCP president. A total unknown, except perhaps in Church circles, Lagdameo proved that he was up to the job. Unlike his two predecessors, he positioned himself as independent-minded, solidifying the CBCP’s respectability.

Bu it was only to a certain extent. Arroyo has nurtured enough supporters in the CBCP to deflect any opposition to her in the collegial body of bishops.

At the height of the “Hello, Garci” scandal, where she was caught talking with a disgraced poll commissioner, the CBCP dampened the Arroyo ouster moves when the bishops stopped short of demanding her resignation.

Instead, they only sought to “ferret out” the truth in the alleged cheating. They also doused cold water on the impeachment attempt on Arroyo, saying they were not inclined to support it.

Lagdameo and some critical bishops had wanted to push the envelope but they were overwhelmed by the conservative majority. Arroyo’s investments had paid off.

Although the bishops tried to put up a united front, it was clear then that they were divided politically. The division became more apparent internally when some bishops ousted CBCP vice-president Antonio Ledesma, who was leaning on the critical side, in an election in 2007.

Ledesma was replaced by a total unknown, Tandag Bishop Nereo Odchimar, who was eventually elected president in an election this July.

Smoother relations?

With the election of Odchimar, a potential obstacle has been removed in Arroyo’s path. Like most conservative bishops, Odchimar is believed to enjoy cordial, if not friendly ties with Arroyo.

Losing senatorial candidate and former Surigao Rep. Prospero Pichay confirmed that the president and Odchimar see each other when she visits Surigao.

Church sources have told us that Odchimar went to the Palace on the week of the CBCP elections.

Except for his anti-mining and anti-logging stance, Odchimar’s views are not easily defined. The ambiguity could augur well for the administration, as he could easily be shaped by bishops on Malacañang’s side.

Will Odchimar rise to the occasion?

Former CBCP presidents say the post brings out the best or the worst in an individual and the evolving political controversies, from charter change to Arroyo’s term extension and the continuing ouster moves will test his leadership.