Ricky Carandang
Posted on 27. Jan, 2010 by Filipino Freethinker in Oplan Pepe
If you haven’t read Ricky Carandang’s recent post, Thou Shalt Not Vote For… please do. Read through the comments as well and you’ll find that Father Melvin Castro tries to backtrack on what he said, but to little effect. He still finds supporting the Reproductive Health legislation and education more evil than graft and corruption. This “flabbergasted” Ricky, prompting him to write the said post, and even resign from the Church.
What did he mean by this? Is Ricky still a Catholic? What should be done about the Church’s meddling in legislation? I asked these questions and more in a brief interview with Ricky the other day. I’ll be posting the transcript soon, but till then, I’m sure you’ll enjoy listening to the interview itself. Especially if you’re as pissed at the Church’s anti-RH stance as we are.
Stop CBCP politicking now!
Posted on 19. Jan, 2010 by Filipino Freethinker in Oplan Pepe
The CBCP is registered as a religious organization.
It is a misconception to think that any organization that participates in religious activities is automatically classified as a religious organization. A religious organization is actually a type of non-stock corporation. A religious group must apply for religious organization status with the SEC and BIR.
To register as a religious organization, an organization must participate exclusively in activities with the following nature:
- religious
- charitable
- educational
This condition must be met to qualify as a religious organization and receive tax-exempt status from the BIR.
Participating in partisan politics is a political activity — not a religious, charitable, or educational activity. If a religious organization participates in a political activity, it no longer meets the condition above, and is disqualified from being registered as a religious organization.
It also loses its conditionally-given tax-exempt status.
By actively campaigning against pro-RH candidates, the CBCP is participating in partisan politics, which is a political activity. This disqualifies them from their previous classification as a religious organization. This also disqualifies them from receiving tax-exempt status.
Therefore, the SEC should revoke CBCP’s status as a religious organization, and the BIR should remove the CBCP’s tax-exempt status.
If the CBCP ceases to be a religious organization and loses its tax-exempt status, it may campaign against pro-RH candidates all it wants. It may even run as a party-list candidate.
But they should not be allowed to participate in political activities and receive tax benefits at the same time.
Yet they have been doing so for a very long time, and they will continue to do so until somebody stops them. Ideally, our politicians should, but they are too busy and too scared. Meanwhile, the CBCP continues its political meddling while enjoying tax-exempt status.
When elections are over and our politicians finally have time — not to mention guts, for they can finally stop worrying about the Catholic vote — it will be too late. The CBCP will already have done its damage.
The CBCP may not be able to influence the voters, but they can certainly influence the politicians.
Traditional media helps, but it is not enough, because they, too, are afraid of the CBCP. Some are willing to take a stand, but they are in the minority. Yet with the power of new media, there is something you can do:
- Learn more about how the CBCP is violating our constitution.
- Spread the message through your social networks.
- Speak out against the CBCP’s political meddling.
Let’s not allow the CBCP to violate our constitution and make cowards of our politicians any longer. Keep the church out of politics and politics out of the church!