BY THE SHORE OF LAKE TAAL
Chronicle of the 12th CLSP National Convention
April 19-22, Talisay (Batangas)
by Fr Jim Achacoso

This year’s National Convention of the Canon Law Society of the Philippines promised to be unique from the start. On the one hand it was “out of place” formally hosted by the Pasig Diocese but to be held at the Meralco Foundation Professional Development Center in Talisay, Batangas. On the other hand it was so “cool” with the programme promising swimming, boating, a Caribbean Night, a Barrio Fiesta and even a trek on the active Taal Volcano! Add to that the three lectures and two position papers lined up for the workshops and the affair promised to be a combination of intense study, spiritual rejuvenation and R&R.

April 19 (Monday)

                As promised, the early birds¾noticeably Msgrs. Boy O., Bong Pangan (San Fernando) and Bernie Pantin (Palo)¾had first crack at the tennis courts, while everyone had their refreshing halo-halo treat. Others started exploring the complex, feeling immediately at home in the simple amenities sprawled under a coconut grove, with the Taal Lake and the Taal Volcano as backdrop.

                At 6:30 p.m. Holy Mass was concelebrated in the Chapel by those who had not done so earlier, under the able coordination of Fr. Erwin Balagapo (Palo), who was appointed Master of Liturgical Celebrations of the Convention. Earlier in the day, Fr. Dan Icatlo (Opus Dei) and Fr. Andy Carandang (Lipa) had brought the 70 chasuble-albs¾loaned by the Lipa Cathedral, with the compliments of the Batangas clergy. From that moment on, the Holy Eucharist was reserved in the tabernacle. With Him in our midst, how could anything go wrong?

                Vespers at 7:00 p.m.¾facilitated by printed booklets with both the Eucharistic Celebration and Liturgy of the Hours of the convention days¾ was followed by a few words of welcome and briefing on the schedule and facilities by the Convention Chairman, Fr. Jim Achacoso (Opus Dei). That done, everybody trooped to the Dining Room, where a generous buffet¾compliments of Bp San Diego¾awaited them. Dinner was animated, with everybody catching up with everybody else. The 12^th CLSP National Convention was clearly underway.

In the early morning we pray…

                Refreshed by a full night’s sleep, the participants were in the Conference Room by 6:30 the following morning¾except for a handful who preferred to do their personal prayer at the Chapel¾and by 6:45 Lauds was prayed in common. Holy Mass followed, with Convention Host Bp. Francisco San Diego as Main Celebrant and Homilist. In his homily, he welcomed the participants and enjoined them to help the Church by throwing light on the issues under consideration in this year’s convention: Church and Politics.

…We work and study during the day…

                At 9:00, after a hearty breakfast that introduced everyone to the famed barako  coffee of Batangas, CLSP President Msgr. Muloy Vergara (Naga) formally opened the first session of the 12^th CLSP National Convention with a short prayer. CLSP Secretary and Convention Chairman Fr. Jim Achacoso then introduced the Guest Speaker, Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas, who delivered the Welcome Address.

Gov. Mandanas cited the important role of the Church in forming the consciences of the faithful, so that they could all vote “in conscience”. He put everyone at ease by his homespun anecdotes, including how his mother—to the question why she was voting for a presidential candidate other than the one her son was campaigning for—demurely responded by saying that it was a “conscience vote”.

                At 9:15, Fr. Jim made a very brief introduction of the Keynote Speaker: Bp. Leonardo Medroso, Chairman of the Episcopal Commission on Canon Law. As usual, Bp. Medroso gave a scholarly piece, identifying Philippine politics as one of the biggest banes of Filipino society and a stumbling block to national development. He posted a series of insightful questions that he challenged the participants to answer in the course of their discussions in the days to come. It was a real keynote address.  

                Refreshments followed at 10:00, served at the lounge adjoining the conference hall. As promised, barako coffee was free flowing, although the native delicacies that characterized the morning and afternoon refreshments seemed to be more attractive.

                At 10:30, Fr. Roy Rodríguez, O.P. (UST, Manila) relieved Fr. Jim of his emceeing for the day, to introduce the latter as the 1^st Lecturer. What followed was a 45-minute lecture on Church and Politics: Ecclesiastical Authority and the Rights and Duties of the Lay Faithful in the Exercise of their Political Options. After citing its scriptural bases, the Convention Chairman now lecturer enunciated the principle of Christian Dualism and the Vatican II doctrine on the rightful autonomy of temporal affairs. From this he showed two consequent rights of the Christian faithful: religious freedom as a human right (guaranteed in the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights) and freedom in temporal affairs as a canonical right (guaranteed in c.227 of the Code of Canon Law).  Other salient points of the lecture were:

-          The freedom of the Christian faithful in temporal matters, the only limitation being the duty to act in agreement with Christian faith and morals.

-          The subject of this right being all Christian faithful (c.227); however, the principle of diversity among the Christian faithful (i.e., clergy, religious and laity) affects the extension in which each one can exercise this fundamental right.

-          The cleric’s special configuration with Christ, which leads him to have a special position in the Church and in society. The minister of God should be an element of unity in the Christian community, never an element of division. Thus canon law prohibits him from taking an active role in politics and trade unions, from engaging in business and from holding public office.

-          The Church’s Hierarchy cannot be expected to provide concrete solutions to temporal problems. Her duty is to give principles, provide formation and the sacraments to the faithful, so as to foster their maturity.

-          It belongs to the laity to seek the kingdom of God by engaging in temporal affairs and directing them according to God’s will. This clearly includes politics.

As expected, what followed was a lively open forum, with Fr. Florio Falcon (Tandag), VP for Mindanao, dominating the floor. Only the stroke of noon put an end to the discussion. A sumptuous buffet awaited everyone at the dining hall.

At 2:00 Fr. Erwin introduced the 2nd Lecturer, Msgr. Boy Opalalic. What followed was a PowerPoint-aided lecture on the Canonical Aspects of the CBCP Protocol for Cases of Sexual Misconduct by Clerics. It is to Msgr. Boy’s credit that he was able to breeze through the greater part of his prepared slides (which he admits was made for a longer lecture, and for which the Convention Chair apologized for not having allotted more time) to zero in on his conclusions, leaving the remaining text for individual perusal by the participants in the www.clsp.org.ph website.

His conclusions doused cold water on any sensationalistic media reporter: 1) There has been no request for a recognitio of the Holy See from the CBCP for above-mentioned Protocol. 2) There is no indication either that such Protocol was passed by a 2/3 vote, and therefore has no binding normative value. 3) But yes, it remains a set of Pastoral Guidelines, an expression of the affectio collegialis of the Philippine bishops on how to proceed in such cases. He ended with a recommendation that the CLSP help fine-tune the Guidelines so that in fact it could be presented as a juridic instrument, with normative value, in the future.

A short open forum followed, punctuated by the interventions of Fr Javier Gonzalez, O.P. (Dean of UST Faculty of Canon Law) and Fr. Maramba, O.S.B. (Manila). The matter was closed with the question of Fr. Bacareza, S.V.D. (Baguio) regarding the status of the document, to which Bp. Medroso had to reply: It’s lying dormant.

At 3:00, Msgr. Muloy took the floor as President of the Society for the 1^st Part of the Business Meeting of the CLSP, which consisted of the reports of the Officers and the standing Committee Chairs. By 4:00 the meeting was adjourned and refreshments were served at the lounge.

…In the afternoon we play…

The Programme announced Sports/Free Time from 4:30-7:00, and what happened was exactly that. It was also a revelation of sorts, of just what makes CLSP tick.

First were the basketball fanatics. That was really old hat, since in the past conventions there have always been friendly matches between the local clergy and the visiting convention participants. But this time, there were no opponents—so to speak—so the games were totally intra nos and the resulting ribbing and teasing was more fun than winning.

In the neighboring court were the tennis buffs. The unsettled dispute of the previous afternoon—Msgr. Boy insisted they really allowed the other team to win, while the other team said Msgr. Boy’s side lost, while Bp. San Diego fanned the conflict—continued unabated.

The more peaceful souls—Bp. Medroso, Fr. Ross and Fr. Javier among others—took to the placid pool, finding relief from the summer heat.  Fr. Jim announced an impromptu Tae-bo session at the conference room and had a small following of aerobic fanatics.

All these, according to the Convention Chair himself, was a warm-up for the next day’s morning of excursions.

…and at night we party: A Caribbean Night

The Advisory had also announced: “In the morning we celebrate the Eucharist and the Liturgy of the Hours, during the day we work and study, in the late afternoon we play, in the early evening we pray some more, and in the evening we party!” And indeed we did!

After the free/sports period, there was time for private prayer followed by vespers at 7:00 in the conference room. Then everyone trooped to the pool area where two separate buffets—one for “a long appetizer” (according to the Convention Chair) and another one for “a longer dinner” had been artfully set, and round tables arranged all around the pool with all the décor of a Caribbean resort—down to bamboo kerosene lamps, buntings and of course Caribbean music especially mixed and taped for the occasion. It seems the Secretariat had thought of everything, even providing everyone with colorful beach shirts and garlands.

The long appetizer—with abundant callos, tapas, cervezas and sangría—put everyone in a very relaxed and jovial mood. The multiplicity of tables also contrived for more congenial sitting arrangements. The tribunal staff members had their own table for their own conversation (whatever that is). The former alumni of the Roman faculties formed a tabula italiana—dove si parla solo il Italiano. Another table of former alumni of UST and the Central Seminary congregated around the incorrigible Fr. Roy. The more sedate ones formed a few more tables. But all tables had their wine, no women (except the all-woman table of the tribunal staff who had the ancient Fr. Bacareza to keep them company) and uninterrupted Caribbean music.

                The main course was almost redundant after that, if not for the fact that the buffet was no less interesting, with even two lechons flown in from Cagayan de Oro by Cebu Pacific, the sponsor carrier of the Convention.

                It was a long evening, cooled by a merciful breeze blowing in from Lake Taal, of priestly camaraderie, pastoral interchange, and—it can’t be helped given the very theme of the Convention—political tidbits. If not for the heavy schedule of the next day, people would have prolonged the after-dinner conversation into the night.

April 21, Wednesday

A morning of R&R and Excursions …

                Wednesday began like clockwork. After personal prayer, Holy Mass with Lauds incorporated punctually began at 6:50, with another CLSP member, Bp. Antonio Tobías, as main celebrant and homilist. Breakfast followed and by 8:45, all participants were ready to join the excursion of their choice.

                A small group of four—Fr. Bacareza, Fr. Nilo, Fr. Lino and Alice Bote—opted to spend the morning sailing, and a sailboat with instructor came over from the neighboring Taal Boat Club to take them all over the lake. Another small group—including Bp. Medroso and Fr. Ross—opted to watch a DVD of The Passion and swim a bit in the pool. But the biggest group (about 25) signed up for the trek on Taal Volcano, under the enthusiastic leadership of the Convention Chair himself.

                Fr. Jim equipped each trekker with a utility belt (holding three bottles) of water and a wide brim hat for protection against the searing sun. Five motorized fiberglass bancas—also from the Taal Boat Club—were waiting by the lakeshore by 8:45 a.m., and the eager trekkers clambered on board. Everybody had a bright orange lifejacket secured on and the 15-minute boat ride to the volcano island began.

                On the island, a guide was commissioned immediately and the trek to the crater rim commenced. It was not really a difficult climb, and in 40 minutes, the head pack had reached the last stop before the final 15-minute climb to the rim. It was there that the only dramatic moment of this trek started to unfold. During the 5-minute rest at the last stop, Fr. Roy—jovial as ever—had whispered to a companion that in the final ascent, he was going to make a dash for the top to be ahead of everybody. Which he did. Unfortunately, he miscalculated the strain and when he reached the top, he plopped down in the nearest bench and the sudden stop caused him to faint. So for a good 5 minutes, he was surrounded by ministering natives, plus Ms. Myles Ecarma—the manager of MF Talisay who had joined the excursion—who tried quite successfully to revive him. Thanks to his youth and good physical shape, he revived in no time, no less jovial for the experience. After 45 minutes of enjoying the view—on a makeshift viewing deck—taking cool buko juice from the shell and of course picture-taking, the group was ready for the much faster trek down and quite an uneventful boat ride back to Talisay.

                Lunch was only delayed by 15 minutes, but due to the tiredness of the trekkers—many had not gone on a hike for ages—the afternoon schedule of activities was moved back by an hour. Meanwhile, a book display by Totus Bookstore and Theological Centrum at the lounge area got its share of clientele.

… A long afternoon of work…

                At 3:15 Fr Jim took the floor to explain the mechanics of another novelty of this year’s convention: the preparation of CLSP Position Papers on relevant issues, for presentation to the bishops. After that, Fr. Gammy Tulabing (Dumaguete) read his draft for Position Paper 1 on the Extent and Limits of Priestly Participation in Political Life.  Next Fr. Sai Tiongco, O.P. (UST, Manila) read his draft for Position Paper 2 on Financial Transparency in the Parish and in the Diocese.

                After a break for refreshments, the participants broke up into two working groups—each with a laptap—to finalize the two position papers: the group for Position Paper 1, under the coordination of Fr Jim, reduced the original 12-page draft of Fr Gammy to a 5-page paper; while the group for Position Paper 2, under the coordination of Fr Sai himself and working with an LCD projector reduced his original draft to 2 pages. By 6:00 p.m., both groups had finished their work, with only minor stylistic/grammatical improvements left for the coordinators to make themselves at any available free time.

                At 6:30 Msgr. Muloy again chaired Part 2 of the Business Meeting of the Society, this time on the reports of the standing committees. Some new resolutions were also passed, including the formation of a pool of CLSP members who can be appointed Judges (ponens) and Defender of the Bond by different tribunals who are undermanned. Msgr. Bong was nominated and accepted to be the Coordinator of this pool, and a paper was passed around for the members to sign up. The body also unanimously voted Palo (Leyte) as the site of the next National Convention (2005).

                By 6:50, the meeting was adjourned and given the lateness of the hour, vespers was declared as personal exercise to give everyone more flexibility to make it to dinner.

…but in the evening we still party: Barrio Fiesta by the Lake

                The participants trooped to the area by the lake, where the three gazebos had been festooned for a barrio fiesta. This time Filipino delicacies covered the appetizers buffet in one gazebo—including a whole lechon, chicharron and balut. As before, wine and beer was in abundance. Another gazebo contained the main course buffet, with the usual Filipino fiesta fare—kare-kare, halabos na hipon, inihaw na tilapia, ukoy among others. The third and biggest gazebo was the stage for a Filipino rondalla, which turned out to be an all-blind ensemble.

                It was the last dinner for the convention, and the moment for the Convention Chair to acknowledge the persons who had especially worked to make the affair possible. Special tokens were given to Bp. Medroso (for having always been there to support the Society), Msgr. Boy, Fr. Gammy and Fr. Sai (for their lecture and position papers respectively). Finally the promised partial rebates for those who flew in from the Visayas and Mindanao were distributed. Fr Jim also promised the Excom Members from the South gift certificates from Cebu Pacific for their roundtrip tickets to Manila for the 2-3 meetings that they will be having in Manila in the course of the year.

                Despite the obvious desire of everyone to linger on, tiredness took its toll and by 11:00, the barrio fiesta was over.

April 22, Thursday

  The last day of the Convention started as the previous days—like clockwork. This time it was Bp. Emilio Marquez who drove all the way from Lucena to be the Main Celebrant and homilist of the Mass which—with lauds incorporated—promptly started at 6:50. The breakfast that followed at 8:00 was especially animated, it being the last one.

Empowering the laity

                At 9:00, Fr. Jim introduced the Guest Lecturer, Atty. Jo Imbong, Executive Secretary of the CBCP Legal Office and Faculty member of the Ateneo Law School. She gave a PowerPoint-aided lecture on Church or State: God or Caesar? She cited the Constitutional expressions of religious liberty and Christian moral values, and reiterated the principle and expressions of Christian Dualism. It was obvious that she knew her Catholic Doctrine well, especially as regards Church-State relationship.

                The usual mid-morning snack at 10:00 was followed by an open forum at 10:30, which again would have dragged on and on had the Convention Chair not imposed the schedule which called for the reading of the final drafts of the two Position Papers by 11:00, with the aid of the LCD projector. This way, the plenum of the CLSP National Convention could approve and own the erstwhile drafts, giving rise to the first two CLSP Position Papers: 1) on the Extent and Limits of Priestly Participation in Political Life and 2) on Financial Transparency in the Parish and in the Diocese.  

Goodbye to Talisay

                At 11:45, Fr. Jim—2004 CLSP National Convention Chairman—gave the Closing Remarks and at 12:00, the Convention ended with a hearty lunch, full of fraternal warmth and promises for next year’s Convention.

It was with a bit of nostalgia that the participants left the sprawling facilities that had been home for the better part of the week. Even the staff of the place felt a special warmth for the participants—as shown by their initiative to prepare take-home bags of the abundant left-over food of the previous evenings’ celebrations. It was a warm goodbye for everyone to everyone else…and a heartfelt:                 See you in Palo!!!