| Photo by Levi Meir Clancy on Unsplash
Part XVIII of “The Filipino Melting Pot” Series
Part XV of this series was an “An Open Letter to President Marcos, Jr., On Ending Corruption and Homelessness.” So far, there has been no courtesy acknowledgment of receipt of the letter. Perhaps it is coming before Christmas or Easter Sunday in 2026.
This instant op-ed piece today does not argue that the brain of many Filipino elected officials and their crony contractors are allegedly like the “Mamon”? It is a traditional Filipino chiffon or sponge cake. Why? Because probably their brain is made up of a very light, fluffy, and soft-textured sponge? And no brain cells?
In the Bible, Mammon is an Aramaic term for material wealth or riches, and it is used to describe the pursuit of earthly possessions and pleasures over spiritual devotion to God. Jesus taught that one could not serve both God and Mammon, highlighting the conflict between loyalty to God and the enslaving desire for wealth and worldly things. Last Sunday’s Gospel was taken from Luke 16:10-13 (a short version).
Ergo, are Christian Filipino leaders and their corrupt enablers the modern versions of Mammon? And, hence, can they be dubbed “Mammonized” (sic)? Because they have reportedly been enriching themselves materially at the expense of their constituents, a majority of whom are poor or marginalized? When public officials steal money from the public treasury, they are actually stealing from the people.
“The problems with corruption in the Philippines are that the majority of the elected and appointed leaders are predominantly Catholic, if not Christian. But as a general rule, Catholic prelates and the people of the cloth of other Christian denominations are silent when it comes to government corruption.”
Luke 16: 10-13 says: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. (11) So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? (12) And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own? (13) “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
The problems with corruption in the Philippines are that the majority of the elected and appointed leaders are predominantly Catholic, if not Christian. But as a general rule, Catholic prelates and the people of the cloth of other Christian denominations are silent when it comes to government corruption. They do not give sermons like Jesus Christ said about “You cannot serve both God and money.” Why? Corrupt Filipino leaders often bankroll the overseas trips of Catholic (and Christian) leaders supposedly to raise funds for their respective churches.
This former altar boy for seven years and a student of four Catholic schools for 12 years has not heard any Catholic prelate announce that they were excommunicating corrupt politicians who are members of their diocese or parish. Why? Because, in turn, corrupt politicians do not disclose to the public the corrupt acts of the men of the cloth, especially when the latter fail to turn over the proceeds of their foreign fund-raising projects to the treasurer of the diocese or parish? The arrangement, it seems, is one of “reciprocal ignorance” regarding the corrupt practices of both the clergy and the church members who are elected or appointed public servants.
This columnist wrote an op-ed piece published on Easter Sunday in 2009. The article was entitled, “Why Many Filipino Catholics Are Not Christian?” It also discussed the lessons from Jesus Christ, as chronicled in Luke 16:10-13. It meant that, over the past 15 years, and even this year, only cosmetic changes have occurred in the religious and political sectors of the Filipino homeland.
