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Rizal behind bars: the arrest of Carlos Celdran

Red Tani
Red Tani

Jose Rizal is behind bars. Or at least someone who looks like him (give or take a few pounds).

This afternoon, Carlos Celdran was arrested for disrupting an Ecumenical Mass in Manila Cathedral. During one of the readings, he went in front of the altar wearing a faux Spanish era costume — black pants, black suit, black hat.

He held up a sign that said “Damaso,” first for everyone to see then for those seated in the first row — a few Cardinals and Bishops, including Archbishop Cruz. Also in attendance was Mayor Lim. They didn’t get what he was trying to do, so he helped them out.

“Damaso!” he shouted.

Eyes opened, mouths gaped. “Stop interfering in politics,” Carlos shouted. “Stop meddling in government!”

They finally got it. Mayor Lim ordered the policemen in attendance to take him away (a warrant-less arrest). He was to be taken to the Police Community Precinct in Intramuros, where he was held until he was transferred to Ermita Police Station 5 in UN Avenue, where we met him at around 7pm.

Carlos, who’d been under arrest for almost three hours, welcomed us with a smile. He was being held in the juvenile delinquent cell. Although five other prisoners were with him, he was impossible to miss – he was still in the Rizal outfit.

He told us the whole story, which brings us to now. There were reports that Cardinal Rosales wants him in jail for embarrassing the whole Church. Rosales is thinking of filing a case against him. Carlos is willing to make a public apology, but he wants to emphasize that he is apologizing for the manner of his protest – not for its meaning. “The CBCP threatened civil disobedience. This is my version of it.”

Carlos started a protest that is long overdue. But he is not alone. Friends, family and fellow advocates of secularism and Reproductive Health continue to arrive to show their solidarity. Tomorrow there will be bigger demonstrations near Malacañang and the CBCP headquarters. And as long as the Church continues to block RH progress and meddle in politics, there will be many more.

In the same way that Jose Rizal stood against the oppressive friars of his time, we must take a stand against the CBCP. I’m not suggesting we do civil disobedience of any sort. Let’s just keep the spirit of Rizal’s protests alive in whatever way we can. Costume not required.

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55 comments

  2. Ang hinungdan sa atong kalisod is kita rapud. Dili man unta ta maglisod if tinud-anay a ta sa atong kaugalingon, ug dili unta ta tapulan,limbungan,tikasan sa matang sa katigayunan sa uban. Nag sugod ang kalisod sa atong kaugalingon, Bisag si kinsa panang presidentiha ang molingkod sa lingkoranang giilogan, walay gamit iyang pagka presidente kung mismo kita dili kadisiplina sa atong kaugalingon.

  4. History repeats itself as they say. It was Jose Rizal who awakened the consciousness of his nation and now, a man in the name – Carlos Celdran. What this man did was – He distilled the contrary in one word — Damaso — which the youth will now take pains to learn about, and thus come away with a better understanding of our literature and our history. This is a good wake-up call to those superior Catholic Authorities. The Church needed to be reminded to respect the constitutional provision on separation of Church and State and that they shouldn’t be interfering to any government decisions especially the president’s decision to give birth control. What Celdran made was for most of us, Filipinos and not for him. Thanks to you, Mr. Carlos Celdran!
    For Catholics, contraceptives are abortifacients, never mind the clear instance of an oxymoronic equation that is easily gathered from simple origins. Contra-ception means you counter conception by avoiding or preventing it. An abortifacient kills a fertilized ovum. When the ovum is not fertilized, then there is no killing. So why are the terms being mixed up? Some says it is because there is real worrying fear that if birth control is supported by government, what may follow next is the passage of the RH bill into law, and after that, there could be legalized abortion. And down the line, divorce will also eventually be legalized. In a few more years or decades, why, even euthanasia and prostitution could turn legal.
    The message we have been getting all these slow years, from spokesmen and the human faces of the Pinoy Church, is that they meddle as much as they want into our lives, our politics, our gaming instincts, our entertainment policies (such on movies) when all they can present to us are not gentlemen of the old school but stuntmen like a running priest and all other publicity-hungry men of the cloth who only lack a circus tent to complete their fount of entertainment. It is good for having courses on Rizal taught again in school for it is the best thing that can come out of this battle with the frailes. For now it is the president who is the direct receiver of the clergy's misunderstanding of the times that are changing. Our President should stand fast and lead his people to where they want to go, and that is to be the bosses of their own will.

  5. even mr. carlos is ryt with wat he did, hindi ang mga pair ang kanyan ininsulto kundi ang panginoon mismo sana kong naging open minded sya sa rep. health bill, di san naging open minded din sya sa kanyang ginawa! kabastusan ang ginawa nya sa panginoon!

  6. i dont think the educated and erudite rizal will stoop down this low. walking in a Mass to heckle a priest is far from being an example of courage but cowardliness. choosing to do what he did right in the middle of the most sacred act of worship, right in the most holy and solemn religious celebration than to engage in a peaceful dialogue and reasonable discourse at an appropriate moment and place exhibits an ignoble immaturity, complete disrespect of others, disregard for the laws, and irresponsibility. even he admits that what he has done is wrong; his apology confirms that. the only thing that it accomplished with great success is to portray himself not worthy of being taken seriously.

  7. It's called free choice…maybe it sucks to you, but that's how we are at present.

    And, unfortunately or not, the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion, like all other developed countries. Sinabi naman ni Mr. Celdran na he regrets the manner by which the protest was done. Surely it will get people talking and it will more than put the message across, but the people to whom he directed the protest were practising their religion at that time, so he stepped upon their right.

  8. Regardless of one's stand on a controversial issue, I find this utterly disrespectful and should not therefore be tolerated by any citizen of any faith. This is the antithesis of democracy.

  9. The church should not assume leadership in making decisions when it comes to economic plans. Who even gave them the right to state their opinions, anyway?

  10. All the thinking masses should go out to the streets and support the passage of this law! It's time we take responsibility of our booming population! There will be no change unless it starts within us.

  11. Celdran has balls. He's earned the ire of the Damasos. Like Pope Ratzo and his vengeful attack on atheists during his recent visit to the UK, the defensive reaction of the celibate (this has not been proved to be true) men (straight and gay) in robes just shows how the dagger has been thrust to the hilt. They're hurting because, well, the truth damn hurts like Hell. The more they squirm and lick their wounds seek retribution for having been offended the more Celdran's ingenuously succinct gambit succeeds.

    And with PZ Myers (aka Pharyngula) picking up on this event, the situation in the Phil has now been brought to the attention of atheists,. humanists, rationalists worldwide.

  12. I really do NOT agree of the approval of the RH bill… yes it true that it could help our country a lot but oh come on!! this has a long term effect on us. we should carefully study every prospect of this not only the advantage but also its disadvantage.we should watch the mistakes of those nations whom RH bill has been established and more importantly we should ask ourselves if we filipino are ready for this or are we filipinos are morally stable to withstand the effects of this bill.. Yes! this bill has great objectives that could really boost the growth of our country but i guess we really should consider if the people/constituents.. i suggest that they should conduct a survey first if we filipinos can handle the pros and especially the cons or the effects…cause I believe if we are not ready for this and this bill is approve Philippines will really be a living hell..

    • The bill should help control the population, but not curb it entirely.

      I believe that a Malthusian horror is possible, but curbing the population too much has it's own deleterious consequence. There is a healthy poulation curve…as the number of elderly increases, there should be a good number of younger people to support this aging group. Look at propserous Japan: it's trying to coax its citizens to have children.

  13. Ayaw na gali ta ninyo mga media man hinuon inyo i tabi usahay medya ra gyod dili tibuok mao na inyo ipagawas nga hinungdan sa ka pobrehon kay daghan nata. Ayaw , mo ana doy undanga na ninyo nga pataka lang mo dihag hatag og diagnos sa atong kapobrehon.Ang korupsyon maoy hinungdan sa kapobrehon, sama sa daghang yuta nga wa maayo pagkabahin sama ana ilang noynoy, enrile, dimaporo ug daghan pa

  14. sakto ka brod, kining uban pataka lang og tabi nga ang kasulbaran sa kaporihon ang condom, iud, pills ug ubang contraceptive.Hinungdan sa ka pobrihon nato tungod sa korakot ayaw ipasumangil nga over population.Si Nonoy nadala anang mga condom nga iyang inangkat U.S tungod kay di man cya ka-utang og di cya moangkat sa ilang produkto.Abir sulayan kuno nato gamit iyang inangkat apil mga obispo ug pari, madri tan-awon ta masolbad ba ang atong kapobrehon.Ingna nuon nga botbot na nga rason deception na nga ipagawas sa media nga over populated.Ayaw mo pamotbot ba.tell the truth of the cause factor of poverty.

  15. Although I have no problem with the RH bill, I detest the actions of Carlos Cedran. Binastos nya ang panananampalataya ng kanyang kapwa Pilipino. Kung may issue sya against the Church, sana sa bahay ng Archbishop sya nagpunta, or sa opisina ng CBCP, hindi sa simbahan kung saan nandoon nananahimik at nagdarasal ang kanyang kapwa Pilipino. Kabastusan iyon. At nakakahiya at nakakakilabot na hinahambing nya at ninyo sya kay Jose Rizal. Isa pang kabastusan iyon. Hindi gagawin ni Rizal ang ginawa nya.

    • pag binabastos ng mga pare ang mga pulitiko e kinakasuhan ba sila… nag labas lang ng damaso e bastos na ba yon, pag nag hubo si Celdran sa loob ng simbahan yun ang bastos…

    • Do you think anyone would have listened to him if he just went to the CBCP's office or the house of the Archbishop? While it is true that he disrespected the churchgoers, the whole reason why he did that was to attention. If he just went to the CBCP's office, nothing would have happened.

    • Mas bastos ang ginagawa ng CBCP sa pakikialam sa pamumuhay ng mga Filipino. Mas pambabastos ang sabihing hindi ka maaring gumamit ng condom o ng artifical contraception dahil ayaw mong magkaanak ng hindi planado. Mas pambabastos ang makialam sa buhay ng ibang tao, lalo na kung tungkol ito sa kanilang seksuwalidad o sa pagpaplano ng kanilang pamilya.

      Hindi lahat ng nakatira sa Pilipinas ay Katoliko. Hindi nila dapat ipagdiinan ang anumang sa tingin nila ay tama base lamang sa pananampalataya nila. Kung may ipaglalaban silang tama, dapat ito ay base sa kung ano ang katanggap-tanggap para sa lahat ng tao.

    • walang mas maraming political statement or stunts na ginawa sa simbahan kundi mga pari rin mismo… at worst he disturbed a solemn occasion by all means charge him with that… pero hindi eh, offensive to religious feelings daw….

      the priests are the ones who brought religion into to the political debate and now when someone takes up the challenge they claim privilege and hurt feelings…thats bullshit!

      and lastly there is nothing in the word DAMASO that speaks to Dogma…he did not throw tomatoes at the crucifix or painted a nude virgin mary…there is nothing religious in what he said or did…

    • Isa ka rin sa mga nabubulagan Komikero. nabasa mo ba ang biblia? ay naku, magugulat ka sa contents noon. BAkit nga lang di ba binasag ni moses yong unang 10 commandments? ni replace ng dios daw yon, pero iba ang content ng replacement. Makakalimutin din pala ang dios? ay naku po! Imulat mo ang mata mo at basahin mo ang biblia mo kung di ka malunod sa controversies.

  17. Man that was wierd, but the dude made a good point about separation of church and state. How is he related to David Celdran?

  20. There is supposed to be a SEPARATION of church and state, sabi nga ang kay juan ay kay juan at ang kay pedro ay kay pedro at ang sa pari ay sa pari.Just let the people decide, why interfere? buen trabajo GO CARLOS!

  22. here's to hoping the international news media picks up on this big time. Noynoy needs all the support he can get here and abroad so he wont back down from church pressure.

  24. Perhaps you'd have to prove that its an invitation only mass to invoke privacy, cause as far as masses go they have always been public offsets the issue of property

  25. "… the friars control all the fundamental forces of society in the Philippines. They control the educational system, for they own the University of Santo Tomás, and are the local inspectors of every primary school. They control the minds of the people because in a dominantly Catholic country, the parish rectors can utilize the pulpit and confessionals to publicly or secretly influence the people." –M.H. Del Pilar

    Written more than a century ago by one of the Ilustrados. I say "Never Again".

    Bravo! Sr. Celdran!

    • Of course, religion is an organized crime, spreading the lies of the fairy tale in the bible, they didn't even know what the bible says, full of controversies, full of hate, full of punishment, brutal punishment like death. if god is loving, where is the love? Just look around you, the suffering of the poor, the rape of the children, the killings of the women and children. Where is the love? I am an atheist for a reason, I believe in the proofs that science presents. Hurray to people like Chris Hitchens, and Dawkins and PZ Myers! Religion is after control, from the beginning it is all about control!

  27. The point of Mr. Celdran here is to make a political propaganda. And to be able to be successful with his propaganda, he needs to make people uncomfortable so that his point will be heard. Imagine a group of protesters rallying in an unpopulated place. What they're doing will be pointless because no one is there to witness it. What Mr. Celdran did was to make the people in that church be aware of the wrongdoings of the church.

  32. I am proud of Mr. Carlos Celdran for voicing out the meaning of his protest… 🙂 The catholic church deserves that protest, they really don't understand what are we trying to implement for our countrymen…

  33. I am having goose bumps reading this..A deja vue..are we back in the Spanish regime?? Absolutely NOT! This is the age of REASON…let us all stand up for what is right and beneficial for our country.

  35. I was about to make a point about private property but then I read this:

    “The CBCP threatened civil disobedience. This is my version of it.”

    Nice. Ain't for the RH Bill. But about time those guys felt the pressure.

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