40th-Day Commemoration of Bishop Alberto Ramento : QC IMC

Commemoration of Bishop Alberto Ramento
Rey Ty
Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL 60115, U.S.A.
November 10, 2006

Forty days ago, our beloved Bishop Alberto Ramento joined his Creator in eternal peace. He was fatally wounded by heinous killing. Bishop Ramento and I started out as accidental friends, as we became co-workers and co-educators in the field of human rights. From him, I have learned first-hand the context of and service to the exploited and suffering Filipino people. He fearlessly challenged the status quo where the majority of the people are affixed in an unjust structure of poverty and stark inequality.

Bishop Ramento was Aglipayan; and I, Roman Catholic. As both of us shared the same social concerns, our paths crossed when we both worked together for over ten years. Separately and together, we have embarked on a mission for the social transformation of Philippine society. With the National Council of Churches of the Philippines, we crisscrossed the Philippine archipelago, spreading the word about human dignity and human rights to as many people as possible. In many instances, we have delivered human rights training workshops in church buildings for church people. Along with other church people, we spent a couple of months together, learning about the plight of the outcasts and marginalized people in Pakistan and South Korea, be they Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, or non-believers. Bishop Ramento saw the image of God in each one of us, and therefore preferred to get his hands dirty by being exposed to and immersed with the people. His energy and devotion to the service of the deprived and exploited was infectious. Through critical and liberating dialogue and reflection, he understood the context and condition of the people in the fishing grounds, agricultural lands, factories, and urban poor communities. The God of history who is the God of justice, love, and peace was his model for his preferential option for the poor and the oppressed. I reminisce listening on many occasions to his sharing of his different biblico-theological reflections, during which he spoke with a prophetic voice that called for the coming of the kingdom of God here and now. A critical philosopher who prophetically spoke for social justice, Bishop Ramento’s Christo-praxis was one in which he was a participant and integral part of the wider social movement who fought against all forms of oppression and exploitation and worked for the construction of national and social liberation.

Many of our common friends were illegally arrested and detained, tortured, have disappeared or were victims of political killing. In the period of the Marcos dictatorship, human rights violations were the trend rather than the exception. However, flagrant and consistent of human rights violations continue unabated in the period of so-called democracy. Who would have thought that our dearly loved Bishop would be one whose life—among many others who were immersed in the Filipino people’s struggle to construct a more humane and just society—would be taken away? According to the Communiqué of the Third Congress of the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL), Bishop Ramento is “the 763th victim of state terrorism.” But justice-loving people, including Bishop Ramento, did not die in vain. They incite us to continue our struggle to build a future where justice will prevail. They rekindle our hope for a better future where our children and our children’s children will at last have social justice and peace in the Philippines. Church people of diverse backgrounds, unite and continue your struggle in the service of the people! As a Chinese saying goes: “Better light a candle than curse the darkness.”

No to death squads! Justice for Bishop Ramento! Justice for all Victims of Human Rights Violations in the Philippines!