The powerful Roman Catholic Church, citing the constancy of moral principles, lambasted the injustice done on the murder of Victor Olayvar, a farmer-leader gunned down mercilessly by bonnet-wearing, motorcycle-riding assassins last month.

Edited by a true leader of its flock, the Pastoral Letter, read and expounded in all churches last Sunday asked three pointed questions to the authorities: What is the result of the investigations, who are the triggermen and who asked them to kill Olayvar?

The Church reminded the faithful that it is everyone's right and duty to seek justice for ourselves and our neighbors and that human life is sacred as it is a God-given grace that no one can take away. The strongly worded letter reminded all that any act that blocks the search for truth and justice is against the Will of God.

The Catholic Church decried in the Pastoral Letter, the systematic killing of militants, journalists, activists and suspected communists all over the country - many of them becoming horrifying statistics of unsolved murders.

Appropriately, in last Sunday's Gospel, Christ answered a scribe who asked "What is the greatest commandment?" by saying "love God above all and your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." In Matthew's Gospel (25: 31-46) Jesus identifies himself with the poor, the hungry and the powerless - many of them among the causes Olayvar lived and died for. How revealing indeed are the words of St Vincent de Paul: "The poor are our masters."

So when assassins' bullets silenced Olayvar permanently to his grave, the Church is crying for justice. And is asking the Faithful, through that Letter, to do their share.

Bartolome de las Casas (1474-1566), a Spanish Dominican priest, defended the Indians of South America from the abuses of the conquistadores - sometimes refusing to give communion to the latter. In the twilight of his years, de las Casas walked barefoot to Rome to implore the Pope to mandate justice and Christian dignity to the poor victims whom he described as "the scourged Christs of the Andes" (a mountain range found in South America). He is an example of a priest who lived the Gospel.

His act was not a contradiction to the Gospel - but its fulfillment.

The series of unsolved extra-judicial killings in GMA's term is reportedly an administration strategy starting in 2004 with the "all-out war versus the left." That includes the neutralization of even the legal, or above-ground militants who only use (not arms) the streets and the electoral route to win the struggle for social justice. In the so-called government "Oplan Bantay Laya," an order of battle has allegedly been designed to eliminate the so-called "enemies of the state," to include even party list leaders to silence the GMA critics. This was disclosed in a recent forum held here at the Holy Name University.

Akbayan party list Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel lamented the fact that the killings reflect at the very least "gross negligence on the part of government and the unsolved killings encourages more of the same to be done with impunity." Last month, a prominent leader-critic of the Philippine Independent Church was also brutally murdered inside his own dwelling. Case unsolved.

But international attention is being caught by these extra-judicial killings. The latest one was last October 30 when in simple rites but with historically significant circumstances, the Permanent People's Tribunal: Second Session on the Philippines was convened at The Hague, the Netherlands, upon appeal of Philippine human rights and people's organizations. The first session, held 26 years ago in Antwerp Belgium indicted the US-backed Marcos dictatorship of grave crimes against the Filipino people.

The internationally recognized group of lawyers and social scientists documents and denounces gross violations of human rights any where in the world which are in violation of the general guidance of the Universal Declaration of Rights of Peoples or the Algiers Declaration adopted in 1976.

The PPT Second Session on the Philippines underscores in the most dramatic way that the repressive political and military acts of the Marcos dictatorship are surfacing again - today ironically clothed with democratic undertones under GMA, according to Businessday columnist Carol Pagaduan-Araullo.

The outcry against the extra-judicial killings has raised loud decibels that can be heard even by St. Peter in Heaven. With the frank and serious Pastoral Letter of the Church last Sunday, there must be a gathering storm at the gates of Heaven itself today.

We salute the Bohol Catholic Church for taking a brave stand.

PRESIDENT GARCIA DESERVES A "HOME"

Yesterday, the nation commemorated the 110th birthday of Bohol's proudest son - Carlos P. Garcia, president of the Republic and the 1971 Constitutional Convention.

The CPG Foundation and the Boholano Association of Metro Manila, Inc (BAMMI) had solemn activities at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Manila while Education Secretary Jesli Lapus was keynote speaker in ceremonies held at the Bohol Cultural Center.

Boholanos await for the time when we give our dear Caloy the honor he deserves in this province. After all, only five provinces in the country share the honor of having produced a native as president of the Philippine Republic.

The ancestral Garcia house along Dagohoy Street can be converted into a "museum-cum-memorabilia center" on the life and times of the illustrious Boholano president, author of the "Filipino First" policy - where every tourist, guest and balikbayan can visit, be educated and edified.

The president's home badly needs improvement. Converting it into a foundation to raise funds can be the answer for its refurbishing into a world-class "must see" tourist attraction. We earnestly enjoin all stout-hearted Boholano patriots and the outgoing president of the CPG Foundation, Rep. Edgar Chatto to lay down the seeds for this noble tribute to one who brought honor and glory to Bohol by assuming the highest post of the land.

Doing so is not just praying tribute to the man Caloy, but shows whether in our hearts we honor and treasure the heritage that President Garcia left behind for us: the values of decency, integrity and patriotism.

It's about time we did something for the greatest Boholano that ever lived.