ILOILO City – “Proclaim the truth. Stand by the truth. Die for the truth.”
This was Reverend Monsignor Meliton Oso’s message at the Baccalaureate Service for the graduating students of the University of the Philippines Visayas, Class of 2022, yesterday here.
The director of the Jaro Archdiocesan Social Action Center (JASAC) lamented, “This country is fast becoming – if it has not already become one – a country of liars because of fake news and disinformation that inundate cyberspace.”
He hoped that the graduates be inspired by the life of the late Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo whose life, he said, was marked by selfless devotion to the truth, justice and equity.
He recalled that the Archdiocese of Jaro, under Lagdameo’s leadership, was the first to respond to the call for RIO (resign, impeach, oust) of then President Joseph Estrada after the country’s chief executive was accused of illegally accepting pay-offs from various sources, including jueteng.
According to Oso, initially there were only about 200 of them during their first RIO rally, and he pointed this out to the Archbishop. Lagdameo’s reply was, “Truth is not dependent on numbers. Let us go!”
Oso also recalled how surprised Lagdameo was upon learning how “landed” the Archdiocese of Jaro was, such that when the SOS Children’s Village in Iloilo came to the Archdiocese for help, the archbishop’s response was, “That’s embarrassing. Give it (land) away.”
The monsignor also shared how Lagdameo stood by him when he was leading the opposition against an onerous power supply agreement.
Oso urging the graduating class, who will soon join the professional world, to be accountable for one another as brothers and sisters and to take care of the world.
“Protect your brothers and sisters from fake news and outright disinformation by proclaiming the truth, standing by the truth, and dying for the truth when the time calls for it.”
“Do not fail your Alma Mater. Above all, do not fail God to whom you will be accountable,” he added. (Mary Lyncen Fernandez, UPV IPO/PN)
