ONE OF THE most interesting voices I discovered from my online call to write for literature is from Rainier G. Factuar. People’s expectation of a literary analysis is for it to be very formal. I can understand academic drudgery. That’s why I always celebrate a breath of fresh air. In Rainier’s essay, there is a celebration of language; and new, bold, maybe irreverent and rebellious, ideas. It is so much fun!
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SECRETS AND SACRIFICE
A historico-cultural reading of PSN’s ‘The Miracle at Ermita’
by Rainier G. Factuar
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This is my fourth time reading “The Miracle at Ermita” by Peter Solis Nery. Bet! I like it. I like how simply it is written. How it takes me back to Iloilo. To Jaro Cathedral. To Paolo’s neurosis. To abnormal psychology web pages. It transported me. But I know that I haven’t reached the truth beyond Paolo’s delusions of grandeur and Father Edwin’s power play. There is more.
The story somehow reminds me of Ate Guy’s movie Himala. Was Paolo raped in the mountains of Dumangas by Jeff (OMG! Brokeback Mountain style!) and had an episode of stigmata? But it’s unlikely because he wouldn’t have a problem with an unwanted pregnancy. He wouldn’t have to hide anything. So what is the story not revealing to me?
So I travel again to the time when Paolo had his miracle. If he was struck by lightning in 2008, graduated from high school the next year, spent around seven years in the seminary, then his miracle must have happened in around 2016. What happened that year? Naturally, as my yaammi Coco Martin XL calendar is posted on the sawali wall in front of me, I look at it. And smile. I remember a calendar showcasing hot Vatican priests. So yaa… anyway, you know what I thought of next. Juicecolored!
And then paaak! It struck me. Not god’s lightning that punishes people with evil thoughts and deeds. So, I googled it to confirm. No, I didn’t search for the hot Vatican priests. Pramis. Balakajan.
In 2015 to 2016, the Catholic Church was caught in a worldwide sex scandal. (Sabi ko sa’yo eh. I didn’t search for the priests. I didn’t need to…because I have a copy of the calendar in my iCloud.) So when Paolo had his miracle, it was also the same time when salacious violations of the clergy were consumed in the international media banquet. It’s fiesta!
“The church does not need you at a time like this,” Father Edwin told Paolo. We can surmise from this that the church was in a difficult bind — most likely the sex scandal. I am not a fan of the neurotic Paolo Santillan, who I think is the antagonist of this story (but that’s another thesis for another paper, so thank me for giving you another rebellious idea to write about for your next paper). But he having a miracle would be very helpful to the church. After all, a miracle is something to marvel at. To amaze and dazzle the public. The church collects it with so much gusto for their armory. But was this miracle, or any miracle, an appropriate solution to their sex scandal?
Usually, an organization directly confronts a problem when they think they can handle it. Otherwise, they stay mum or avoid the issue completely. Or they buy the silence and take care of the laylayan-ng-lipunan victims like in the 2019 movie, By the Grace of God. At a time like that, proclaiming a miracle would have been a lousy way out for the church. Lousy. An embarrassing solution. Embarrassing! Although miracles are something that the church puts so much value in, Paolo’s happened at the wrong time. Had it proclaimed the miracle, the church would have been seen as guile, irresponsible, or ludicrous like the COVID quarantine protocol: bawal angkas sa motor kahit ang asawa. Pero sa bahay OK na umangkas. Ganern! That is why Paolo’s miracle cannot be a solution to that sex problem. The kamatuoran (truth) of his miracle doesn’t matter. Won’t matter. Because another truth is more pertinent: the kamatuoran of the clergy’s kama. The subject is no longer religion. It is now about the politics of media and perception. Sakit sa bangs ng topic!
That is why Father Edwin had to strike Paolo’s miracle down. And I think it’s mesheket for him. You have to understand that Father Edwin is in a precarious situation. He is not only a protector of the Catholic faith but also the director of formation, who is ultimately a teacher who supports his students to succeed in their chosen endeavors. (If you think the previous line is charot and debatable, then that’s another topic for you to write about. You’re welcome!) A teacher is exalted when one of his students achieves an incredible feat. He becomes proud. And happy. And proud. Really proud. That must have been what Father Edwin felt of Paolo and his miracle. And yet he couldn’t rejoice, proclaim, and celebrate it as it would put the very institution he needs to protect in a ridiculously laughable situation. “No,” he probably swallowed hard, “a miracle cannot be a solution to this problem.”
There should not be a miracle at Ermita.
I am now past the rage and madness of Paolo. And of Father Edwin’s thunder. I stand (or sit — as it is difficult to type while standing) looking at the truth of the Catholic Church’s resolve when facing a problem: That no matter how important, priceless, or invaluable the resources are, the church will sacrifice them to protect itself. After all, a scandal is evanescent, but the church is always present.
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Rainier G. Factuar is with DepEd Palawan. He teaches communication, media, and research courses at New Ibajay National High School in El Nido. (500tinaga@gmail.com/PN)
