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As the country marks the 30th commemoration of the four-day revolution where the Catholic Church in the Philippines played a crucial role in restoring freedom, the president of a Church-run radio said it is steadfast in its mission of social justice.
Fr. Anton C.T. Pascual, president of Radio Veritas said since then, the Church in the Philippines continues her mission of promoting the Gospel values of truth, justice, freedom and unity. He said this fervor was buoyed by the pastoral visit of Pope Francis last year.
He said Radio Veritas continues to be the vanguard of truth and watches over the government. In line with its vision to be a leading social communications ministry for truth and new evangelization, Veritas 846 provides religious programs but is also putting forward Church advocacies and social concerns to its listeners.
He also recalled the role of the station in the peaceful mass movement that toppled a twenty-year dictatorship. “The revolution would likely have occurred even without the Church’s involvement, but it would have been violent.”
“One of the station’s most remarkable endeavors was its role in the EDSA Revolution because it was said to be the first event in the history of the world to be ran by a Catholic radio,” Fr. Pascual added.
He said that Veritas at that time did not just merely document the unfolding events, it participated in them.
It was through Radio Veritas where the late Jaime Cardinal Sin, the Archbishop of Manila pleaded support to then Vice Chief of Staff Fidel V. Ramos and Minister of Defense Juan Ponce Enrile who held a press conference on February 22, 1986 to announce their withdrawal of support from the dictatorship and called upon the resignation of President Ferdinand E. Marcos.
Nearly two million people gathered in EDSA and formed a human barricade between Camp Crame and Camp Aguinaldo as response to Cardinal Sin, one of the country’s highest moral authorities during that time. Prayers and rosaries strengthened by faith were the only weapons that the Filipinos used to recover their freedom from the 20-year rule of then President Marcos.
The station gave opportunity to those from the Church, the opposition and other sectors to speak. It made its listeners aware of their rights as well as their responsibilities as Filipino citizens especially during the peaceful demonstration of EDSA 1.
Due to Radio Veritas’ continuous airing of the events unfolding at EDSA, several armed men destroyed the station’s P40-million transmitter on February 23, in Malolos, Bulacan, but the broadcasts continued on Radyo Bandido. Not only reports, but appeals for food and provisions and urgent calls for people to block approaching tanks were aired on the radio.
That same year, Radio Veritas received the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature, and Creative Communication Arts recognizing its crucial role in using the truth to depose an oppressive and corrupt regime and restore Filipino faith in the electoral process.
“We will continue utilizing the various means of social communications to disseminating the good news of salvation. The Church will continue to have Radio Veritas as an outlet to serve the Filipino nation, keeping them informed and well-aware of their human, civil and constitutional rights,” Fr. Pascual said.
