Palace open to talks with religious sects

Monday, February 20, 2012

MALACAÑANG said it is open to hold dialogues with church groups to explain the merits of the impeachment trial of Chief Justice Renato Corona.

Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda made the statement Monday following calls by some prelates, such as Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, to stop the impeachment trial of Corona, and the alleged support being given by religious group Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC) to the embattled chief magistrate.

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"We're open to discussing with the INC and also with the CBCP (Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines) the merits of the impeachment trial," he said in a news briefing.

Lacierda said it was unfortunate that Arguelles was calling for the termination of the impeachment court, instead of seeking for the truth to come out.

"It (impeachment trial) may not be a biblical solution to his perspective, but it is a constitutional solution when it comes to impeaching or removing government officials," he said.

Arguelles reportedly said that the Aquino administration should instead focus on other pressing problems in the country.

"It's so unfortunate that Bishop Arguelles is only speaking now when there was a call to come out with a truth, where was Bishop Arguelles?" he said.

He added that Malacañang was waiting for Arguelles to rally the people to seek for the truth, such as, Corona's disclosure of the foreign currency deposits.

In the case of the INC, which is scheduled to hold evangelical rally on February 28 at Quirino Grandstand in Manila, Lacierda said the Palace expects the group to be true to its word that the gathering was a religious rally and not a political one.

"We have been assured that the INC rally on the 28th of February will be a Bible exposition. We expect them to be true to their word and that it will be a religious activity and no other. Being a Church, we expect them to be truthful with their statements," he said.

Lacierda, at the same time, said that Corona's challenge for Aquino to disclose his supposed psychological record only brought down the Chief Justice's credibility. (SDR/Sunnex)