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Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Bishops’ group hailed for not supporting impeachment
By Ben O. Tesiorna
HOUSE Majority Leader Prospero Nograles hailed the latest pastoral statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the impeachment complaint filed against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The CBCP is not supporting the impeachment process against Arroyo, saying this is not a good venue to seek out the truth.
In a statement after a two-day retreat, the CBCP said it respected "the position of individuals or groups that wish to continue using the impeachment process to arrive at the truth."
At the same time, it said that, "in the light of previous circumstances, we are not inclined at the present moment to favor the impeachment process as a means for establishing the truth."
In a telephone interview, Nograles agreed with the CBCP stand, saying that the impeachment process is more of a political process than a judicial one.
"While some bishops may wish to participate to impeach the President, the Church as institution will not participate in a purely political process. The Congress is not a correct venue to find guilt or innocence. It's the court that will decide guilt or no guilt. Not Congress in an impeach case because Congress decides as a policy whether good or bad to remove an official. Congress only removes but it cannot imprison! This is also the legal opinion of Fr. Bernas," Nograles said.
The bishops said the impeachment process and the mind-set of both sides must be guided only by genuine concern for the common good.
Otherwise, the new impeachment effort will "once again serve as an unproductive political exercise, dismaying every citizen and deepening citizens' negative perception of politicians, left, right and center," they said.
The bishops also urged reform of the fraud-tainted Commission on Elections, saying that calls for "resignation or even prosecution of a number of the commissioners should not be lightly brushed aside. The electoral process, including counting of votes, needs to be reformed and modernized before the next elections."
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (July 12, 2006 issue)
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