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Thursday, October 13, 2005
Bishop tells Palace to clarify national emergency plan
A CATHOLIC Church prelate Wednesday challenged President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to show to the public Executive Order (EO) 467 to determine if there is truth to allegations that the government is planning to place the country under the state of national emergency.
Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iniguez, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) commission on public affairs, said speculations about Malacañang's plan to declare Martial Law would not ease unless the controversial EO 467 is shown to the people.
"We have to see the order so that there will be no any speculations," he said.
The public, Iniguez said, has the right to see the order because "it's a public document". He said as long as the government continues to hide it, the more the people becomes "jittery" because memories of Martial Law would continue to hound many Filipinos.
"If there's really an EO 467, that should have been published thus the copy must be shown to the people," he said.
The prelate said the issuance of calibrated preemptive response (CPR) to quell the growing lawlessness and political dissent only adds up to growing speculations that Malacañang has indeed a plan to declare Martial Law.
"It's a legal matter. They say this (CPR) was reportedly issued to control the freedom of expression of the people and to say the least, it's a violation of human rights in a democratic country so the move has to be explained," he said.
Since the CPR has been implemented, several protestors and labor leaders have been victims of human rights violations after police prevent them from crossing the Mendiola Bridge, a historic rally site near Malacañang in Manila. (MSN/Sunnex)
(October 13, 2005 issue)
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