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Thursday, July 13, 2006
2 bishops back people power v. Arroyo
EVEN if the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has rejected the impeachment process for now, some bishops support the conduct of people power should President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo fail to heed calls for letting the truth behind the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential elections and other charges against her come out in the proper forum.
Bishops Antonio Tobias of Novaliches and Deogracias Iniguez of Caloocan City said if the political and economic conditions would not improve, "we are heading towards that (people power)."
The CBCP last Monday issued a pastoral statement saying that it is not inclined to favor the impeachment process as the means for establishing the truth for now. The bishops believed that nothing would happen again to the impeachment complaints because of partisan politics in the country.
Tobias said President Arroyo should not take lightly the CBCP stand not to support the impeachment cases filed against her because she is not yet off-the-hook. "We do not forgive yet the President, we are asking her to do so many things that would stabilize the country's condition," he said.
He said the bishops would be left with no other options but to support a people's revolt or uprising if that would be the only means to save the country from going down further.
Like Tobias, Iniguez also said he is inclined to support people power if the country's socio-political and economic conditions would not improve.
"What I'm just saying here is if we reach that point, I do not close the possibility that I will be supporting it (people power)," Iniguez said.
But he said the bishops are still exploring other avenues to save the Philippines.
Iniguez said they will continue pushing for the impeachment because the CBCP has not fully abandoned its stand favoring the constitutional process for the people to determine the truth behind the allegations against the President.
He said if the impeachment would fail again and with people power as the last option, another alternative is to file cases against Arroyo before the Office of the Ombudsman or with any proper court to ferret out the truth on the "Hello Garci" wiretapping scandal, which is the reason why the political crisis remains unresolved.
Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye criticized the opposition and critics of President Arroyo for twisting to their advantage the message of the CBCP that is opposed to the present impeachment process.
Bunye, who is also the Presidential spokesman, said the message of the CBCP is "crystal clear" and the government looks at it as a fresh wind as after the nation has grown too tired and weary of too much politics. "We view the document as an instrument for healing the wounds of the land and moving forward in harmony and unity," he said.
Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio, for his part, said they cannot fault the opposition for trying to pursue their impeachment complaint despite the church stand as it is not an "injunction" but more of a "guideline or admonition".
Claudio added that the opposition could push through with their complaint as it is within their rights and at the same time based on their own interpretation of the CBCP pastoral letter.
Meanwhile, opposition stalwart and Senator Panfilo Lacson said Malacañang and pro-administration legislators should not rejoice over the statement of the CBCP on the impeachment complaints.
Lacson said the bishops did not abandon the search for truth behind the alleged electoral fraud despite the CBCP view that the impeachment process will be an unproductive political exercise.
He believed that the CBCP was only trying to point out that the impeachment complaint will be useless if it is again marred by the same scenario like last year. "I think it (CBCP statement) was more of an expression of exasperation on the part of the bishops to find truth and justice, owing to last year's experience where a lot of wheeling and dealing, buy-off, extortion and blackmail committed by Malacañang and the so-called representatives of the people at the Lower House," he said.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said that lawmakers who support the impeachment process should not get disappointed with the CBCP statement as the complaint has not been taken up yet by the House of Representatives.
"The CBCP has a lot of influence over the thinking of our people even on the lawmakers," Pimentel said. "It stands to reason that if they believe the impeachment process is not the way to go, that would have a tremendous impact on the way the members of Congress would discharge their duty as the initiator and processor of the impeachment effort," he added.
He was hopeful that lawmakers will decide on the merit of the impeachment charges and the primordial principle of what is right or wrong and not on the basis of political inclination or monetary considerations. (MSN/REC/JMR/Sunnex)
(July 13, 2006 issue)
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