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Sunday, May 07, 2006
3 bishops to pursue anti-Charter change campaign
MANILA - Three senior members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said Saturday they will intensify their fight against a move to amend the 1987 Charter by coming up with a "people's opposition initiative."
Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez and Infanta Bishop Emeritus Julio Labayen said "the real voice of the people and opposition's unity will definitely be the best defense to break and stop the people's initiative being backed up by the Arroyo government to change the Constitution."
"The voice of the people is the voice of God and as shepherds we are encouraging all Filipinos to unite and fight the people's initiative," said Labayen during a meeting with various groups under the Pagkakaisa coalition held at the St. Peter's Church in Commonwealth, Quezon City.
Like Labayen, Bishop Tobias said it is obvious that the real purpose of Charter change is to cover up the truth behind controversies that have cast doubt on the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration.
Tobias said the Arroyo administration "is very good in creating distractions and in making diversionary tactics to dodge those pushing for the truth behind the alleged massive electoral fraud that she committed during the May 2004 elections."
"She is very keen on changing the Constitution to wipe out the questions on her legitimacy," he added.
Iñiguez concurred with the opinion of the two bishops saying that the most important thing now, which the Filipino people must do, is to "work and act as one" so that any attempt to shift the form of government from presidential to parliamentary will be thwarted immediately.
During the meeting, the participants also read aloud a manifesto of support to the cause of the three bishops as they also backed calls for the ouster of Arroyo and a stop to Charter change.
Asked what will be their next course of action, Iñiguez said they will wait for what the faithful will dictate to them during a candlelight and prayer rally to be spearheaded by the clergy on May 13 at the Quezon City Memorial Circle.
Tobias said he, Cubao Bishop Honesto Ongtioco and Bataan Bishop Socarates Villegas each issued a circular whereby they encouraged their respective parishioners to participate in the candlelight ceremony.
Meanwhile, other key personalities present in Saturday's activity were former vice president Teofisto Guingona, Akbayan party list Representative Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel, Bayan Muna secretary general Renato Reyes, Alliance of Progressive labor secretary general Joshua Mata and lawyer Lorna Kapunan. (MSN/Sunnex)
(May 7, 2006 issue)
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