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Monday, February 25, 2008
Cardinal Vidal calls for calm
CEBU CITY -- Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal called on the Catholic flock Sunday to remain calm and allow the wheels of justice to run their course in the national broadband deal controversy.
Another People Power uprising is “unnecessary,” he added, because “the one who is their target has said something.”
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He referred to President Arroyo’s admission last Saturday that she was warned about irregularities in the multibillion-peso deal with ZTE Corp. in China on the night before she had to sign it.
In a radio dzRH interview last Saturday, President Arroyo also said her administration has taken steps against corruption, like increasing the budget of the Office of the Ombudsman and involving various groups in monitoring government procurement.
“So I hope that will be cleared,” Cardinal Vidal told reporters yesterday morning, after celebrating a dawn mass for the youth in their Vocation Jamboree 2008 at the Cebu International Convention Center.
With the allegations of widespread corruption in the government, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has called for a “new brand of people power.”
Cardinal Vidal’s advice, however, was: “Stay calm.”
“Wait until the courts decide on it. Wait for the results. Let us not anymore go out and ask for anything. Let the courts decide and act on the fact that she has admitted some things.”
The archbishop said he hopes there are no ulterior motives in the plan of House Speaker Prospero Nograles to study the removal of tax exemptions from churches that engage in politics.
“Let them think about that. It’s in the Constitution that we have that kind of privilege. If they would like to take that away, it’s up to them,” he said.
Today, as the country celebrates the 22nd anniversary of the first People Power uprising, the prelate also urged the people to thank God for surviving to commemorate another Edsa anniversary.
“Let us celebrate it in a different way. We have to thank God that we are still alive and that we are still enjoying life. We should renew ourselves in peace, faith and in love. If another thing happened during that day, we would not be able to convene like this,” he told delegates to the jamboree, about 10,000 youths from at least 140 parishes under the Archdiocese of Cebu.
Cardinal Vidal added that he is grateful to the youth because he knows that “they are thinking and know much more.”
“This jamboree can help them, so that they will not resort to any violence and will continue to pray that it (the NBN controversy) will be finished peacefully and constitutionally,” he said. (NRC of Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Pampanga. (February 25, 2008 issue)
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Arroyo: NBN deal probe won't spare friend, foe