Bishop: CBCP May Eventually Support Impeachment

The recent statement of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) was more of a challenge to the people than a dismissal of the impeachment process against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The CBCP may even eventually support the process at some point, said Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, chairman of the CBCP Commission on Ecumenical Affairs.                

BY ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO
Bulatlat

The influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) did not consign the impeachment process against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the dustbin. It may even eventually support the process at some point, if we ask Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, chairman of the CBCP Commission on Ecumenical Affairs.  “It is a challenge about what is happening, addressed to everyone especially our congressmen,” Iñiguez said. The bishop, who is also a leader of the Kilusang Makabansang Ekonomiya (KME or Movement for a Nationalist Economy), added that the bishops may give their support “when what we are asking for in the statement takes place, when the process is motivated by genuine concern for the common good.” In its July 10 pastoral letter, the CBCP had stated that it is “not inclined at the present moment” to support the impeachment process as a means to bring out the truth.

Imus Bishop Chito Tagle, one of the drafters of the latest CBCP statement BULATLAT FILE PHOTO

“For unless the process and its rules as well as the mindsets of all participating parties, pro and con, are guided by no other motive than genuine concern for the common good, impeachment will once again serve as an unproductive political exercise, dismaying every citizen, and deepening the citizen’s negative perception of politicians, Left, Right and Center,” the CBCP stated.

The CBCP wields religious influence over 81 percent of an estimated 88 million Filipinos.

“But if the impeachment process does not succeed, there are those who will search for other means of ferreting out the truth,” Iñiguez said.

But at this point, what is the best way to arrive at the truth for the CBCP? The statement does not say, and Iñiguez admitted that they were not able to talk about it during their plenary conference.

The pastoral letter, titled “Shepherding and Prophesying in Hope: A CBCP Pastoral Letter on Social Concerns,” was drafted by a committee composed of Abps. Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato and Leonardo Legazpi of Caceres, Bps. Chito Tagle of Imus and Pablo David of San Fernando, and Bp. Francisco Claver, prelate emeritus of Bontoc-Lagawe.

It has drawn sighs of relief and even declarations of victory from quarters allied with the Arroyo administration. House Speaker Jose de Venecia has gone as far as saying that the new impeachment case filed on June 26 was stripped of moral basis by the statement.

Former Senate President Jovito Salonga, a member of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) which is the country’s largest Protestant church, has observed that with this position, the Catholic bishops are pushing the people to stage another uprising similar to those which toppled former Presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada at EDSA in 1986 and 2001, respectively.

“That is not intentional,” Iñiguez told Bulatlat in an interview when asked to comment on Salonga’s statement. “But he may have read that in our statement.”

Bp. Chito Tagle pointed out that the CBCP position on the impeachment process is not an outright dismissal.

“But in the light of past experience – we were referring to the last time the impeachment process was used – it was not able to arrive at the truth,” Tagle said in a conference in Manila on July 12.

“And so that’s why we said that unless there are changes in the rules and in the mindsets, it will not again arrive at the truth,” Tagle explained. “The point is, make it work, those who are involved in it should make it work. But if there are no efforts to make it work, then the truth again will not come out. So the vote is, let the truth come out… So in a way it is an appeal to everyone – from Malacañang to Congress – who are involved in that to make it work and make the truth come out.”

“The search for truth must be pursued relentlessly, and we respect those who opt for impeachment as an avenue for the search for truth,” the Imus bishop added.

Impeachment complaints were filed last year at the House of Representatives by lawyer Oliver Lozano, who charged Arroyo with betrayal of public trust. It cited as basis her admission that she talked with election officials during the counting of votes in the 2004 presidential election.

An amended version of the Lozano complaint was later filed, adding charges of bribery, graft and corruption, and culpable violation of the Constitution. The amended complaint included complicity in human rights abuses committed by state forces, which fall under

culpable violation of the Constitution.

But these were thrown out after the ruling party used its numbers to reject the complaint on technicalities. Bulatlat

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