Catholic Bishop Teodoro Bacani yesterday called on the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to come up with a stand on the latest developments in the House of Representatives which, according to him, clearly showed the administration lawmakers' efforts to “kill” the impeachment case against President Arroyo.
The prelate, who went to the House to watch the proceedings at the committee on justice, said the adminis-tration lawmakers are closing all the doors for the impeachment team to present its evidence against Mrs. Arroyo.
The panel yesterday voted to dismiss lawyer Oliver Lozano's complaint on the ground that it is insufficient in substance even as pro-impeachment congressmen boycotted the proceedings.
“I want to be optimistic but the reality is that they are closing the doors for the pro-impeachment lawmakers to present their evidence,” Bacani stressed.
He expressed serious apprehensions that the Filipinos are not going to accept the result of the proceedings which were described by the pro-impeachment lawmakers as “a sham” as he warned the public would again rise against the government.
“What would be the conclusion (if the impeach-ment complaint is killed)? People are going to be restless, it could end up in violence,” the bishop noted.
Bacani called on the CBCP to convene and decide on the fate of Mrs. Arroyo.
“Because of these developments, the bishops should convene, even the permanent council of the CBCP can come up with a stand on the latest developments,” he said.
Bacani stressed the statement of the bishops before was not the last statement as “it's open to developments.”
“The bishops have called on the people to pray, decide and act for the truth to come out,” he said.
“The people have a right to know the truth,” the bishop added.
I'll predict the CBCP's response: More prayers for "reconciliation." Maintain status quo. They're not dumb enough to cut their ties with Arroyo's PAGCOR.
More here:
If the bishops insist on standing by their wishy-washy stand on the crises — which include the moral and political — buffeting the Filipinos and merely come up with exhortations to the faithful to pray for political reconciliation and economic recovery, it won't be too long before they and their Catholic faith will find themselves irrelevant, and worse, without any moral clout whatsoever.
As things stand today, these leaders of the local Catholic Church and their pastoral letters are largely ignored by the flock on account of their being perceived by the public as protecting the interest of their anointed in Malacañang instead of being one with the flock's sentiments.
They call themselves shepherds and moral teachers, yet refuse to make a moral pronouncement on the crises facing the Filipino nation today, saying only to the flock to pray for reconciliation and economic recovery.
Prayers may be good for the soul, but they certainly won't affect an economic recovery nor bring about political reconciliation nor, for that matter, bring about a resolution of the moral crisis — not when the fundamental issues, all of which stem from the Edsa II revolt in which the bishops themselves went into an unholy alliance with the coup plotters to oust a legitimately- elected President and spurned the constitutional process, are unaddressed.
To this day, even as these shepherds speak of the need to adhere to the constitutional process, they refuse to admit they had committed a grievous error in staging that coup against Joseph Estrada, whom they even demonized, and on the basis of sheer allegations which, to this day, have not been substantiated.
How then do these shepherds expect to be regarded as moral guardians by their flock or even speak with any moral authority on the politico-moral and even constitutional issues when they portrayed their Edsa II move as morally and politically correct when it was infact unconstitutional and morally unjustified, yet now, even as the evidence mounts on Gloria Arroyo having massively cheated the Filipino people of their sovereign will, of her having used public funds to finance her fraud-marred campaign and the poll fraud itself, of her having prostituted virtually all the democratic institutions and of her having brought the country to economic ruin, they take a hands-off policy on the issues affecting the nation, while calling on the flock to pray for reconciliation, obviously to retain the status quo in Malacañang?
Have not these bishops still realized that there is a serious disconnect between them and the flock, precisely because of their clearly amoral stand on virtually the same issues that their anointed faces?
At the Hyatt 10 press conference yesterday, it was disclosed by one former Cabinet member that, in getting Gloria to drop Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp.'s (Pagcor) Efraim Genuino, she had rejected the recommendation, saying she needs him as he takes care of the media and the bishops. Given this disclosure and juxtaposed with the wishy-washy stand of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on the raging issues, what becomes clear, in the bishops' reluctance to support the resignation calls of the people on Gloria, is that they are probably being kept happy by Gloria through Pagcor and Genuino.
When it comes to Pagcor, the government's cash cow, the only denominator is money. And if Genuino is tasked by Gloria to “take care” of the bishops, obviously it is not in the realm of the spiritual, but of the monetary business.
And it must be even a more “secret” operation if Gloria can't afford to get rid of Genuino. After all, if everything were aboveboard — even if it is on money matters in the tens of millions between the government and the bishops, any other official can be made to continue with that same task of “taking care of the bishops.” So why should Genuino be axed when he takes care of the bishops who portray themselves as “moral” teachers of the flock?
Have they, kept contented by the Gloria-directed Pagcor money flow, become no different from the politicians they claim to abhor for their money-grubbing ways?
Is this why the bishops led by Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, provide no support to one of their own in the matter of gambling, legal or illegal? Is this the reason they refuse to be one with their flock and persuade them to just rely on prayers for reconciliation and recovery instead of supporting the people's call for Gloria's removal from the presidential office?
And they continue to preach from a high pedestal on morality when they themselves fail to live by their moral principles and lead by example?
Related:
- CBCP parroting the Arroyo administration line of "reconciliation"
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