MALACAÑANG TO BISHOPS: RESPECT SEPARATION OF CHURCH, STATE
MANILA, June 29, 2006 (STAR) By Paolo Romero - Malacañang called on Catholic bishops involved in the impeachment bid against President Arroyo to respect the constitutional policy on the separation of Church and State.At a press conference, Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita also said the President’s political opponents’ true aim is not to impeach her but to discredit her and destabilize the government as they know that their impeachment case against her is weak.
Caloocan City Bishop Deogracias Iniguez filed an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo yesterday, the third to be filed this week. The move came on the heels of Mrs. Arroyo’s meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
Ermita said while anybody can file impeachment complaints because "that’s the beauty of our democratic exercise," the critical bishops should not become too deeply involved in politics.
"What we’re only asking is for the bishops and the priests not to sink too much into politicking because we respect them and we hope that they understand that we need the separation of Church and State," Ermita said.
"This (separation) is being respected, especially by the administration, and we hope that the priests and the bishops would be very balanced in their view of the current political environment," he said.
He added: "I don’t want to judge our bishops because we go by the tenets, under a democracy, of freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, freedom to do things within the law, so our bishops, priests, any citizen, are ordinary citizens so they have a right to express themselves."
Iniguez warned that there was a "groundswell" of support among the masses for the new impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo as he denied that his filing of an impeachment complaint was a political move.
He said though impeachment is a political process, the search for truth cannot be dismissed as politicking.
Ermita pointed out that the bishops, particularly those who have been calling for Mrs. Arroyo’s ouster, should take their cue from the Vatican, which has expressed its support for her political and economic reform programs.
He noted the Papal Nuncio or the Vatican’s envoy to the Philippines Archbishop Fernando Filoni had expressed support for the ongoing programs of the administration before the diplomatic community during the traditional Independence Day toast last June 12 at the Palace.
"I think the bishops clearly understand the stand of the Vatican regarding political issues in the Philippines," Ermita said.
He also said Mrs. Arroyo’s political opponents know that their latest impeachment bid is weak and will not succeed but they are still pushing with the aim of discrediting and destabilizing her government.
He noted that there were similar attempts to destabilize the government in previous years, all just weeks before the President was to deliver her annual State of the Nation Address.
"They’re trying to dramatize the impeachment complaint filing before the House of Representatives and it is really intended to dislocate the posture of the President as we approach the address on the last week or last Monday of July," Ermita said.
He said the people can see through the attempts of opposition leaders to drum up support by filing impeachment complaints daily.
Mrs. Arroyo’s allies in the administration-dominated House of Representatives, meantime, took a swipe at Yñiguez and other bishops critical of Mrs. Arroyo, saying they are "creating disunity and abandoning the Christian ideals of forgiveness and reconciliation" with their acts.
‘It won’t prosper’
In Madrid, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said the series of impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo would not prosper and would not distract her from doing her job.
"Like what we always say, she is focused like a laser beam. No matter what they do, they can no longer undo the reforms she started," said Bunye, who is with Mrs. Arroyo on her trip to Europe.
"You can see that despite the political noise, we had a respectable economic growth," Bunye said. "She has a very clear vision and even has a time table for her plans. She just goes on with her reforms no matter how unpopular they are because in not the popularity that will count but the results."
Bunye said the administration is confident that the public will not support such moves to force Mrs. Arroyo from office because Filipinos are tired of the politicking and would like to move on with their lives.
Mrs. Arroyo begin her official visit to Spain today, the last leg of her European swing, after a two-day break with her family at Santiago de Compostela, a pilgrimage site in Spain.
She had talks with Italian leaders and Pope Benedict XVI in Rome before proceeding to Spain.
"We pray that the Pope’s blessings for our people will inspire all our leaders, high and low, to do our share in winning our common battle against poverty, social injustice, corruption and self-serving politics and help take the Philippines to the threshold of the First World," Bunye said.
"The President is bent on realizing that vision for the poor that she had shared with Pope Benedict XVI and the words of encouragement and support from the Holy See have revived her determination and confidence to puhs her agenda to achieve peace, unity and prosperity for all Filipinos."
House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles told reporters this is the "first time" he has heard of a Church official joining a political activity like an impeachment drive. "I don’t even know if they should do that."
He repeated his position that in any endeavor in a democratic society, it’s always a numbers game because the majority has to prevail over the others. He cited the case of his brother-in-law, national artist for literature Bienvenido Lumbera, who signed the impeachment complaint filed last Monday by mostly left-leaning activists.
"I’m not his (Lumbera’s) keeper. We belong to different political spectrum. I can’t convince him in the same way that he cannot convince me. At least in our family, there is no dictatorship," Nograles said. Lumbera married Nograles’ elder sister, Cynthia.
"It is utterly disappointing that instead of explaining why the state should do away with capital punishment and the moral side of it, Bishop Cruz still chose to attack GMA," lamented Cebu Rep. Antonio Cuenco.
Cuenco and Leyte Rep. Eduardo Veloso said it is ironic that Church officials like Iniguez and Cruz have allowed themselves to become "opposition tools used to discredit and unseat the President."
Ilocos Sur Rep. Salacnib Baterina and Bacolod City Rep. Monico Puentevella dismissed the complaints against Mrs. Arroyo as rehashed charges, particularly the allegations that she took payoffs from illegal gambling operators.
"They are recycling it now as an adornment to their impeachment complaint," Puentevella said.
"People were not even interested when the minority included this in their amended impeachment complaint last year because the opposition could not cite any witness to support their bribery charge. The honesty and integrity of the President over the years also belie accusations of graft against her," Baterina said. — With Aurea Calica, AP
U.S. COURT AUTHORIZES US$2,000 PARTIAL PAYMENTS TO MARCOS VICTIMS IN RP
STAR (AP), June 29, 2006 - A U.S. court has authorized partial compensation of US$2,000 each to about 7,500 victims of human rights abuses under late Philippine dictator Ferdinand Marcos, a lawyer said Wednesday.Judge Manuel Real of the U.S. District Court in Hawaii issued the order on Tuesday, but no immediate payment can be made because the move had been blocked by the Philippine Presidential Commission on Good Government, which is tasked with recovering Marcos' alleged ill-gotten wealth, said Rod Domingo, lawyer for the victims.
The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals last month awarded US$35 million in a New York brokerage account that once belonged to Marcos.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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