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The bishops likewise highlighted the need to study the issue of federalism, which President Duterte has been actively pushing for.

Federalism, as well as the country’s sovereignty, respect for human rights, the death penalty, and the sanctity of the family were among the issues raised in the three-page pastoral letter.

CBCP president and Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Socrates Villegas noted that the clamor for federalism “stems from the dissatisfaction of many people with the lack of equitable distribution of benefits, power and financial resources in our present unitary system.”

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In its pastoral letter, the CBCP said it was not endorsing or disapproving moves to amend the 1987 Constitution as being pushed by Duterte, but to offer pastoral guidance to its flock.

The CBCP stressed the need to assert that “sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them,” adding that “public office is a public trust.”

“Let us not allow any public official to act as if he is the master of the people, for a person is elected or appointed to public office to be a servant of the people,” the pastoral letter pointed out.

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“Let us ensure that provisions of our Bill of Rights are preserved, especially, ‘No person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws,’” it said.

“Likewise very important is the prohibition of the death penalty, which we advocate to be made absolute,” the letter added.

The Church also asserted its pro-life stance as it called for the protection of the provision in which “the state shall equally protect the life of the mother and the unborn from conception.”

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“The process of amending the Constitution should not be left to politicians or to those who either by election or appointment will be tasked to draft the amendments… The Constitution is the single most important document of our country. The Filipinos are the author of this document,” they said.

Those who are tasked to draft or amend it, the bishops stressed, are not the authors but the instruments of the Filipinos, and that it only becomes valid upon the people’s approval.

“We must be vigilant and watch over, and even suggest ideas and formulations that enter into the Constitution. We have to make sure that the resulting document embodies ‘our rights, our ideals, our aspirations, and our dreams,’” the letter stressed. JE

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