By ARIES RUFO
An abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak Exclusive
Bishops from Mindanao proved to be President Arroyo’s saving grace in Tuesday’s special meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).
The CBCP, acting as a plenary council for the second time this year, again refused to join the rising chorus calling for Arroyo’s resignation in the face of fresh allegations of massive corruption by her administration.
Instead, the bishops wanted Arroyo to address concerns about allegations of corruption in government and wanted her "to be part of the efforts to seek reforms to find the proper pathway for our nation to come to political maturity."
A major disappointment for sectors seeking Arroyo’s downfall was the CBCP conclusion that Arroyo has not lost her "moral ascendancy" to govern despite the mounting allegations of corruption in her government.
The bishops merely pointed out to Arroyo that questions are being raised about her moral ascendancy, which they said she should address.
It was, by far, the longest plenary meeting that was conducted by the CBCP in recent memory. It took them more than 10 hours to come up with a seven-paragraph pastoral statement.
Three major issues
Fifty-one active and four retired bishops participated in the plenary.
abs-cbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak interviewed four bishops plus other sources who provided details on what transpired in the meeting.
The bishops were faced with three major issues: 1) whether a pastoral statement is in order; 2) how to approach allegations that the government is covering up allegations of corruption; and 3) whether they should pass judgment on her authority based on moral grounds.
During the first few hours of the meeting, the sources said the bishops argued whether they should issue another pastoral statement since they already issued one last January.
Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros said some bishops felt there was no need to come up with another statement since the present situation was no different last month when they held their first annual plenary.
In the January plenary, the CBCP stressed that while corruption in government continues to be a nagging concern, the bishops said it was "by no means universal as far as the entirety of our people is concerned."
They said that the general concern of most people is livelihood and that they want "enough of the paralyzing divisions in body politic."
Kidnap key to new statement
Oliveros said it was only after two hours of discussion that the bishops decided to issue a new statement to reflect the new developments in the NBN-ZTE broadband scandal, particularly with the expose of Rodolfo Noel "Jun" Lozada.
Kalookan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez confirmed that his colleagues did not want to issue a new statement initially, but they eventually felt it was proper to put things in perspective.
The allegation that there was an attempt to kidnap Lozada by government authorities to prevent him from spilling the beans on the NBN-ZTE scandal also convinced the bishops that a statement is in order.
Cover-up
Iniguez said "one of the obstacles" that the bishops also argued was how to deal with allegations that government is trying its best to cover up anomalies in government by keeping government officials from testifying in proper forum, particularly in the Senate.
This explained why constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas was invited to speak before the bishops on Executive Order 464 (EO 464), which has been used as legal cover by government to keep officials from appearing at the Senate.
In inviting Bernas, Oliveros said the CBCP wanted to make sure that the recommendation they would come up with would not contravene any constitutional principle.
Bernas explained to them that the Supreme Court had already invalidated some objectionable portions in EO 464 and that executive privilege exists independently from it.
EO 464 bars government officials from testifying in congressional inquiries without approval from the President.
The SC has ruled that government must cite the grounds in invoking executive privilege, and that a mere-say so from the executive branch is not sufficient to bar officials from testifying.
Spirit of truth
In seeking the abolition of EO 464, Cagayan de Oro Bishop Antonio Ledesma said the bishops also wanted the Palace to waive executive privilege "in the spirit of truth and accountability."
Although it was not expressly stated, Ledesma said a waiver on executive privilege "is the essence of the recommendation."
Iniguez, one of Arroyo’s more vocal critics in the CBCP, echoed Ledesma’s position. Thus, the CBCP reached a consensus on asking President Arroyo to revoke EO 464 in order not to stifle congressional investigations on anomalies in government.
But Oliveros said the CBCP stopped short of categorically asking the President to give up executive privilege since this is a right vested to the Office of the President.
"We are not trying to protect the President but the Office she represents," he said.
Moral ascendancy split bishops
It was on the issue of moral ascendancy that lines were drawn between bishops critical and those supportive of the President.
Some bishops wanted the CBCP to declare that Arroyo had lost her moral ascendancy to govern while majority deemed that she has not.
Oliveros said the "consensus" among the bishops is that graft and corruption allegations against the President were not backed by evidence and based only on hearsay.
He noted that other bishops shared the sentiment that Lozada had not presented any evidence to support his claim, and that the President had a hand in the anomalous broadband deal.
Pro-resign outnumbered
A bishop, who refused to be identified, said many of the bishops from Mindanao, who are more or less sympathetic to the President’s plight, outnumbered those from Luzon who are either critical or neutral on the political situation.
The bishop noted that of those who were openly calling for Arroyo’s resignation, only one rose to intervene in the plenary.
Thus, when the statement was finalized, it lacked the venom that sectors who wanted Arroyo ousted had hoped for.
‘JDV of all people?’
Oliveros said the bishops considered the credentials of those who wanted the President to resign for supposedly losing the moral ground to govern.
He cited, for example, former House Speaker Jose de Venecia, who has openly sought the President’s resignation on the basis of moral bankruptcy. "Who are making the assessments? JDV, of all people?"
A source privy to the initial draft said some portions in the pastoral statement were watered down due to interventions of bishops sympathetic to the administration.
The source said the original wording on the portion on moral ascendancy said "it was at stake", but the final wording only stated there were questions being raised.
The bishops also refused to categorically say whether the pastoral statement last Tuesday was an indication that they wanted the President to finish her term.
"That is a political question and we are not competent to dwell on that," they said.
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