CBCP position may still change says CDO Archbishop

CBCP position may still change says Cagayan de Oro Archbishop

MANILA, 27 February 2008—A prelate said Wednesday the Catholic bishops’ hierarchy position on the current socio-political crisis might still change if the situation calls for it.

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said the bishops could still issue another statement anew if alleged rampant corruption in the government will not be rightly addressed.

Ledesma made the statement amid attacks from various groups who were expecting the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to finally call for President Arroyo’s resignation.

The CBCP held an “emergency” consultative meeting yesterday in the wake of alleged anomalies in the national broadband network government project with China’s ZTE Corp.

In the recent pastoral statement, the CBCP merely urged the Arroyo to take the lead in combating corruption.

After the meeting that many had hoped would inject fresh energy into efforts to topple Arroyo on allegations of corruption, the CBCP merely urged Arroyo to lead in fighting corruption.

The bishops also called on Arroyo to revoke Executive Order 464 and allow her officials to attend any investigations and tell the truth.

The CBCP said the President should act immediately especially now that “questions about the moral ascendancy are being raised” against her administration.

Arroyo critics tagged the EO 464 as a notorious gag, which the government has clamped on the mouths of executive officers who are in a position to reveal incriminating truth.

“At present this was really the reflection made by the bishops and I’m glad that there was a majority of the bishops that came and answer that call for a special meeting,” he said.

But “everything is open in the since that we have to judge the situation according to its own merits at the proper time,” said Ledesma, a former CBCP vice-president.

The prelate also clarified that calling for Arroyo’s resignation is a “political call,” and the bishops themselves are aware that they cannot make political options for the public to follow.

“What we can stress is the moral aspect and that’s why we were stressing the pursuit of truth to fight corruption at all levels,” he said.

Ledesma likewise added that the CBCP will closely monitor and will keep asking the government for “concrete compliance” with their recommendations.

“We will certainly be expecting that and in fact in earlier statements we were asking for a closure of many of these high profile cases of alleged graft and corruption,” he said.

(from cbcpnews.com)