CBCP: No credible alternative to GMA

Amid her declining popularity, President Arroyo won an important vote of confidence from the influential Roman Catholic Church yesterday, with bishops saying there was no credible alternative to her leadership.

"Right now, it would seem to me that the best option for the country is for President Arroyo to finish her term and be allowed to succeed without nitpicking by the opposition and by some sectors of media, and without needless political infighting," Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said in a statement.

Vowing "critical solidarity" with the administration, Quevedo cautioned Filipinos to be wary of attempts to organize another people power uprising similar to the one that toppled Joseph Estrada, Mrs. Arroyo’s predecessor, in January last year.

"I do not see the Church supporting any artificially created people power trying to raise the banner of a contrived and artificially created national crisis," he added.

Commenting on Mrs. Arroyo’s declining popularity, Presidential Spokesman Silvestre Afable said, "This government has taken the initiative (with) a lot of political, social and economic reforms, and there is no possibility that another (regime-changing uprising) will happen under this administration."

Without a "realistic and more beneficial alternative" to Mrs. Arroyo’s leadership, Quevedo said, "why should we continue to raise petty issues about her personality, her political mistakes, as if she were Superwoman?"

"Does anyone else see anything? A junta? A military takeover? Resignation of the President? Another EDSA?" he said. "We have to concentrate on the essentials and not on petty things that create petty squabbles."

A wave of kidnappings-for-ransom and her pledge to honor power supply contracts previous governments had signed with private power producers, which have driven up electricity bills, have eroded Mrs. Arroyo’s popularity.

Her public approval rating slipped to 42.6 percent last month, compared to 48 percent in March.

Economic difficulties "might raise widespread countryside dissatisfaction" against the Arroyo administration, Quevedo said.

But "even then one problem or five economic problems that do not involve massive presidential corruption do not make a national crisis that would seriously threaten the presidency," he pointed out.

Despite the separation of church and state, the Catholic Church wields enormous political influence.

It played a significant role in February 1986 when the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos was ousted in a peaceful people power revolt, and again in January 2001 when Estrada was ousted in a similar military-backed popular protest.

Dissent against Estrada erupted in late 2000 after allegations surfaced that he received millions in bribes from illegal gambling rackets, pocketed state funds and profited from insider trading. He is currently facing trial on corruption charges.

Quevedo said the Church would pursue its "critical solidarity" policy with Mrs. Arroyo.

"I do not see any grave national crisis that would seriously destablize the Arroyo administration," he added, contradicting a claim by an opposition lawmaker, Sen. Edgardo Angara, that "the Republic is in grave danger."

Quevedo said pro-Estrada politicians and militant groups "seem bent in fanning into a national ‘crisis’" the country’s political and economic problems.

"The militant left is trying hard to spread the anti-Arroyo feeling to urban centers in the country by announcing nationwide rallies," Quevedo said.

On the other hand, he said the "main origin of the present political problem was the weird rearrangement in the Senate manipulated by the political opposition in order to grab power," referring to the takeover of the chamber by pro-Estrada lawmakers last month.

The Senate coup then forced the Arroyo administration to seek compromises, which reportedly included recruiting Estrada supporters into the government.

Despite Malacañang denials, the reported move angered a group of former Arroyo political allies, the Council of Philippine Affairs (COPA), who helped Mrs. Arroyo oust Estrada in 2001.

Because of COPA’s constant criticism, Mrs. Arroyo cut ties with them last week, branding them as "termites" trying to destroy the "strong Republic" she was struggling to build.

In an attempt to mend fences, Mrs. Arroyo will attend a Mass at the EDSA Shrine in Mandaluyong City sponsored by COPA to "reflect" on the gains of the uprisings against Marcos and Estrada. The shrine was the site of the 1986 and 2001 popular protests.

In April, COPA leaders were implicated in a supposed plot to overthrow Mrs. Arroyo via a so-called "Freedom Force" and install a civilian-military junta.

The supposed plot was made public by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin whom COPA leaders supposedly consulted.

Sin rejected STAR columnist Teodoro Benigno’s suggestion that Mrs. Arroyo be replaced with a "collective leadership" instituted by the Freedom Force that would be supposedly launched next month.

Benigno denied that he was involved in a plot to seize power and install a junta.

In a speech before a forum sponsored by the Philippine Press Institute last Friday, Angara blamed Mrs. Arroyo’s "failure of leadership" for the country’s economic difficulties which, he said, were "going from bad to worse."

"We have an incompetent Chief Executive," he said. "The Arroyo years are wasted years. She’s not focused. She’s more active in campaigning (for the 2004 elections). We are a leaderless nation at a crucial period of history."

But Angara warned against ousting Mrs. Arroyo. "It will not be good for the country. But seeing the weakness of the center and her ineffectual leadership, it’s a great temptation to grab power," he said. — With AFP, Paolo Romero