Palace to CBCP: Sanction Iñiguez

Malacañang wants the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to sanction Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez for filing an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo, officials said yesterday.

Palace officials claimed the complaint violates the principle of separation of Church and State.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said in an interview over radio station dzRH that Mrs. Arroyo was informed about Iñiguez’s filing of an impeachment complaint against her on Wednesday, the third to be filed against her this week.

"What the President said is that we should look into whatever violations (Iñiguez) might have committed because she is holding an encyclical, which in our interpretation, delineates the things that members of the Church should do and not do with regards to the political situation in the Philippines," Ermita said.

He was apparently referring to the encyclical letter "Deus Caritas Est" (God is Love) of Pope Benedict XVI, with whom Mrs. Arroyo visited at the Vatican on Sunday. A copy of the latest encyclical was reportedly given to the President during their meeting.

An encyclical is a letter of the Pope to all members of the Church, including the clergy.

Ermita expressed hope that the CBCP would look into the actions of Iñiguez — one of the few bishops calling for Mrs. Arroyo’s removal from office — who has insisted that filing the complaint was a personal decision.

Iñiguez warned that there was a "groundswell" of support among the masses for the new impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo.

He said that though impeachment is a political process, the search for truth cannot be dismissed as politicking.

Ermita earlier called on Catholic bishops involved in the impeachment bid to respect the constitutional separation of Church and State.

"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," he said.

Ermita said he hoped priests and bishops "would be very balanced in their view of the current political environment."

He pointed out that the bishops, particularly those who have been calling for the President’s ouster, should take their cue from the Vatican, which has expressed its support for her political and economic programs.

Ermita said Papal Nuncio Archbishop Fernando Filoni and the Vatican have expressed support for the administration’s programs and for moves to amend the Constitution and shift to a unicameral parliamentary system.

Common stand

Meanwhile, Catholic bishops are expected to come up with a common stand on the latest impeachment complaints against Mrs. Arroyo during their second and last plenary assembly for the year, set for next week in Manila.

Some senior prelates had earlier expressed disagreement on the issue, with Iñiguez signing on as a principal complainant in the third impeachment complaint filed against Mrs. Arroyo this week.

Hard-liners led by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz argued that a new impeachment bid is the only way to finally resolve issues of legitimacy that had caused a socio-political crisis in the country last year while moderates — led by Lipa, Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles — maintained their belief that the new complaint is a "waste of time" and will just "aggravate sufferings of Filipinos."

CBCP spokesman Msgr. Pedro Quitorio said the differences among bishops will be discussed during their semi-annual meeting on July 8 and 9 at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center along United Nations Avenue in Ermita.

Opposition groups chose this week to revive last year’s failed campaign to oust Mrs. Arroyo through the re-filing of a series of impeachment complaints before Congress focusing on four main charges: cheating in the May 2004 elections, using illegal money in a presidential campaign, suppressing political dissent by issuing Proclamation 1017, and condoning political killings and human rights abuses.

At the peak of socio-political crises last year, the CBCP refused to support opposition-led campaign to forcibly oust Mrs. Arroyo from office but instead called on the government and the people to "relentlessly" pursue the truth about poll fraud allegations.

In a pastoral statement issued last September, the CBCP permanent council even called on the government to "move forward and address the more important and urgent problem of grinding poverty of our people — poverty which has to a considerable extent been caused by excessive politicking."

Quitorio, however, came to Iniguez’s defense, saying "it is the mission of the Church to be involved in moral issues like injustices and cheating. If these issues are already hurting the people, then we really have to step in."

After Mrs. Arroyo had a private audience with Pope Benedict during her official state visit to Vatican the other day, she reportedly said the Pontiff wants a more harmonious relationship between the government and the Church in the Philippines to better address the needs of the poor.

The President also claimed that the Pope seemed "very supportive of our policies and our work for the poor."

However, Quitorio maintained it was Pope Benedict himself who reiterated the moral duty of bishops in his recent encyclical.

"The Pope said that while the laity should not actively participate in politics, it is necessary for bishops to issue moral guidelines on their actions," Quitorio said.

Arguelles, on the other hand, seemed to have found an ally in Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, the most senior in the country’s Catholic hierarchy, who urged Congress to prioritize more important bills.

"I hope our lawmakers would dedicate themselves more (to) legislation for the good of the people," Vidal told reporters in a brief interview.

Meanwhile, the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) recently appealed to the CBCP to remain at the forefront of efforts to unite various sectors of society that hold opposing views on social and political issues.

ULAP also cited the Church’s significant role in resolving political strife and hastening the healing of wounds inflicted by numerous political upheavals and differences that continue to foster enmity and hamper national harmony and unity.

One of the leading proponents of the people’s initiative, ULAP launched an information drive to educate the electorate on the merits of a shift to a unicameral parliamentary system. ULAP, along with the Sigaw ng Bayan movement, was able to enlist the full support of CBCP president and Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo in their campaign. — With Edu Punay