CBCP not supporting calls for Aquino resignation for now

At least for now, the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines is not supporting calls for President Benigno Aquino III's resignation over the death of 44 Special Action Force police troopers following a clash in Mamasapano, Maguindanao last Jan. 25.

 

But the CBCP, according to president and Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, pushed for a "credible" truth commission that will look into the tragedy.

 

"Before we have all the facts, however, the CBCP cannot morally join in the calls for his resignation, leaving this decision to his humble and prayerful discernment of his capacity to lead and the support his has not only from officials of government but from members of Philippine society," Villegas said.

 

He noted the calls for Aquino's resignation stemmed from the outrage and grief over the deaths of the 44 SAF troopers.

The troopers figured in an hours-long gunfight with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and its splinter group, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters, in a cornfield in Mamasapano. The SAF men were conducting an operation that time to serve arrest warrants to two wanted terrorists: Filipino bomb-maker and Abu Sayyaf member Basit Usman and Malaysian Jemaah Islamiyah member Zulkifli Bin Hir (alias Marwan). 

 

Villegas however said that "(f)or the present time, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines has not arrived at a collective position."

 

"Whether or not the President should resign and yield the powers of his high office to a lawful successor is a judgment that he must make, after prayerful discernment, and in all humility and judiciousness," he said.

 

On the other hand, Villegas said that amid conflicting accounts of what happened, no one should blame those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

 

He said the SAF troopers "were never in a position to command but, true to the culture of the police and of the military, stood ready to receive orders."

Credible truth body

 

Still, Villegas said the CBCP "fully supports and endorses the creation of a credible Truth Commission or a Fact-Finding Body."

 

"Any inquiry by a police body, such as a Board of Inquiry, no matter how veridical its findings, will be weighed down by lingering doubts about its preparedness to point to liability, no matter how high up the chain of command attribution must go! Subordinate officers, whether in the police or in the military, after all seldom point accusingly at superiors!" he said.

 

On the other hand, he said an investigation by Congress is "compromised by the political allegiances of most of its members."

 

Even the vocal advocates for the passage of the draft Bangsamoro Basic Law are "not credible nominees because they have made it exceedingly clear that they would not like the sad incident to derail the process of the enactment of the BBL."

 

"The CBCP therefore strongly suggests that the members of any such committee, though appointed by the President, must be endorsed by and acceptable to the public, recognized for their probity, acknowledged for their truthfulness and characterized by their boldness," he said.

 

"It is as important that the hearings of the body be open to all, and that its findings be available to all. Nothing is served by secrecy," he added.

 

Aquino should learn

 

Villegas also said the CBCP "prays" President Aquino should have "learned from this regrettable tragedy that transparency and forthrightness are what are expected of him at all times."

 

"It will serve him well to listen to sound advice and counsel from truly wise, and not from those eager to curry favor! He has been roundly criticized for having absented himself at the arrival honors for the mortal remains of our heroes. He will, in the future, we hope, make better balanced choices and conduct himself as his high office demands," he said.

 

"We pray that in all humility he would willingly accept just criticism rather than have his spokespersons concoct excuses at every turn," he added. —Joel Locsin/KG, GMA News