MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATE 5) The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has asked President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and all branches of government “to take the lead in combating corruption” but stopped short of asking for her resignation.

"We are convinced that the search for truth in the midst of charges and allegations must be determined and relentless, and that the way to truth and integrity must be untrammeled, especially at the present time when questions about the moral ascendancy of the present government are being put in question," the bishops said in a pastoral letter Tuesday.

Tackling the issue of Ms Arroyo’s resignation -- demanded by some business, civic and church groups and the academe -- the bishops decided against issuing a statement on it because they believed Ms Arroyo was “part of the process” in the search for the truth.

“In the end, we did not ask for resignation. The letter brings it to the reality that we still expect the President to be part of the efforts to seek reforms to find the proper pathway for our nation to come to political maturity,” Bishop Leonardo Legazpi said.

He said the pastoral letter “envisions the participation of the President in the reforms, which we have underlined.”

When asked if the bishops did not find sufficient grounds to call for Ms Arroyo’s resignation, Legazpi said: “The answer is yes to both.”

Besides, the body considered calling for Ms Arroyo’s resignation “a political exercise” and believed the search for the truth would eventually lead to a “rebuilding of our institutions which are very vital to the stability of our country,” the bishops said.

Bishop Orlando Quevedo said the bishops would relay to Ms Arroyo lingering “questions of moral ascendancy.”

“We want to tell her that. We want to let her know that moral ascendancy continues to be discerned by circles of discernment from the grass roots level,” he said in an open forum.

The bishops also clarified that their call for communal action had been misinterpreted as a call for people power.

Quevedo stressed that communal action was used by the CBCP in the context of community discernment, prayer and action.

“The words ‘communal action’ have been misinterpreted in the minds of the bishops by certain groups and even media, that it would mean simply a call to people power, as understood in terms of EDSA I and EDSA II,” he said.

“What we’re looking for is people power with a difference, and the words communal action are used to refer to a people power with a difference -- prayerful community reflection toward action in combating corruption, restoring integrity,” he added.

Hence, it should not be used by the CBCP “in order to call for people to rally against the government or against anybody.”

While recognizing “a crisis of truth and the pervading cancer of corruption,” the influential bishops opted not to call for another “people power” uprising "to preserve the democratic process."

"Another EDSA could weaken our economic structure," said CBCP president Archbishop Angel Lagdameo.

The bishops decided that another people power revolt was “going to weaken our democratic institutions,” Legazpi told reporters.

They strongly condemned “the continuing culture of corruption from the top to the bottom of our social and political ladder.”

“When we say top to bottom, that includes Malacañang because that is on top. The bottom, we would include the basic ecclesial community,” Lagdameo said after the meeting at the Pope Pius X Center in Manila, which lasted nearly 12 hours.

Instead, the CBCP -- which played a key role in non-violent revolts that ousted two leaders in the last two decades (Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and Joseph Estrada in 2001) -- asked Arroyo to allow her subordinates "to reveal any corrupt acts particularly about the ZTE-NBN deal, without being obstructed in their testimony no matter who is involved."

In the pastoral statement released after the daylong meeting to discuss the present political crisis, the CBCP also:

• sought the abolition of Executive Order 464 and for the President to allow her subordinates to reveal the anomalies in government, particularly on the allegedly tainted national broadband network contract forged with China’s ZTE Corp., “without being obstructed in their testimony no matter who is involved;”

EO 464, which bans government officials from testifying in congressional inquiries without Ms Arroyo’s permission, has stalled inquiries into the scandals that have rocked her administration.

• asked the Senate and the Ombudsman to use their distinct power to fight corruption and “not for their own interests but for the common good.”;

• called on media to be a “positive resource of seeking the truth and combating corruption” through objective reporting; and

• encouraged the creation of a “culture of truth and integrity -- the new version of people power.”

The bishops prefaced their statement:

“We come to you as pastors for that is our precise role. We do not come as politicians whose vocation it is to order society toward the common good. Our message contributes to the flourishing of democracy which must not be built only on political formulae.”

Fifty-one of the country’s 101 active bishops attended the meeting. Four retired bishops also took part.

Quickly reacting to the statement, deputy palace spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said: “This should end the calls for resignation and people power.”

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez, in a phone interview, said: "The Palace will look into the matter seriously."

Presidential spokesperson Ignacio Bunye said: “We welcome the statement of the CBCP which exhorts everyone to fight corruption and search for truth. The recommendations addressed to the executive, the legislature, and the media certainly deserve very serious consideration.”

Bunye said: “We thank the CBCP for not succumbing to the propaganda of rabid oppositionists who are bent on overturning the gains of our strong economy.”

“The nation deserves a respite from frantic, irrational and dangerous calls for the President to resign, while the real truth has yet to be established by the court of law,” he added. With reports from TJ Burgonio, Beverly T. Natividad, Kristine Alave and Alcuin Papa of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and Joel Guinto, INQUIRER.net