‘It’s time for moral courage’ – Bishop Iñiguez

BISHOP’S CALL Bishop Emeritus Deogracias Iñiguez leads religious groups in calling for strong action following President Duterte’s order voiding the amnesty of his critic, Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. They claim the move is an attempt to strike a final blow at democracy and the nation’s moral fiber. —MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

A retired bishop of Caloocan City on Monday called on Filipinos to unite and condemn the “sorrowful state” of Philippine politics, warning them not to be disinterested because “neutrality is wickedness.”

Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the Duterte administration had “blanketed the country in a moral crisis.”

He said the “state-sponsored confusion,” the worsening poverty and the order to arrest opposition Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV were telling Filipinos something: “It’s time to gather.”

“We must now gather to condemn this sorrowful state of our politics that uses state powers to perpetuate itself,” Iñiguez said.

Time for moral courage

“Neutrality is wickedness. And to be Christian is to stand for and speak the truth. It is time for moral courage,” he added.

Asked if by “gather” he meant the people should take to the streets, Iñiguez said: “Not necessarily yet for that. But it’s time for the people to know what is really happening and to be involved.”

Iñiguez, however, said he had not seen possible leaders for the gathering, but added he hoped they would emerge soon.

“We need leaders to lead others to the truth to the proper reactions that [will] take place,” he said.

“It is essential that they come out. Otherwise, the situation will go worse. So all of us will suffer,” he said.

Iñiguez called on Filipinos to face the climate of fear with moral courage.

“The Duterte administration has blanketed the country in a moral crisis, bending the rule of law to fit one people’s whim, attempting to silence the opposition and displaying callousness toward the plight of the poor,” he said.

Final death blow

“Let there be no doubt: The impending arrest of Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, one of this government’s staunchest critics, without basis and with clear malice, is the President’s attempt to strike a final death blow to dissent, democracy and to our nation’s moral fiber,” he said.

The Catholic Church in the Philippines led the Edsa People Power Revolution that toppled dictator Ferdinand Marcos from power in 1986.

But talk of Church participation in a destabilization plot against the Duterte administration does not sit well with Church leaders.

On Monday, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) gave assurance that the Church would not take part in any plan to destabilize the administration.

“Definitely, if there is such a plan, the Church will not take part [in] it,” said Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP’s Permanent Committee on Public Affairs.

Another warrant plea nixed

Supporters continue to keep vigil outside the Senate building in Pasay City to shield Trillanes from arrest, although President Duterte has said he wants the police to wait for a court to issue a warrant.

Trillanes is one of the fiercest critics of Mr. Duterte. He has linked him to corruption, supported complaints filed against him in the International Criminal Court over the thousands of killings in his brutal war on drugs, and linked one of his sons to illegal drugs and smuggling.

Fighting back, Mr. Duterte voided the amnesty given to Trillanes in 2011 as a military rebel and ordered the police and the military to arrest him.

The Senate, however, blocked the arrest of Trillanes without a warrant.

Court hearing set

The Department of Justice (DOJ) has asked the Makati Regional Trial Court Branch 148 to issue a warrant of arrest and hold departure order for Trillanes last week, but the court, which dismissed the coup d’état case against the former military rebel in 2011, refused and instead set a hearing for Sept. 13.

The DOJ turned to Branch 150 of the Makati RTC that dismissed the rebellion case against Trillanes in 2011 and asked for a warrant of arrest, but Executive Judge Elmo Alameda also refused.

“The court is not persuaded with the argument of the prosecution that its omnibus motion should not be set for hearing,” Alameda wrote in a three-page order to put the DOJ motion through a hearing, which he set for Sept. 14.

Issuing a warrant without a hearing “would prejudice the right of the accused to due process,” Alameda said.

Judicial independence

The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP), the organization of the country’s lawyers, on Monday urged the courts to resist incursions on their independence, slamming Malacañang’s “overt audacity” to overturn the dismissal of Trillanes’ cases.

“The IBP views with deep concern the position being peddled to the public that records of the executive branch can be used to overturn final dismissal of criminal charges by our courts,” the group said in a statement.

“The IBP exhorts the courts to resist the collateral attacks against its judgments and creeping incursions on its independence,” it said. —Reports from Aie Balagtas See, Tina G. Santos, Matthew Reysio-Cruz, Julie M. Aurelio and Dona Z. Pazzibugan