Palace hits back at Butuan bishop

The bishop “diplays the zeal of a Grand Inquisitor and not the Christian humility of a shepherd,” said Palace spokesperson Edwin Lacierda in what could be the strongest exchange yet between the Aquino government and a Catholic leader.

Lacierda was refering to Butuan Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos who had called on the President to resign over the alleged sins of his cabal of partymates, classmates and shooting buddies (kakampi, kaklase at kabarilan or “KKK”). Pueblos also said there were groups currently moving to overthrow Aquino.

“Instead of pastoral concern, he seems ignorant of the virtues of charity, humility, and prudence and instead fires from the hip, armed with a fanciful imagination, and utterly without any effort to discern the truth,” Lacierda added.

Lacierda said Pueblos needs to be rebuked in the strongest possible terms “for being a long-standing advocate of impunity.”

Short of calling Pueblos a lackey of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Lacierda noted that Pueblos had opposed calls to investigate Arroyo for the Hello Garci scandal, which alleged there was cheating in the 2004 presidential election; and, more recently, the creation of a Truth Commission to investigate scandals during the Arroyo administration.

Asked if Malacañang sees the involvement of Arroyo in the efforts to undermine the administration, Lacierda said, “Who are their talking heads?”

“Just by seeing the talking heads, you would see who they are allied with,” Lacierda said in apparent reference to Pueblos and the lawmakers that called for an investigation of administration officials that were involved in controversies but are allegedly being treated with kid gloves by President Aquino.

“There seems to be a pattern here,” Lacierda said during yesterday’s news briefing in Malacañang.

“(Pueblos) admits to being in the loop as far as people conspiring to unconstitutionally oust the President and told the media he is awaiting further details on these supposed plots,” Lacierda said.

“His contribution to the conspiracy of which he claims to be in the know being his opinion that it should be without bloodshed and without violence,” he added.

“I doubt if he will (name the plotters). The guy starts with a lie and I doubt if he will speak out the truth,” Lacierda said.

“Let him discern the truth if he is man enough to speak out the truth. As of now, he is fueling lies and propaganda, innuendos; very shocking for a man of the cloth to do so,” he added.

Lacierda said the series of adverse publicity the past week against President Aquino started with news of former Arroyo’s scholars saying their scholarships has been stopped by the current administration.

Lacierda said this was not true. The scholarships are continuing.

It was then followed by the House minority’s proposal to investigate President Aquino’s supposed friends or “KKK” that were allegedly involved in anomalies but remain in his good graces.

Arroyo herself was in the fray when she filed an opposition to the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Conchita Carpio-Morales as Ombudsman. Then came Pueblos’ rants against President Aquino and his story of a plot being hatched against the Chief Executive.

Asked if there could be some truth to Pueblos’ tale of an ouster plot against Mr. Aquino, Lacierda said: “Suffice it to say that the President is duly elected and the people continue to trust in him.”

He added: “We elected President Aquino because he was the complete antithesis of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo,” Lacierda said.

Meanwhile, the House minority said it was standing pat on its demand that President Aquino’s “KKK or kakampi, kaklase and kabarilan” (party mates, classmates and shooting buddies) face a congressional probe.

The President’s allies, on the other hand, dared the minority to formalize their complaints against the “KKK” in a resolution but to make sure they have evidence to pin them down.

“There is no party stand on the congressional probe of the President’s allies. But we welcome it for transparency,” said Iloilo Representative Niel Tupas Jr. of the President’s Liberal Party.

But Tupas dismissed the minority’s threat to seek a congressional probe as just as a “political move.”

Quezon Rep. Lorenzo “Erin” Tanada III said the minority’s demand for a probe was no different from the call of the Butuan bishop, a loyal supporter of the previous administration, for the President to resign.

House minority Leader Edcel Lagman in a statement referred to the members of Aquino’s KKK as Land Transportation Office (LTO) Chief Virginia Torres, shooting buddy of the President, who was recommended for dismissal by the Department of Justice for intervening in the Stradcom ownership dispute; to Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Ricardo Puno, a close friend of the President, who was recommended for charges by Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) headed by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima for his botching the Rizal Park hostage rescue; and Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, a political ally of the President, who was accused of tax evasion and cleared moto propio. Lagman said Mr. Aquino chose to ignore all these cases.