CBCP execs want Aquino’s final answer

MANILA, Philippines–Are you running or not? Just say yes or no.

Tired of President Aquino’s nebulous answers to questions about whether he’s supporting his allies’ moves to amend the Constitution so he could run for a second term, officials of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Sunday urged him to quit hedging and give the nation a straight answer.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said that if Aquino was really not interested in amending the Constitution to lift the presidential term limit, he should say so clearly and stop his allies from taking even just one more step toward the amendment of the Charter.

“If he is not really interested, then why doesn’t he stop his allies from pushing Charter change?” asked Pabillo, chair of the CBCP National Secretariat for Social Action (CBCP-Nassa), in an interview with reporters on Saturday.

“He may not be interested, but those around him are interested [because] they want to stay,” Pabillo said, adding that amending the Constitution is a serious matter and should not be done in haste.

“That needs a lot of dialogue, and if you [amend the Constitution], anything is open, including their term extension,” he said.

Fr. Edu Gariguez, executive secretary of CBCP-Nassa, agreed with Pabillo, saying Aquino must give his allies a clear sign that he has no intention of staying beyond 2016.

“He should stop his allies from pushing for Charter change … no more hedging,” Gariguez told reporters in a separate interview.

Gariguez also said the President must quit vacillating and “give a clear signal so that the others will be discouraged from promoting Charter change.”

At issue, he added, is not only the extension of the President’s term but also of the terms of other officials.

Whenever asked about it, Aquino gives unclear answers saying he will listen to the voices of his “bosses”—the people.

Clipping judiciary’s powers

Aquino makes it clear, however, that he wants amendments to the Constitution that will clip the powers of the Supreme Court, whose decision striking down his economic stimulus plan, the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), on July 1 angered him no end.

But former Sen. Joker Arroyo thinks Aquino should quit picking a fight with the Supreme Court and instead work to unite the country.

“The President is supposed to unite the people. That is an objective,” Arroyo said on dzBB radio on Sunday.

“We have to unite. I myself would like Noynoy to succeed,” Arroyo said, using Aquino’s nickname. “It’s not for his sake but for the country’s sake. We will not prosper if we are proceeding like this.”

Arroyo said he did not think Aquino really wanted to control the judiciary but was just angry over the Supreme Court’s ruling on the DAP.

But the people around the President may be concerned that they could be held to account for the DAP after Aquino’s term so they are floating the idea of amending the Constitution as fallback position, especially if the government loses its appeal, Arroyo said.

It would be a “good legacy” for the President if he fired his officials responsible for the DAP, he said.

“President Noynoy can recover before 2016. All he has to do is get rid of all those people if his [straight and righteous path] and reform agenda are real,” Arroyo said.

RELATED STORIES
  
Aquino wants reforms to be permanent, mulls Charter change 

Bernas tells Aquino to retire, give Santiago a chance