Cool it? Bishop says Malacañang provoked Church

MANILA, Philippines—“Will you be calm if you are held at gunpoint?”

Archbishop Ramon Arguelles posed this question as the rift between Malacañang and the Catholic Church widened with the bishops withdrawing from a dialogue last week with the Aquino administration on the controversial reproductive health (RH) bill and declaring an “all-out war.”

Malacañang on Monday said it was astounded at the incendiary rhetoric coming from some elements of the Catholic hierarchy and said men of the cloth should behave properly with circumspect.

“The Church has been calm on the issue but they have provoked us,” Arguelles said over Church-run Radio Veritas on Monday.

The Lipa archbishop cited President Benigno Aquino III’s warning that prolife groups threatening to mount tax boycotts and other forms of civil disobedience faced sedition charges.

Malacañang officials, using state radio, said on Sunday the bishops should “calm down a bit” and explain their position “within the means of law” on the proposed measure to control a runaway population growth rate blamed for worsening poverty.

“We can’t be calm when the results of similar bills like [the RH bill] are evident in other countries … We can’t be calm because they are pushing for what is not right,” Arguelles said.

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes also advised the youth on Monday not to be swayed by their favorite celebrities rabidly promoting the family planning measure “as they do not know what they are talking about.”

Pacquiao endorsement

Bastes also lamented how these celebrities did not thoroughly study the effects of the RH bill, especially on the morality of the youth, before publicly endorsing it.

But the prelate said he was glad that not all celebrities were behind the bill, particularly lauding boxing champion and Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao for supporting the Church position.

Bastes said that Pacquiao would be among the bishops’ visitors in Tuesday’s quarterly permanent council meeting of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

The bishops’ Episcopal Commission on Family and Life also appealed to lawmakers on Monday not to short-cut the debates in Congress.

“Our only appeal is for them not to short-cut the debates, that every single provision must be extensively discussed, including every issue behind the RH bill so that our legislators can vote on it wisely and prudently,” Fr. Melvin Castro, the commission’s executive secretary, told reporters.

Palace astounded

Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda on Monday said the Palace was astounded and saddened by the “highly inflammatory” statements by some bishops who have branded Mr. Aquino and the RH bill supporters as “murderers, or Bin Laden or Herod.”

Lacierda disclosed in a Palace briefing that when there was a report months ago that the Church would excommunicate the President for supporting the bill, Mr. Aquino told him: “Let’s not throw stones. Let’s give them bread.”

“So, we continue our cooperation with them in areas where we can share agreements,” he said.

“Insofar as the disagreements that we have, we will respect them for that. We will not throw stones. We will continue to throw bread at them … We will turn the other cheek, as what we’ve always done. The President is very respectful of the bishops. We expect men of faith to behave accordingly.”

Nothing personal

Lacierda also said that he did not think there was a rift between the Church and the State. He said those making inflammatory statements were “individual bishops whom I don’t know if they are allowed to speak in the name of the Church.”

“Will the real representatives speak up?” Lacierda said.

“We have not said anything against the bishops personally or accused them or called them names. And we do not intend to start. We hope they would slow down and ponder the effects of what they are saying.”

In Congress, Akbayan Rep. Kaka Bag-ao on Monday cautioned the Church against pushing for a “tax revolt” in its anti-RH bill drive.

“This is precisely what big-time tax evaders are praying for,” she said. “Armed with a new milieu to exploit a particular issue, these major tax cheats might ride the anti-RH bandwagon just to avoid paying taxes.” With a report from Cynthia D. Balana