Days after the Jan. 25 Mamasapano clashes that claimed the lives of 44 members of the Special Action Force (SAF), the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said it was not joining calls for President Aquino’s resignation. The CBCP said the decision to step down should come from the President himself.
In a Feb. 4 statement, CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said that Aquino should consider his capacity to lead and the people’s support in his decision to step down.
“The CBCP cannot morally join in the calls for his resignation, leaving this decision to his humble and prayerful discernment of his capacity to lead and the support he has not only from officials of government but from members of Philippine society,” Villegas said.
The statement was issued amid calls by two CBCP members—Batangas Archbishop Ramon Arguelles and Zamboanga Archbishop Romulo de la Cruz—for the President’s ouster.
Both bishops slammed the President for being “incompetent” in leading the country following the bloody encounter.
Days after the Mamasapano clashes, Lucena Bishop Emilio Marquez issued a strongly worded message, saying any talk of amnesty for the culprits behind the deaths of the SAF 44, even if it was meant to advance the pursuit of peace in Mindanao, was “very wrong.”
“Giving a pardon to whoever is behind the bloody killing is reprehensible. All persons responsible must suffer. They should be sent to jail,” Marquez said.
On Feb. 9, Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo told Church-run Radyo Veritas that the President should consider stepping down from his post “for the good of the people” if he thought he no longer had the competence to lead the nation.
On Feb. 15, Villegas challenged Aquino to disclose his role in the Mamasapano debacle. In a strongly worded statement, Villegas said the policemen went after “high-value targets”—international terrorist Zulkifli bin Hir, alias “Marwan,” and his Filipino deputy, Abdul Basit Usman—because they were ordered to do so.
“The President and his advisers must give a full satisfactory accounting of their actions in respect to this tragic loss,” said Villegas, noting that policemen, even the SAF, “do not order themselves.”
In Cebu City on Feb. 13, Archbishop Emeritus of Cebu Ricardo Cardinal Vidal read a statement of the National Transformation Council, which includes former officials of the Arroyo administration, calling on Aquino to step down.
Five prelates—Archbishop Arguelles, Archbishop De la Cruz, Archbishop Ramon Villena of Bayombong, Archbishop Filomeno Bactol of Naval and Archbishop Emeritus Fernando Capalla of Davao—stood behind Vidal as he read the statement.
Villegas, in a Feb. 23 letter to all ecclesiastical jurisdictions in the Philippines, sought obligatory prayers (Oratio Imperata) to help “calm the anxieties” of the people and “touch the hearts of the enemies of peace” after the Mamasapano massacre.
The situation, not just of the country but of the world, now calls on all bishops “to turn to the Lord in humble supplication and gather our people to pray,” he said.
Earlier this month, some bishops also called on the President to apologize for the debacle.
“Certainly, he’s the Commander in Chief,” said Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez of Marbel, Cotabato province. “Humility is a sign of true leadership. He should accept responsibility. Genuine leaders never pass the buck. Humility is truth, a Christian virtue.”
Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said the President should apologize. “Humility is a great virtue needed by public servants. Pride can lead to destruction.”
Archbishop Arguelles and Bishop Pabillo earlier called on Aquino to resign. “He should step down to give the forsaken 44 members of the Special Action Force eternal rest and give the Filipino people a fresh start,” said Arguelles.
“It’s not enough to apologize. Punish and prosecute the ones who are responsible because lives have been lost,” Pabillo said.–Inquirer Research
Source: Inquirer Archives