CBCP exec dares Roque: Identify prelates he believes conniving with NPA

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque should prove his inclination and identify religious leaders whom he believed was conniving with communist rebels.

This was the challenge made by Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo, chairman of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on the Laity.

Pabillo, in an interview on Tuesday, said: “He [Roque] should name names, [otherwise] he is just spreading rumors.”

“That is not responsible reporting. This is one way of spreading false news,” the CBCP official stressed.

Likewise, Pabillo said that Malacanang’s claims only show “how insecure they are.”

“They are so blinded by their fears and their bias that they cannot see their mistakes. They deflect on others their inefficiencies,” the prelate lamented.

READ: Some church leaders may be conniving with Reds to oust Duterte—Roque

Roque, in an earlier press briefing in Maasin, Leyte, claimed that it wouldn’t be surprising if Church leaders would unite with the Communist Party of the Philippines and New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) to oust Duterte.

“Baka marami nga sa kanila (religious leaders), eh hindi nila tatanggapin si Presidente. Kaya nga hindi malayo na magkaisa ‘yung ilan sa kanila diyan sa CPP-NPA na patalsikin si Presidente Duterte,” Roque said.

(Maybe a lot of them, since they are not acceptable of the President. That is why it is not far fetch that they have become one with the CPP-NPA to oust President Duterte.) /jpv