The Promotion of Church People's Response-Negros yesterday lauded the stand of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines against obstruction to the search for truth on the "Garci Tapes", "No El", and Mining.

"We are one with the bishops in coming out strongly against the systematic diversion and obstruction to the search for truth in the 'Garci tapes," a PCPR statement from its secretary general Fr. Romeo Tagud said.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has no qualms about using all the power and privilege of the executive branch in derailing and frustrating the Congressional inquiry on the truth concerning electoral fraud contained in the taped conversation, it said.

Executive Order number 464 is used as a weapon in frustrating a thorough investigation on the Garci tapes, the fertilizer scam, and, lately, the high-breed rice program - all related to her questionable electoral victory in 2004, PCPR-Negros Chairperson Rev. Fr. Gerson Balitor said.

Like the Bishops, PCPR opposes the no-elections (NO EL) provision in the proposed charter change, the press release said.

This is clear political bribery of incumbent members of Congress in gathering support for the GMA initiated Cha-cha, it said.

The proposed Cha-cha covers not only a change in the form of government but also to take out provisions in the 1987 Constitution that guarantees Filipino sovereign control of the nation's patrimony, PCPR said.

It added that it has a similar stand as the CBCP in opposing the plunder of the nation's natural resources by multinational corporations to the detriment of the Filipino people.*

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