Let her lead it, bishops say

The bishops have spoken, the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, that is. No, they are not joining the strident calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. Instead, they are only plugging for a determined and relentless search for the truth. What’s more, they apparently want the President to stay right there and take the lead in combating corruption. What also is clear is that they want her to abolish the abominable Executive Order 464, which gags her executives from facing inquiries and speaking of what they know.

* * *

I’m sure the six points outlined in the CBCP Pastoral Statement are already known to all concerned Filipinos by this time, as its release was extensively covered by the media yesterday. The statement was brief, to the point, and, might I say, even terse. And what an improvement over previous Pastoral Letters or Statements that we have known before that were kilometric, and made Sunday masses quite tedious when they are read in church. I wonder who is the “ponente” of that statement? Keep him on, dear Bishops!

* * *

The statement from their excellencies came out at about the same time that another new witness was spilling his beans at the Senate, regaling interrogators with his declarations of what he knew, and whom he knew to be involved in the “greedy group”. Oh, he was quite daring, he enumerated the alleged members and ticked off the names of former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos, Ruben Reyes, Leo San Miguel, Retired General Quirino de la Torre (Oh? where did we hear that name before?). Pressed further, he hinted that he was in the Senate and could do his worst, and proceeded to say “the first couple”. Watch for the fall-out on that one!

* * *

He hadn’t yet gone through another day of questioning when the story of Dante Madriaga was already being shot full of holes by Malacañang staffers. One spokesman, a Mr. Golez pointed out that the days the witness was citing were those when the first gentleman was hospitalized. Also, there were attempts to make him trip and reveal that he was being handsomely rewarded for his recitation. Well, we are getting confused by the testimonies of witness after witness, the best thing to do is to wait until all the flying dust settles down.

* * *

For the moment, never mind the explanations coming from Malacañang’s Manny Gaite, the guy with lots of money. I can’t recall his first explanation, but the second was that the source of the P500,000 he gave to whistleblower Jun Lozada came from his own personal funds. Later he said he got it from friends willing to help the tortured man. Pressed further, he said it was a loan, now we hear it came from an uncle. Not Uncle Sam, for sure, but who is this very rich and very trusting Tito, who would give his nephew half a million pesos to lend to a man he had only met two or three times? Thicker and thicker the plot becomes.

* * *

Meanwhile, a late report last night said the police had uncovered a plot among junior officers (not the generals, otherwise they won’t become ambassadors later) to unseat the government of President Arroyo. Well, their timing is bad, the bishops have just declared they will have no part in any unseating, and we know how influential they can be when unseating is what we are talking about. Let’s hope these “plots” are not similar to those ambushes and mystery vessels being reported just before the declaration of Martial Law some 27 years ago.

* * *

Yesterday was a big day for West Negros College as it launched its entry into the list of the country’s universities. The landmark day was observed with a program at the gymnasium that was filled with students, faculty and staff. One could see how eager and excited the management was to celebrate the granting of such status, they had no time to change the word “college” into “university” yet on the seal hanging over the stage and on the rostrum where no less than 20 speakers delivered messages, led by the radiant school head, Suzette Agustin, to whom much of the credit for the attainment of this new status is credited.

* * *

The speakers who revealed that they, too had studied at West Negros, were applauded by the happy crowd. The speakers invited represented various sectors of society – Congress, the provincial government, the city of Bacolod, the CHED, TESDA, DepEd, the academic community of AFP, the PNP, the religious group, the media, the alumni, the faculty and employees, and the students. After all, it was an event that the entire community rejoiced in. Congratulations to all those involved in this achievement, and good luck!*

back to top