Cebu bishop against people’s initiative, One Voice says

Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has expressed support for a non-partisan movement against the people’s initiative endorsed by the Arroyo administration to push for Charter change.

The group "One Voice" said Vidal, the most senior of the Philippines’ Catholic hierarchy, has affixed his signature to their manifesto and declared support for the movement and its advocacy.

One Voice organizer and former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Christian Monsod said Vidal’s support was one of the most encouraging responses they have received so far.

"The very encouraging response from individual Filipinos and organizations demonstrate that people are looking for a better way to address the political impasse so that the country can move on," Monsod said in a statement sent to The STAR.

Monsod said Vidal and Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias signed the One Voice manifesto.

However, Vidal and his representatives were not available yesterday to verify the report.

Earlier, the leadership of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines also expressed support for One Voice with CBCP president and Jaro, Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo and CBCP vice president and Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma signing the One Voice manifesto.

Other prelates who supported One Voice were: Archbishops Ramon Arguelles of Lipa, Batangas; Oscar Cruz of Lingayen-Dagupan; Orlando Quevedo of Cotabato; and Leonardo Legaspi of Caceres.

Bishops Deogracias Iñiguez Jr. of Caloocan, John Du of Dumaguete and Florentino Lavarias of Iba, Zambales have also reportedly expressed support for One Voice.

The movement believes the people’s initiative is "legally flawed, based on fallacious and deceptive reasoning and will just extend the powers of incumbent officials."

Arguing that Charter change through a people’s initiative will not end the socio-political woes of the country, One Voice proposes a five-point solution: Discontinue the people’s initiative, create a social reform program, hold election in 2007, convene a constitutional convention after the elections, and participate in a collective effort to rebuild the credibility of the country’s democratic institutions.

The CBCP issued a pastoral statement in April expressing alarm over the signature campaign to push for Charter change.

"Signatures are apparently collected without adequate information, discussion and education," the CBCP said in that statement. "The manner in which these signatures are supposedly collected, including door to door campaigns, are not conducive to the kind of informed participation that such fundamental changes demand. The changes that are being proposed for signatures of citizens are dangerously unclear and open to manipulation by groups with self-serving interests. The complexities and variations of the parliamentary system are not adequately explained and have not been sufficiently discussed by our people."

President Arroyo reportedly raised her grievances regarding the supposed intervention of the Catholic Church in affairs of state during her meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at Vatican City Monday.

Blas F. Ople Policy Center and Training Institute president Susan Ople, another organizer for One Voice, has asked members of the Charter Change Advocacy Commission (ad-com) to be more dignified in their statements, as they are presidential appointees.

"Maligning concerned citizens who have come out to make their voices heard is not part of the (ad-com) mandate," Ople said. "We urge the presidential appointees to this commission to be more courteous and tolerant of other people’s views."

She said ad-com chairman Lito Lorenzana and member Jose Abueva’s statements branding One Voice as "elitist" and an "enemy of the poor" only serve to widen the gap between government and the governed. — Edu Punay