The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines questioned the timing of new initiatives in Congress to amend the country’s Constitution.
Archbishop Romulo Valles of Davao, president of the bishops’ conference, said it is not yet time for Charter change, citing previous documents issued by the conference on the issue.
“The [bishops’ conference], of course, with prudent wording, we said, not yet, not this time,” he said, adding that the Church leaders have already spoken on the matter in the past.
“The statement from the [social justice] commission will stand as of now. We discussed that and we support the statement of that particular commission,” said Archbishop Valles.
In a statement, the Commission on Social Action, Justice and Peace of the bishops’ conference, said the Charter change proposals “will not benefit the nation.”
Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of Kalookan, vice president of the bishops’ conference, said “the basic questions are still the same.”
“Why now? Why would you be bringing in the agenda of Charter change?” said the prelate in an online media briefing on January 28.
Bishop David said the Charter change issue was among those raised during the bi-annual meeting of the Catholic Church leaders this week.
He said, however, that the bishops have not yet decided if they will issue a new statement because they already made themselves “very clear” on the matter in a 2018 pastoral letter.
On Jan. 29, 2018, the bishops’ conference released the “Pastoral Guidelines for Discerning the Moral Dimension of the Present-day Moves for Charter Change.”
It read: “(O)ur moral stand was and remains consistent, namely: Amending the fundamental law of the land, so carefully crafted for the common good after years of dictatorship, requires widespread peoples’ participation and consultation, unity of vision, transparency, and relative serenity that allows for rational discussion and debate.”
“Our focus and priority should really be the pandemic,” said Bishop David. “And of course the same old issues about, you know the expression, ‘if ain’t broke, why fix?’” he said
“What matters most is really to fully implement the Constitution, the 1987 Constitution,” he added.
In its statement, the social action arm of the bishops’ conference has rejected the fresh moves to change the Constitution, saying there are more urgent issues that need attention.
It also warned that the current attempt to revise the Charter may be used to keep politicians in power.
The statement said genuine constitutional reform will only come from the direct participation of the people, which, the commission said, is lacking in the current initiatives of members of Congress.
The commission warned that moves to amend the Constitution can be used to cancel the elections in 2022, extend the terms of politician or even prop up a revolutionary government.
Legislators, however, insisted that the focus of the proposed amendments would only be on economic provisions that they believe are “restrictive.”
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, apostolic administrator of Manila, said the government should “stop wasting resources” on pushing for Charter change and “start boosting economic programs to help the poor.”
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, head of the social action arm of the bishops’ conference, said the government should “center its attention on subsidizing agriculture.”
He said the government has to let go of issues that divert the people’s attention from the real problems that require urgent actions. – with a report from Mark Saludes
