‘Bad leader’ irks bishop

PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino 3rd is a “bad leader,” according to a Catholic bishop who is not amused with the President’s current fixation: getting Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona removed from his post.

“Fighting corruption is good, but forgetting other issues such as poverty alleviation is bad leadership,” Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo of Manila said.

Pabillo, who heads the National Secretariat for Social Action, Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA), added that President Aquino should not concentrate on one issue and neglect those that directly affect many of his countrymen.

“Do not waste too much time and money in impeaching one man when a lot of your people are experiencing hunger, poverty and hopelessness,” he said.

The bishop was referring in particular to the plight of farmers who marched to

Malacañang to call on Mr. Aquino to implement the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER).

Pabillo also slammed the government for detaining 30 of these farmers, who came from the provinces of Negros Occidental, Agusan del Sur, Davao, Bukidnon, and Batangas to demand for the program’s swift implementation.

The farmers who rallied in front of Malacañang’s Gate 3 were dispersed by the Presidential Security Group and detained at the Manila Police District headquarters for allegedly violating City Ordinance 1119 or unlawfully obstructing the flow of pedestrian and traffic and Section 819 of the revised “Anti-half Naked Ordinance.”

The protesters lamented the lack of social justice on the situation of the farmers, saying that they only wanted to express their plight, and for the government to take action.

Earlier, another official of CBCP-Nassa said that Aquino must utilize his political power to give what was due to the farmers of Hacienda Luisita.

“Our challenge is for the govern- ment to be consistent in using its political power, not just against Corona but also in providing justice for Hacienda Luisita farmers,” the official, Fr. Edu Gariguez, said.

He pointed out that with its resolve to impeach the Chief Justice, the government has shown that it can do anything it wanted. That being so, he said that the President must use more of his political power for the common good.