Church not being used in destab – CBCP
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has denied that the Church is being used to destabilize the Duterte administration.
“That is not true… definitely there is nothing like that. It is just a fabrication that came out of somewhere. Definitely, it did not come from the Church. I can assure you of that,” Cavite Bishop Reynaldo Evangelista, chair of the CBCP Public Affairs Committee, said yesterday.
Evangelista made the statement after political operator
Pastor Boy Saycon said that the Catholic Church might be used to destabilize the Duterte administration.
President Duterte appointed Saycon to the EDSA People Power Commission last January and as a member of the special team formed by Duterte to talk with religious groups recently.
Other members of the special panel are presidential spokesman Harry Roque, Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Ernesto Abella and Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, a former Catholic priest.
The Archdiocese of Manila also branded as fake news social media reports that Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle is urging the people to take over the government.
“The Office of Communications of the Archdiocese would like to clarify that Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle does not issue any statement or message stating that the Church should take leadership over the government, particularly the one that is spreading in social media the past few days,” said Fr. Roy Bellen, head of the Archdiocese of Manila Office of Communication.
“The Cardinal issued pastoral statements that encouraged the faithful to participate in activities that promote goodwill in parishes and communities. He also asked the faithful to pray for the country and for the Church,” he added.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it has not monitored any destabilization plot against the President.
“Our intelligence monitoring has zero information,” PNP chief Director General Oscar Albayalde said at a news briefing yesterday.
Asked if he plans to talk to Saycon to get more details about his detabilization claims, Albayalde said: “I don’t even know if there is a need to talk to him about that.”
Roque to lecture Saycon on protocol
Malacañang was also quick to douse speculations that the creation of a special team to conduct a dialogue with religious leaders is a move to quell “serious destabilization efforts” against the Duterte administration.
Roque neither confirmed nor denied Saycon’s claim of destabilization plots.
“You’d have to ask him. All I will say is, I’ll talk to Pastor Saycon and tell him about standard operating procedures of the Office of the (Presidential) Spokesperson now that he has joined the panel,” Roque said.
“I’ll have to tell him to be more careful about what he says to the public and to the media, and that there are vetting processes before we’re able to say anything to the media. So, I will discuss with him the communication protocols of the government,” he added.
Roque explained that Saycon was chosen to be part of the special team because he has established “clear lines of communications” with many leaders of the Catholic Church and Saycon’s appointment has nothing to do with the rumored destabilization efforts.
“No, none at all. The President is confident about his faith and the Catholic Church is also confident about their mission in our country. So we hope that both institutions will be able to work closely in serving the nation,” he added.