In the social media His Eminence Ricardo Cardinal Vidal has lately been subjected to malicious bashing from some people for “asking for the resignation of the president.” Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma already clarified the role of the good cardinal but whatever the controversy, it is important that in a democracy we respect each other’s opinion and have the patience to search or wait for the truth to come out.
Cardinal Vidal is well respected and loved by Cebuanos. It isn’t right to malign him. We must listen first to his explanation to understand his stand on this matter.
For those who support President Aquino, it does not help your cause to resort to insulting those who may not share your love and admiration for the president. Let us debate on the issues and not resort to hurling insults like what some people, who believe it was wrong of the cardinal ask the president to resign, are doing.
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News reports carry the revelation of an unnamed source in the Special Action Force (SAF) about the deep involvement of Americans in the Mamasapano mission, specifically in the planning, execution and monitoring of the operation.
A resort in Zamboanga City owned by a member of the House of Representatives was reportedly the training venue of the Filipino soldiers. This was later denied by the congressman in a television interview. Now the allies of President Aquino are defending the involvement of the Americans by saying the US has the sophisticated gadgets needed to locate Marwan and take down this international terrorist.
I think this misses the point. The issue here is that the President and PNP officers were not upfront with the people about the role of the United States government. It violates the Constitutional requirement of transparency in government.
From the start, President Aquino was not forthright with the people about his role and responsibility in the failed mission. This has angered families of the Fallen 44 and the public especially when the president failed to be present at the arrival of the mortal remains of slain SAF commandos at the Villamor Air Base because he chose to keep his appointment for an inauguration of a motor vehicle company. Now there are moves to ask the president to step down. I believe we must respect this position though we may not agree with it.
The National Transformation Council is asking the president and top-ranking government officials to step down and let a transition council take over as caretakers.
But I have to ask under whose authority can this be done? I would rather have an organization move now to educate the people on the importance of supporting presidential candidates who are highly qualified and competent, with a track record of honesty and good governance for the 2016 election.
The Catholic Church should take the lead here especially since it has a mass base and wide following.
It must now play the role of guiding the sheep to choose servant-stewards who are going to lead the people. The Catholic Church has been politically-neutral and avoiding getting involved in partisan politics but let’s face it, the church will always be affected by politics and government policies so it’s about time the Church asserts its influence on the people in a good way. The church has been pictured as powerless and inutile because of its non-involvement in elections.
The call of the times is for the Church to assert itself by steering the people in the right direction when selecting a competent president with the right values in 2016.
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