Palma tells bishops: No to P-Noy resign calls

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma cautions other bishops against making “political statements” by calling for President Aquino’s resignation.
CDN photo/ Junjie Mendoza

CEBU Archbishop Jose Palma yesterday asked fellow bishops and priests to  refrain from issuing  partisan political statements, something he said was beyond their competence and mandate.

Palma said they should not be joining calls for the resignation of president Benigno Aquino III because this is a political matter.

“There are ranges of mind-sets as regards this issue. There are those who are asking the president to step down. Others say, no, no no. I, too, have a personal stand on the matter but saying that the president should step down, to me, should not be said by bishops,”  Palma said in a press conference at  the St. John Paul II Home for Priests in Cebu City.

Palma said he supports the decision of Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle to brush aside calls for Aquino’s resignation.

In a television interview from England early this week, Tagle  expressed opposition to the  bid of the National Transformation Council to form  an advisory council that would take over  the country’s governance in case Aquino resigns. Tagle referred to those behind the oust-Aquino campaign as   “troublemakers.”

“We, as bishops, should not make any political statement. I think Cardinal Tagle is questioning the position of other bishops,” Palma said.

“When he (Cardinal Tagle) made such remark, he was of the belief that Church leaders should not make a political statement. He believes we should wait for 2016, especially that it’s just a few months away,” he added.

Palma also called on the country’s legislators to revisit provisions of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law before approving it.

“It’s not a simple deal that you say ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ We love our Muslim  brothers and we all aspire for peace. But there are many intricacies in the bill; many conditions that need to be studied. We are for peace but we leave it to the experts to study the bill,” he said.