Yesterday, we were expecting a “Gloria Resign” call from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP). But while they asked the Arroyo to think things over, they did not join Cory Aquino, the opposition, the Makati Business Club, and the Left, as well as the netizens in their call for Arroyo to step down.
The biggest issue they had to speak about was Mrs. Arroyo’s alleged rigging of the results of last year’s presidential election. In the past, the CBCP strongly condemned election fraud. Its statement after the 1986 snap elections –which was heavily manipulated by the Marcos administration–said:
According to moral principles, a government that assumes or retains power through fraudulent means has no moral basis. For such an access to power is tantamount to a forcible seizure and cannot command the allegiance of the citizenry. The most we can say then, about such a government, is that it is a government in possession of power. But admitting that, we hasten to add: Because of that very fact, that same government itself has the obligation to right the wrong it is founded on. It must respect the mandate of the people. This is precondition for any reconciliation.