The Philippines' influential Roman Catholic bishops yesterday criticized embattled President Gloria Arroyo over a political scandal but said they would not join mounting calls for her resignation.
The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, after a four-day meeting, said Arroyo had further eroded public trust in the political system.
"In the spirit of humility and truth, we declare our prayerfully discerned collective decision that we do not demand her resignation," the conference said in a statement read by its president, Archbishop Fernando Capalla.
"Yet, neither do we encourage her simply to dismiss such a call from others."
Any demand by the 85 bishops for Arroyo to quit would have sealed her fate in the overwhelmingly Catholic country. Arroyo is clinging to power after eight ministers and two other Cabinet officials resigned last Friday and urged her to follow suit.
In 1986 and 2001, the church led army-backed popular uprisings that toppled graft-tainted presidents Ferdinand Marcos and Joseph Estrada.
Arroyo is under fire over wiretapped conversations released by the opposition last month, in which a woman sounding like her can be heard appearing to conspire with senior election official Virgilio Garcillano to fix the result of the presidential vote last year.
She has publicly apologized for impropriety in phoning an independent election commissioner during the count, but denied trying to cheat.
The bishops called for "a thorough, credible and independent process to examine the authenticity of the so-called Garcillano tapes."
At a press conference they asked Arroyo "to discern deeply to what extent she has contributed to the erosion of effective governance and whether the erosion is so severe as to be irreversible.
"In her heart she has to make the necessary decision for the sake of the country," the bishops said.
Demands for a "truth commission" and the filing of an impeachment case "are not against the Gospel," they said.
However they rejected any extra-constitutional means in a country with a history of coup attempts to replace Arroyo, a devout Roman Catholic who has often invoked God in her decisions.
"We reject quick fixes that cater to selfish political agendas rather than the common good," the statement said. "We deplore the attempts of those groups who seek to exploit a vulnerable national situation in order to create conditions [of] social chaos."
Political analyst Tony Gatmaitan said the bishops apparently issued a carefully worded statement to "avoid controversy."
However, he said it "does not cut any ice with the people" and would give Arroyo only a temporary breathing space.
"The mindsets of the protagonists are already fixed. The critics of the president are very convinced that she is guilty," Gatmaitan said, adding that with the church position known, protests would follow.
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