By Ferdinand Patinio
MANILA – An official of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Friday said the Church issues pastoral statements not to criticize politicians, but to guide the public and point out what it believes are troubling developments in government.
According to Fr. Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the CBCP-Public Affairs Office, the recent statement regarding the abrupt change in Senate leadership was not intended to place elected officials in a bad light but to help Filipinos better understand the situation.
“Well, the Catholic Church did not release such statements to criticize politicians but to show the people that there are things happening that are no longer appropriate, that no longer suit the sense of decency and sense of morality [and] ethical sense,” he said in Filipino during a Radyo Pilipinas interview.
“So these are things that we also need to explain to the people… this is not a type of political statement. What the Church is doing is guiding the flock because it may be possible that the flock is confused,” he added.
Secillano said the current political climate is reflective more of partisan politics than governance centered on public service.
“This is not politics to serve the nation or the citizens, it is being used to defend or support whoever they are affiliated with,” he said.
In a strongly worded pastoral letter Thursday, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, a former CBCP president, slammed the Senate after the sudden change in leadership, with Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano unseating Sen. Vicente Sotto III.
“It is obscene. It is unbelievable that men and women called ‘honorable’ could do such a brazen exercise of power,” he said in a pastoral letter.
“It is confusing. It is unbelievable. It is pathetic. It is disgusting. It is shameless. How did we reach this low level of public service?” Villegas added. (PNA)
