Manilla, Philippines - House Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday challenged Church leaders who are critical of the government to unite Filipinos in praying that the country survive the grave economic backlash of the worldwide financial meltdown, instead of calling for drastic change in the political system that many business leaders described as bordering on sedition.
Nograles noted that while citizens of other nations have cooperated with the government in finding solutions to the financial crisis, some leaders of the Roman Catholic church have even used it as an opportunity to "sow the seed of political instability."
Earlier, Palawan Rep. Antonio Alvarez lashed at the call of some bishops for a military takeover of the government, saying such attempts will not be supported by the public because it will only worsen the economic problems faced by the country.
"Even if a military government will have the blessings of some priests, Filipinos will never allow themselves to be subjugated by the cross and the sword again," said Alvarez, chairman of the House Committee on Trade and Industry.
"We do not want a government that is run by people in cassocks and camouflage clothes," he said.
On Tuesday, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, called for "radical reforms" in government.
He was joined by Archbishop Oscar Cruz of Pangasinan and Bishops Socrates Villegas, Joel Baylon and Jose Sorra, all known for their outspoken criticism of the Arroyo government.
A huge majority of Catholic church leaders have rejected the call of Lagdameo, which was issued without consultation with members and officers of the CBCP.
Nograles said now is not the time to inspire a political unrest, adding that religious leaders should instead rally people to pray and help government to quell the financial firestorm that is expected to trigger economic turmoil.
"This is the worst of times to be making such political statements especially coming from the leaders of the Church," said Nograles..
The Davao City solon assailed the Church leaders for their statement saying that their rejection of Arroyo’s claim of economic progress has no leg to stand on.
He accused bishops of making rash judgment which is a sin."The writings are on the wall as we have seen when we suffered a bloodbath in the stock market last Monday. Despite our strong economic fundamentals, our country remains very vulnerable from the adverse effects of the global financial contagion," Nograles explained.
Instead of calling for the establishment of a new government, the best thing to do for the country’s spiritual and religious leaders is to inspire the government to work harder providing the needed social parachutes for the poor, he said.
"You do not change the captain of the ship in the middle of the storm. That will spell disaster," he said.
Nograles also pointed out that the presidential election is just a little more than a year away and the best way to establish the so-called "new government" is through an election.
"Election is just around the corner so I don’t see the logic why some of our Church leaders are making such statements. They can even campaign in 2010 for their favored Presidential candidate," he said.
He added that it is mere speculation for some Church leaders to claim that charter change is being pushed in Congress to extend the term of President Arroyo as he pointed out that there is not a single document or pending bill in the House that seeks to extend the term of the president."
"I’m really puzzled how and why they are insisting that we want to extend the term of the President. As far as the House is concerned there is no single proposal which pushes for the term extension of the president," he said.