Palace, CBCP to appoint liaison officers

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang and Catholic Church leaders have agreed to appoint their respective liaison officers who will serve as point persons in airing church and public concerns to President Aquino and his Cabinet.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) secretary-general Monsignor Joselito Asis said the agreement was reached during a five-hour dinner with the President on Tuesday. 

Asis said the dialogue “went well” and could be the “start of an open dialogue.”

“This is a very positive development,” Asis said.

He said the CBCP liaison officer would receive and handle concerns the people would want to raise with Malacañang.

“For instance, on issues concerning the distribution of lands by the Department of Agrarian Reform, CBCP social arm head Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo would receive the letters. To whom do we follow this up, it is not necessarily the President. It would be to the delegate,” he said. 

The decision to appoint liaison officers came in response to the issues raised in the CBCP’s pastoral statement last January.

Among the issues discussed during the dinner were the automated elections and allegations of anomalies against the Commission on Elections, freedom on information (FOI) bill, deepening culture of impunity and unabated suffering of the poor.

The anti-political dynasty bill and the recently passed Reproductive Health (RH) law were not discussed.  

The President assured the bishops that he is committed to passing the FOI bill, but they are still working on the upgrading of the system and digitalization of the encoding of the old data in government offices.

The bishops stressed the urgency of passing the FOI bill, saying the next administration may not be interested in having it signed into law.