CBCP officials slam 'unjust, immoral' revolutionary gov't calls
MANILA, Philippines — Resounding calls for a revolutionary government are inappropriate and undemocratic propositions to make especially amid the worsening coronavirus pandemic, ranking officials of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said Monday.
Supporters of the chief executive on Saturday assembled at the Clark Freeport to call for a "revolutionary government" to be headed by the president himself until 2022. The group, calling themselves the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte - National Executive Coordinating Committee, claimed to be made up of numerous civil society groups and non-government organizations supporting Duterte and urged Filipinos to join calls for the adoption of a new Constitution.
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Speaking in an interview with Radio Veritas, Archdiocese of Manila Apostolic Administrator Bishop Broderick Pabillo slammed the calls as a betrayal of the Filipino people and Constitution, pointing out that there is "no sufficient reason" to call for a revolutionary government.
“We have a Constitution and we must abide by the Constitution so the Revolutionary Government that they want to focus on means to remove the Constitution and that is not right, there is no reason and we see this Revolutionary Government that they want is just a way to maintain their power that we should not have check in balances and also we need that it is enshrined in the Constitution what the succession of powers is not what they want,” Bishop Pabillo said in an interview with Radio Veritas.
Pabillo called the idea "unjust and immoral," saying a revolution that looks to ousting the current government and re-appointing the president as its leader is a betrayal of the people. He called on Filipinos to uphold the Constitution and its succession of powers.
"So that is not fair and that is immoral to do that, that is seditious, that is being a traitor to the country…" Bishop Broderick Pabillo added.
Ozamiz Archbishop Martin Jumoad echoed this sentiment in a separate statement also issued Monday morning, saying: "No to revolutionary form of government. Besides, we are in the midst of Pandemic and the government is still functioning; Democracy is still the option even in this moment where there are varied opinions being aired out."
“Let us not contribute to the sinking of the boat of the government even if we are sailing in rough seas...Pres. Rodrigo Duterte must clean his cabinet and terminate them if they are found to be corrupt officials. The same is true with those officials in other agencies who are suspect of illegal activities," he also said.
Both the Philippine National Police and the Department of National Defense have said that they would not support any calls for a revolutionary government, although the former has not made any arrests despite possible violations of quarantine protocols on physical distancing—rules it has strictly enforced when dispersing protests.
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State workers, lawyers, and lawmakers have also questioned the necessity and legal basis of such a proportion.
The Palace though, said that the group was free to express its opinions, though it said that the Duterte administration was focused on dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
— Franco Luna
The Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte – National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NEC) has revived calls — also made in 2017 —for the declaration of a "revolutionary government" headed by President Rodrigo Duterte, the head of the actual and constitutional government.
Government officials have disavowed if not oppenly opposed the proposal.
Follow this thread for updates on this attempt at charter change.
Photo: In this July 25, 2020 file photo, the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NECC) held a motorcade calling for a Charter Change and Cultural Revolution on Saturday from Kalaw St. in Manila to Barasoin Church in Bulacan. On August 22, it called for the declaration of a 'revolutionary government'.
Sen. Francis Pangilinan says President Rodrigo Duterte's oppenness to discuss the idea of a revolutionary government is irrelevant in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Dagdag sa problema at hindi solusyon sa problema yang rev gov na yan," Pangilinan says.
The opposition senator stresses that the open discussion that should be done is addressing the immediate concerns such as deaths, the spread of the coronavirus, hunger and joblessness of Filipino citizens.
Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic Administrator of the Archdiocese of Manila, says calls for a revolutionary government is tantamount to betraying the Philippines.
"That is not fair and that is immoral... that is seditious, that is being a traitor to the country," Pabillo says.
The bishop adds that such calls is only being used by those in power to hold on to their positions.
Ang panawagang magtayo ng revolutionary government ay isang pagtataksil sa bayan, ayon kay Bishop Broderick Pabillo, Apostolic administrator ng Archdiocese of Manila. pic.twitter.com/CIKal4DBQO
— News5 (@News5PH) August 24, 2020
"A revolutionary government is repugnant to constitutionalism. It should be discouraged and denounced, as we do now. There is no legal, factual, practical or moral basis for a revolutionary government under the present circumstances," the Integrated Bar of the Philippines says.
"The persistent and growing ills afflicting our country are better addressed by honest, efficient, transparent, accountable, and democratic governance under the rule of law rather than by questionable shortcuts or adventurism that exacerbate rather than solve the problems," IBP also says, adding it is bound to uphold the Constitution.
The Philippine National Police and the Department of the Interior and Local Government has nott taken action on the call for a "revolutionary government" by the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte – National Executive Coordinating Committee (MRRD-NEC).
"The call for a revolutionary government may at best be excused as a constitutionally guaranteed freedom of expression, but it should not be allowed to progress into actions that violate existing laws," IBP says.
The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (COURAGE), an organization of state workers, slams the call for a "revolutionary government" by the Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte - National Executive Coordinating Committee.
"These clowns should be called out for diverting the people's attention in yet another nonsensical hullabaloo. It is indeed foolish of the MRRD NECC bloc to call for the establishment of a 'revolutionary' government while their esteemed President Duterte and the armed forces are hellbent in silencing critics by labeling them as insurgents. Also, clamoring for such change is an admission that the four-year-old Duterte Administration is inutile even in these most pressing times," COURAGE Secretary General Manuel Baclagon says in a press release.
He says the group should "get your acts straight and tell the president to focus on devising a plan to curb the spread of the pandemic, based on real free mass testing and treatment for the direly afflicted of COVID-19."
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