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.
Related Stories
RELATED: Duterte tells frontliners: No need to raise hands as if calling for revolution
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.
RELATED: Manila police: Placards confiscated 'before activists could do what they planned to do' | 20 arrested at Pride march against anti-terror bill in Manila
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