Joy Adalia
What is the stand of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines regarding calls for the president to step down over the tragic fate of the 44 Special Action Force (SAF) police troopers?
According to GMA News, the bishops are not supporting the “PNoy Resign!” calls but could still change their stance, depending on the findings of the truth commission who would be tasked to investigate what exactly happened in Mamasapano.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, the CBCP president, reiterated calls for the public officials to create a “credible” truth commission. Until they are provided with facts from this truth commission, then the CBCP will remain neutral in this issue.
Villegas admitted that the CBCP officials could not speak for the entire Catholic body, saying “the CBCP has not yet arrived at a collective position”. It is highly possible that many bishops and priests believe President Benigno Aquino III should resign but most of them are keeping their opinions to themselves.
“Do not blame those who made the ultimate sacrifice [meaning the fallen SAF troopers]”, Villegas urged the public. Much pressure is placed on the SAF troopers whose actions were believed to have been driven by the large bounty on Marwan’s head. However, the blame game should stop because until the factual story is told, we could not simply pinpoint who was to blame for the incident.
For this reason, the bishops will remain quiet and would not call for the president to resign.
Militant Groups: “PNoy Resign!”
Militant groups are not satisfied with the president’s explanations, however, saying he is liable for the lives of the fallen 44 SAF men. Thus, as their commander in chief, he was responsible for the operation and should step down because he failed them, reports Remate.
These groups are also demanding that the government release the “real” version of what really happened to answer the many questions in the people’s minds. Questions that surfaced after the Mamasapano tragedy include who authorized the operation and gave the go signal, the president’s involvement in the operation, why the rest of the SAF men stayed in the shadows while their comrades were being massacred, and why the army did not assist the SAF.
