S i g n i s I n d i a

MANILA, July 13, 2010— Catholic bishops want a proper closure to unresolved questions over the legitimacy of then President Arroyo’s administration.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said that if there is no closure, the issues will just keep coming back.

Pabillo made the statement on Tuesday as the government is considering the full disclosure of the 4-year old report of an inquiry into claims some top military officials were involved in the alleged stealing of the 2004 elections for Arroyo.

But he said the Aquino administration should be contented with just having the said report in their hands.

According to him, what matters more is on what the government would do in the content of the report in terms of making those involved in the “Hello Garci” scandal accountable.

“After that (release), what do we do with the report? It depends on their actions if it will bring about closure,” said Pabillo.

Pabillo chairs the National Secretariat for Social Action- Justice and Peace of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

On Monday, President Benigno Aquino III ordered Armed Forces of the Philippines Chief Lt. Gen. Ricardo David to release the full version of the controversial Mayuga report.

It can be recalled that the report of the fact-finding team, led by Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, had cleared the three generals, namely Hermogenes Esperon, Roy Kyamko and Gabriel Habacon, in their alleged involvement in the supposed election-related operation even though the report was never made public.

Pabillo said he agrees with Aquino that the report should be made public since that was the real purpose of forming a fact-finding team.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez echoed Pabillo’s statement, saying that the matter is really for the public to know what is in it since it involves government officials.

“The report should be released to the public because it is a legitimate public concern. The public should know the truth,” said Iñiguez, chairman of the CBCP's Committee on Public Affairs.

The CBCP had been very vocal in wanting to bring closure to the five-year old scandal with its January 2006 pastoral statement strongly urging Arroyo to pursue “relentlessly” the truth behind the “Hello Garci” scandal. (CBCPNews)