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Gov. Ed Panlilio of Pampanga on Monday supported a
call of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to
abolish Executive Order 464.
Panlilio, during the weekly
Kapihan sa Manila Hotel, explained that lifting the order will allow
officials, including former socioeconomic planning Secretary Romulo
Neri, to reveal further details on the aborted national broadband
network deal. Further disclosure, he added, will help in the search
for the truth behind the allegedly corruption-tainted $330-million
broadband deal with China’s ZTE Corp.
He backed a recent decision of
the bishops’ group to call on President Gloria Arroyo to junk the
executive order. This order bars Cabinet members and other
government officials from testifying in legislative investigations
without permission from President Arroyo.
”Transparency is in the
consonance of my governance, that’s why I’m backing the
abolition of Executive Order 464,” he said.
Panlilio added that Pampanga,
home province of Mrs. Arroyo, is now divided into two groups.
“Some are still supporting the government while others seek the
truth behind the [broadband] scandal,” he said.
A bishop also on Monday said
dialogue with Malacañang for the scrapping of Executive Order 464
is unnecessary.
Auxiliary Bishop Pablo Virgilio
David, a member of the Permanent Council of the bishops’ group,
added that the dialogue will be useless since the church is clear on
its stand that the order should be revoked. The group, in a pastoral
statement last week, so stated. The statement did not call for the
resignation of Mrs. Arroyo, as had been expected by the
President’s critics.
David of Pampanga, during a radio
interview over the church-run Veritas 846, described Executive Order
464 issued in late 2005 as a “camouflage” to hide truth from the
public.
He said the issues being raised
against the Arroyo administration are moral ones, not from the
“political dimension.”
“The laity should [anchor]
their views on communal action and should they find calling for
rallies appropriate, we will respect their convictions,” David
added.
The bishop played down criticisms
hurled against other bishops who joined last week’s inter-faith
rallies held in many parts of the country. David said he himself
took part in a prayer rally in Pampanga that celebrated the
Eucharist. No banners and streamers were unfurled during the mass
action, he added.
--Ruben Manahan 4th And Anthony Vargas
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