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A RANKING Catholic Church official who is facing
libel charges on Thursday balks on the suggestion made by a lawmaker
from Zambales that he should apologize to female Pagcor employees
who may have been affected by his article in 2004.
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar
Cruz said he simply finds flimsy the suggestion of Zambales Rep.
Milagros Magsaysay that he should issue an apology four years after
the article came out.
“I have nothing to say . . . I
respect their opinion. If I have committed wrong, to apologize is
the easiest to do,” Cruz told reporters during an interview at the
Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) office in
Intramuros, Manila.
The Pangasinan prelate maintained
that he did not commit any wrong and did not malign anyone in his
article in which he said female Pagcor employees acted like “guest
relations officers” during a party in Malacañang in 2004.
“But if you think you are
fighting for what you think is right . . . an apology is a
hypocrisy. But, honestly I don’t think it [issuing an apology] is
the right thing to do,” Cruz said.
The Pangasinan prelate who posted
a P10,000 bail on Wednesday said that he had thoughts of being
handcuffed and locked up behind bars but was advised by his lawyers
against it.
“I pictured myself in handcuffs
and behind bars, that would really be a challenging picture for
those who would feel that I have been a victim of injustice,” Cruz
said.
“It was like that for a moment
or so until my friend, lawyer Estelito Mendoza, called me up and
said you cannot do that . . . that I will put others in trouble and
that I was too old to go to jail,” he added.
The Pangasinan prelate said that
he was overwhelmed by the support he received from fellow bishops
and from other groups after a warrant of arrest for him came out
late Tuesday.
A day after the warrant came out,
CBCP President and Jaro Archbishop Angel Lagdameo issued a statement
expressing solidarity behind the Pangasinan prelate, a known critic
of the Arroyo administration.
“Thanks for the expression of
solidarity, but I hope other bishops will be left in peace because I
am the one who entered this picture and let me suffer for it if
needed,” Cruz said.
--Anthony Vargas
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