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Bishops: Don’t rush federalism

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The four Roman Catholic bishops in Negros Island are urging President Rodrigo Duterte and the country’s legislators against rushing to shift to Federalism.

Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes, San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza, Bacolod Bishop Patricio Buzon, and Kabankalan bishop-elect Louie Galbines, issued the call last Palm Sunday in a manifesto entitled Joint pastoral guidelines on federalism and charter change.

They said they felt the need to make a statement of their own in Negros “because of the present apathy we sadly see among our people and maybe even in the Church, and we hope our own statement will add to the collective voice we need so badly to awaken the conscience of the nation”.

The Bishops said the proposal to shift to federalism should be studied thoroughly because what is at stake is not only the present generation of Filipinos, but the future generations as well.

“We insist, ‘in season or out of season (2 Timothy 4:2)’, that the voice of the people and not that of self-serving politicians be reflected in any constitutional change,” they said.

Stressing that changing the form of government to a federal system is a very serious matter in the life of the nation, the four bishops are encouraging the people in their dioceses to form “circles of discernment” to reflect, discuss, debate and discern on questions they are proposing, to read the current situation correctly.

The manifesto urges everyone to find answers to these questions truthfully and conscientiously as we urge them to get involved and influence their respective district representative on what position to take on this issue.

The bishops are calling on everyone to help in the promotion of awareness and education of the people on charter change and federalism and are asking the Consultative to review the 1987 Constitution, to study and hold consultations on Federalism and to always be guided by the principle of the common good in their deliberations and resolutions.

The bishops acknowledged that there is widespread poverty, inequality and violence in the country, and the people have been longing and clamoring for change but added that the proposed change should lead to the attainment of the common good.

In all previous attempts to amend or revise our present Constitution, they pointed out that the CBCP had consistently taken the stand that amending the fundamental law of the land requires widespread peoples’ participation and consultation, unity of vision, transparency, and relative serenity that allows for rational discussion and debate.

The Negros bishops said it is their duty to provide pastoral guidance supportive of the CBCP’s recent pastoral guidelines on the moral dimension of the administration’s proposal to rewrite or revise the Constitution. (MP)

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