President Rodrigo Roa Duterte gives a message after Former President and Incumbent Pampanga Second District Representative Gloria Arroyo presented to him a birthday cake during the former President鈥檚 70th birthday celebration at La Vista Subdivision in Quezon City on April 5, 2017. The President celebrated his 72nd birthday on March 28, 2017. ALBERT ALCAIN/Presidential Photo
What a Palace official said was a power struggle between Church and State being a thing of the past took a sour note when a leading bishop in Mindanao warned of an emerging dictatorship if plans to junk elections pushed through.
Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo said President Duterte could turn into a 鈥渇ull-time dictator鈥� if the 2017 barangay elections were canceled and officials appointed by the President instead.
If this happens, Bagaforo said, it is a likely scenario for the President鈥檚 political party, Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban), to be the next Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, which the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos used to dominate politics during his reign.
Bagaforo made the comments just as Ernesto Abella, presidential spokesperson, said power struggle between Church and State belonged to the 鈥渄im, dark past鈥� now enlightened by Catholic bishops鈥� willingness to work with the government to defeat the drug menace.
Abella said Malaca帽ang welcomed the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines鈥� (CBCP) statement expressing readiness to cooperate in the war on drugs, though only to rehabilitate drug users, not aid police in their killings.
Antideath
鈥淲hile the bishops are 100 percent against the proliferation of drugs and support 100 percent the campaign against drugs, they emphasized rehabilitation which is part of the second phase of our anti-illegal drug campaign,鈥� said Abella.
鈥淲e thus look forward to their help in treating drug dependents and restoring their mental, spiritual and psycho-emotional health,鈥� he said.
Bagaforo, in an interview with Church-run Radio Veritas, said that by wanting to appoint village officials, 鈥淒igong has slowly metamorphosed into a full-time dictator.鈥�
鈥淭his will erase any opposition party and the next is a legalized autocracy called a federal parliamentary government,鈥� he said.
鈥淏eware of the triumvirate Duterte, Pimentel, Alvarez,鈥� Bagaforo said.
He was referring to Senate President Aquilino 鈥淜oko鈥� Pimentel III and Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, Duterte鈥檚 party mates in the PDP-Laban, a party once derided for its lack of members. A joke went around about how all of its members could fit into a Volkswagen Beetle.
Bagaforo鈥檚 comments on barangay elections came after the filing of House Bill No. 5359 by Rep. Robert Ace Barbers seeking to defer the coming elections in October for barangay officials to May 2020.
Drug infiltration
The President had said he wanted the barangay elections canceled to prevent drug syndicates from further infiltrating the ranks of village officials.
But Bagaforo said he seriously doubted the accuracy of Mr. Duterte鈥檚 claim that at least 40 percent of all village officials were involved in the drug trade.
In Malaca帽ang, spokesperson Abella said he found a statement by Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, CBCP president, that the Church is not anti-Duterte but against policies that harm citizens encouraging.
鈥淚t is a good reminder that power struggles between Church and State belong to a dim, dark past and in a world that has evolved by leaps and bounds. It is imperative that all work together to put food on every table, no matter what beliefs one holds in private,鈥� said Abella.
Abella finds the same statements being made by another Church leader, Marbel Bishop Dinualdo Gutierrez.
Gutierrez called for unity, noting the two impeachment complaints against Mr. Duterte and the second-highest-ranking official of the land, Vice President Leni Robredo.
鈥淲e have many problems at hand so let us work together to solve the problem, not to put each one down,鈥� Gutierrez said over Church-run Radio Veritas.