Instead of the impeachment, Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo believes lawmakers should act on more urgent bills that will improve the lives of the Filipino people.
(CBCP NEWS / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
He cited the Rights of Nature Bill and the Food Security Bill pending before the House of Representatives as examples.
"These are important legislations that when ratified, will improve our farmers’ lives, will lessen climate vulnerability and risks, will strengthen our economy, and will generally make the Philippine government fully responsive to the needs of its people," Bagaforo said in a statement on Tuesday.
"During the last nine months, we have seen that poverty has worsened. Government’s inability to act prudently has a lot to do with it," he added.
The head of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines National Secretariat for Social Action Justice & Peace(CBCP-NASSA)/Caritas Philippines said this following the impeachment complaint filed by lawyer Lorenzo Gadon versus Supreme Court Justice Marvic Leonen which was endorsed to Congress.
Bagaforo said "while we demand from our government officials’ accountability, integrity and service of the highest standards, and that complaints against misconduct must be surfaced and acted upon, the aspiration for justice must only be used with pure intentions."
Father Antonio Labiao Jr., CBCP-NASSA/Caritas Philippines’ executive secretary, said the House leadership should know what really matters to the people during this time.
"The House leadership need to be prudent to know what really matters to the Filipino people at this time, and I believe that the impeachment is not among them," he said.
"There were more than 3.4 million Filipinos affected by the recent typhoons and flooding incidents according to the national disaster council. They are what matters," Labiao added.
CBCP-NASSA/Caritas Philippines is the social action arm of the Catholic Church.