Malacanang yesterday expressed confidence that the refusal of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) to join calls for President Arroyo’s resignation would soon dispel the political crisis arising from the alleged corruption in the overpriced $329 million national broadband deal,.

"We are glad that the position taken by the CBCP is such that they are not calling for the President to step down or resign. Because they are very discerning as the head of the flock, mas pinapakinggan ng mamamayan," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.

Ermita said those who are staging mass actions have been hoping that their protest would gain momentum with the bishops support.

"(It’s a) free country. Magpalabas sila ng himutok sa rally pero nagagalak tayo na ang ating mga responsible Church leaders, ang position is very discerning in light of the fact that they know what’s good for greater majority of our people," he said.

He said while he has not talked to the President, he is sure that she is "very glad" of the CBCP’s decision.

He said he considers the bishops’ decision as a product of "divine providence."

"Harinawa makakatulong para mahawi ang kadiliman dahil sa mga lumalabas," he said.

But a senior member of the CBCP said the Palace should not be celebrating prematurely.

"This not the only day there is. Mahaba pa ito. The CBCP can call for extraordinary meeting even tomorrow if they find the situation deserving. I am not the least worried. The world does not end today," said Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz said.

"Anything is possible. It can still come to that (call for resignation). One thing I guarantee you, it will not come to the position that ‘(GMA) Please Stay’," Cruz, a former CBCP president, said.

ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN

In its statement last Tuesday, the CBCP described the present government as being corrupt from top to the bottom.

Cruz said the CBCP Permanent Council, which meets on behalf of the plenary when it is not in session, is scheduled to meet on March 5.

He said anything can happen between today and March 5.

Senators expressed disappointment over what the CBCP’s "soft" position in the face of a mounting clamor for Arroyo to resign.

"It’s a downer," said Sen. Francis Escudero.

"It is with deep regret that after a hastily called closed door meeting, this is only what the CBCP had to say. The issues hounding the administration today are the same issues of the past two governments which the Church had helped fought against. With massive poll cheating and high-level corruption in the Arroyo administration being hung out dry in the open, I don’t know anymore how far it would take for the CBCP to take a stronger and clearer stand against all these" Escudero said.

He said if people would go by the litany of trespasses against the nation, the Arroyo presidency would come out as a runaway winners over the Marcos and Estrada administrations.

"PGMA’s trespasses against the Filipino people are the amalgamation of EDSA 1 and 2’s abuses. Corruption, poll cheating and human rights record which even surpassed the human rights abuses 22 years before. You name it, this administration has it," Escudero said.

Senate majority leader Francis Pangilinan said the people should now expect more from the church in the efforts to put an end to the political impasse.

"For those in the political sector, to expect the church to lead in reforming our politics is to admit that we cannot lead," he said.

"We cannot expect the church to solve the country’s political problems. We cannot expect the church to spearhead political reforms. This will have to come from a new breed of political leaders together with a new breed of active citizens," he said.

Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said: "You cannot teach GMA new tricks… While we fully respect the opinion of the CBCP, my personal opinion is mas hahaba. The CBCP could have been bolder."

EMPTY CALL

Sen. Panfilo Lacson said the position of the bishops is understandable. He recalled that the CBCP, during past administrations, had not called for the resignation of a president.

He said it was individual churchmen, like the late Cardinal Jaime Sin, who called for regime change.

Lacson said, however, that asking Arroyo to lead the drive against corruption was an empty call and tantamount to an appeak to a thief to stop stealing.

Senate minority leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said: "After so much groaning and breast-beating, the CBCP calls for more prayers. Prayers are more powerful than our posturing as politicians. The problem is you can’t say it’s effective until God answers."

Militant groups Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas heaped scorn on CBCP statement, saying it was "absurd."

Bayan chairperson Dr. Carol Pagaduan-Araullo saidn the CBCP is misleading the people in calling on Arroyo to lead the fight against corruption.

"Arroyo has long lost the moral ascendancy to lead the fight against corruption in government because of persistent and unresolved cases of big-time corruption that reach the highest levels of the bureaucracy, including Malacañang itself," Araullo said.

CONCEALED THE TRUTH

"From the start, Arroyo and her cohorts have systematically concealed the truth from the public. I wonder how the CBCP could have missed the obvious, well-orchestrated attempts to cover-up the broadband scandal," Araullo adds.

Araullo said the people need not wait for the CBCP cue in ousting Arroyo. She said the ights violations, the extrajudicial killings, the selling-out of national interest and the blatant use of state power, aside from big time corruption, are enough reasons to remove her.

Araullo, however, said, there bishops who are willing to fight along with the people for truth, justice, accountability, and a meaningful change in the system of governance.

"We are confident they will continue to discern and act with the people," she said.

PALACE MAFIA

KMP said it was not surprised by the tame statement of the CBCP, but it was disappointed because the bishops "failed to seize the chance to lead the people against the most corrupt and fascist regime this country has ever seen,"

"This is expected though considering that majority of its composition are conservatives and some have long been courted by the Arroyo regime with so-called donations and special treatment. In a sense some bishops have been tainted by evil or in other words Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo," KMP chairman Rafael Mariano said.

"How many more billions does the mafia in Malacanang have to steal or how many more have to die before the bishops act? It is in this light that the people must rely on their own leadership and strength to oust this scourge upon our country," Mariano said. – Regina Bengco, Gerard Anthony Naval and Job Realubit