VARIOUS religious leaders on Tuesday called
on government, leftist groups and the public to focus on the
resumption of peace talks instead of being preoccupied by
alleged destabilization plots against the Arroyo government.
The Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform (PEPP)
said it is important to validate the legitimacy of the
destabilization rumors before being bothered by it. "Tingnan na
muna natin kung totoo ang mga bali-balitang destabilisasyon na
ito. Kung hindi naman totoo, huwag na natin ito pansinin at
magpatuloy na lamang tayo sa buhay natin, katulad ng pagre-resume
ng peace talks," said Association of Major Religious Superiors
in the Philippines (AMRSP) co-chairperson Sr. Mary John Mananzan.
She said, however, that if the
destabilization moves have basis, then it will be very difficult
to achieve peace between the communists and the government since
the former have been identified by military and police officials
as among those involved in the supposed plots.
Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF) co-chair
Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said there could be some truth to
this. "Meron naman silang basehan dahil talaga namang may
analysis and efforts ang NDFP na masasabing kontra sa gobyerno,"
Iñiguez said.
He added that this is one of the reasons why
bishops of several religions are working together to achieve
genuine peace in the country, saying that the lack of
tranquility leads to the "rapid erosion of the nation’s moral
fabric."
The PEPP is composed of representatives from
the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, National
Council of Churches in the Philippines, AMRSP, Philippine
Council of Evangelical Churches and the EBF.
The group said that no matter how delayed the religious
leaders’ efforts are in pushing for the resumption of the peace
talks, "any time is still the best time to seek peace and pursue
it." – Gerard M. Naval
