Philippine bishops to issue statement on political crisis, corruption

Published: 2008-02-26

MANILA, Philippines (CNS) -- Fifty-five Catholic bishops in the Philippines agreed to issue a statement on the crisis in President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's government amid allegations of corruption in a national broadband deal. Bishop Deogracias Iniguez of Kalookan, chairman of the public affairs committee of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines, told reporters the conference president, Archbishop Angel Lagdameo of Jaro, invited interested bishops to a special meeting Feb. 26 in Manila. The focus of their discussion was what is happening in the country in connection with the alleged overpricing of the broadband contract to pay off commissions, reported the Asian church news agency UCA News. Arroyo's husband has been implicated in the deal. Bishop Iniguez, who had celebrated Mass Feb. 25 to mark the anniversary of the 1986 "people power" uprising that deposed President Ferdinand Marcos, said the bishops' meeting was "extraordinary" because bishops meet in plenary session only twice a year.

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