CBCP President and Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles
The head of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has issued a carefully worded statement expressing sympathy for his fellow bishops accused by police of sedition, as well as “respect and confidence” for authorities conducting an investigation.
Davao Archbishop Romulo Valles said he found it unbelievable that four bishops, among the 38 cited by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in a complaint on Thursday, had intended to incite Filipinos against the government of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“That they are accused of sedition and other criminal complaints is for me beyond belief. They may be perceived as very vocal and very critical in their pronouncements. But that they consciously worked promoting seditious activities and other related crimes, these honestly I cannot believe,” Valles said in a statement dated July 19, 2019, a day after the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) filed its complaint for sedition, cyber libel, libel and harboring a criminal against the bishops and opposition figures before probers of the Department of Justice.
The complaint was based on the testimony of a ex-convict, Peter Joemel Advincula, also one of the 38 cited in the complaint, who said he was made to pose as the hooded whistleblower “Bikoy” in “The True Narcolist” video series that linked President Rodrigo Duterte and his family to illegal drugs.
The PNP-CIDG tagged Bishop Pablo Virgilio David of the Diocese of Kalookan, Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, Bishop Teodoro Bacani Jr., retired Bishop of the Diocese of Novaliches, and Bishop Honesto Ongtioco of the Diocese of Cubao in its complaint.
Valles did not mention the priests also accused by the police of sedition, such as Jesuit priest Fr. Albert Alejo and Fr. Robert Reyes.
Valles said he knew the bishops “quite well” and noted that David is his vice president at the CBCP.
“Some of us may feel ill at ease in the way they publicly made known their opinions. But again, I say this, I cannot bring myself to believe that these bishops were involved in seditious activities; they are bishops whose sincerity, decency, respectfulness and love for our country and our people are beyond doubt.”
Valles however said: “I always keep my respect and confidence in the people in government who are involved in the processes regarding the cases filed against these bishops. I pray to the Lord for them, that fairness and truth will guide them.”
“I also pray for my brother bishops; this will be a very distressing situation for them, to say the least. I pray that they may remain calm and confident that in the end, they will be found innocent. I make this prayer to the Lord, with the Blessed Mother as our intercessor,” Valles added. (PressONE.ph)