ROBERTZON F. RAMIREZ REPORTER
Some bishops and religious leaders met on Thursday to discuss the resignation of President Benigno Aquino 3rd in light of the death of 44 police commandos in the hands of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Mamasapano, Maguindanao, on January 25.
Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said those who attended the meeting were Protestant and Catholic bishops and some lay people who are members of the National Transformation Council (NTC).
According to him, the NTC has about 25 members.
Arguelles said the President has “not done anything good for the people, and he better step down [because], after all, his position there [in Malacañang] is not legal.”
“One congressman [has] asked for [Aquino’s] impeachment. I think even Congress should be impeached, every congressman should also be impeached and [every senator, too] because there are people [in the House of Representatives and the Senate] who had violated the Constitution many times,” he added.
The Lipa archbishop said President Aquino’s leading the country is not legal, citing alleged poll anomalies from the use of Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in the May 2010 elections.
He added that Aquino, whose duty is to defend the Constitution, should resign because it appears that he is violating the Constitution.
“So he should no longer be [President]. He has already renounced his being [the country’s leader] because he is destroying the Constitution and the government structure. [He is hiding the truth from us regarding the Maguindanao massacre]. That is impeachable,” Arguelles said.
He added that Aquino should be impeached because he broke the line of command of the Philippine National Police when he entrusted the Maguindanao operation to a suspended official of the Philippine National Police (PNP).
Arguelles was referring to PNP chief Gen. Alan Purisima, who, according to the President, as a principal player in the operation that led to the death of the police commandos.
He clarified that they are not pushing for the impeachment of President Aquino “because the ones who will impeach [him] are people who are also guilty, but they will not impeach him because they are also part of the gang.”
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