Palace on CBCP collaboration efforts: ‘Anything is possible’

MANILA –Malacanang welcomed on Tuesday reports that the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is hoping to engage the Duterte administration in ‘greater critical collaboration.”

“At the end of the day, anything is possible. As I said the last time, Wala naman sigurong matigas na tinapay sa mainit na kape,” Abella said in a media briefing.

In an Inquirer report, Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Socrates Villegas revealed that the 120-strong CBCP had formed a team of bishops to keep the communication line open with the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.

“If they show this from the very beginning, maybe we would have a better working relationship. Of course, we welcome that. But, of course, at this particular stage, things have to be worked out, okay. But the initiative must come from the CBCP,” Abella explained.

Villegas said the CBCP is in touch with a Cabinet member who is a former seminarian.

“There are three former seminarians, as far I know. Ernie Pernia (economic), Jun Evasco (housing), and myself, yes,” Abella said.

Recently, President Duterte attacked the Catholic church for criticizing the government’s war against illegal drugs that left over 2,000 drug pushers and users dead before the police’s anti-illegal campaign units was suspended due to ‘police scalawags.”

The government’s war on drugs is now being implemented by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) while the Philippine National Police (PNP) is undergoing internal cleansing.