Manila prelate dares Palace to reveal names of ‘destabilizers’ in Catholic Church

“He should name names. (Otherwise) He is just spreading rumors,” Pabillo said in a report by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News on Tuesday, July 4. (Photo: Roy Lagarde/CBCP News)

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo challenged Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, Jr. to bare the names of Catholic Church leaders whom he accused of working with communist rebels to oust President Rodrigo Duterte.

“He should name names. [Otherwise] he is just spreading rumors,” Pabillo said in a report by Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) News on Tuesday, July 4.

“That is not responsible reporting. This one way of spreading false news,” he added.

Pabillo’s remarks came after Malacañang called for a ‘ceasefire’ between the Chief Executive and some officials of the Catholic Church.

In a press conference on Monday, July 2, in Maasin City, Southern Leyte, Roque, who is part of the four-man delegation tasked to hold dialogues with Church leaders, raised the idea that members of religious groups may have been teaming up with Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA) to destabilize the government.

He added that some members of the clergy cannot accept that their preferred candidate, whose name was not disclosed by Roque, lost to then Davao City mayor in the 2016 presidential elections.

According to Pabillo, making such claims against the Church repeatedly only proves that the Duterte administration is ‘insecure.’

“That only shows how insecure they are. They are so blinded by their fears and their bias that they cannot see their mistakes. They deflect on others their inefficiencies,” Pabillo said.

The CBCP earlier refuted these allegations against the Church, assuring that there is no destabilization plot against the President.

On Tuesday, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) confirmed that communist rebels are planning to oust Duterte by October.

AFP spokesman Colonel Edgard Arevalo said they learned of the plot based on the recovered documents and testimonies of rebels who have surrendered.

However, Arevalo refused to answer when asked if there are other groups involved in the plot.