Bishop hopes Feb 29 rally will lead to Arroyo resignation

A senior Catholic bishop on Wednesday said he was hoping that the interfaith prayer rally at Luneta Park next week would lead to the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. The February 29 gathering will be attended by various religious organizations, professionals, groups from the business sector and the civil society, and militant organizations. “It is a communal action and I think it would lead to Gloria resign. Where else will it go? Gloria please remain?" Lingayen Arcbishop Oscar Cruz told reporters in an interview. He, however, said that the call for President Arroyo to step down won't come from the bishops, but from various civil society groups. “The banners will say that (resignation) but it won’t come from the bishops," he said after emerging from a two-hour meeting with opposition Sen. Jamby Madgrigal at the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in Manila. On Tuesday, Jaro Archbishop and CBCP president Angel Lagdameo said the civil society should lead a new kind of “People Power" that would salvage the country from the political rut caused by widespread corruption in the government. Also on Wednesday, Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez said the scheduled prayer rally was expected to be duplicated in other areas as people respond to the CBCP’s call for “communal action" and a “brand new people power." “We expect this communal action to go deeper as the people get enlightened to what is wrong with the country. We see these happening in different degrees and by different groups," he said. Various Church and student groups under the Catholic Educators Association of the Philippines (CEAP) supporting NBN-ZTE scandal whistleblower Rodoldo Noel Lozada Jr will also launch a series of Masses at universities and schools in Manila and Quezon City. Radio dzBB on Tuesday quoted the CEAP as saying that the Masses would be its response to the call of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines for “communal action" in search of the truth behind the National Broadband Network (NBN) controversy. The CEAP said that on Sunday, February 24, a Mass would be held at Adamson University on San Marcelino Street in Ermita, Manila. This will be followed by a Mass at the University of Sto. Tomas on España Street in Manila on March 2. The third Mass will be held at the De La Salle University along Taft Avenue in Manila on March 9, followed by another ceremony at the Miriam College along Katipunan Avenue in Quezon City on March 16. On March 23, a “Mass for Truth" will be held at the La Salle Greenhills campus in Mandaluyong City. Finally on March 30, a Mass will be held at the Claret School on Mahinhin Street in UP Village, Quezon City - GMANews.TV