President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's luck continued to hold as the influential Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) stood by its earlier policy not to call for her resignation.

After a 12-hour emergency meeting yesterday, the CBCP refused to pass judgment on the moral authority of the Arroyo to lead the country.

They refused to call for her resignation saying they wanted her to be part of the moral reform process.

"We expect the President to be part of efforts to seek reform and to find the proper pathway for our nation to come to political maturity," said former CBCP President Bishop Leonardo Legaspi of Nueva Caceres.

The issue of Arroyo's resignation was discussed, but in the end, the bishops agreed there was not enough basis to call for Arroyo's resignation, according to Bishop Orlando Quevedo, also a former CBCP President.

Instead, the bishops recommended the following:

o "condemn the continuing culture of corruption from top to bottom of our social and political ladder,"

o "urge the President and all branches of government to take the lead in combating corruption wherever it is found,"

o "recommend the abolition of Executive Order 464 so that those who may have knowledge of any corruption in branches of government may be free to testify before the appropriate investigating bodies,"

o "ask the President to allow her subordinates to redeem any corrupt acts, particularly about the ZTE-NBN deal without being obstructed in their testimony, no matter who is involved,"

o "appeal to our senators and the Ombudsman to use their distinct and different powers of inquiry into alleged corruption cases, not for their own interests, but for the common good"; and partiality, selective and tendentious reporting of facts."

Bishop Francisco Claver said calling for Arroyo's resignation could weaken the country's democratic institutions.

Claver said many had apparently misinterpreted the bishops' call for communal action as an endorsement of another people power to remove Arroyo.

The CBCP invited Fr. Joaquin Bernas, a constitutional expert, to explain how the country's democratic institutions can be strengthened.

In a recent newspaper column, Bernas said it would be better to push for the abolition of EO 464 than call for Arroyo's resignation since it was unlikely Arroyo would heed the call to quit.

CORY CALLS FOR
GMA TO RESIGN

It was in 2005, at the height of the "Hello Garci" election scandal when Former President Corazon Aquino called it a supreme sacrifice for Pres. Arroyo to resign.

Yesterday, before business leaders, the former president again called on Pres. Arroyo to step down.

"The most noble and less destructive way out of the moral crisis would be for the president to resign from office…These critical times call for strong moral leadership, which clearly she is no longer in the position to provide. She must give way to a credible government that can lead by example," Aquino said.

Mrs. Aquino appealed for support to amplify the appeals for the chief executive to give up power.

Big wigs of the business circle were part of the audience, including Jaime Augusto and Fernando Zobel de Ayala of the Ayala Group, PLDT chair Manny Pangilinan, heads of business groups and former Cabinet secretaries who had earlier called for Pres.

Arroyo's resignation. However, the Ayala brothers and Pangilinan did not say if they support Mrs. Aquino's call.

But the Makati Business Club says their call for Pres. Arroyo to step down in 2005 still stands. Even the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants those involved in corruption exposed and penalized.