Philippine bishops expect slow road to end of corruption

The influential Catholic leadership in the Philippines expects a slow burn anti-corruption drive against the government rather than a sudden toppling of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo due to a kickbacks scandal.

Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, the head of an influential group of Catholic bishops, said on Wednesday apathy and cynicism about the last "people power" revolt which first brought Arroyo to power in 2001 meant that many Filipinos were in no rush to take to the streets despite a new corruption scandal.

"The Filipino people, we together through communal action, must discover a new brand of people power," Archbishop Lagdameo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said in an interview with Reuters.

A Senate inquiry into alleged government kickbacks in a telecoms deal encouraged 10,000 people to rally for Arroyo's resignation last week but although priests and nuns took part, the CBCP has stayed silent on whether she should go and shows little sign of spearheading rallies against her.

"When it comes to reflecting on this second people power there is a feeling of sadness, of disappointment," said Archbishop Lagdameo. "We do not want a repeat of that kind of history."

Under the late Cardinal Sin, the Philippine Catholic Church was instrumental in the overthrow of dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and former president Joseph Estrada in 2001 by encouraging followers, who make up around 85 per cent of the population, to take part in protests.

Estrada was convicted for plunder but corruption allegations have continued to dog Arroyo, his former vice-president who later pardoned him, leaving many Filipinos cynical about what a "people power 3" would achieve.

"TRUTH CENTRES"

Unlike Cardinal Sin, who died in 2005 and reportedly defied the Vatican when he led the movement against Estrada, Archbishop Lagdameo is more low-key and heads an organisation whose 130 members include bishops sympathetic to Arroyo.

The 67-year-old recently called for "communal action" but said civil society groups should take the lead in a "sustained national campaign against graft and corruption".

"We are not actually turning our back to it ('people power'), we have to go where our people are going," said the Archbishop, who wears hair gel and spectacles. "If that is there ... (people power) ... who are we to stop it?"

Even if the CBCP was to call immediate rallies, Archbishop Lagdameo doubts they would get the hundreds of thousands that poured onto the streets in 2001 and 1986 due to cynicism and an apolitical younger generation.

"Our youth seem to be very satisfied about what is going on in their lives," he said smiling.

Priests and nuns have offered refuge to a key witness in the Senate kickbacks inquiry and have also organised prayer protests.

Meanwhile, the head of the military said on Wednesday the army would not intervene in the crisis.

"We have a mission to do and we will focus on that, rather than intervene," General Hermogenes Esperon told reporters after touring a navy base in the Manila. "If you are talking about ... (a revolt) ... our belief is that we are not heading to that."

Arroyo's final term ends in 2010.