Philippine bishops decline to back impeachment moves

MANILA, July 10 (Reuters) Philippine Roman Catholic bishops today opposed fresh impeachment bids against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, but said election officials should step down to restore popular trust in the political system.

The statement by the bishops, a powerful force in the overwhelmingly Catholic country, comes as Arroyo faces impeachment complaints in the lower house in Congress, which resumes session on July 24.

''We are not inclined at the present moment to favour the impeachment process as the means for establishing the truth,'' the bishops said at the end of the meeting of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines.

''Unless the process and its rules as well as the mindsets of all participating parties, pro and con, are guided by no other motive than genuine concern for the common good, impeachment will once again serve as an unproductive political exercise.'' Last month, opposition politicians, including the former vice president, several former members of her Cabinet, leftist groups, priests and students filed a series of impeachment cases against Arroyo on alleged election fraud, graft and human rights abuses.

The bishops also criticised the government's promotion of sex education in schools, as well as its policies on reproductive health, marriage, family and population policies that encourage the use of contraceptives.

The bishops also reaffirmed their position opposing charter changes and the postponement of mid-term elections in May 2007, and they called for the resignation of election officials to ''restore trust in our electoral process''.

Arroyo, who survived an impeachment attempt in July 2005 over allegations of vote-rigging and graft, is pushing a shift to a parliamentary form of government.

Supporters say the move is designed to speed up law-making and strengthen parties that are often overshadowed by the influence of powerful families and other vested interests.

Proposals include cancelling the 2007 elections for most of the two houses of Congress and having an interim period with a president and prime minister.

The bishops, who meet twice a year to discuss issues concerning their flock in the country of 85 million, condemned the unabated extra-judicial killings that were attributed to some ''ultra-rightist elements in the military'' and by communist insurgents, and said human rights must be defended regardless of religious belief and ideology.

REUTERS KD ND1520