PHILIPPINES: The Philippine president, Gloria Arroyo, yesterday won crucial breathing space in her battle to defeat a mounting campaign to oust her when the country's influential Catholic bishops refused to support her opponents and cautioned against an armed uprising.
However, the 91 members of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines also declined to endorse the embattled leader herself after two days of deliberations. They urged her to assess whether she could justify staying in power.
"We do not demand her resignation," the bishops said in a statement. "Yet neither do we encourage her to simply dismiss such a call from others.
"We ask the president to discern deeply to what extent she might have contributed to the erosion of effective governance and whether the erosion is so severe that it's irreversible."
Ms Arroyo, a US-trained economist, is facing allegations that she tried to rig last year's presidential election. She has denied the claims and has yet to be charged. But it appeared on Friday she might have to quit after 10 cabinet ministers - along with popular former president Corazon Aquino and two key financial organisations - called for her to resign.
The bishops demanded a "thorough, credible and independent process" to determine whether she had betrayed public trust. Ms Arroyo, a devout Catholic, thanked the bishops for their "guidance and wisdom" and said she had searched for "the moral discernment that can only come from divine signs". - (Guardian Service)