Dropping Garcillano charges 'failed to resolve issues'

Manila: The Catholic Church said the dropping of charges against former poll Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano failed to resolve anything as it raised "more questions than answers".

"With the crisis we are in now maybe it gave more questions than answers," said Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III, spokesman of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) in a telephone interview yesterday.

Quitorio echoed previous CBCP statements saying that the issue of Garcillano's alleged involvement in rigging the results of the 2004 polls for President Gloria Arroyo should be resolved through a competent body.

In January this year, the bishops expressed dismay that the "search for truth"‚ on accusations that Arroyo stole her way to power remained unrealised as two impeachment proceedings were junked by her allies in Congress. "We have all observed the failure of political processes to make public servants accountable for wrongdoings. What we have seen instead are acts of evasion and obstruction of the truth."