22 bishops give Arroyo failing grade

HALF of the 44 Catholic bishops who participated in an on-air survey Sunday gave President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her nine-year administration a failing mark.

Among the issues cited by the 22 bishops were President Arroyo’s alleged failure to address poverty in the country, provide equal quality of education to the poor, protect the environment and curb patronage politics.

The bishops also cited the alleged lack of transparency in the Arroyo administration as highlighted by the graft-ridden contracts and dubious programs associated with it, among them the botched $329.5-million national broadband deal with Chinese firm ZTE Corp. and the fertilizer fund scam.

The presidential palace dismissed the bishops’ failing marks.

“The bishops are entitled to their opinions,” deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said.

Olivar said basic education programs under President Arroyo have improved and that she had strictly observed freedom of the press during the entirety of her term.

“So we respectfully disagree (with the CBCP),” Olivar said.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Roger Peyuan said Malacañang is currently making an inventory of Arroyo’s accomplishments and the CBCP survey “will serve as guidance for everyone.”

“We will look into all the comments that they said. I suppose that will be a material that may be used for discussions on the accomplishments of the Arroyo administration,” he said in a separate phone interview.

Report from GMANews.TV