The panel yesterday voted to dismiss lawyer Oliver Lozano's complaint on the ground that it is insufficient in substance even as pro-impeachment congressmen boycotted the proceedings.

“I want to be optimistic but the reality is that they are closing the doors for the pro-impeachment lawmakers to present their evidence,” Bacani stressed.

He expressed serious apprehensions that the Filipinos are not going to accept the result of the proceedings which were described by the pro-impeachment lawmakers as “a sham” as he warned the public would again rise against the government.

“What would be the conclusion (if the impeach-ment complaint is killed)? People are going to be restless, it could end up in violence,” the bishop noted.

Bacani called on the CBCP to convene and decide on the fate of Mrs. Arroyo.

“Because of these developments, the bishops should convene, even the permanent council of the CBCP can come up with a stand on the latest developments,” he said.

Bacani stressed the statement of the bishops before was not the last statement as “it's open to developments.”

“The bishops have called on the people to pray, decide and act for the truth to come out,” he said.

“The people have a right to know the truth,” the bishop added.

Bacani said he wishes the pro-impeachment lawmakers could muster the 79 endorsements needed to transmit the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate for trial.

Malacañang, however, also yesterday lauded the CBCP's move to distance itself from the current political crisis hounding Mrs. Arroyo.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, during a chance interview, said the Church is doing a service to the Filipino people by siding with the President instead of the political opposition.

“There's no such thing as a separation of powers of the State and Church but the CBCP is doing the right thing (not calling for Mrs. Arroyo's resignation) because they are the shepherds of the flock and their interest is to look after the welfare of the people. That's why they don't want to intervene in the current political crisis. We just hope they would continue to stand firm in their position because for us here we don't want this situation of an impeachment to be complicated,” he added.

Ermita said the CBCP is composed of 100 bishops. The Palace is confident the CBCP would still support the Arroyo administration even as the term of its president, Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla, ends this year.

“The CBCP is made up of 100 bishops...and by December, there would be changes in the bishops' (leadership). I believe they are very well informed (of the situation) they have parishioners, priests as the source of their information. I am sure they are properly guided especially by the Holy Spirit in making a correct decision as far as the people are concerned,” he added.

Ermita merely laughed off the position of Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias who criticized Mrs. Arroyo's apparent indecisiveness on the issues hounding her administration.

“That's an old story. Bishop (Tobias) has long been calling for her (Mrs. Arroyo's) ouster. That's an old clamor by those who don't agree with the President. So we will just let the process in Congress flow, what's happening right now and see how the impeachment complaint moves on,” he stressed.

Tobias, during his homily, had said, “The people are not dumb, even in the absence of a common stand, they have a sense of what is true and what is wrong, if she couldn't decide on the Aug. 29 holiday, how much more the serious issues?”

“It's time for us to put our acts together, for as long as we harbor different positions, GMA will remain in her post. It requires a lot of statements from her to answer all the allegations and issues,” he added.