The President, speaking to reporters on the eve of his departure for Manila after a five-day, two-nation trip to New Zealand and Australia, applauded the decision of Pope Benedict XVI to make the 55-year-old head of the Manila archdiocese a cardinal.
Aquino said Thursday that he admired Tagle because of his work for the Church.
“Archbishop Tagle is somebody I really admire from way back. And it’s really a credit to what he has done for the Church and for its followers to be recognized and given this singular honor. And we applaud the decision of the Vatican in naming him cardinal,” Aquino said.
However, the President said he hoped his endorsement of Tagle’s unquestionable fitness to become cardinal would not be misinterpreted by the President’s critics within the Catholic Church.
“Now, what I worry about [is] if I praise him, will he be criticized because I praised him [by] the Church… people who are against me?” Aquino said. Addressing the cardinal-designate by name, Mr. Aquino added, “Hopefully, Cardinal Tagle, my praising you will not get you into the bad light of certain people who think always ill of me.”
The President has a running feud with the Church over the Reproductive Health Bill pending in Congress that would recognize the right of the couples to choose how best to manage their families, including affording them a range of options, including both natural and artificial methods of birth control.
Malacañang has repeatedly clarified the President’s position on the responsible parenthood measure, stating that the President was against abortion.
The influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines denounced Aquino’s decision to push for the passage of RH bill during his State of the Nation Address last July.
Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles said the President’s open endorsement of the bill was a declaration of “open war” against the Church.