Cebu City, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles) – Nowhere else in the world is the principle of separation of church and state more evident than in the Philippines, a nation where more than three-quarters of its 100 Million population are Catholic. Or, maybe not.

Church leaders in Cebu are calling for the resignation of President Aquino. The group called the National Transformation Council said “the President had lost the moral ascendancy to lead the nation.” The group is led by Cebu Archbishop Emeritus Ricardo Cardinal Vidal who alleged the President had violated the Constitution by corrupting Congress, intimidating the judiciary, taking over the Treasury, and perverting the impeachment process.

The group said once the President resigns, an alternative government consisting of men and women of integrity must be organized to avoid a political vacuum.

Asked by The Adobo Chronicles how the Catholic Church plans to help fill the void after Aquino steps down, Vidal says that until new elections are held, Manila’s Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle will act as interim president. In addition, the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines  (CBCP) should be designated as the interim Congress and that provincial governors and city mayors should be immediately replaced by Catholic parish priests and pastors.

To sustain the interim government, CBCP has proposed that Filipino taxpapers suspend all tax payments  to th Bureau of Internal Revenue and instead contribute 10 to 15 percent of their income directly to the church through Sunday collection baskets.

We’re calling this a “moral descendancy from heaven, ” Vidal said.