MANILA, July 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Philippine presidential palace said on Saturday that it is open to the creation of a truth commission as proposed by the Roman Catholic Church, which has refused to endorse opposition calls for the resignation of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

    The presidential palace agrees with the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines and the Bishops-Businessmen's Conference (BBC) on the necessity to investigate the wiretapped conversations of President Arroyo, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita.

    "We are ready to meet with them as to the composition of the commission and how it will be organized. It can be called a truth commission or a fact finding commission to clear the issues and resolve the current political problems," he said.

    Presidential officials said they could start talking with the bishops, businessmen and other sectors as regards the formation ofthe commission.

    They said the creation of a truth commission would accord the president due process in the face of cheating allegations and not railroad the system by asking her to resign because of mere accusations.

    The CBCP and the BBC, a group of influential figures from the Roman Catholic Church and the business community, have urged Arroyo to form an independent "truth commission" to investigate the cheating allegations against her.

    A truth commission would determine whether Arroyo really tried to rig votes in last year's presidential election, but at the same time find out who ordered the wiretapping of Arroyo's conversations with an election commissioner.

    Arroyo admitted talking to the election commissioner, but denied she wanted to influence the outcome of vote counting. Enditem