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By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter
House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. on Sunday
renewed his call for a moral revolution, asking Catholic cardinals,
bishops and other powerful Christian leaders to co-lead with
President Gloria Arroyo efforts to “to cleanse government of
bribery and corruption.”
De Venecia, in a statement, said he will also
ask the new Papal Nuncio to “lend his good offices” in this
revolution of values aimed at bringing about national renewal and
transformation.
He stressed that the fight to eradicate
corruption will bolster the anti-poverty program of the government
by providing it with more resources needed to fund “meaningful and
significant projects aimed at lifting the lives of millions of
Filipinos.”
“God will work His miracles,” de Venecia
said. “We should not always be pessimistic. Let’s’ heed the
bishops’ call not to lose hope.” The Speaker took note of the
powerful statement of bishops urging the Christian faithful not to
lose hope amid mourning for a 12-year-old girl from Davao who was
overwhelmed by poverty that she took her own life.
“They said the reason a person commits suicide
is that the person lost hope. A Christian should never lose hope
even if he is being surrounded by so many difficulties in life. A
Christian has always something to look up to and that is God,”
Tagbilaran City (Bohol) Bishop Leonardo Medroso told the faithful on
Catholic-run Radio Veritas 846.
De Venecia also noted that every aspect of
government and national society needs “cleansing”, primarily in
the executive and legislative departments, the judiciary, the local
government units, the electorate, and the business sector.
He said the country needs to “turn a new leaf,
because this is the final hope for our country, our people and our
children.”
Dispelling doubts
When told that some political leaders have
expressed doubts about the moral revolution, de Venecia replied by
citing the names of religious leaders who have already agreed to
lend support to the campaign for moral regeneration and renewal.
He said the first to respond to his call was
Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who agreed to lend his two anticorruption
organizations in Cebu to the campaign.
Those also willing to take the lead in the moral
revolution include: El Shaddai founder Mike Velarde with about 10
million members; Jesus Is Lord founder Eddie Villanueva, who called
the Speaker from the US and pledged his “co-sponsorship for a real
spiritual transformation”; and Bishops Benny and Reuben Abante,
joined by 26 other Baptist bishops and pastors.
De Venecia also said the Jesuit founder of
social democracy in the Philippines, Fr. Archie Intengan and
National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez are joining the moral
mobilization movement and will conduct lectures nationwide among
political parties.
He also said he met recently in Vietnam with
Gonzalez and presidential brother, former Finance Undersecretary
Diosdado Macapagal Jr., in framing the joint President Arroyo-de
Venecia declaration to cleanse the government and transform the
Philippines from Third-World to First-World status.
“The important thing is that some of the most
respected and eminent names in Philippine society are supporting the
movement,” the Speaker said.
De Venecia had earlier appealed to President to
use the vast powers of her office to turn the current political
crisis “into a historic opportunity to create a new beginning for
our country, and to instill a renewed sense of hope for our
people.”
The Speaker, in a letter he sent to Mrs. Arroyo
expressed his confidence that “she’ll move farther and achieve
the goals of the revolution sooner.”
“You can cleanse our politics of its
corruption, our economy of its cronyism and inefficiency, and
national society of its material poverty and its spiritual
anxiety,” de Venecia wrote.
The Speaker suggested the creation of a
high-level Council on Moral Reform and National Renewal to combat
corruption in office.
The Council, composed of eminent persons of
known integrity, would advise the President on top-level personnel
changes and policy reforms.
The Speaker also said senior House leaders
already agreed to reform the pork-barrel system by agreeing to
line-item description of projects to ensure full transparency.
“Each project will have to go through public bidding and the
electronic procurement system,” he said.
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