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Wednesday, September 10, 2003
Muslim leaders oppose call for snap elections
LOCAL Muslim leaders said government officials should get their priorities right by focusing on ending poverty and hostilities in Mindanao instead of calling for snap elections and holding congressional hearings.
Office of Muslim Affairs (OMA) 7 Director Sakiran Hajan said problems besetting thousands of people in Mindanao are more urgent and need the legislators’ immediate attention. He also shared the view of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal that the ongoing Senate investigation on the Jose Pidal account is only a waste of the people’s money and the legislators’ time and effort.
A Cebu-based labor organization, though, joined the call for disclosure of the Jose Pidal bank accounts, saying the right to privacy should not be used to cover “officials who amass wealth at the expense of public funds.”
In a statement released by chairman Greg Janginon, the Partido ng Manggagawa-Cebu said Ignacio “Iggy” Arroyo’s move to invoke the right to privacy and the bank secrecy law is “just a legal façade to obstruct justice or circumvent the truth.”
In Manila, the Senate confirmed it received the formal complaint from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) against Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who accused PCSO of depositing P1.35 million in the Jose Pidal accounts.
Ignacio has admitted he used the name Jose Pidal in some bank accounts but he closed these when the Anti-Money Laundering Law took effect. Lacson has accused First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Ignacio’s elder brother, of using the Jose Pidal accounts to launder millions of pesos in campaign funds.
Accusations of corruption thrown at the husband of President Arroyo, as well as the restiveness in the economy following the July 27 mutiny, have prompted calls for a snap election.
“Why are they pushing for a snap elections when we are going to have the presidential elections in less than a year? The main problem in Congress is that they are focusing too much on their political agenda when thousands of people in Mindanao who are suffering from poverty need their attention,” Hajan told Sun.Star.
He said the political unrest only aggravates the economic instability and the poor peace and order condition in the country. Alim Fatani Abdul Malik, president of the Ulama League in the Visayas, lamented that up to this time, the people displaced by the military troops’ attack against the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are still stranded in evacuation sites in Cotabato, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and in Maguindanao. (Ulama League is the organization of Muslim imams.)
“Government leaders should address problems on poverty and peace and order in Mindanao instead of debating on the Jose Pidal account and the marital affairs of the president,” Hajan said. He said peace and order problems turn off investors and only worsen poverty. Hajan said that in Mindanao, Muslims and Christians alike have been displaced and lost their homes and livelihood when the Abu Sayyaf attacked various towns in the late 90s. LCR & KNR |
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