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Thursday, October 07, 2004
‘Fight corruption’
By JOVY S. TAGHOY
Sun.Star Correspondent
THE Office of the Ombudsman has tapped a church-based organization in Cebu to help fight corruption in government.
In an 11 a.m. ceremony at the Archbishop Palace yesterday, Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Barug Pilipino, headed by Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal.
Watchdogs
The signing formally sealed the parties’ commitment to get rid of corrupt government officials.
The Department of Education (DepEd), through Assistant Secretary Camilo Montesa, also joined in the MOA signing. The department will serve as watchdogs against the corrupt officials.
Vidal, in his message, said “to eliminate corruption, it calls for the committed support of all citizens, the resolute determination of the authorities and a firm moral conscience.”
He said anti-corruption work is part of a pronged approach: one builds up and the other tears down.
The prelate said the Roman Catholic Church has undertaken various initiatives to respond to realities affecting the society, especially the poor.
These include the organization of cooperatives such as Basic Ecclesial Communities, the Gawad Kalinga of the Couples for Christ and Pondo ng Pinoy.
“Such efforts at building up, however, need to be complemented by work that tears down the culture of corruption while promoting good governance. This is the significance of Barug Pilipino,” Vidal said.
“If we are to be church of the poor, we have to be engaged in peaceful, proactive and massive anti-corruption work as a form of apostolate,” Vidal said.
Marcelo, in a press conference after the MOA signing, said the help of Barug Pilipino in the anti-corruption program is very relevant considering the government does not have sufficient resources to eradicate corruption.
Marcelo hopes the initiative of Barug Pilipino will be replicated all over the country.
Barug Pilipino has organized parallel groups in Imus, Cavite and Ipil, Zamboanga with Bishops Luis Antonio Tagle and Antonio Ledesma as leaders, respectively.
Network
Marcelo said Fr. Carmelo Diola, Barug Pilipino executive director, is networking with other church-based organizations and other bishops “who are similarly minded to go beyond delivering sermons, to do concrete act in the fight against corruption.”
Marcelo said he believes that for a government’s anti-corruption drive to succeed, there should be a concerted effort between the people equipped with technical competence and the people of faith and integrity.
Marcelo said the agreement entered into by the ombudsman, DepEd and Barug Pilipino is the first time church leaders are supporting the government’s anti-corruption program.
As a first step to the campaign, three volunteers will undergo a two-day training on Oct. 9 and 10 at the Ecotech Center in Barangay Lahug, Cebu City.
Training
Marcelo said the training will cover three items: how to become observers during bidding process, how to monitor implementation of contracts and how to conduct lifestyle check.
Under the lifestyle check, the volunteers will gather evidence on the ill-gotten wealth of a suspected corrupt government official.
All the information and evidence gathered by the volunteers will be confidential, Marcelo assured.
“The volunteer (will also) need not give her name. All they need to do is give the names of the suspected corrupt officials, the detailed date of the ill-gotten wealth. We will send investigators who will validate this data. Our investigators will testify in courts if the evidence warrants,” Marcelo said.
(October 7, 2004 issue)
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