MANILA, October 28, 2008—Jaro (Iloilo) Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo SAID more people has felt poorer and impoverished over the past few years.
Speaking before national and international media, religious men and women from various congregations Tuesday morning, the prelate said “twenty million hungry Filipinos will disagree with the often repeated government slogan “Ramdam ang Kaunlaran.” He said the people’s own experience prove “Ramdam ang Kahirapan, Ramdam ang gutom.”
He underscored the fact the biggest culprit and major cause of the country’s poverty and hunger is “the abuse and misuse of public or private institutions.” The prelate quoting Asian Development Bank defined corruption as “the abuse and misuse of public or private office to unlawfully enrich oneself and those close to him, or induce others to do the same.”
He said ordinary citizens have “watched how corruption has become endemic, massive, systemic and rampant in our politics.” He said the faces and symptoms of corruption are overprized projects, multi-billion scams of various kinds, election manipulations, anomalous transactions, bribery of both high and low, unsolved murders of media practitioners.
He described corruption as “a social and moral cancer.” Referring to corruption’s consequences, the prelate said in political elections corruptions damages political legitimacy, integrity and competence as it “impedes economic development, worsens income inequity and poverty and endangers public order and safety.”
He said Transparency International tagged the country as the 11th most corrupt among 102 countries. “If we are not horrified, disgusted, exasperated and enraged by these realities, can we still say we love our country?” the prelate asked.
Archbishop Lagdameo said he agrees with columnist Conrado De Quiros who noted people identify themselves “so easily with the victims of pickpockets or snatchers and throw these small-time thieves to (almost) forever languish in prison.
“But when it comes to big-time crooks and public officials stealing billions upon billions of the people’s money, it takes forever to prove their crime,” he further observed.
Archbishop Lagdameo said “there is much embarrassing hesitation and false respect to start mounting a campaign to show that corruption is the worst form of crime, because it kills the common good, it kills the poor, it kills the country” and “violates God’s commandments “Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not kill.”
He cited the CBCP Pastoral Exhortation on Philippine Politics (September 16, 1997) which said “Philippine politics—the way it is practiced—has been most hurtful of us as a people. It is possibly the biggest bane in our life as a nation and the most pernicious obstacle to our achieving of full human development.”
He said the CBCP statement entitled “Let Integrity Flow Like a Stream” released July 7, 2003 said “In the strongest term we condemn graft and corruption as an offense against society and sin against God. God will certainly hold the perpetrators accountable. To combat this evil we also proposed the formation of citizens’ councils to promote public awareness, to monitor the use of public funds, and to initiate charges against guilty officials.”
He recalled the CBCP pastoral statement entitled Restoring Trust released July 10, 2005 said “Moral accountability calls for radical reforms in various agencies of government to make them more responsive to the requirements of integrity as well as the needs of the poor.”
The CBCP’s latest statement entitled “Seeking the Truth, Restoring Integrity” released last February 26, 2008 said “We strongly condemn the continuing culture of corruption from the top to the bottom of our social and political order.”
The Jaro prelate said “In response to the global economic crisis and the pitiful state of our country, the time to rebuild our country economically, socially, politically is now.” He said it is important to begin radical reforms, moral regeneration soonest and “to conquer complacency and apathy and to prove that we have matured from our political disappointments is now.” He added “The time to prepare a new government is now.”
In closing he asked “who will pick up the broken, shattered pieces of our country, hurting from poverty and occupation, to make it whole again?” He said “our liberation may yet serendipitously happen.”
Archbishop Lagdameo quoting Apolinario Mabini said “Upang maitindig natin ang bantayog n gating lipunan, kailangang radikal nating baguhin hindi lamang ang ating mga institusyon, kundi maging ang ating pag-iisip at pamumuhay.” (Melo M. Acuña)
