DAVAO CITY, March 3, 2009 –The historical people power was an unfinished revolution, what is required today is moral revolution as evidently manifested by the signs of the times.

This was said by Redemptorist Priest Fr. Amado Picardal as he explained that moral revolution is the struggle against evil within the hearts of the people and in the political, economic and cultural systems.

Picardal added that while it is true that EDSA 1 was an experience of liberation from tyranny and oppression and the beginning of the journey towards the promised land but looking at the present situation one can say that nothing has changed.

“The spiral of violence continues. There are still summary killings; the armed conflict between the New Peoples Army (NPA) and government forces is again escalating. Democracy was supposed to be restored. We have free elections yet our elections remain dirty,” he said.

Picardal added that corruption is like a cancer that has metastasized which spread to all level of society from the highest to the lowest levels of government, including the judiciary, the police and the military.

“We have a president who is no better than her corrupt predecessors –Marcos and Estrada. It’s as if we never left Egypt, there was no exodus and we are far from the Promised Land for majority of our people remain poor” said Picardal.

“What went wrong?” he asked.

Picardal said that the country only changed the president but have not turned away from sin and evil.

“There was no inner transformation in our hearts,” he said.

That is why, Picardal continued, “in this season of Lent, the Church invites us to spend time in prayer and reflection.”

“We need to examine our lives and ask ourselves how far have we succumbed to the satanic temptations, how far have we allowed ourselves to be dominated by selfishness and greed,” Picardal said.

Picardal also added that there is a need to go through a process of purification in order to overcome the satanic temptations and to exorcise the demons within ourselves and in our society.

“There can be no genuine social transformation without overcoming the satanic temptations of the flesh, of power and glory. There can be no real social transformation without personal conversion. This is what the season of Lent is all about,” said Picardal. (Mark Ventura)