CBCP on flood management mess: ‘Make corruption shameful once more’

Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David appeals to the youth: ‘Use your platforms not just for outrage, however for vigilance’

MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Bishops’ Convention of the Philippines (CBCP) known as for the return of stolen wealth because it denounced the corruption of billions of pesos in flood management initiatives.

In a press release signed by CBCP president Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, the bishops’ convention additionally challenged the youth to transcend anger within the quest for justice.

The CBCP mentioned the rebuke “Mahiya naman kayo (Disgrace on you)!” ought to be directed not solely at contractors but additionally at “legislators, district engineers, authorities auditors, and political patrons” who “share within the plunder.”

“True justice, nevertheless, calls for greater than punishment. It additionally requires restitution: that stolen wealth be returned to the general public coffers from which it was taken. A lot of these implicated won’t be impoverished by such reparation, but the nation stays poor if the funds are usually not restored. Retribution on this sense shouldn’t be private vengeance however the rightful act of giving again what was stolen, in order that the folks could lastly profit from assets meant for his or her welfare,” mentioned David.

As much as P118.5 billion ($2.09 billion) was misplaced from the nation’s financial system previously two years attributable to flood management anomalies, in accordance with the Division of Finance.

“We should demand seen accountability: fast audits, actual penalties, and transparency that individuals can see. And renewal should additionally start with us. Every time we excuse dishonesty or abuse padrino ties, we reinforce the mindset that allows billion-peso theft,” David added.

He mentioned that blacklisting contractors shouldn’t be sufficient. Referring to each personal contractors and public officers, the CBCP president mentioned that “collusion in corruption is against the law and should be punished.”

“To our younger folks: you maintain the keys to a brand new tradition. You reside within the digital house the place fact and lies battle every day. Use your platforms not just for outrage, however for vigilance. Expose injustice, share info, demand reforms. Make corruption shameful once more,” David mentioned.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, a former CBCP president, mentioned in a separate assertion that the flood management anomalies ought to function a name for self-reflection.

“Every of us must admit our sins. I’ll begin as a Filipino, as a priest and shepherd,” Villegas mentioned in Filipino. “Till every of us admits our shortcomings, nothing will change. Change begins with me. Allow us to first repent earlier than we blame others.”

“100 million Filipinos repenting one after the other — that’s the begin. Allow us to cease cursing at God. Allow us to abandon our blindness to God, our deafness to righteousness, our numbness to others,” he mentioned.

The Society of Jesus Social Apostolate, the social motion arm of the Philippine Jesuits, known as for a probe by an unbiased fee as a result of “Congress merely can not examine itself.” The Jesuits mentioned Congress “should enact the mandatory legal guidelines to plug the numerous holes and leaks in authorities,” and one instance is an anti-dynasty legislation. 

“We name on fellow Filipinos to demand accountability from their representatives in Congress and from their native authorities, writing or calling them if crucial,” mentioned the Jesuits.

The Nationwide Council of Church buildings within the Philippines (NCCP), the biggest alliance of mainline Protestant and non-Roman Catholic church buildings within the nation, mentioned it “strongly condemns the deeply entrenched evil that’s corruption in authorities, now laid naked within the situation of flood management initiatives.”

The group mentioned that “as Christians, we’re full of righteous indignation.”

The NCCP then known as for “a really unbiased physique” that will examine the anomalies and maintain the responsible accountable. The group additionally sought the suspension and evaluation of all flood management initiatives till the conduct of a reputable audit and a scientific flood management examine. 

The NCCP added that each one authorities officers ought to “bear way of life checks and launch their assertion of belongings, liabilities, and web value for public scrutiny.”

“We additionally name on the Filipino folks to stay vigilant and demanding in all points of presidency decision-making. This contains monitoring the price range allocation course of and the implementation of initiatives to see to it that each cent will really profit the folks,” the NCCP mentioned

“Could our indignation in opposition to these newest scandals on corruption unite us in prayer and collective motion, strengthening our resolve to pursue a greater society, the place the folks can really take pleasure in God’s promise of an plentiful life for all,” it added. – Rappler.com