Reacting to the recently declared position of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) headed by Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, seeking radical reforms against Graft and Corruption, Bishop “Bro. Eddie” Villanueva, Spiritual Director of the Jesus Is Lord Church Worldwide, Chairman of the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM) and Bangon Pilipinas Party, lauded the courage and fortitude of the CBCP with its timely declaration.
“I echo the divinely inspired assessment of the CBCP that corruption in government is a ‘moral and social cancer’ that must not be treated with mere anesthesia or propaganda but must be completely and swiftly eradicated. All the studies and scientific findings by well-respected international bodies point to this one single reality which has made the Philippines amongst the poorest performing economies in Asia. To make matters worse, millions of our people in poverty have become pawns of corrupt politicians and an administration whose central focus in solving the ills of the nation is to attempt to perpetuate itself in power at the expense of the true will of the nation,” Bishop Eddie declared.
Asked to comment on the claim of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI) Chairman Emeritus Donald Dee that he “reprimanded” Archbishop Lagdameo for the CBCP statement, Bro. Eddie responded: “It amazes me that someone known to be beholden to the Arroyo administration, implicated in the NBN-ZTE scandal cover up, and whose tenure as PCCI head was characterized by a lack of independence from Malacanang, would even have the nerve to make this impudent claim against a respected archbishop. Rather than appearing to be proud of his disrespect, he should repent and seek forgiveness because such pride will most certainly have its consequences. As it is written in Proverbs 16:18: ‘Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.’”
Palace officials have been following a redundant script especially in the light of the recent impeachment complaint filed before Congress. To other issues plaguing the Arroyo Presidency, Bro. Eddie gave an uncompromising admonishment: “The problems of the nation were present well before this global financial crisis. The hopeless attempts of palace officials and even Donald Dee to use the worldwide recession as an excuse for their miserable failure demonstrate their faulty underestimation of the understanding and perception of the Filipino people. The crux of the matter is credibility and good governance. From ‘Hello Garci’, ZTE, Northrail, Fertilizer Scam, and many more issues pointing to rampant corruption – the Filipinos are at their saturation point and know that real reforms that will have lasting results must be radical and intense.”
The gravity of the situation prompted Bro. Eddie to propose a NATIONAL SUMMIT OF RELIGIOUS LEADERS FOR GOOD GOVERNANCE. “I am making personal call to the leaders of the CBCP, Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim and other denominations so that we may sit down and come up with a common position and course of action because the time for apathy and complacency has gone. I believe that once all the facts and the truth are revealed we shall see a nation awakened in its national consciousness and the people will say ‘ENOUGH!’
Source: www.bangonpilipinas.net
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