MANILA, Philippines – More than a month after speaking about the need for a "moral force" in the country, Chief Justice Reynato Puno will spearhead the launching of a formal movement that will lay down the standards in choosing candidates for the May 2010 election.

"The Chief Justice is serious about forming the moral coalition. It will be launched before the Holy Week. We are now in the process of forming an advisory group," lawyer Jose Midas Marquez said Friday.

Puno’s movement was disclosed earlier in the day by a source not authorized to talk to media and said that this would be unveiled on March 27.

The source said this was expected to set the stage for the public's participation in reforming the country by reforming the moral system and in choosing the candidates they would support in next year's polls.

When asked whether group would pave the way for Puno’s candidacy, Marquez clarified that this was “not a political party, movement or organization. It is more of a social movement. It is not an anti-administration or pro-opposition but it is a neutral positive movement to make the public aware of what is happening.”

Marquez added that Puno was standing pat on his decision not to run and that he would finish his term in 2010.

"He will make anew the call for truth, for the preservation and protection of the environment, for the respect of the Constitution, upholding values, and we should not discount that he will say something about politics," the source also said.

Puno has been personally promoting his call for "moral force" in speaking engagements and with leaders of various groups who has been talking with him, the source added.

The source said that the movement has been gathering support from religious groups, civil society groups, the Catholic Church, Seventh Day Adventists, non-government organizations, youth groups, and various sectors who believed that "moral forces" should be at the forefront of arresting the moral decadence in the country.

But the source added that Puno did not want politicians to get involved and has shunned moves by a number of them to be identified with the movement.

Aside from ensuring an honest and clean 2010 elections, Marquez said the moral force movement would also make the people aware of graft and corruption, come up with plans to help arrest moral decadence and alleviate poverty.

Puno wants the moral force to act as "watchdogs of morality," said Marquez.

"They are to be our moral stewards; they will always remind us that every moral decision has its cost so that we can now translate all these standards of morality, or our principles, into definitive actions," he said. "If not, nothing will happen to us."