MANILA, Philippines?Declaring the battle was not in the streets and they needed neither guns nor gold to conquer, a group of civic leaders Monday launched a movement for moral renewal in the Philippines, with a call on Filipinos to spurn candidates in the 2010 elections who bribe, cheat or lie.

Chief Justice Reynato Puno, who led the national launch of the Moral Force Movement (MFM), stressed the campaign the group would wage had no room for fence-sitters.

More than 1,000 representatives from ?partner organizations,? students and members of the academe attended the launch at the Far Eastern University auditorium.

Puno said in his speech that it was no accident the movement for moral transformation or renewal, which he founded, was being launched while the country was celebrating National Heroes Day.

Asked by reporters whether it was a criteria of the movement that politicians stay away from all forms of dishonesty, Puno said: ?Of course. It is a universal criteria.?

?We?re focusing on the holding of good elections, the development of transformational leaders. After that, we will tackle other social issues,? Puno told reporters.

In his speech, Puno recounted lessons in history which showed how empires and governments collapsed because their leaders were consumed by greed and ?immoral power.?

Cory?s example

But there were also ?transformational leaders? who lit the path, he said, citing the examples of Abraham Lincoln, Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela and Pope John Paul II.

?In our home front, we have former President Cory Aquino, an example of transformational leadership who taught us that it is not the love of power but the power of love that secures the thrones of leaders,? Puno said.

Puno led the oath-taking of participants after they signed blue forms in which they checked as among their duties ?not to elect anyone who bribes, cheats, lies nor tolerates anyone who does.?

The volunteers also committed, among others, to support the Movement for Good Governance, become volunteers for the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and/or the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), help educate voters and be examples of honesty and integrity.

Puno said the country needed ?transformational leaders? to address corruption and solve the country?s other problems.

No room for neutrality

?Let us not just stay neutral in this fight for the surest way to lose a fight against evil is through the conspiracy of silence,? Puno said. ?This is not a fight where apathy must have the last word.?

Puno, who is rumored to be planning a presidential run in 2010, declined to answer when asked whether any of the current aspirants met the standards set by the movement.

Puno said he was confident that the MFM ?can best address the cancers of our society.? He stressed the MFM was not a movement ?led by a band of saints with a holier than thou attitude.?

A halo over one?s head is not a qualification for membership, he said.

?It is social movements, not political movements, that can serve as the best engines to change our society now putrefied by politics,? he added.

Puno described the Philippines as a society ?where power is put above principle, a society run to the ground by an economy infested by greed.?

He mentioned no specific politician.

Real enemy

?The enemy to beat is nobody but ourselves,? Puno said.

?We need not march to the streets, we need not raise our clenched fists?we need only to ... listen to the whispers of our conscience reminding us of ... the timeless moral values in life. We need no gun, we need no gold to conquer and change ourselves.?

Marixi Prieto, chair of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, said in her welcome remarks that members of the movement should ?send ripples of hope? so that the moral force can be the Filipino way of life.?

?Let us continue to nurture the values of our ancestors ? love of country, integrity, humility and a dedication to improve the lives of others.

Prieto is a member of the core group gathered by Puno several months ago to form the MFM.

Other members of the core group include former Ambassador Henrietta De Villa of PPCRV, former Finance Undersecretary Milwida Guevarra of the Movement for Good Governance, Msgr. Gerardo Santos of the Catholic Bishops? Conference of the Philippines, retired Maj. Gen. Jaime Echeverria of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers, Bishop Emerito Nacpil of the United Methodist Church of the Philippines, Far Eastern University Institute of Law dean Andres Bautista, and 2008 Outstanding Students of the Philippines awardee Noorain Sabdullah.

Elusive ideals

Puno said the ideals of Philippine national heroes had continued to elude the country after more than one hundred years.

?(Our heroes?) ideals have long been enscripted in stone in our fundamental laws but more than a hundred years after, they remain to be meaningless hieroglyphics to us,? Puno said.

?(Our) hope to develop our national patrimony has been encumbered by the greed of the few; our desire for a rule of law comes from a wishbone and not from a backbone; our search for truth has been frustrated by falsehoods; and our efforts at peace have been shot down by bullets that kill,? the country?s top magistrate said.

Puno?s remarks came amid controversy over an Ombudsman resolution pushing for the prosecution of some of those involved in the scandalous $329-million NBN-ZTE deal while dropping the charges against others, including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo.

Puno said the country?s problems were caused by widespread corruption, hence the need for ?transformational leaders? steeped in morality.

RP left behind

The Chief Justice said the Roman Empire and the Ming Dynasty of China started their decline when their leaders started to be corrupted by the trappings of power.

?The validation of this proposition has been strengthened in the recent decades of our regression,? Puno said, referring to the Philippine experience of being left behind by its neighbors in economic development.

Referring to Gandhi, Pope John Paul II and other legendary leaders, Puno said: ?They were effective because they directed their reforms on the need for moral revival. They were empowering because they removed the blindfold on the eyes of their people and inspired them to change society. They were ethical because they prevailed over their opponents without aping their immoral ways.?