Kidapawan bishop urges full accountability in big corruption cases

COTABATO CITY — A Roman Catholic bishop in Mindanao welcomed President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr.’s intensified anti-corruption campaign, but he also urged the administration to hold all officials implicated in major corruption scandals accountable.

“We appreciate the president’s strong declaration that corruption has no place in public service,” Diocese of Kidapawan Bishop Jose Colin Bagafor said in a statement issued Tuesday, in reaction to the president’s fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA).

Bagaforo chairs the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Episcopal Commission on Interreligious Dialogue.

He said the filing of cases stemming from the alleged flood control scandal, election-related anomalies, and other investigations cited by Marcos in his address is a significant step toward restoring public confidence in government.

“Yet many personalities allegedly involved in these and other major corruption scandals continue to evade accountability,” said Bagaforo.

He stressed that the president’s call to “hold all the corrupt accountable” and his rebuke to erring public officials—“Mahiya naman kayo” (shame on you)—must be translated into concrete action through impartial, fearless and comprehensive enforcement of the law.

“Justice cannot stop with a few arrests or high-profile cases. Every individual responsible—regardless of political influence, position or affiliation—must be made answerable before the law,” Bagaforo said.

He noted that genuine accountability requires the government to pursue all those implicated in corruption cases without fear or favor, emphasizing that equal application of the law is essential to rebuilding public trust in state institutions. /apl