Anti-pork barrel coalition musters much better turnout; wants return of public funds that were squandered

Thousands joined yesterday’s prayer-rally in Cebu City to press for the abolition of the pork barrel system and the resignation of all officials involved in the scam.

Senior Insp. Pablito Sarno, ground commander of the security forces, estimated that there were 5,000 participants . Leaders of the Cebu Coalition Against Pork Barrel, quoting rally marshals from the Magdalo group and the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) however, claimed that the number reached at least 12,000.

Asked to explain the discrepancy in crowd estimates, Marc Canton, convenor of the Movement for Livable Cebu and one of the rally organizers, said the numbers “do not matter.”

The rallyists coming from the academe, religious sector, business and civil society groups, converged at the Fuente Osmeña at 1:30 p.m. before marching down to Plaza Independencia in downtown Cebu City.

Although the number was way below the projected 30,000 attendees, Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma remained hopeful that future prayer-rallies would touch the hearts and minds of people involved in the scam.

In a recorded message aired during the rally, Palma, the outgoing chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, said he hoped that “something wonderful can happen that hearts would be touched and minds would find openness” because “we lift our prayers to the good Lord we call Father.”

“We will definitely discern and be able to recommend solutions even as we study the dynamics of executive, legislative and judicial branches of our government, so that the hard-earned money that we gave through taxes may be truly spent for the welfare of community,” he added.

Palma was not able to attend the rally because he had a previous engagement although he had encouraged the priests and the lay to attend.

At 3 p.m., a concelebrated Mass by more than 50 priests was held at the Plaza Independencia.

Msgr. Cayetano Gelbolingo presided over the Eucharistic Celebration while Fr. Carmelo Diola of Dilaab Foundation gave the homily.

After the concelebrated Mass, a program followed where representatives from different sectors and religious organizations took turns in speaking. The rally was capped with the lighting of candles and singing of the patriotic song “Bayan Ko” which was the anthem of the anti-Marcos movement in the 1980s.

Representatives from different religious denominations led prayers for good governance.

Some politicians were spotted in the rally -among them Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama and defeated Cebu City south district congressional bet Aristotle Batuhan – but they were not allowed to speak by the organizers to avoid the event being politicized.

Unity statement

Rallyists were also encouraged to sign the Unity Statement issued by the Cebu Coalition Against the Pork Barrel System which organized the rally.

The statement had been circulated in different schools, organizations and parishes. Organizers planned to send copies of the signed statement to Malacañang, the Senate and the House of Representatives.

One of the demands was the resignation of officials charged with plunder by the Department of Justice before the Office of Ombudsman for their involvement in the P10-billion pork barrel scam allegedly masterminded by Janet Lim Napoles.

“As the sovereign people, we, the real bosses are united in ordering our public servants to do the following: Immediate resignation of public servants who are formally charged by the Department of Justice,” the statement read.

The statement didn’t identify the officials although three senators were among those charged with plunder in connection with the pork barrel scam. They were Senators Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada and Ramon Revilla Jr.

The Unity Statement also called for the punishment of those found guilty in the pork scam and the return of the public funds that were squandered.

It also called for abolition of the pork barrel system by whatever name or form under the three branches of the government; respect for and protection of the people’s sovereign right to reclaim management of public funds for the benefit of the common good such as social services as a way to eliminate patronage politics; and providing the people with all the information they need in the interest of transparency, accountability, participation and co-responsibility.

Leaders of the multi-sectoral groups aim to gather at least 10,000 signatures by next week.

“October 5 is our deadline. We will be sending duplicates of our signature pages to the executive, legislative bodies and the Ombudsman. This is to show we are serious about this,” Canton said.

The signature campaign started two weeks ago in different parishes in Cebu.

“We are planning beyond this rally. The rally is one thing but we will have information sessions this week on October 5 and 6 to discuss specific solutions with different sectors and constitutional experts. This is Cebu province-wide,” Canton said.

In his homily, Father Diola criticized how the government misused P10 billion of the people’s money.

He pointed out that the P10 billion lost to bogus non-government organizations could have been used to finance the elementary education of about 150,000 street children.

Diola said people from different sectors joined the rally because “something very wrong is happening in our country, threatening the very soul of our nation. The stakes are high indeed. To be silent and do nothing is to condone the wrongs.”

Diola said there is still hope despite the problems arising from the P10 billion pork barrel scam.

“Truth is, we are all part of the problem — but the good news is that we can and should be part of the solution,” he said.

Diola encouraged everyone to take part in proposing solutions and quoted Pope Francis as saying “A good Catholic meddles in politics, offering the best of himself, so that those who govern can govern. Politics is one of the highest forms of charity, because it serves the common good.”

“Are we ready to respond to this challenge by the Bishop of Rome? Are we ready to listen to the cry of the poor and go beyond merely pitying them? Are we ready to roll-up our sleeves for the long haul, ready to be pleasantly surprised by the God of surprises? The choice is ours,” Diola said as he ended his homily. / Christine Emily L. Pantaleon, Marian Christie Z. Codilla, Jose Santino S. Bunachita, Joy Cherry Quito and Inquirer