Church groups set rally vs presidential, congressional pork

MANILA, Philippines—A coalition of Catholic clergy, religious and laity is urging the faithful to gather at the Plaza Miranda in Manila on Wednesday (June 25) for a day of prayer and vigilance, aimed at setting the stage for a people’s initiative that will completely scrap presidential and congressional privileges.

The Church People’s Alliance Against Pork Barrel (CPAPB) declared June 25 a National Day of Prayer and Vigilance amid the ongoing investigation of lawmakers accused of misusing their pork barrel allocations.

“We call on the faithful to gather in Plaza Miranda [on Wednesday, June 25] at 4:30 p.m. Let us pray and add our voice [to] the righteous clamor of the people to abolish pork,” said Nardy Sabino, CPAPB spokesperson.

Sabino said the prayer event would set the stage for the people’s initiative to do away with the presidential and congressional privileges. Wednesday’s event will also be a prelude to the education-signature campaign to pass the bill on the “People’s Initiative to Abolish the Pork,” according to Sabino.

Sabino added that while the group welcomed the Supreme Court ruling that declared the Priority Development Fund as unconstitutional, it would stay vigilant about the high court’s decision on the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP), touted as the “President’s pork.”

“We cannot remain idle or numbed. We are witnesses to the people’s will for change that has evolved into various forms of actions. And we pursue this call for justice until all the guilty are made accountable,” said Sabino.

He also encouraged those who could not attend the event on June 25 to offer an evening mass, a prayer or any symbolic gesture for the same intentions.