PPCRV calls for accountability, transparency, better leadership amid flood control mess

Stressing that Filipinos can no longer afford to be complacent, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) on Wednesday called for accountability and transparency as the government conducts investigations on anomalies in flood control projects.

In a statement, the PPCRV expressed its outrage over the flood control controversy and the “unbridled corruption” of some government officials tagged in the irregularities.

They also called for the return of the stolen public funds, which should be “funneled into much needed poverty alleviation, disaster amelioration, progressive education, and nutritional enrichment projects.”

The PPCRV urged that those guilty of involvement in the flood control mess be held accountable and incarcerated in order to prove that no one is above the law, adding that the wheels of justice should be “quick, thorough, and blind to personalities and positions and power bases.”

“We demand transparency from our government and the leaders that we voted for. Eradicate shadow contracts and procedures and instigate published projects and procedures that we, the citizenry, can monitor,” the statement read.

It went on: “We demand of our leaders the characteristics of the true Filipino: integrity, respect, helpfulness and service-orientation, industry, nationalism, discernment and above all, deep love for God which repudiates all things immoral and corrupt.”

“We must demand without reprieve so that true accountability and true justice can happen,” the PPCRV said.

The group warned that Filipinos should not be complacent and forget, and instead “remember with compassion” the victims who lost their lives and homes because of ghost or substandard flood control projects.

The PPCRV added that the “unbridled corruption” as exposed by the flood control controversy underscored the “urgent need for discernment in selecting our leaders.”

“It is our all-important vote which places government leaders in the positions of power which they may wield correctly or as we have seen, powers which some have wielded for self-aggrandizement in lieu of service-orientation with predilection for the neediest in our society,” the PPCRV said.

It added: “We ask for leadership that we deserve, Christ-like in service to the nation and nationalistic in envisioning and building a much better Philippines for all of us.” — JMA, GMA Integrated News