Dear Friends, This is a Unity Statement signed by Arch. Angel Lagdameo, diocese of Jaro, who also is the head of the Catholic Bishops Confrence on the Philippines. Several other church leaders, including those from the Protestant sector, also signed. Please consider adding your name to this statement. It will be the basis of unity of all those who consider the Arroyo administration as morally bankrupt and unfit to rule and would like to forge unities with the different groups that have come forward. Not just in words but in action. Just reply back to this email address or for inquiries call 9317692, 4359151 and ask for Cha. We will place this statement in a major broad sheet. Sincerely, Dr. Carol P. Araullo ============================================================================= WE REJECT A MORALLY BANKRUPT GOVERNMENT! We are gathered in the midst of crisis to unite and help overcome the grave challenges the nation faces. When Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took office as President in January 200l, she proclaimed that she would usher in good governance, that she would show honest leadership by example, and ensure transparency in public transactions for public welfare. We are now in the seventh year of that presidency – and that presidency has instead reaped pain and ruin for our nation and people. We are pained by the extrajudicial killings; by the forced disappearances which have heightened despite the fact that this pattern of abuse was brought to the attention of the President early on, long before the outcry of concerned international officials and organizations condemned them before the world. We are pained when billions of pesos are shamelessly diverted to serve personal political interests – such as the abrasive diversion in the fertilizer scam of public funds meant for farmers to ensure victory in the tainted presidential elections of 2004. We are pained when demonstrators are bludgeoned by police and military men misled and emboldened by an erroneous "calibrated preemptive response" policy, a distorted policy already declared illegal by the Supreme Court but still enforced in the Parliament of the Streets. Worse, our values have been degraded, our collective integrity blighted by the wanton examples of bribery, graft and corruption. Parents cannot adequately answer the questions of their own children – about the ZTE, how much bribes are involved, why? They cannot answer how come Congressmen and Governors receive so much money. Who are guilty? Why do they go unpunished? What kind of justice do we have? Neither can they answer adequately what kind of future lies ahead for their children. For they themselves see no real future. There exists no vision, no real production, no genuine development – only self serving assertions of a "strong republic" -- whose doctors want to become nurses in order to go abroad, whose teachers are diminishing, whose farmers' and workers' future continues to slide dismally. We cannot allow the pain and ruin of the Filipino. We cannot have a nation without a soul, governance without morality. We must unite! We must struggle for Truth! For Justice! For Meaningful and Fundamental Change! SIGNATORIES: Archbishop Angel N. Lagdameo D.D . Diocese of Jaro Archbishop Oscar Cruz D.D. Diocese of Lingayen-Dagupan Vice President Teofisto T. Gungona Jr. Fr. Jose Dizon Solidarity Philippines Sharon Joy Ruiz Duremdez National Council of Churches of the Philippines (NCCP) Father Rudy Abao, MSC (Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus) Mo. Mary John Mananzan. OSB (Benedictine Sisters) Sr. Maureen Catabian, RGS Chair, W-JPIC Committee of the SIsters of the Good Shepherd Bro. Edmundo Fernandez, FSC (De La Salle Brothers) Sr. Teresa Mueda, DC (Daughters of Charity) Ma. Luz Mijares, OSA (Order of St. Augustine) Fr. Jesus Maliit, SSS (Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament) Sr. Elen Belardo, RGS Pastor Rey Geloagan United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Mayor Jojo Binay United Opposition (UNO) Betina Legarda Concerned Citizens Group Teresita Quintos Deles Black and White Movement Dr. Carol P. Araullo BAYAN Ver Eustaquio United Movement for Democracy and Justice Paco Alcuaz Kubol Pag-asa Manjette Manalo Laban ng Masa RC Constantino Boy Morales Linggoy ALcuaz Oscar Orbos