Student Christian Movement of the Philippines

NCCP Compound, 879 EDSA Quezon City 1101

Mobile Number: 09289526973  E-mail: scmp.infomedia@gmail.com

 

 

Urgent

News Release

February 15, 2008

 

 

"The hour has come"

Christian students join fellow youth in anti-Arroyo rally

"The hour has come, to make tyrants and greedy officials accountable from their sins to the Filipino people."

This was the message of the Student Christian Movement of the Philippines as they join the anti-Arroyo rallies in Ayala today and reaffirm their call for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to step down.

"We join ourselves in prayer and communal action as called by the religious leaders and members of the Church such as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, National Council of Churches in the Philippines, De La Salle brothers, and nuns from various religious congregations," the group said in a statement released yesterday.

According to SCMP chairperson Biyaya Quizon, the revelations of Engr. Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. on the only ZTE scam only reminded the Filipino youth and the people of all the shady dealings, rampant corruption, human rights violations, anti-people economic policies and outright foreign subservience which characterized the Arroyo presidency for the past seven years.
 
"Such big projects like the ZTE scam and Cyber-Education project could only pass through the approval of Malacanang. Arroyo's cabinet officials only act as mere brokers, with bribes and kickbacks in tow, but no less than the highest position in the land is the key player to these unscrupulous deals," Quizon said.
 
This, according to Quizon, is the strongest reason why "the people should not wait two more years of suffering under the morally bankrupt Arroyo goverment."
 
"The burning issue of corruption today only enforces the worst injustices suffered by the Filipino people. There is no justice in a country with government officials feasting on millions, while the ordinary Filipinos feast on an empty table – jobless, landless and robbed of their rights and future," she said.

 

The group then challenged other Christian youth groups to "follow the path to justice." 

 

"As in the past people power uprisings, members of the Church and the religious have made their significant role to guide the flock to truth and justice. In a time of greed and injustice, the Filipino youth should choose not to remain in the sidelines while the fate of our nation lies in peril due to the powerful's self-interests. We challenge the Filipino youth to actively participate in the movement for meaningful change and social justice," Quizon said.

 

SCMP is a member of YOUTH REVOLT, a broad alliance of student organizations, youth formations and student councils to consolidate the youth's efforts to remove Arroyo from power. ###