To make sure the new administration will fulfill its campaign promises, a group of heads of Catholic religious congregations has vowed to monitor various government agencies — from the Office of the President to the legislature and the judiciary.
The Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines (AMRSP) has made this vow in hopes of stomping out corruption in government as President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy" Aquino III promised during the campaign period.
“We will call on government leaders whenever they fail to deliver on their campaign promises... We will be watching and doing research on various government offices from the office of the President and its other executive offices to the Supreme Court, the Senate of the Philippines and House of Representatives," AMRSP co-chairperson Sr. Mary John Mananzan said in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines news site.
Mananzan, a former street parliamentarian and a Constitutional Commissioner, said the group will support Noynoy’s administration if it is sincere. Otherwise, the AMRSP would help in efforts to mobilize the people against government excesses.
She admitted that religious groups and civil society failed to monitor government agencies’ performance after the EDSA-1 popular uprising in 1986, that catapulted Noynoy’s mother the late president Corazon “Cory" Aquino to the presidency.
Mananzan said the AMRSP — composed of 96 men and 270 women congregations, together with its seven mission partners — will focus on the government’s program to rid the bureaucracy of graft.
The association also has in its ranks professional groups, including lawyers who will monitor the activities of the Supreme Court and other courts, she said.
Environmental groups will monitor government agencies implementing policies to protect the country’s resources, she added.
She also said the coalition will seek an audience with Aquino to present to him a draft executive order allowing citizens’ access to government information.
This was after the House of Representatives in the 14th Congress failed to ratify the Freedom of Information bill during its last session.
AMRSP’s seven mission partners are the Urban Missionaries of The Philippines; Task Force Detainees of The Philippines; Rural Missionaries of The Philippines; Task Force for Urban Conscientization; Task Force for The Orientation of Church Personnel; Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation Commission; and Women Gender & Commission. - LBG, RJAB Jr
