Palma orders parishes to act as sign-up stations

All 140 parishes in the Cebu Archidiocese will be used as “signing stations” for the ongoing signature campaign for a people’s initiative to directly pass a law scrapping the pork barrel.

The step was announced yesterday in a press conference where Cebu Archishop Jose Palma said there was “public awareness” that the pork barrel was a source of corruption, but the turnout for the signature drive was lagging.

“This should not only be the campaign of the church.  This should be the mission of eveyrone,”  Palma said, especially after Pope Francis in his five-day visit to the Philippines challenged the faithful to “end corruption at all levels.”’

To speed up the drive, the 63-year-old prelate issued a circular declaring “all parish offices” as signing stations and required every parish to submit to Caritas all signed forms by March 16, 2015.

Each parish was also directed to send two delegates for a training session on Saturday at the Sto. Niño Basilica where they will be briefed on how to effectively persuade people to sign up.

The Cebu Coaltion Against Pork Barrel is leading the nationwide people’s inititaive  to get signatures of at least 10 percent of total voters nationwide  and at least 3 percent of each legislative district for a petition to jumpstart direct legislation and have the Comelec call a a referendum on  a draft law to make any presidential or congressional pork barrel illegal.

Five months after it was launched, the numbers are far behind,  organizers said.

“We have seen the reports. At the moment, we know we lag behind. But we are hopeful,” said Palma.

In Cebu, 24,162 signatures have been gathered from all  nine districts in Cebu city and province This is far below the  internal target of 389,601 or  30 percent of Cebu’s 2.6 million voters. The sign-up drive began in Cebu City last Aug. 23, 2014.

Nationwide,  a petition for a people’s initiative requires  at least 5.4 million signatures.

“I’m a little surprised .  I think there’s not much work done as expected,” said Palma. He stood by lay and clergy advisors in the Cebu Archdiocesean Discernment Group, which took the lead in unifying a coalition of forces in Cebu, Manila and other provinces.

“We are comparing notes. I know Calbayog is very strong. Some (dioceses) are doing good. But others are a bit indifferent. They are saying to let lay people do it,” he said in an interivew. He said he also received reports that several politicans discouraged their voters from supporting the people’s initiative.

At the forum, Palma said there was a need to “sustain the hope” and that organizers agreed to “Do first.  Attack first.  We hope something wonderful will happen.”

He said Pope Francis’ call to work for the poor and eliminate corruption is embodied in the campaign to permanently scrap the pork barrel  from the Philippine’s political system “because it is the poor who suffer most because of corruption.”

A pork barrel is a lump sum public fund with sole discretion given to the president, legislator, group of legislators, or any public officer.

Palma was joined by Msgr. Rommel Kintanar of the Cebu Archdiocesan Discernment Group, Rev. Jess Premacio of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines, and retired Judge Simeon Dumdum.

“We’re behind schedule. We need to fast track everything. The good name of the Filipinos are in question. The goodness in us has been tarnished. We need to do something about it now,” Msgr. Kintanar said.

Judge Dumdum, who joined the coalition after retiring from the bench last December, said the pork barrel was clearly illegal and that many citizens want to sign the petition but don’t know where to go. He suggested a house-to-house drive.

Mark Canton, convenor of the Movement for Livable Cebu, said  “we have to seize the momentum” after Pope Francis call to eliminate corruption on all levels.

”If we don’t follow through now, are we ever going  to have the chance  again to do this?” He said the  “war will be won on the ground” and requires logistics, like donors to help produce 500,000 pages of petitions in order to reach their target of signatures from 15 percent of the population.

Teresa Chan, president of the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) said the church should capitalize on the “Pope Francis fever” and call out for support in announcements at the end of every Mass.

“While we’re still affected by the holiness of Pope Francis, we should take advantage of this. The Catholic Church is very powerful and we have millions of churchgoers. Now is the time,” she said.

The Supreme Court already declared the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and the Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP) unconstitutional, but anti-pork  barrel advocates said legislators still have access to discretionary lump sum funds though many disguised forms, including the 2015 national budget. /With Eileen G. Mangubat

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