ALKHOBAR, 25 October 2007 — A congressman from Manila has urged the Filipino expatriate community to channel their newfound strength to help fight corruption in the Philippines.

Bienvenido Abante, who represents the 4th district of Manila in the bigger house of Congress, said that while the ongoing campaign by expatriates for a remittance boycott could be an effective way of getting policy makers to listen, it does not necessarily alleviate the decrease in income of OFWs and their families.

Abante’s remarks coincided with a call by Protestant churches in the Philippines for an end to “the culture of corruption in the government,” with majority of the Filipinos living in poverty.

While Abante did not mention personalities, the statement by the Philippine Council of Churches (PCC) — the largest network of evangelical and Protestant churches in the country — addressed their demand to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who is being hounded with scandal after scandal.

The latest of these were the multimillion-dollar broadband deal, which resulted in the resignation of Election Commission Chairman Benjamin Abalos earlier this month.

Arroyo subsequently cancelled the rotten deal but an impeachment complaint filed against her in the House of Representatives reportedly spawned another scandal, with the presidential palace suspected of distributing money to some lawmakers and governors in a bid to buy their loyalty.

In an interview in Alkhobar on Tuesday night, Abante, who was one of those who condemned the distribution of cash at the palace, said overseas Filipinos need to help root out corruption before it totally destroys the Philippine economy and society.

He said that while he is with all Filipinos who are affected by the adverse effect of the peso’s rebound against the US dollar, he warned that a remittance boycott would only hurt the families of OFWs more.

Filipino expatriates from all over the world are being asked not to send any money to the Philippines on Nov. 1 and 2 as a show of protest to the rising cost of commodities in the Philippines despite the decrease in the peso-dollar exchange rate. With the exchange rate down to 44 pesos to the dollar, the income of overseas Filipino is said to have been reduced by 25 percent, affecting mostly the low-paid workers and their families.

Abante, however, said: “We can’t do anything on this peso exchange because it is driven by market forces.”

“But you can use this (strength of OFWs) as a leverage to warn the government to drastically curb corruption,” he said.

Abante said a remittance boycott will not hurt government officials but the families of OWFs would surely suffer.

He said what he can do is to look into the savings that the Philippine government may make from the increase in the peso’s exchange vis-à-vis the US dollar. He said that the budget was originally computed at P54 to a dollar. “If the exchange is now at P44 to a dollar, there is a P10 savings to the government to each dollar. This is a big money,” he said.

He said that the savings must be used by the government on meaningful projects such as infrastructure, building schools and hospitals, and not end on somebody’s pocket.

The Filipino expatriate should not only think about his work abroad but also propose on how to improve the economy in the Philippines.

Too Much Politicking

Abante admitted that Congress has not given time to focus on the concerns of OFWs and that much time and effort were being wasted on politicking.

While adding that the government should stop the rising cost of commodities in the country, he said corruption has to be stamped out before it totally destroys the Philippine economy and social fabric.

No matter how impressive the economic statistics are if corruption is not reduced, the people would be mired deeper in poverty, he said.

He also urged the president, vice president, Senate president, speaker of the house, and the chief justice to convene with individuals, religious sectors, academe, business, government, youth, to create a superbody that would address corruption in the country.

Churches Speak Up

In Manila yesterday, the country’s evangelical churches have joined the call for President Arroyo to come clean on corruption allegations hounding Malacañang.

The PCC asked Arroyo and other political leaders to “respond to the clamor for transparency and address the nation on the various scandals” involving the administration.

Similar calls were made earlier by the Catholic Church, the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM) and the Jesus is Lord Movement (JIL).

The PCC is a network of 65 denominations, 130 mission groups and over 20,000 local churches.

The PCC reminded the country’s leaders that their “righteousness” in handling the issues at hand would invite blessings to the country, while the opposite, wickedness, would court destruction.

The group said they were deeply concerned about all the talk of corruption involving government leaders with the public yet to receive any clear answer from those involved in the scandals even as the list of controversies gets longer.

Evangelical church leaders also asked the Christian faithful to launch what they said was their most powerful answer to the country’s problems: prayer.

The PCC has set aside Oct. 28 as a day of prayer to gather the different churches to seek for God’s divine intercession in resolving the corrupt practices in government today. “Let us come to the throne of grace with our supplications and let us expect God to look upon us with favor and heal our broken land,” said the PCC.

Last week, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) issued one of its strongest statements against the Arroyo administration, assailing its “moral bankruptcy.” (With input from Inquirer News Service)