Puno to launch group for clean, honest 2010 polls

MANILA, Philippines - Chief Justice Reynato Puno will launch a moral force movement on May 8 to address what he called the problem of moral leadership that could nullify the gains of the 2010 elections. Puno made the announcement at a gathering of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Bacolod City on Thursday, according to online news site Visayan Daily Star “Look at how poverty has destroyed the legitimatizing effect of our elections," he said, adding the Filipino moral force movement he would launch would help address the problem. He said that while poll automation would be part of the solution to the need for clean elections, “the bottom line is that we must have an enlightened mass of voters." "Poverty will affect the 2010 elections unless we are able to educate the masses. We must upgrade their political consciousness so that they can freely express their sovereign judgment on who should be the best leaders of the country," he added. He also called on lawyers to safeguard the law and the poor amid the economic crisis. Puno said the movement, with chapters around the country,would be composed of a cross section of society from government and non-government sectors. But Puno reiterated that his move would not be for any political plan. “I don’t discuss political issues, I do not make comments on political issues," he said when asked if the movement might be related to any political plan for 2010. When pressed on whether he was planning to run for office, Puno emphatically said, “No, no, no." In his speech, he told the lawyers that protecting the rule of law in the ongoing economic crisis is a continuing challenge for lawyers, a challenge they cannot bury on the ground of indifference. “While we cannot completely eliminate poverty, we must diminish its level," he said. “Unless we can close the gap between the rich and the few, our democracy will be a farce," he added. Elections cannot be free where too many of the people are poor, according to the chief justice. "Some of them will just sell out their right to vote. Some will be coerced by their employers or benefactors. For lack of sophistication, some will vote the undeserving," he said. “Worse, the rich who are few, but strong, may desecrate the election process, because they may not able to resist the temptation of overwhelming power, for they have the power of the gun and the power of the gold," Puno added. - GMANews.TV