Core members in SC chief’s moral force movement named

MANILA, Philippines – Supreme Court spokesperson Jose Midas Marquez on Tuesday announced the eight members who will constitute the “moral force movement" initiated by Chief Justice Reynato Puno. Marquez, who is also Puno’s chief of staff, named the members as: • Andres Juan Bautista, dean of the Far Eastern University’s Institute of Law; • Henrietta de Villa, head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) and the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel); • Retired brigadier general Jaime Echeverria, president and chair of the Association of Generals and Flag Officers; • Dr. Milwida Guevara, one of the leaders of the Movement for Good Governance; • Emerito Nacpil, retired bishop of the United Methodist Church of the Philippines from 1980-2000; • Marixi Prieto, chair of the Philippine Daily Inquirer; • Noorain Sabdula, named one of the Ten Outstanding Students of the Philippines in 2008 for her active participation in Gawad Kalinga; and • Monsignor Gerardo Santos, National Capital Region director and president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) and executive secretary of the Episcopal Commission on Catechesis and Catholic Education of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines. Earlier this year, Puno underscored a need for a moral force and lamented that the main problem of the country was “moral decadence." In particular, Puno said that the country had too many laws but lacked in morality. But the chief magistrate said that he did not want to lead the movement, saying he only wanted to be a “catalyst." In a statement issued Tuesday, the SC said that the movement will focus on getting “transformational leaders" elected in the forthcoming 2010 elections. “Transformational leaders are those who induce followers to transcend their self-interest for the sake of the organization or the greater whole and activates their higher order needs and appeals to their moral values to mobilize their energy and resources to reform institutions," it said. Last Sunday, Puno lamented that the problem of moral leadership could nullify the gains of the 2010 polls. “Look at how poverty has destroyed the legitimatizing effect of our elections," he said at the gathering of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Bacolod City. 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," Puno said. - GMANews.TV