CBCP fight vs corruption goes beyond ZTE deal - bishop

MANILA, Philippines - The Catholic bishops will continue to monitor cases other than the anomalous $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal despite Malacañang's lifting of Executive Order 464 to "accommodate" them. Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop Oscar Cruz has said the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) pastoral letter calling on government to fight corruption also applies to other controversies needing "closure." In an interview on Church-run Radio Veritas, Cruz said the controversies on the NorthRail project agreement, the P728-million fertilizer scam, the "overpriced" Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard, the Philippine International Air Terminals Co. Inc. (Piatco) mess and the P500,000 cash gifts for local executives and lawmakers need to be resolved. Even the "Hello Garci" scandal "should have its appropriate closure," Cruz said. Excerpts of the radio interview with the archbishop were posted on the CBCP website on Thursday. Cruz said the CBCP statement, which according to some was weak, has not limited its call for transparency within the national broadband network (NBN) contract mess, but "includes all the other controversies as well." According to Cruz, corruption still exists in the form of jueteng, which he said merely sports a new face in the so-called small-town lottery (STL). "I hope I am wrong, but the people behind the STL in various towns are the same persons behind jueteng syndicates," said Cruz, who heads a nationwide campaign against the numbers game and other illegal gambling activities. He also stressed the need to overhaul the system, saying that after we felt "victory" in EDSA 1 and 2, "we forgot our responsibilities as citizens." - GMANews.TV