The United Negrenses Yearning for the Truth led by Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday called on national and local officials to defend the people's interest and stop mouthing the line of Malacañang.

The call was made at a press conference at the Bishop's House in Bacolod City in reaction to a joint statement of Negros Occidental congressmen, provincial officials and mayors expressing their full support for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in the midst of the present crisis hounding the country.

Navarra said the reaction of the Negros officials was sort of a cover-up and a defense mechanism amid the revelations of dishonesty and lies at the Senate hearings on the anomalous National Broadband Network deal.

Senate witness Rodolfo Lozada has linked ranking national officials to the controversial cancelled NBN deal, and to bribes and overpricing, prompting call from Church and civil society for the Arroyo administration to bare the truth.

Acting Gov. Isidro Zayco yesterday said the Negros officials support the president and also want the Senate to hasten the hearing on the NBN deal so the truth can prevail.

Until the Senate hearings are concluded and have some decision, it is premature to make conclusions, he said.

Of course we respect the opinion of all for or against what has happened, he said.

The bottom line is it is the people who are powerful and it is up to them to determine what action they will take, he said.

If the people go for people power there is nothing we can do but we must keep open minds to listen to all sides, Zayco said.

Meanwhile, Zayco said the controversy is hurting the country's economic growth because it is affecting investor confidence.

Navarra said the Church stand is not to call for the resignation of the president but to pressure the government to tell the truth. “Whatever happens after that, we will just follow,” he said.

NO TO VIOLENCE

The Church does not support violence as a means for change, he said.

Citing the statement of Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines , the bishop said in our anger at the wrong and sinful things around us, may we not allow ourselves to become men and women of violence.

The bishop said they take heart in the thoughts of Martin Luther King when he said “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.”

The bishop said UNYT is calling on the people to join a rally at the Bacolod public plaza Monday to seek the truth and rise up against corruption.

MASSES FOR TRUTH

Today simultaneous masses for truth and accountability will be held starting 8 a.m. at the University of Saint La Salle, La Consolacion College, Colegio San Agustin, University of Negros Recoletos, Riverside College, St. John's Institute and St. Rose of Lima and a service at West Negros College in Bacolod City , Navarra said.

A motorcade and noise barrage for truth around Bacolod will also kick off from the Capitol Lagoon Park at 4 p.m. today, he said.

UNYT, in a statement read by Andres Hagad of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Negros Occidental chapter, said that they are urging the Senate to continue its inquiry into the NBN-ZTE deal.

The group also said it places its faith upon the courage of Lozada and urges him to reveal all that he knows, it calls on Commission on Higher Education chairman Romulo Neri and other public officials to speak up and help stamp out the evil, and it demands that the President and her allies not obstruct the way of the truth.

UNYT wishes to rouse the people from apathy to corruption and deception within the government bureaucracy and hold officials accountable to every corrupt activity, Hagad said.

Corrupt officials who rob government coffers with impunity and make a mockery of laws should be prosecuted and the full force of the law should be hurled at them, UNYT said.

Navarra and Hagad were joined by Sister Lucy Togle who aired the support of the private schools for the call for truth and Andoni Valencia , chairman of Bangon Kabataan-Negros, who called on the people to stand up against corruption.

OTHER GROUPS JOINING

Rodolfo Parreño, IBP Negros president, whose group has also aired its support for the Senate probe into the NBN deal and called on government not to obstruct the truth, said he and other lawyers are also joining Monday's rally.

Felipe Levy Gelle, secretary general of Bayan Negros said his group is joining the rally Monday that marks the renewal of the protest movement against shameless corruption, systematic human rights violations and the morally bankrupt Arroyo administration.

The Kilusan Para sa Pambansang Demokrasya-Negros said the greed of those in power shows the bankruptcy of the existing political system. It called on the people to assert their sovereignty.

The Partido ng Manggagawa sa Negros , on the other hand, called for a “transition government” to replace the “evil president.”*CPG

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