A Call for Moral Courage and Social Discipline

We, the officers, members and friends of the Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture (ISACC), express our deep concern over the gross scandals rocking the government of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Likewise, we decry opportunistic attempts to use these as political fodder for destabilization and a power grab on the part of the opposition.

We deplore the stench of corruption and the cloud of doubt that has descended on the highest office of the land. The accusations now being hurled against the seat of power need swift response from the President.

We call on President Arroyo to demonstrate beyond doubt the will to stamp out corruption by letting the law run its full course on the charges brought against her, her relatives and her administration. We want her to dispel the grey pall of doom and doubt that hovers round her office by a forthright display of moral courage.

Time is running out and there is but a small window of opportunity left her to put her house in order. She should come clean, or else resign and allow an orderly succession to take place.

At the same time, we stand against any entity or force that would make a mockery of our democratic ideals, our Constitution and our laws by creating conditions that lead to lawlessness, mob rule and the use of force in effecting a change of power.

While we acknowledge the right of everyone to an opinion on the present crisis, we see calls for ‘civil disobedience’ and ‘people power’ as cynical mimicry of such historic forms of expressing popular will. We condemn in no uncertain terms the machinations of coup plotters and all forms of military adventurism.

Our Constitution and our laws have provided the proper venues where grievances may be appropriately addressed.

Let the corruption complaints and the allegations of electoral fraud be sufficiently backed up by incontrovertible evidence and brought before duly-constituted authorities. These should not be unduly dramatized and sensationalized by media before the blood-thirsty bar of so-called public opinion.

Irresponsible accusations of fraud should not be allowed to taint and cast doubt on the over-all credibility of our democratic institutions. To do so would negate the hard-won gains of our people in the struggle to restore our democratic tradition.

To our people we urge wisdom and vigilance against the seductive wiles of those who wish to subvert our democratic processes. Let us not lose hope in the efficacy of our political institutions, no matter how imperfect and subject to anomalous pressures.

To all who believe that there is a sovereign God who rules over the affairs and doings of nations, let us heed these words from a church father named Cyprian as the Roman Empire crumbled and tottered before his eyes: “Let us stand upright amid the ruins of the world, and not lie on the ground as those who have no hope.”

Signed by Board and Staff of the
Institute for Studies in Asian Church and Culture
Representing 200 individual members and friends and 30 organizations