MALAYBALAY CITY (30 November 2025) – Bishop Noel Pedregosa of the Diocese of Malaybalay on Sunday called on the government to fast-track the investigation of officials who have been accused of involvement in corruption to make them accountable for their illegal actions

“We want to remind those who are in power leading our nation that those who stole the people’s money must be made to account based on processes set by law and the Constitution. We have no intention to destroy our democracy but rather to strengthen it. That’s why we call on our concerned authorities to expedite the investigation of the corrupt officials and make them answer for their violations,” Pedregosa said in a message read for him by Fr. Cirilo Sajelan during the prayer-protest rally outside the San Isidro Cathedral.

“Corruption is not just about money – this is also about stolen futures: flooded homes, poisoned lands, wasted opportunities for our Youth,” Pedregosa said in his message written in Cebuano, echoing a statement by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines.

“Don’t hide the criminals, return the people’s money, jail the corrupt, so our country the Philippines may win!” his message read.

The bishop said corrupt officials who want to undergo change should do three things – admit their wrongdoing, show remorse for their corrupt acts, and return the money they stole.

Pedregosa, however, also admonished the rally participants to undergo “political conversion,” citing the Filipino’s tendency to be swayed by money from candidates during elections.

He recalled that in his pastoral letter for the May 12 midterm elections, he had explained the link between vote-buying and the system of corruption. He said the act of accepting money from any candidate remains evil even if a person votes according to his conscience.

He added that people should not make poverty an excuse for accepting “illegal money” from the candidates.

Benedict Angco Jr., a youth representative, said corruption “robs me of my present and sacrifices my future.”

“This is not a war between two families,” said Angco, apparently alluding to the Marcos and Duterte families whose members are being implicated in alleged anomalies surrounding the national budget and public works projects. “If we are to be partisan, we must be partisan to the truth. Why remain neutral if you know the truth?”

Mayor Jay Warren Pabillaran, who was invited by Pedregosa to speak at the rally, said corruption has been abetted by the citizens’ lack of political engagement.

“I know everyone here has a Bible in your house. But how many of you have a copy of the Constitution?” Pabillaran asked, silencing the crowd of around 300 parishioners.

He also asked the participants if they knew about the bidding process for government projects and procurement.

He said the people’s ignorance of how the government works makes it easy for corruption to occur.

Pabillaran enumerated some major corruption cases that have remained unresolved since the Arroyo administration.

“Who remembers the NBN-ZTE deal? I was still in college when this happened,” the mayor said of the broadband project that rocked the Arroyo presidency in 2007.

The scandal involved allegations of corruption in the awarding of a US$329-million construction contract to Chinese telecommunications firm ZTE for the proposed government-managed National Broadband Network (NBN). It was canceled in 2008.

Pabillaran also mentioned the “Hello, Garci” scandal, Napoles pork barrel case, among others.

Fr. Reynaldo Raluto, of the Diocesan Integral Ecology Ministry, said corruption is not just about money, although it’s the prevailing concept. He said unsustainable practices that destroy the environment are also theft.

He explained that in Greek, corruption originally referred to physical decay, but it evolved to describe moral or ethical decay, including dishonesty, bribery, and abuse of power for private gain.

“But so much corruption is also happening in relation to the environment,” he said.

He, however, lamented that there’s no equal outrage from activists over the state of the ecology and climate crisis compared to their passion for social issues like corruption and human rights.

“Intergenerational justice demands maintaining a balanced, healthy ecology,” he said.

The rally was part of the Trillion Peso March, a nationwide mobilization to demand accountability from government officials involved in corruption. (H. Marcos C. Mordeno/MindaNews)