Sobriety and accountability in the face of outrage

Last Nov. 15, Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David, president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), issued a measured but powerful appeal.

- 

He declared that, as the public’s anger over rampant corruption surges, Filipinos must demand clarity, not conjecture; truth, not rumor; accountability, not manipulation. His call for “honesty, courage, and responsibility” could not have been more timely, coming on the eve of a historic wave of mass action.

From Nov. 16 to 18, hundreds of thousands are converging at Quirino Grandstand in Manila for a rally organized by the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), under banners of “transparency, accountability, justice, and peace.” This will be followed on Nov. 30 by what organizers are calling a second Trillion Peso March at the People Power Monument — a broad, interfaith, civil-society demonstration demanding justice, restitution, and reform.