'Moral Renewal' Should Start With The First Family- Rep.Maza

“Unless the issues of graft and corruption involving the Arroyo family are resolved, President Arroyo will never have the moral authority to lead a ‘moral renewal’ program in government. It all appears to be part of Arroyo’s utter gimmickry for ‘pogi points’, a face-saving scheme of her plummeting administration.”

Thus said Assistant Minority leader and Gabriela Women’s Party representative Liza Maza in response to President Arroyo’s issuance of Administrative Order No.255 ordering all Cabinet members and heads to lead “moral renewal’ in their respective offices to achieve its so called “zero tolerance for corruption”.

“If President Arroyo is dead serious in eliminating graft and corruption in her administration then she should start by allowing her husband to attend the Senate probes on the World Bank controversy that implicated the First Gentleman as well as the NBN-ZTE investigations that have remained unsettled. Instead of passing on the blame and pointing fingers to all public officers, President Arroyo must strictly observe the moral leadership by example herself,” Maza stressed.

The Gabriela Solon also expressed her apprehension regarding the funding of Arroyo’s moral renewal program as the latter allowed a portion of government agencies’ MOOE budget as funding for their moral renewal program.

“It is not necessary for this government and its agencies to allot part of their maintenance, operations, and overhead expenditures (MOOE) for this gimmick, making it an expensive spin which could yet again be pocketed by allies of this administration, “ Maza added.