Leaders of churches in Negros Oriental are still undecided on their stand in the rising public clamor for the total abolition of the pork barrel system via a people’s initiative.

The group of at least five churches in Negros Oriental calling themselves the Ecumenical Coordinating Council, are still divided on the issue and which path to take, Fr. Eric Lozada, of the Diocese of Dumaguete and council convenor, said.

He said it became clear in Monday’s meeting that the group had separate points of view on the anti-pork barrel initiative. Some favored its total abolition, while others said they need to strike a balance to avoid future repercussions. “We are pastors here. We are endorsing the people’s initiative but we try to look at the moral implications,” Lozada said.

He said a systemic overhaul is being recommended and the group wants to study further whether the initiative is actually targeting the system and not particular individuals.

What makes Dumaguete (and Negros Oriental) unique is that unlike other areas where most supporters to the people’s initiative for the abolition of the pork barrel are Catholics, this is an inter-faith ecumenical approach, he added.

Lozada, who is also the academic dean of the St. Joseph Seminary College in Dumaguete City, said that, personally, he, too, has questions about the anti-pork barrel initiative.

On November 11, he said that they will have a closed-group forum with Executive Justice Gabriel Ingles of the Court of Appeals-Cebu Station, and Fr. Ben Alforque, main convenor of the Church People’s Alliance Against the Pork Barrel.

A bigger gathering is also being eyed, with the church leaders and members, and representatives from various sectors invited for the final discussions, Lozada said.

The group is also not pressured, at this time, by the timeline set by the people’s initiative to gather at least six million votes by December for the Commission on Elections to act on a petition for a referendum, he said.

The Ecumenical Coordinating Council is composed of the Roman Catholic Church, United Church of Christ in the Philippines, the Iglesia Filipina Independente, Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines, and a Muslim representation in Dumaguete.*JFP

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