Bro. Eddie confident of eradicating govt corruption

Bro. Eddie Villanueva on Thursday expressed confidence of being able to eradicate government corruption, saying that the Arroyo administration had repeatedly approached him in the past to become the country's anti-corruption czar. In his guesting on radio dzBB's "Ikaw Na Ba?... The Presidential Interviews," Villanueva revealed that retired Commodore Tirso Danga had offered him the post after President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo emerged victorious in the controversy-riddle national elections in 2004. At that time, Danga was the deputy chief of staff for Intelligence of the Armed Forces of the Philippines. "Ako ay inalok ng anti-corruption czar ng Malacañang. Pinadala sa akin si Tirso Danga... I even asked if the Palace was indeed serious about hiring me," said Villanueva, who rose to popularity as the religious leader of the Jesus Is Lord Movement.

The Bangon Pilipinas standard bearer said he was willing to accept the offer under the "simple condition of full authority and full support." "I should be the one to overhaul and appoint people at the Commission on Audit, sa Ombudsman, sa Department of Justice," Villanueva said in enumerating his conditions. "I should also be allowed to form a small composite army from the military, police, and the National Bureau of Investigation. And I should be allowed to form a small composite task force mainly composed of principled lawyers and principled certified public accountants," he added. The task force would be required to submit to his office within 30 days reports on high-profile controversies that hounded the government in the past including the "fertilizer fund scam" and the "Philippine International Air Terminal Co. (Piatco) scandal." The fertilizer fund scam involved the alleged rechannelling of Agricultural funds of the government into Mrs. Arroyo's campaign kitty in the 2004 elections. The Piatco scandal involved supposed anomalies in the Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract for the construction of the Terminal 3 of the Ninoy International Airport. Hearing about Villanueva's proposal, the administration reportedly was "medyo natulala (stunned)" by the conditions. The presidential aspirant said that the Palace would later send during two different occasions emissaries, including a "Christian multi-millionaire from Makati," to work out the agreement and convince him to reconsider some of the conditions. Listen to the interview here Or right-click to download the MP3 (58mb). Asked why the Arroyo administration wanted in his Cabinet, Villanueva told GMANews.TV after the interview: "Siguro para para ma-restore ang trust and confidence ng investors [at that time]... Pero ang dating sa akin nun ay just to legitimize the illegitimate presidency because of the rigged election in 2004." (I think I was offered the position so that the administration could restore trust and confidence of investors at that time. But my impression is that the offer was made to help legitimize the illegitimate presidency of the rigged election in 2004.) He said after he passed up on the offer, the Arroyo administration never approached him again. "Hindi na sila bumalik after 2007." (The offers were not repeated after 2007.) The religious leader also said he would not be surprised if Danga would deny ever approaching him to offer the post. 'Biblical' Despite failing to secure a position as an anti-corruption czar, Villanueva — during Thursday's interview — stressed that he has seen an opportunity in becoming a president to finally eradicate graft and corruption in the country. Villanueva vowed to create special courts whose main job will be to go after government officials committing plunder, sophisticated warlordism, and syndicated drug-trafficking, among other serious and "moneyed" crimes. He said people found guilty of these crimes would suffer death penalty — a punishment which Villanueva claimed was "biblical."
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV To ensure transparency and efficiency in government, the religious leader also plans to designate "dedicated complaints desks" for every government agency and create watchdogs for these departments. "Magkakaroon ng bantay pork barrel, bantay gobyerno, bantay COA, and bantay bayan sa bawat agency (There will be a body tasked to monitor the pork barrel and government agencies including the Commission on Audit)," he said. Besides the yearly State of the Nation Address, Villanueva said, if elected, he would also hold a monthly "State of the Nation Dialogue" where he would spend time listening only to the public's grievances. 'I am Defense chief' The religious leader said he does not plan on appointing any one as secretary of the Department of National Defense. Instead, he said he would temporarily occupy the post as he "overhauls" the government. "Kapag maayos na, tsaka ako mag-aappoint (When everything is in order, that's the only time I will be looking for a defense chief)," he added. An ultimatum for "all types of lords" will also be issued on his first day as president, according to him. "Sasabihan ko lahat ng smuggling lords, drug lords na mag-repent or the full force of the law will be applied." And on his first 100 days as chief executive, he vowed to create the Philippine National Commission on Peace and Development, tasked to negotiate the demands of all types of insurgents in the country. Paradigm shift During the interview, Villanueva also said he was not worried if his rivals for the presidency have billions of pesos to spill for their campaigns or chart high in surveys, saying even "unpopular" candidates in past elections have proven to muster enough votes to secure a seat. "Surveys are not almost perfect. Look at Sen. [Antonio] Trillanes, he was not figuring in the surveys but he suddenly won," Villanueva said. Trillanes, who is detained on charges of coup d'etat, raked in some 11 million votes in the 2007 senatorial elections. Despite being unable to match most of his rivals' huge campaign kitties, Villanueva said he is relying on his supporters who have been shelling out money to campaign for his party. "This is a paradigm shift. This is new politics that is not moneyed politics. Ang tunay na gumagastos, ang tao. May nagbibigay nga sa amin isang bagsakan, Php 2,500," Villanueva said. He claimed to have already secured the support of a religious movement with three million members in 53 countries. Incidentally, Villanueva said followers of his religious movement — unlike other religious groups in the Philippines — are given freedom to choose who to vote for, instead of giving in to the orders of any religious superiors. "Hindi kami nag-didictate sa tao. May freedom kami and we respect that freedom (We don't tell our people whom to vote for. We have freedom and we respect that)," he said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV