Already, the Catholic bishops and leaders of other religious organizations have sounded the call for her to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth behind the controversial ZTE-NBN deal. As a matter of fact, no less than the president of the Catholic Bishops Conference (CBCP), Archbishop Angel Lagdameo, had previously denounced the "moral bankruptcy" in government and of its leaders in the wake of the series of scandals from the botched ZTE contract to allegations that bags of cash were distributed to lawmakers in Congress and governors and mayors inside Malacañang.

Some 80 former Cabinet and senior officials from the administrations of Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada and even her own, have joined the public outcry, some for her resignation and others for her to start cleaning up her messy government by firing all officials involved not only in that highly questionable contract but in other related anomalies and scams.

And even concerned Assumption women, her co-alumnae, have added their collective voice to the millions of ordinary Filipinos who have clamored for her "to serve the truth."

All of them have perceived the "massive corruption and abuse of power" under Gloria Arroyo's watch. They are concerned not only with the ZTE-NBN contract that has become scandalous, but such other unresolved cases as the Hello Garci controversy, the Joc-Joc Bolante fertilizer scam, the overpricing of the Diosdado Macapagal Highway and other infrastructure projects, the Comelec Election Machines Scam, the hundreds of unsolved extras-judicial killings of journalists, human rights workers and lawyers and priests.

The concerned Assumption women noted that there seems to be a concerted effort by the Arroyo administration to obfuscate, if not subvert the truth by all sorts of methods. And they now want answers to disturbing questions such as: Why is Jun Lozada, the credible and courageous witness to the ZTE-NBN deal, a threat to her? Why the intimidation, abduction and threats to him and his family, not unlike similar threats to others who also dared to speak out views contrary to the government's stance? Why the disappearances of witnesses, whistle-blowers and journalists who speak the painful truth? Why's the administration hiding behind the skirt of EO 464 and preventing the Cabinet and other officials from testifying in Congress? Why are the military and police forces being used to subvert the truth?

For their part, those former top government officials declared that they "see how the institutions of government are being manipulated, weakened and corrupted" and they now demand that Gloria Arroyo serve the truth by acting decisively to enable the truth to emerge. "We are now in the midst of great disturbance because we doubt the truth behind the ZTE-NBN deal," they pointed out, when she "belatedly cancelled" that contract, an act that made discerning Filipinos to conclude that corruption tainted the deal, especially after her name and that of the First Spouse, together with key officials, were dragged into the scandal.

And, oh yes, they recalled Ms. Arroyo's recent statement : "Ang taumbyan galit sa katiwalian. Ganoon din ako, galit din ako sa katiwalian." They agreed that the people are indeed angry about anomalies in her government, but urged her to demonstrate by deeds that she is angry, too, about the wrongdoings on in her administration. Otherwise, they warned, her cancellation of that contract could well be interpreted as an effort to cover up corruption rather than pin it down and root it out.

Then they called on Ms. Arroyo to cooperate fully with the Senate, which, they said, is the most credible forum where the truth behind that controversy can be established, and stop denigrating it harassing and persecuting its witnesses, so that its investigation can be completed.

Finally, they said, she must demonstrate her commitment to the truth "within one week" as more and more of the people make their judgment. Otherwise, she would be condemned as complicit with, and in fact, as being at the center of, the lies surrounding the ZTE-NBN scandalous deal!