PRESIDENT Arroyo has strengthened the Presidential Council on
Values Formation (PCVF) as part of her administration's goal for a "just and
moral Philippine society."
Arroyo, through Executive Order 713, tasked the PCVF to serve
as the lead agency that would work with the private sector for the
"establishment and institutionalization of just and moral governance."
Arroyo gave the order following calls from the private sector
and the Catholic clergy for a moral renewal and stronger efforts to curb graft
and corruption. She said previous agencies set up to pursue programs to
establish just and moral governance required better coordination to achieve
optimal effect. She said the campaign for a just and moral governance in
Philippine society "requires an institutional response that is equipped with
sufficient authority."
Arroyo will still chair the PCVF while the education
secretary would still be the vice chairman. Instead of six members from the
religious sectors, Arroyo ordered that a maximum of nine leaders from various
religious groups would be invited as members but will not receive any salary
from government.
The PCVF's mandates include helping implement programs to
inculcate values like honesty, modesty, integrity and good work ethics in the
government bureaucracy. It could also make recommendations regarding "duly
supported and substantiated information on incorrigible and undesirable
government personnel."
Arroyo has also issued EO 714 which renames the National
Committee on Interfaith Conference (NCII) as the Council on Interfaith
Initiatives (CII) in order to strengthen the government's policy of "peace,
cooperation, and amity."
The CII would be the highest policy-setting body for the
country's interfaith initiatives locally and abroad.
It will be headed by the President as PCVF chairperson, with the foreign
affairs secretary and the presidential adviser on the peace process as members.
Its policies will be implemented by a Presidential Committee on Interfaith
Initiatives (PCII) still to be created. The PCII would be composed of
representatives from the PCVF (who would sit as chair), the DFA, and the Office
of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process. - Regina Bengco
