February 20, 2012 - President Aquino on Monday reminded cabinet members attending an anti-corruption strategies workshop to improve the government's tactics in fighting corruption and keep pushing reforms for the benefit of the people.

"What the people ultimately demand of us is that we continue our reforms, that we fight harder than our opponents, so that we can truly create a new status quo," Aquino said.

Aside from efficiently allocating resources and promoting inclusive growth, President Aquino said he believes it is part of his job to eliminate corruption as a means of poverty reduction, reiterating that the slogan "Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap (Corruption breeds poverty)" should serve as the blueprint of their Social Contract with the Filipino people.

According to the president, this Social Contract is what drives his administration's commitment to implement judicial reforms, among others. He has been verbally open about the desirability of removing Chief Justice Renato Corona, who he has considered as a 'stumbling block' to his administration's anti-corruption initiatives.

"No one should doubt that our justice system is a major battleground for reform. We cannot sustainably fight corruption unless we reintroduce a sense of accountability," he said.

The President also dwelled on Corona's perceived partiality to former president and current Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, whose "midnight appointment" of Corona as Chief Justice in 2010 has been a sticky bone of contention by the Aquino Administration right from the start.

"If certain elements are still able to prevent Gloria Arroyo, for example, from being held accountable, then it makes a mockery of our anti-corruption efforts," Aquino said.

Palace dismisses bishop's call to stop trial

In a related development, Malacañang dismissed calls by Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles to stop the impeachment trial on grounds that the proceedings were going nowhere and that it was being used by politicians as a platform for gaining media mileage.

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda said that the impeachment trial "may not be a biblical solution to his perspective, but it is a constitutional solution when it comes to impeaching or removing government officials."

Lacierda added that church leaders are looked upon to promote the truth, and so the truth will be evident once the impeachment court allows the disclosure of Corona's contested bank accounts that will prove that betrayed public trust and does not deserve to continue holding on to his position.

"I was waiting for him to rally the people, ilabas na 'yung katotohanan, ilabas na 'yung dollar deposits, ilabas na 'yung bank deposit (let the truth come out, expose the dollar deposits)," Lacierda said.

ACL / Reportage from AC Nicholls