COMMISSION on Elections chairman Alfredo Benipayo called for moral renewal in a lecture during the Theology Week last April 8 to 13 at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium.
Benipayo said that four “sins” in government—corruption, profit taking, hedonism and abusiveness or cruelty—lead to public decay. Because these sins are prevalent in society, he said the public tends to overlook these infractions and accept them as ordinary societal norms.
Despite this, Benipayo said the country’s last hope lie in the youth who play a vital role in the country’s struggle for moral renewal.
Instead of imbibing the non-moral values of utility, compromise, satisfaction and deniability, the youth need to learn moral values that promote honesty, justice, temperance, transparency and responsibility, he added.
“With these values, the youth, when they govern, stand a good chance of finding more lasting solutions to the problems that plague society and rescue us ,” said Benipayo.
Other notable speakers include former Tarlac governor Margarita Cojuangco, Dr. Prof. Ustadh Wadja Esmula from the University of the Philippines-Institute of Islamic Studies, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations commissioner Dr. Florentino Hornedo, and Notre Dame University of Cotabato president Fr. Eliseo Mercado, OMI.
The event was sponsored by the Faculty of Sacred Theology, in cooperation with the Graduate School, Institute of Religion, Social Research Complex and the Commission on Higher Theological Reflection of the Dominican Province of the Philippines. Billy Joe I. Allardo
