Lente
Mar. 23, 2007

PRESS STATEMENT


The Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) throws its full support behind the aspirations and efforts of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE).

This partnership with LENTE is based on the commitment of our country’s legal community to our democratic ideals, and to the principle that an effective democracy begins with clean, honest and orderly elections that reflects the genuine will of our people.

The IBP is mobilizing its entire membership for the task of safeguarding the election process. We are putting all our human, material and moral resources to this task. We are sparing no quarter in this bid to ensure that the 2007 elections will be fair and credible.

Our dedication to this aspiration is based on the belief that the 2007 elections is crucial to the survival of democracy in our country. LENTE believes that a clean and credible 2007 elections would resuscitate the fading faith of our countrymen on the democratic processes. And conversely, LENTE fears that should the 2007 elections be marred by fraud and deceit, our nation may no longer be able to arrest the skidding faith of our countrymen on the principle that our government is the embodiment of the popular will.

The IBP, therefore, calls on all our members to undertake this task with the fullest resolve.

We do so as we endeavor to keep optimism alive that democracy faces a bright future in our country.

We do so as we endeavor to resist the temptation towards skepticism. We do so as we endeavor to sustain our faith in our collective ability to battle evil and defeat the forces of fraud and corruption.

We also call on all political forces that are playing a major role in the 2007 elections to join us in our aspiration to keep our democratic ideals alive. We urge them to condemn the vile practices which may have marred past electoral exercises and which tended to erode the credibility of our elections. We warn them that should evil motives triumph in the May elections, we may find it extremely difficult to convince our countrymen that there is still hope in our democracy.

We believe that there is hope. But only if we join hands and close ranks behind the effort to protect the vote, to safeguard the election process, and to ensure that the outcome of the 2007 polls will be the honest reflection of the will of our people.