Manila Prelate Decries Corruption in Aquino Government at Memorial

Cardinal Jaime Sin, spiritual leader of the 1986 revolution that swept Corazon Aquino into power, Sunday criticized corruption in her government during ceremonies in memory of her slain husband.

Sin told the governing elite who packed Manila’s Santo Domingo Church that corruption “is a problem which must be addressed vigorously and unrelentingly.”

“I know (Aquino) is bent on pursuing the battle against corruption . . . but we know that she and those around her cannot do this all by themselves.”

A secret list prepared for Aquino by justice officials allegedly cites allegations of graft against more than 40 senior officials, including several Cabinet officers.

Aquino later delivered a moving tribute to her husband, Benigno S. Aquino Jr., who lay in state in the same church after his murder on Aug. 21, 1983.

She told the worshipers, who included South Korean opposition leader Kim Dae Jung, that she had fulfilled a pledge to her husband’s memory to restore democracy to the Philippines.

“Now I promise you I will continue our fight to bring back peace, justice and progress to our beloved nation,” she said.

Then, apparently responding to Vice President Salvador Laurel’s recent call for her resignation, she said, “I shall not relent. . . . Nothing and no one will deflect me from this task.”