The Church has been very much a part of the collective soul-searching in the aftermath of the multiple eruptions of corruption and consequent protests and uprisings that have left a swath of destruction of persons, property, morals and hope for the future while simultaneously leaving our country under a heavy load of debt that could have been paid off by the funds plundered. As a consequence The Society of Jesus in the Philippines convened the Committee on the Evangelization of Culture. Reaffirming the Society's commitment to "the service of faith that promotes justice and transforms culture," the Committee was mandated with exploring ways by which significant interventions can be made in transforming not only the sociopolitical and economic, but also the cultural dimension of people's lives.

 

In the course of its work, the Committee chose to focus on the issue of corruption, a social malady that is both a cause and symptom of decadence in Filipino culture.

 

 

When an evil has become part of the fabric of social life, there is a tendency simply to accept it, no longer to feel any moral revulsion or protest against it. That corruption has, sadly, become so ordinary a part of the Filipino way of life on all levels is one of the reasons it is so difficult to eradicate.  Laws and policies will be ineffective unless the culture which practices and tolerates corruption is transformed.

 

 

Ehem! began in 2002 as an anti-corruption initiative of the Philippine Province of the Society of Jesus.  Ehem! at the beginning, was  basically a two or three day seminar, the modules of which were based upon a manual. Each seminar aimed at bringing participants to a renewed sensitivity to the evil of corruption and its prevalence in ordinary life.  It seeks ultimately to make each participant aware of his or her own vulnerability to corruption, his or her own uncritiqued, often unwitting practice of corruption in daily life. It hopes to bring people, in the end, to a commitment to live a new way: critical of corruption, intent on integrity.

Scores of seminars were conducted across the nation during the remainder of the first decade of the new 21st Century. And from the many diverse groups that have undergone Ehem! --- student groups, seminarians and religious, Church organizations, business, academic and professional groups, government agencies, NGO's --- Ehem!  has grown from a seminar into a movement of men and women who have a new consciousness and a new resolve, no longer resigned to the dominance of the corruption that destroys trust and exercerbates poverty; the seeds of a new culture of integrity and honesty in private and public life.

We thank all those who have conceptualized, implemented, and enriched the Ehem! program through the years. And we pray for the continued growth and development of the program: through Ehem! may the Gospel and its values truly transform Philippine culture so that God's gracious Kingdom might become more of a reality in the lives of our people.

	Commentary Common virtue By Roberto E. N. Rivera, S.J., JOHN J. CARROLL, S.J Philippine Daily Inquirer | Feb 4, 2011 AS THE NATION heaps praise and admiration upon former government auditor turned whistle-blower Heidi Mendoza, I am reminded of two words: "common virtue." This was the title of the last chapter of John Bradley Jr.'s 2000 bestseller, "Flags of Our Fathers." The book is Bradley's account of the lives of the six American soldiers who raised the flag atop Mt. Suribachi on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, site of one of the most horrendous battles of World War II. The photo of the flag-raising soon became one of the iconic images of the war. The three flag-raisers who survived the battle (one of whom was Bradley's father, John Sr.) were brought home and hailed as heroes, a role they reluctantly took on to help sell bonds to fund the war effort. Bradley's final description of the six men could very well apply to Heidi Mendoza, former AFP budget officer George Rabusa, and other men and women who have risked their personal well-being in pursuit of the truth. Here I paraphrase Bradley's words freely: "They are people of common virtue. Called to duty. Sisters and brothers. Sons and daughters. Mothers and fathers. It's as simple as that." I have known Heidi Mendoza for many years through her husband Dr. Roy Mendoza, a good friend and former colleague at the John J. Carroll Institute on Church and Social Issues (JJCICSI). When I texted Roy to congratulate him for Heidi's highly acclaimed testimony detailing evidence in the Garcia plunder case, I received this short but meaningful reply: "Everything we are now, we owe to our faith." The statement, I feel, reflects all that is good and right not just in the singular act or courage that Heidi displayed with her testimony, but in the total commitment Heidi and Roy have displayed all through their lives. Theirs is a "faith response" in the truest sense, quiet lives of service nurtured by faith and lived far from the limelight, until now. At the onset, Heidi and Roy seemed like an unlikely pair. Heidi followed a fairly unremarkable path, working at the Commission on Audit soon after graduating from college, the start of more than 20 years of service in government. Roy on the other hand took a more roundabout route, going full-time into student activism before resuming his education. He married Heidi just as he began a career in community organizing and research for a series of Jesuit institutions: the Center for Community Services, the La Ignaciana Apostolic Center and JJCICSI. When Roy decided to settle down to teach history at the Ateneo de Manila University (eventually obtaining a PhD in history from the University of the Philippines), it was Heidi's turn to enter into direct involvement in justice concerns. Because of her long years of experience in the COA, she became affiliated with the "Ehem!" anti-corruption initiative of the Philippine Jesuits, working closely with Fr. Albert Alejo, SJ, on various anti-corruption and education campaigns. It was through her involvement in "Ehem!" that she mustered the resolve to reveal the anomalies in the COA investigation of the Garcia case. In a recent meeting with Heidi and Roy, they shared with me their reflections on the twists and turns that their lives have taken. Roy lightheartedly recounted: "When we were deciding whether Heidi would come out in the open with her knowledge of the Garcia case, she reminded me that when I was younger she tolerated my work in political activism. She told me that it is her turn now to be the political activist. I had to remind her, in turn, that when we were younger we did not yet have any children." Indeed, thoughts of her three children have not been far from Heidi's mind in the midst of the political maelstrom she has entered. During a strategizing session at the Ateneo School of Government several weeks before her testimony in Congress, Heidi explained her anguished decision to go public in these words: "I am not doing this for myself, to seek publicity. No mother in her right mind will endanger her children just to get publicity. I am doing this to prove to people that not everyone in government is corrupt, that there are good people in government." Her disavowal of personal fame and her abiding concern for family and country have become a constant refrain in Heidi's public appearances. And with each retelling, I become more convinced that she would rather cast herself as an ordinary person doing the right thing. Hers was a decision emanating from a conflicted conscience seeking peace, no matter what the cost. Just like Bradley's flag-raisers, Heidi is a reluctant hero. "A person of common virtue . . . it's as simple as that." In their show of support for Heidi, the Philippine Catholic bishops quoted from their own pastoral letter two years ago encouraging lay participation in social change: "We challenge our Catholic laity, in particular, to take the lead in the task of moral renewal towards a deeper and more lasting change in the Philippine society. We challenge all lay people involved in politics to renounce corruption and bond together in the task of evangelizing politics for effective governance and the pursuit of the common good." Perhaps the bishops realized that there are enough good people out there who simply need to be encouraged, people of "common virtue" who can truly make a difference. But as Heidi Mendoza has shown us, perhaps common virtue is not so common. INDONESIA Indonesian Catholics, educate young people the faith to fight corruption by Mathias Hariyadi Indonesia is the second most corrupt country in Asia after Cambodia. Association for the education of young Catholic leaders organized a meeting in Jakarta with Indonesian and foreign officials and experts. Filipino activist: "the fight against corruption starts in reviewing are own lifestyle”. Jakarta (AsiaNews) - Fighting corruption with the Christian education of youth and the spread of values and ethics in the workplace. This is what emerges from the encounter with some church leaders, ngo activist, lecturers, media editors, anti-corruption watchdog and business leaders organized April 2 last in Jakarta by the Bhumiksara Foundation, a Catholic association that has promoted the formation of young Catholic leaders. Leading the conference Ronald V. Amorado (pictured), a Filipino activist and coordinator of Ehem, an organization for fighting corruption in the Philippines founded in 1988 by Jesuit priest Father Albert Alejo. "Corruption - Amorado said - is a contagious virus in our society. This practice has nothing to do with religion or with economic prosperity, however, it depends on personal ethics and values”. According to a survey by the Political and Economic Risk Consultancy (PERC) a Hong Kong based consulting firm specializing in the study of corruption in Asian countries, Indonesia is the second most corrupt country in Asia after Cambodia. In his experience in the Philippines, Morado understood that all areas are at risk from corruption, including religions. "We Catholics – he said - in order to be professional and respected in the economic field, must follow and promote a spirit of anti-corruption among our colleagues and friends, and it is good to start this journey judging our own ways of living." J.W. Junardy, a businessman and representative for Indonesia at the UN Global Compact Network Association, said that the Church and the Catholic world must be an example to follow for the people. According Junardy, the fight against corruption is a risky topic and to be effective everyone must follow their own ethical path. Otherwise, the risk is the manipulation of the fight against corruption. An example is the radical Islamic parties, which exploit the issue to gather support, proposing the application of sharia as the only antidote. Corruption is a major problem in Asia and in countries like Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Vietnam and the Philippines is not only widespread in the public sector and large companies, but also on a local level and costs States billions of  euro. The governments of these countries each year announce new commissions to combat the problem, but these in turn are transformed into devices to allow a political party to pursue their own interests. http://www.asianews.it/news-en/Indonesian-Catholics,-educate-young-people-the-faith-to-fight-corruption-21224.html

	What is Ehem?   Ehem has become a rallying guttural voice and a creative battlecry for people who want to combat corruption in the Philippines. It is an anticorruption cultural campaign that aims at making people more seriously sensitive and bothered by corruption, and be more deeply involved in combating it.   Specifically, this guttural voice reverberates itself in many fronts:  >>>  Ehem is a voice to grumble, to confront, and to resist  corruption. (Ang Ehem ay pagdabog, pagkibo at pagtutol sa pandaraya at katiwalian!). >>> Ehem is a gentle but powerful sound to caution and make one’s presence known, which brings forth some sense of embarrassment among those who will commit corruption (Ehem! Nandito ako, may masama ka yatang binabalak!). >>> Ehem is a nondidactic but confrontational signal that calls the attention of people, especially those who have the propensity to commit corruption. (Ehem! Anong ginawaga mo! Anong ginagawanatin!). >>> Ehem is a guttural pitch that deters or discourages the commission of corruption. (Ehem! Itutuloy mo pa ba? Itigil na natin ito, ang sama talaga eh!).  >>> Ehem is a subtle but effective signal that reminds people to be vigilant and mindful of one another’s roles and actions to counteract corruption. (Ehem! Magbantay kayo! Masisikmura ba ninyong wala kayong ginagawa!). >>> Ehem is a very compact word that evokes people’s intolerance and warns of people’s rage and against corruption (Ehem! Bistado na kayo! Galit na ang taong bayan!). Objectives of Ehem Ehem is a tool for making people more seriously sensitive and bothered about corruption and more deeply involved in combating it at the individual, group and institutional levels. Specifically, the program aims to: 1. Facilitate a process among the various sectors towards understanding the culture of corruption, its various standpoints, and the roles of individuals and institutions in the perpetuation of corruption in Philippine society. 2. Provide an avenue for analyzing issues and situations of corruption, and their immediate and long-term causes and consequences. 3. Allow serious reflection among different sectors to generate insights on their value systems that reinforce or prevent corruption. 4. Build commitment and formulate integrity plans to combat corruption. Ehem as an anticorruption strategy Many have been asking: what is the anticorruption strategy of Ehem? What makes it different from the other anticorruption initiatives? Ehem does not claim to hold the grand solution to the problem of corruption in the country. What it only offers is a different way of thinking to enhance anticorruption initiatives. It is a kind of thinking that makes everyone responsible by being aware of his or her own vulnerability to corruption. The campaign is a humbling realization to many adopters. For instance, many Filipinos condemn corruption in government but forget to see the anomalies in their respective offices. The youth and students condemn corruption but tolerate cheating in class. Government employees denounce the anomalies of their officials but allow tampering of their DTRs (daily time records). Many also practice the systematic acceptance of gifts from their clients without due regard to creeping corruption resulting to favoritism even at the expense of established rules. Even Church workers and parishioners are surprised to learn how the “love funds” or “Saturday collection” of the BECs (Basic Ecclesial Communities) are being spent by their officers for personal use.  There are so many stories of creeping corruption in many sectors but many fail to consider them as part of the bigger problem of corruption in society. This is the reason why the third  edition of the Ehem manual bears a new title: “Ehem! A Self-Check Manual to Combat Corruption.” It is a campaign of introspection in accordance with what the CBCP exhorts in its Pastoral Letter (“Restoring Trust,” 11 July 2005): we also need to look at ourselves and assess to what extent we have contributed to the problem.  Ehem provides the opportunity to combat corruption by addressing his or her own corruption. Ehem provides the avenue to allow each one to enhance his or her personal integrity as a tool to resist corruption.  For those who have already attended the Ehem seminars, the main anticorruption strategy of Ehem is found in the process of PAGTETEKA or TEKA MUNA (stop, wait, think and reflect!).  It makes people more sensitive to their attitudes and actions that might have been cooped up in anomalies. It awakens people to their vulnerability. It also provides the opportunity to come up with alternatives or recommendations to keep away from these vulnerabilities. These and many more experiences of Ehem adopters and seminar participants attest to the small reforms of people, both inside and outside the government, that really inspire and that really show that they are doing something to help combat corruption in the country. This is in affirmation of what the incumbent Provincial Superior, Fr. Daniel L. Huang, SJ wrote in his preface to the third edition of the Ehem manual: “It seeks ultimately to make each participant aware of his or her own vulnerability to corruption, his or her uncritiqued, often unwitting practice of corruption in daily life. It hopes to bring people, in the end, to a commitment to live a life in a new way: critical of corruption, intent on integrity! Add your content here Corruption and Communion Fr. Albert Alejo, S.J., EHEM Anti-Corruption Movement initiator and moving spirit, came up with a Lenten reflection that aims at fighting corruption within the Church. His advocacy is anything but unimportant, for we who read the Word of God must "believe what we read; preach what we believe, and practice what we preach."  click here to read Fr. Alejo's reflection

	Since its inception, several government agencies and private sector organizations have adopted and implemented the Ehem anticorruption program. In 2003, the Office of the Ombudsman declared Ehem as its flagship graft prevention program and entered into a formal partnership with the Jesuits and created the Ehem! Aha! Technical Working Group (TWG). The TWG advocates and implements the Ehem program in national government organizations and local government units among others.   The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) also came out with a Pastoral Letter in 2003 exhorted the implementation of the Ehem program in various parishes and pastoral programs nationwide. Since then, more than a hundred Ehem seminars and auxiliary programs have been conducted in the Philippines, covering the major cities and regional centers. In 2006 also, Ehem was granted by the Philippine government its patented trademark as an anticorruption program with all its concepts, principles and collateral advocacy materials. Ehem thus offers both opportunity and challenge for those in the forefront in anticorruption work in exerting greater efforts towards establishing a just and human society.

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL EHEM! BOOKS

CLICK HERE SEE ALL EHEM! BOOKS