The Philippines’ House of Representatives impeached Vice President Sara Duterte on Feb. 5. That same day, it transmitted the Articles of Impeachment to the Philippine Senate, which is mandated by the constitution to act as the impeachment court.

It has been four months since then, and despite the constitution’s wording that the Senate needs to act “forthwith” on the complaint, Senate President Francis Escudero has dillydallied and still has to convene the Senate as a court. This raises suspicions about his political motives as regards the case.

I know that politics in the Philippines is a divisive issue in general and especially when it comes to the Dutertes in particular. But truth and justice need to prevail.

For too long, Filipinos have tolerated the excesses and abuses of elected public officials. The public has accepted corruption as a social norm, expecting all politicians to act dishonestly and abusively while in office.

Consequently, funds that are meant to provide basic services to the people, especially the poor, go into the pockets of corrupt politicians. Sadly, many, if not most, of them get away with it, due to the inaction and indifference of the public.

Many ordinary Filipinos are not bothered at all when politicians don’t fulfill their campaign promises. They blindly remain loyal to them even though the common good is sacrificed at the altar of greed and corruption. To call a politician an honest public official has become an oxymoron.

It is not only Vice President Duterte who must be held accountable, but all public officials must be held to a high standard. Whether one supports Duterte or not is not the question.

It is a matter of making sure that all politicians, no matter what their political parties, affiliations and ideologies are, will work for the best interests of the people, especially those who are downtrodden and marginalized.

In this good fight, the Catholic Church, the entire Christian community and not only its leadership, must always be on the side of justice and that includes calling out public officials if they do not perform their jobs, if they are not faithful to their campaign promises, and if they commit graft and corruption.

The loyalty of Christians ought not to be with politicians, but after careful discernment, to what brings about the Kingdom of God in the concrete socio-economic and political life of the nation.

The Church ought to play a significant part in stamping out corruption. What one contributes to this effort depends on one’s vocation and career in life. As a community, it can do much good in this particular effort of nation-building.

While I am not a political scientist or a legal expert, I’d like to propose three ways in which the Church can be engaged in developing a political culture that is responsive to the needs of the people, in which politicians consider themselves accountable, and where the public holds them accountable.

First, the Church needs to support initiatives that make politicians accountable. They can lobby for bills, programs and projects that seek to end corruption and poor governance.

For instance, it can work for the drafting of a law that puts an end to political dynasties. Studies have shown that in the Philippines, political dynasties have a worsening effect on poverty. The Philippine Constitution expressly prohibits them, but the problem is that there has been no enabling law that will enforce it.

It is because the Congress of the Philippines is dominated by them, so any effort to ban them has not gained any traction in the legislature. There is an obvious conflict of interest here. The Church can throw its social capital into this task.

Last November, several bishops and priests launched the Clergy for Good Governance movement. It is a laudable initiative on those members of the clergy. Perhaps, their tribe can increase as they call for good governance, electoral reforms, an end to political dynasties, and efforts against political disinformation.

Second, in collaboration with scholars, practitioners and other stakeholders, the Church’s leadership can initiate programs that form and educate the community in its fight against corruption.

Since corruption has been normalized, ordinary Filipinos are not able to recognize it, and if they do recognize it, they are not bothered by it at all, and/or don’t do anything about it. They also fail to appreciate its negative consequences, not only in terms of one’s values but also with regard to the delivery of much-needed basic services to many of our people.

That is why it is critical that they be sensitized to it and, once having recognized it, know how to respond to it. I know that whistle-blowing might put one’s life in danger. The necessary infrastructure must then be in place to safeguard the identities, the persons, and the families of whistleblowers.

And third, it is pivotal that the leadership of the Church models what it means to be of true service to the people, living simple lifestyles and eliminating corruption, even the very perception of it, from its own ranks.

Church leaders would be wrong to emulate politicians as they serve the community. Their model of service ought to be Jesus, who “came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mt 28,20).

The service of lay leaders in parish pastoral councils ought to be informed and inspired by the principles of the Catholic social tradition, and if they do run for public office, those very same principles ought to guide them.

Moreover, to be a model of service demands that Church institutions be transparent with regard to their finances. At the parish level, for instance, modeling will necessitate that the parish office make regular monthly financial reports and, at the end of a fiscal year, subject itself to auditing.

Making politicians accountable and fighting corruption are perennial issues in the Philippines. The Church cannot simply stand idly by as millions of Filipinos suffer because of the lack of accountability and corruption.

It is not enough that it preaches about the values of integrity and honesty, but it needs to be more intentional, dialogical, and collaborative as it seeks to respond to those issues. Hopefully, through its efforts, the Church will in its way be an instrument of making Philippine society more like the Kingdom to which Jesus committed his life.

*The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.

With thanks to Union of Catholic Asian (UCA) News and Ruben C. Mendoza, where this article originally appeared.