The Right Thing
Why former priest Romy Tiongco is living under the shadow of death in the Philippines (Part 3 of 3)
Miriam O'Reilly concludes her three-part BBC series exploring personal stories of integrity, courage, and the cost of doing the right thing.
Her final guest is Romy Tiongco, a former Catholic priest and aid worker now fighting corruption as mayor of Philippine town. Romy has spent a lifetime fighting poverty - first as a Catholic priest, then as a worker for the international development charity, Christian Aid. In the 1970s, he was an outspoken opponent of the regime of Ferdinand Marcos. More recently, Romy was encouraged to stand for mayor in the town of Damulog. Initially reluctant, he was persuaded by the murder of a friend to take up the challenge in order to try to improve the lives of ordinary people and challenge the culture of corruption. In the run up to the election, Romy faced death threats. He continued his campaign believing that it might be what God was asking of him as a way of serving the people.