Supporters of presidential candidate Leni Robredo, wearing dresses to celebrate the Flores de Mayo (Flowers of May) religious festival, hand out leaflets during campaigning in a residential neighborhood in Quezon City, suburban Manila on May 5. (Photo: AFP)
Around 1,200 bishops and priests in the Philippines appealed to voters on May 4 to use their conscience in casting their ballots at the May 9 polls.
The call was made less than five days before Filipinos vote for their topmost leaders.
The clergymen declared their support for opposition standard-bearer Vice President Leonor “Leni” Robredo and former lawmaker Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan.
By appealing to the conscience vote, men of the cloth said Robredo and Pangilinan deserved the vote of every Catholic who wished better governance of the Philippines.
“It is clear to us that Leni Robredo and Kiko Pangilinan are the candidates deserving our endorsement because of their track record. We all know that they have been serving the poor, especially the marginalized, in the Philippine society. If we consider track record and competence, they are the qualifications of good shepherds in the country,” Vincentian Father John Era told the press on May 4.
Father Era belongs to a group called the Clergy for Moral Choice that is breaking tradition by adopting a different meaning of non-partisanship in the Church.
Canon law prohibits clergymen from participating in partisan politics yet the group said clergymen could not remain partisan in the battle between good and evil.
“More participation of the Church is sorely needed in today’s context because this is a battle between truth and falsehoods,” Paranaque diocesan priest Monsignor Melchor David told the press.
He was referring to the pastoral letter issued by the bishops’ conference in February urging Catholics – clergymen and churchgoers – to fight fake news and to side with history.
The bishops accused the camp of former lawmaker and leading presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos of historical revisionism by portraying martial law as the “golden era” in Philippine history.
Monsignor David praised those who were fighting fake news through honest and competent journalism which he said had woven the fabric of a democratic nation.
The priest took a swipe at Marcos supporters who may attack clergymen for choosing Robredo over the son of the former dictator.
“We are like biblical shepherds… we are willing to lay down our lives for our flock. We are doing this because we love the Philippines and our countrymen,” he added.
Another clergyman said they could not stand and imagine the horror of having another Marcos in the presidential palace.
“We cannot shrug off and let the fate of our country be dictated by false and misleading claims that aim to change our history by another Marcos,” Novaliches priest Monsignor Romy Ranada told the press.
Meanwhile, retired Novaliches Bishop Antonio Tobias said Catholics must not despair that Marcos, Jr. still enjoys a wide lead over Robredo because the Catholic hierarchy would constantly appeal for the moral vote of every Filipino.
“We are not using and we should not use the pulpit to name names. It should be enough for us to mention the qualities of good candidates and the people would know that already. Filipinos are smart and I think they know that by now,” Bishop Tobias told reporters during the event.
