Bishop Rey Evangelista says God never meant Leni Robredo to win as her mission was to wake Filipinos up
Presidential candidate Leni Robredo speaks to the media during a press conference at her home in Magarao town, Camarines Norte, south of Manila, on May 9. (Photo: AFP)
Church people have expressed disbelief and despair over the Philippine presidential election after the son of former dictator Ferdinand Marcos easily defeated their pick — Vice President Leonor “Leni” Robredo.
With about 98 percent of the ballots counted, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr had 31 million votes while Robredo had less than half that number with about 15 million.
Many within the Church had publicly backed Robredo as Marcos was seen as a throwback to the martial law years when his father suppressed, tortured and murdered opponents while plundering the country.
During the campaign, senior clerics criticized Marcos for trying to paint the martial law years as a “golden era” in Philippine history. Now they fear history could be about to repeat itself.
Clergymen who were members of a group called Priests for Leni said they had been left despondent by the election result.
“Everybody is just reeling from this sad situation,” said group member Father Ed Molina from Novaliches Diocese in Manila.
“My thinking is that God sent Leni to make us realize that there is an innate goodness in the Filipino ... I am beginning to think that God never meant for Leni to win. Her mission was to waken us up"
Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said those who aspired for good and voted for Robredo may think they had lost but they did not.
“We are used to defeat. Jesus seemed to embrace defeat when he was crucified on the cross. There was great shame. His disciples were bothered. They were ashamed … but they didn’t know they would emerge victorious,” he said on his Facebook account.
Archbishop Villegas said Robredo may not have won the election but Marcos Jr could not steal the dream and spirit her supporters had acquired during the campaign.
“Let us protect from any plunderer the dream that struck us. Let’s all go back to the future that we’ve always been dreaming of,” Archbishop Villegas added.
Bishop Rey Evangelista of Imus in Cavite province said Marcos’ victory was God’s plan so that Robredo would be spared from public criticism should she fail to initiate change in the government.
“I am beginning to think that God never meant for Leni to win. Her mission was to wake us up. If Leni won, do you really think she would be able to change the mindset of our government? I think we would expect so much more from her that we would complain about each and every mistake or problem that she is unable to solve,” said Bishop Evangelista in his message.
“We would castigate her as an inutile leader in the same manner we castigated PNoy [President Benigno Aquino III]. I think God used Leni to show us that if we unite we are capable of great things. Sure, we tried hard but we still lost the election. But you see, whatever we do, we will lose the election because the dice were loaded in the first place.
“My thinking is that God sent Leni to make us realize that there is an innate goodness in the Filipino. Each Filipino has the ability to rise above oneself."
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