2 Negros dioceses say no to ‘Team Patay’ tarps

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The dioceses of San Carlos and Kabankalan in Negros Occidental are not placing Team Patay, Team Buhay tarpaulins in their respective areas.

While they are up against the Reproductive Health law, Fr. Jaime Laude, Social Action director of San Carlos, told ABS-CBN they will not duplicate what the Diocese of Bacolod did. (Editor’s note: We inadvertently failed to mention earlier that Laude’s statements were based on a newscast aired locally by ABS-CBN.)

As part of our education to the populace about candidates (who either supported or made a stand against the RH law), Laude said “we don’t want to put some titles [on the candidates, such] as Team Patay or Team Buhay.”

We will focus on education campaign to the voters, he added.

Sharing the stand of Diocese of San Carlos, Fr. Eryl Agus, who is the Kabankalan Social Action director, said they will not order their priests to do it in their areas.

But he said they will empower them, including lay leaders, to educate the people about the RH law.

The COMELEC legal department earlier ordered Bacolod bishop Vicente Navarra to take down the tarpaulin that names senatorial candidates and partylist groups who voted for the passage of the Reproductive Health Bill, who have been tagged as anti-life, and those who voted against the bill, who have been cited for being pro-life.

They tagged the tarpaulin as an oversized campaign material, but the Diocese has insisted that it is an expression of the Church stand against the RH Law that is its right under the Constitutional guarantee of freedom of expression.

Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra asked the Supreme Court to stop the Commission on Elections from implementing its order to remove the “Team Buhay/Team Patay” tarpaulin in front of the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City.

The court issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) Tuesday, March 5. – Rappler.com