MANILA, Philippines – The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on Tuesday, December 29, warned Catholic voters against electing candidates who push for divorce, the death penalty, and other programs against church teachings. 

In a 10-point guide for Catholic voters, the CBCP also rejected the use of government resources to campaign for specific candidates.

CBCP president Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said a Catholic voter “cannot, in good conscience, support a candidate whose legislative and executive programs include initiatives diametrically opposed to Church moral teachings on such vital issues as abortion, euthanasia, the return of the death penalty, divorce, and the dilution of the character of Christian marriage.”

Earlier, in a statement criticizing Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, the CBCP also cited “killing people” as part of “a great scourge of Philippine politics.”

Villegas added in his latest statement, “We warn against the use of government resources, the power of government offices and instrumentalities, and subtler forms of coercion and intimidation to promote the chances of a particular candidate.”

Two weeks before this, Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle issued another letter advising priests not to say Mass in political events or campaigns.

The CBCP statement comes around 5 months before the May 2016 elections, when Filipinos will elect their next president.

CBCP to Comelec: Secure the elections

In the CBCP statement, Villegas raised the following points as well:

• Voters should “reject claims by candidates that they are candidates of the CBCP,” a diocese, or a particular bishop, because the Catholic Church never endorses candidates

• Bishops “commit to desist from any action of statement” that seems like an endorsement of particular bets

• Lay Catholics remain in the best position to collectively discern “the desired qualities of leaders as well as the political options open to the people”

• “The Catholic voter must evaluate candidates according to the model of Christ, who came to serve, not to be served”

• A Catholic “cannot make his or her choice depend on who is topping or trailing in the polls and surveys”

• “A Catholic cannot support a candidate who vows to wipe out religion from public life”

• “A Catholic is not closed to the candidacy of a non-Catholic”

• Catholics should doubt any candidate “who has thus far spent his time demolishing the reputation and tarnishing the good name of fellow candidates”

Villegas also appealed to the Comelec to ensure “that all security measures” mandated by the law will be “implemented diligently.”

The Catholic Church has repeatedy said it is not supposed to endorse specific candidates during elections.

Individual bishops, however, campaigned against certain candidates in the past.

In the 2013 elections, for instance, at least 6 bishops joined a campaign against so-called “Team Patay” (Team Death) senatorial bets.

“Team Patay” candidates supported the reproductive health law, a measure opposed by the Catholic Church because it legalized state funding for contraceptives. – Rappler.com