MANILA, Philippines – Ending a 5-month search, a Christian movement composed of the biggest Catholic, Evangelical, and Protestant groups shortlisted Senator Grace Poe and former interior secretary Manuel Roxas II as their chosen presidential candidates.  

In a statement Monday, March 14, the Pilipino Movement for Transformational Leadership (PMTL) said it has included Poe and Roxas in its “short list of candidates to campaign for” in the May 9 elections.

The PMTL is an unprecedented movement that brings together the biggest names in the Philippines’ Christian churches.

The PMTL has been commended by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as a lay initiative, even as the CBCP has said it is not endorsing specific candidates. 

The Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches, which is composed of about 30,000 Evangelical churches in the Philippines, has also said it is backing the PMTL. 

“PMTL has selected God-centered and competent servant leaders committed to the empowerment of the Filipino people,” PMTL lead convenor Alex Lacson said in Monday’s statement. 

PMTL member Spanky Meer earlier said, “This is the first time in history that you have Catholics, the Protestants, the Evangelicals, coming together on a united front.” 

‘Gabay-Kristo’ criteria

In its latest statement, the PMTL explained that it wants its short lists to serve as a voters’ guide. 

The group said this is based on a “Gabay-Kristo” (Christ-Guide) criteria. The guide assesses each candidate in terms of “character and integrity, leadership abilities, sincerity to God and country, and leadership integrity.”

The PMTL is supposed to submit the short lists to the People’s Choice Movement, “an entity that is separate and independent from PMTL.”

The group said this is part of a “People’s Primary” where PMTL members can choose their preferred presidential, vice-presidential, and senatorial candidates based on the short lists. 

For PMTL members, the voting period for the People’s Primary ends on March 15.

PMTL convenors, however, said they will no longer subject presidential candidates to the People’s Choice selection process “because of legal issues” involving Poe. 

The convenors felt that the legal issues “could not be resolved with finality by the end of the voting period.” 

The SC decided on March 8 that Poe can run for president, but petitioners have been expected to appeal this ruling.  

Still, PMTL members can choose from among other candidates for the People’s Choice process. 

The vice-presidential candidate and 8 senatorial bets “who garner the most number of votes in the People’s Primary will be declared as the People’s Choice candidates.”

Robredo in short list, too

The PMTL shortlisted the following as vice-presidential candidates:

• Paredes, Jesus Zosimo
• Robredo, Maria Leonor 

Paredes, however, is not in the Comelec’s certified list of candidates for vice president. 

At the same time, the group shortlisted 15 persons as senatorial bets:

• Alunan, Rafael III
• Belgica, Greco
• Bello, Walden
• Colmenares, Neri
• De Lima, Leila
• Gordon, Richard
• Guingona, Teofisto III
• Liban, Dante
• Lopez, Emmanuel
• Ople, Maria Susana
• Osmeña, Sergio III
• Pagdilao, Samuel Jr
• Pangilinan, Francis
• Romulo, Roman
• Villanueva, Joel

Like Paredes, Lopez is not in the Comelec’s certified list of candidates.

Lacson earlier said the PMTL presents a golden opportunity because it “is very difficult to bring together in unity the big organizations from the Catholic community and the Evangelical community to do or perform an election-related activity together.” 

“Today, we have a golden, wonderful opportunity to unite the Christian organizations from the Catholic and Evangelical communities,” he said.

Lacson wrote the best-selling book 12 Little Things Every Filipino Can Do To Help Our Country, which pushes for “small acts of patriotism.”

Lacson also ran, and lost, as a senatorial candidate backed by Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP) in 2010. He said he is no longer running in 2016, and is not part of the LP, which is fielding Roxas. He later decided that he “was out of politics.” – Rappler.com