Latin America

Church tells faithful: Vote Catholic

Michaela Romulo, Anthony Q. Esguerra

This is AI generated summarization, which may have errors. For context, always refer to the full article.

Church groups distribute ballots and flyers endorsing pro-Catholic candidates

MANILA, Philippines  – Political campaigns were not the only ones distributing flyers and sample ballots on Monday, May 13. Religious groups also gave out sample ballots, encouraging voters to choose common candidates.

The Catholic Church has been very vocal about encouraging its followers to vote candidates who adhere to its values and teachings. This, despite Catholics being known to vote not as a solid bloc.

Parish letters and pamphlets were passed around in different churches endorsing candidates, both at the national and local levels.

Exclusive voting

In Bgy Ayala Alabang, a letter signed by a church group encouraged voters of the exclusive village to exercise what it calls the “Catholic Conscience Vote” and opt for candidates who will introduce a Catholic agenda in Congress.

This agenda includes opposing the proposed bills on divorce and same-sex marriage.

“It is, therefore, the objective of the Catholic Conscience Vote to encourage the lay faithful to exercise their right to establish a Catholic agenda in Congress. This can only be realized if we install legislators who are committed to it,” the statement said.

The circular indicated the list of senatorial candidates and their position on the issues of divorce, same sex marriage, and the RH law.

Read the letter of the Catholic Conscience Vote of the Parish of St. James (part 1):

The letter from the Catholic Conscience Vote of the Parish of St. James was handed out to church members after the Sunday mass.

Some members of St James the Great Parish in Alabang have been extremely vocal against the passage of the RH law for being “anti-life and anti-family.”

In 2011, at the height of the RH bill debates, leaders of Bgy Ayala Alabang tried to pass an ordinance that would prohibit the sale of contraceptives to residents without a prescription from a physician.

The campaign was met by a wave of uproar from residents who claimed that the ordinance was an invasion of their privacy and freedom of choice of family planning methods.

Read the letter of the Catholic Conscience Vote of the Parish of St. James (part 2):

White vote

In Nueva Ecija, some members of the Catholic Church distributed a sample ballot to various villages endorsing candidates for the senatorial and local races in a list dubbed the “White Vote.”

Included in the list were senatorial candidates Nancy Binay, Loren Legarda, J.C. Delos Reyes, and Mitos Magsaysay. All of them opposed the passage of the RH Bill.

The campaign was headed by the Catholic lay group, the Knights of Columbus Council 9449, in partnership with Palayonos Kontra Basura, Couples for Christ and its family ministries — Prex, Lay Ministers, Eucharistic Ministers, Parish Catechists, and BPC Palayan City. 

According to committee chair, Grand Knight Alvin Mitos Baradi, they decided to organize the white vote to unite Catholics and support the Catholic vote initiative of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Actually may listahan ako galing sa Maynila lahat ng congressman [at senador] sa buong Pilipinas na lumalaban para sa RH Bill. Nilalakad na hindi iboto ang mga ‘yan,” Baradi disclosed. (Actually I have a list of congressmen [and senators] in the Philippines who are pushing for the RH Bill. They should not be voted.)

He confirmed that the list came from the CBCP.

ENDORSEMENT. Churchgoers in Nueva Ecija were handed a list of pro-Church candidates on Monday, May 13. Photo contributed by Anthony Esguerra

Umali-Padiernos in gubernatorial race

The church members also endorsed incumbent Governor Aurelio Umali (LP) and Vice Governor GP Padiernos (LP) who are running against NPC’s Josie Manuel-Joson and Ding Liit Joson.

Baradi said they were non-partisan in their choice because they did not take into consideration the Joson political dynasty that has ruled Nueva Ecija since 1959. It could be said that Umali and Padiernos ended the Josons’ control over the province in 2010.

The church also endorsed two city board aspirants Nero Mercado, a member of the Catholic lay group, the Knights of Columbus, and Jessie Ong, a devout Catholic from nearby town Bongabon.

No mayoral endorsement

Despite endorsements that covered senatorial candidates up to councilor-hopefuls, the sample ballot excluded mayoral aspirants.

Hindi namin sinama ang mayor dahil ayaw naming magkawatak-watak ang simbahan. We gave an option to these people to vote for their mayor,” Baradi explained. (We didn’t include mayoral endorsements because we wanted to avoid divisiveness within the church. We gave an option to these people to vote for their mayor.)        

Selection process        

The 20-member core committee representing each of the church-based organizations convened to select and screen the participants. They selected and voted for each candidate, with the white vote endorsements winning the majority votes.

The committee decided to screen candidates who they considered “godly, pro-people and pro-environment” and studied the candidates over a period of 4 months.

“We call it LASER. Lifestyle, Action, Supporters, Election conduct and Reputation. We have a criteria. We didn’t simply decide,” Baradi explained.

The Church strongly opposes the RH Bill, the landfill project, and the construction of a casino in the city.

Although the chosen candidates were not bound by a covenant, the committee asked the candidates if they were willing to lead in accordance with the principles and teachings of the Church. 

While the white vote was organized by various Catholic organizations, Baradi specified that parish priest Fr Jessie Salac was not involved in the selection process. With reports by Anthony Q. Esguerra and Michaela Herlihy Romulo/Rappler.com


Anthony Q. Esguerra is a Rappler Ambassador. Michaela Herlihy Romulo is a Rappler intern. Follow them on Twitter for real-time updates.


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