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A day before the start of the national campaign period for the May 2022 elections, the national board of the country’s biggest organization of Catholic private schools urged the public to value truth, justice, democracy, and integrity in choosing their next set of leaders.
The Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP) board of trustees said in a statement on Monday, February 7, that the May 2022 elections is an “opportunity that will break this darkness” of “lies, injustice, authoritarianism, and dysfunctional leadership and governance.”
CEAP is composed of more than 1400 member schools across the Philippines. The statement was signed by 26 CEAP board members.
The statement also coincided with the 81st founding anniversary of CEAP.
Without naming any candidate, CEAP expressed its support for those running with “no record of corruption, proven competence in participatory governance, transparency and accountability in public service, love for the poor and their empowerment, ability to sacrifice for the sake of the common good, and readiness to fight for values of truth, social justice, and democracy.”
Amid the pandemic which caused a drop in enrollment and even the closure of several private schools, CEAP also declared support for candidates “who will uphold, push, and support legislation to strengthen private education and recognize its complementarity with public education, as critical in nation building.”
The group otherwise “vehemently rejects” candidates “who run under this platform of lies and historical distortion – disseminated in social media by massively-financed trolls – particularly the brazen presentation of the Marcos dictatorship and Martial Law as benevolent regimes in our political history.”
It also rejects candidates who have supported the “unjust” policies of the Duterte administration, particularly its deadly war on drugs and its stance towards “China’s aggression inside Philippine territory, its rejection of the Hague ruling, and the lack of protection of Filipino fisherfolk.”
“Ultimately, the choice is moral – leading us to take prophetic, non-neutral, even partisan positions on behalf of the Gospel values we stand for, discerned prayerfully and critically, and acted on with courage and faith,” the statement read.
Notably, some Catholic schools have become more vocal ahead of the 2022 elections, with a few explicitly showing support for their preferred candidate.
For instance, Adamson University and San Beda University – Manila basked their campus facades in pink lights to show their support for Vice President Leni Robredo’s presidential bid. Universidad de Santa Isabel, Robredo’s alma mater, has also expressed its support for her candidacy during her homecoming on Monday, a day before her proclamation rally in Naga City. – Rappler.com
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