Use conscience, not surveys when voting – Cebu Archbishop

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma urged all voters to choose their candidates based on conscience, not on surveys.

With two more days until Monday’s elections, Palma reiterated his call for Catholics to choose leaders according to God’s grace.

Palma also condemned the political violence in some parts of Cebu and prayed for cooler heads to prevail on Monday, May 9.

“It becomes a source of our sadness nga naay pinatyanay. We must avoid this type of practice. How can a person forget this election if his or her relative dies this year?” Palma said.

During the Mass for peaceful and credible elections at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral Friday, May 6, Palma reminded the faithful that it is their moral obligation to vote.

“If they don’t vote, they neglect their duties toward neighbor and God and jeopardize their salvation,” he said, quoting the Second Vatican Council.

Palma said the faithful must examine the candidates based on their character and their practices.

He reminded voters that there are various aids to discern the right candidates, such as the Dilaab Foundation’s Laser (lifestyle, accomplishment, supporters, election conduct and reputation) test and the GabayKristo (character and integrity, leadership abilities, sincerity to God and country, leadership integrity) test of the Cebu Citizens Involvement and Maturation for People Empowerment and Liberation (C-Cimpel).

“Let us choose our leaders based on our discernment. Forget about the surveys. Let us think of God when we vote the right leaders,” Palma said.

Palma also reminded voters to elect leaders who will “defend life and the dignity of all, care for our common home, and protect the common good.”

“Let us value candidates who value life, who value the sacrament of the marriage and the family; who have deep faith in God and those who take care of the environment,” Palma said.

Incidents

Palma also lamented the recent incidents in Tuburan and Medellin, where there have been politically-motivated violence.

He urged supporters of different candidates to avoid resorting to violence and to respect the decision of the voters.

Palma also urged candidates to be “magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat” and for the electorate to support whoever wins.

After the mass, the faithful held a “penitential walk” around the central Cebu City area to pray for clean and honest elections.

In the province, the fight against vote-buying involves the public, a police official said.

Cebu Provincial Police Office Director Senior Superintedent Clifford Gairanod urged anyone to report to them if they see actual vote-buying so they can respond to it.

“We are looking at everything, but we cannot look at it all at once. That’s why we need the help of the supporters, of the people… to give us information regarding these matters, especially on vote buying,” he said.

Not siding

The police official told reporters yesterday they are not siding with any political group.

“I wish the election day would be just an ordinary day for the PNP (Philippine National Police)…normal checkpoints and normal police operations lang (only),” he said.

Last Thursday afternoon, police chased two women who were reportedly buying votes in Barangay Tapon, Dumanjug.

The operatives failed to arrest the women, but they recovered a bag containing envelopes with money, a list of names and fliers of candidates allied with reelectionist Dumanjug Mayor Nelson Garcia of One Cebu party.

Garcia described the incident as political gimmickry and accused the police of fabricating the story.

For his part, Gairanod said he already ordered a thorough investigation on the incident.

The police official is one of the 5 officials One Cebu party wants transferred to other areas on election day for their alleged partisanship.

Others are Superintendent George Ylanan, chief of the Regional Operations Group; Superintendent Rex Derilo, head of the Regional Intelligence Group; Superintendent Marvin Sanchez, chief of the Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force; and Superintendent Rodolfo Albotra, chief of the Provincial Intelligence Bureau.

“Hindi naman totoo na hinahabol namin sila, wala naman kaming hinahabol, eh. Inaano lang namin na hindi makakalusot ang guns, gold, and goons (We are not after them. We just make sure there are no guns),” said Gairanod.

Gairanod described the national and local elections as a “very, very big event for the Filipino people.”

“Kailangan natin bantayan (We should safeguard it),” he said. – Rappler.com

This article is republished under Rappler’s content sharing agreement with the SunStar network in the coverage of the 2016 national and local elections.