The pastoral letter issued by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) last Sunday should be heeded by Filipino voters regardless of one’s political or religious belief in light of the weighty burden of choosing the country’s next president and other national and local officials.
In the letter, the CBCP noted that the three presidential debates have given the Filipinos a closer look at the candidates insofar as their programs and what they stand for are concerned.
It may not be the most accurate picture, but the debates are a fairly reliable barometer of each candidate’s demeanor, character and capability in governance.
A casual reading of the CBCP letter may give people the impression that the message targets Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, whose statements have become not only controversial but polarizing and unsettling as well.
“A choice for a candidate who takes positions that are not only politically precarious but worse, morally reprehensible, cannot and should not be made by the Catholic faithful,” the letter read.
Hmm, let’s see. Has there been anything associated with Senators Grace Poe and Miriam Santiago, Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Mar Roxas and even Vice President Jejomar Binay — aside from the usual criticism on their citizenship, health, competence and allegations of corruption, respectively — that the Church considered as “politically precarious” and “morally reprehensible?”
Aside from his repeated, pointed declarations to form a coalition government with the Communist Party of the Philippines and wage an intensified campaign against criminality that will likely include dumping the remains of suspected criminals in Manila Bay, Duterte’s notorious history of womanizing and his controversial remark over the rape and murder of a female Australian missionary do not sit well with the conservative majority of Filipinos, who remain undecided on whom to vote for on May 9.
The latest admission by Duterte of a bank account that supposedly contains millions of pesos may be considered late in the day by diehard loyalists, but it still packs quite a disturbing revelation about the mayor and his financial dealings.
Is there anything else that Mayor Duterte has not disclosed to the public despite his avowed promise to be truthful and transparent about himself? Things that are seriously damaging that people may find out too late because they will have elected him to office?
The CBCP letter is right in pointing out that while the country’s desire for change is understandable in light of the cases of incompetence and indifference that remain prevalent under the Aquino administration, the Filipinos cannot risk throwing caution to the wind and vote for candidates that rank high in the surveys or promise the moon and the stars without a program of governance they can all rally and get behind on.