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IF done
in a clean and honest manner, the coming midterm
election could be a good barometer of the real pulse of
the people on such issues as Charter change and the
legitimacy of the Arroyo administration, the vice
president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the
Philippines (CBCP) said on Sunday.
“The
coming election should be the real people’s initiative
(in terms of) how the people feel about the
administration. If majority of the administration
candidates win in the election, that means the people
are in favor of the government. If the opposition wins,
then that clearly sends a signal,” Cagayan de Oro
Archbishop and CBCP vice president Antonio Ledesma told
reporters Sunday after the bishops’ press conference in
Intramuros.
But
reflecting the people’s real position on political
issues such as Arroyo’s legitimacy and Charter change
would only happen, according to him, if the May
elections for Congress and local positions are clean and
honest.
Ledesma
hopes that the results of the May 14 polls would
eventually put closure to the “unresolved issues”
confronting the Arroyo administration.
He said
the bishops’ failure to release a pastoral statement on
the guidelines relating to political candidates, even
after their three-day discussion of issues, was a
“conscious effort.”
Instead,
the one-page pastoral letter read Sunday by CBCP
president Angel Lagdameo called for vigilance by the
faithful to ensure that their votes get counted.
“As a
nation, we cannot afford yet another controversial
electoral exercise that further aggravates social
distrust and hopelessness,” said the CBCP’s pastoral
statement that was approved by 99 bishops.
Ledesma
said it was “intentional” on the part of the bishops to
withhold saying more about the election—like, how the
voters should be guided on who to vote—because many
candidates have yet to formally file their certificates
of candidacy. “That will be premature. We still do not
know who are the candidates and the alliances have yet
to be formalized,” he added.
In fact,
according to the CBCP vice president, some bishops do
not feel that releasing a pastoral statement on the
election at this time is going to be effective. “They
said let’s not do it. Let the people think for
themselves,” Ledesma said.
He
admitted, however, that bishops plan to release their
own pastoral statements on the election for their own
dioceses so that voters could be guided about worthy
candidates.
“Normally, the bishops do not endorse; they leave it to
the lay organization,” said Ledesma.
Lagdameo,
on the other hand, said the Catholic Church would
encourage the faithful to vote for “propoor, profamily
and antigambling” candidates.
The CBCP
remains consistent with its previous statements that the
Commission on Elections should be revamped in order to
have clean and honest polls, he added.
“We’re
hoping that the final appointment will be a person of
notable credibility,” said Lagdameo, referring to the
Comelec’s seventh member who is yet to be named by
Malacañang.
The CBCP
expressed approval for the appointments of newly named
Commissioners Romeo Brawner, Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo
Ferrer.
The
bishops were, however, dismayed that some poll officials
mentioned in the infamous “Hello Garci” tape were
appointed to juicy positions.
“This
puts a shadow on the credibility of the election,”
warned Ledesma. He was apparently referring to earlier
speculation that the appointment of “tainted” poll
officials to strategic field positions may be a prelude
to another wave of postelection fraud, as the opposition
alleges happened in 2004. |
