Caritas Philippines head Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo encouraged the faithful to join the movement to “share the burden of managing and administering the electoral exercise with the Commission on Elections.”
Various faith-based organizations banded together to launch the “Halalang Marangal 2022” movement to work for “clean, accurate, responsible, and transparent” polls.
The coalition is made up of over 20 church and civic groups committed to ensure “righteous elections”. The movement was launched on September 28 ahead of the filing of the certificate of candidacy.
Caritas Philippines head Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo encouraged the faithful to join the movement to “share the burden of managing and administering the electoral exercise with the Commission on Elections.”
Among its main activities include a campaign for voters’ registration, which has been extended to October 30, as well as voters’ education and poll monitoring.
The bishop believes that how we vote reflects who we are, our values.
“It is an expression and affirmation of our human dignity, a foundational principle of Catholic social teaching,” he said.
He asks the laity to be involved in the process and the voting chain to contribute to transparent and honest elections saying that it is our “special responsibility”.
Especially now when the nation is facing numerous issues and challenges, he believes that the Filipinos deserve “leaders with servant hearts” as well as competence, experience, compassion, kindness, passion, and perseverance.
Aside from Caritas, the coalition is composed of the bishops’ Commissions on Indigenous Peoples and Commission on Youth; the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP); Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas; and the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP).
Other coalition members are the Brotherhood of Christian Businessmen and Professionals (BCBP); De La Salle Brothers Philippines; Network for Justice and Compassion (NetJC); People Empowerment via Transformative Electoral Reforms (PETER); Philippine Misereor Partnership (PMPI); Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB); Bawat Isa Mahalaga (B1M); The Faith Initiative; and Radio Veritas846.
The coalition hopes that their movement will lead to a continuing communal discernment and action.
Tags: #2022elections, #CatholicChurch, #HalalangMarangal2022, #responsiblevoting