BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Bishop Gerardo Alminaza and 77 priests under the Diocese of San Carlos in Negros Occidental have come into the open, joining other Roman Catholic priests and lay leaders all over the country in expressing their support to the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo and her running mate, Senator Francis Pangilinan.
Alminaza, the Bishop of San Carlos Diocese, in a statement said he endorsed the “collective discernment of our priests to lead and guide our flock” as they marked the Good Shepherd Sunday (May 8), as the people prepare to exercise the important moral duty to elect national and local leaders.
It is important that we learn to listen to, obey, respect, and safeguard our conscience that is both informed and formed by God’s Word and the solid Social Teachings of the Catholic Church!
No one can and should force, intimidate, threaten or manipulate anyone to act against or violate one’s conscience, the bishop stressed
Alminaza exhorted everyone to pray fervently that all will be given equal opportunity to vote freely and the conduct of our electoral process be peaceful, credible and most pleasing to God.
The Diocese of San Carlos, with 77 priests under its supervision, in another statement, urged the people of God to truly stand for the dignity and integrity “of our rights to vote” on May 9, stressing “this right is a sacred and immensely valuable for the future of our country.”
In endorsing the Robredo-Pangilinan tandem, they said the two candidates “embody the values that we deem worthy for them to lead our country.”
“We witnessed and experienced from them the brand of leadership that inspire active participation and selfless volunteerism,” they said
Let us choose the candidates with a heart like Christ, the Good Shepherd that protects life and abhors killing, upholds the truth and justice and does not lie, faithful to the people and does not steal, respects freedom and justice for the common good, and does not threaten or bribes people with money, the statement further stressed.
During their first campaign sorties in Negros Occidental, Robredo and Pangilinan were both welcomed by Alminaza, and on March 11 held their political rally at the Diocese of San Carlos covered court in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental.
Twenty-seven lay organizations under the Diocese of Bacolod also endorsed the Leni-Kiko tandem earlier.*
