BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Contrary to popular belief, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei (Voice of the People, the Voice of God)” is not a Church doctrine, according to San Carlos Bishop Gerardo Alminaza.
Yes, we are told to respect authority and public officials, to follow the Law and to work for the common good of our respective communities and nations, being taught to value democracy and all its fruits, recognition of human rights and dignity, and the power of the ballot, but there are times when the Voice of the People – even if they speak in astounding unison – cannot be mistaken for the Voice of God, Alminaza, in his Facebook account, said.
There are times when people are misled by lies, or threatened by force, or rewarded for believing what they know to be untrue, he said.
I think this is very relevant today as we reconcile ourselves with the outcome of the recently-concluded elections. Not merely because I am disappointed with its results, but rather because I am concerned with what they mean for us as a country moving forward, Alminaza said.
Alminaza and the priests of Diocese of San Carlos were among the Catholic church leaders who expressed their support to the presidential bid of Vice President Leni Robredo, who lost to Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the May 9 elections.
While the advent of social media has made the spreading of information easier and more convenient, it has not made the information more reliable, according to the bishop.
Throughout these elections, many problematic opinions and downright false news and information have proliferated in order to attack certain people and lift up others, Alminaza said.
Accepting one truth, if we are being honest with ourselves, will force us to accept other truths, which may even be more difficult to accept, the bishop said, citing an example, where others find it difficult to accept that Marcos was a dictator, whose family stole millions from the country.
For those people, accepting that people were dying of hunger and violence while they lived in privilege would mean that they should accept that they benefited from such dark times. And that all the time they spent actively denying and defending those historical facts would have been cruel, unjust, and downright evil. That would be shameful, he stressed.
There are many of us now who are struggling to forgive those who have bought into blatant lies and half-truths. We find it hard to believe that a dictator’s son who actively denies the injustices and crimes his family has committed, has won based on and in spite of his family’s legacy, Alminaza said.
Whether or not the elections have brought to power the people we wanted, it is incumbent upon us, as Christians, as Church people, as members of the labor movement, and as citizens to use this time to reflect and listen, he added.
It is our task to speak the truth, no matter how different it may be from the lies which drown out the “Voice of the People.” Alminaza further said.*
