2019 IS not just an ordinary election year. The midterm election on May 13 is in itself already crucial.
In our country today, the checks and balances in the government are being undermined. So far, the Senate is the institution in the government that is holding out as our country is inching towards total control. It is very crucial therefore that we elect public officials who are principled, courageous and who have the common good as their main concern and not their own political interests.
We encourage voters to be very discerning in their votes. Let the lay groups engage in discernment circles to help one another know the candidates well and choose the candidates with the common good of the whole country in mind and not according to what the candidates promise, much less according to what voters have received from these candidates.
Participation in politics for Christian lay people is not just to be limited to non-partisan involvement. Christians are also encouraged to engage in principled partisan politics. This means that they can campaign for good candidates as an exercise of their Christian faith.
However, more than the elections, another serious, and perhaps more insidious, matter that we should pay attention to is the threat the version of constitutional change and federalism approved by the Lower House and now being dangled to the senators. It takes away the term limits of most of the elected officials and allows political dynasties to continue. It opens the national resources to foreign ownership and eventual control. Its version of federalism is vague and it will do away with the 2019 elections.
We denounce any attempt to avoid the 2019 elections. This right of the people to vote should not be shelved. We reiterate what we have taught before: “If the Constitution is to be revised at all, the process should lead to a greater defense and promotion of the moral values of human dignity and human rights, integrity and truth, participation and solidarity, and the common good.”
We do not see the proposed revised constitution approved by the Lower House as an improvement of the 1987 constitution but is a self-serving attempt of present politicians to remain in power.
We stand by what we have stated in the aforementioned letter (pastoral guideline on charter change issued Jan. 29, 2018): “As servant leaders, we have listened to many others who believe that the solution to our problems is not a revision of the Constitution, but a full implementation of the 1987 Constitution (e.g., on political dynasties & on freedom of information), and a revision of the Local Government Code, originally designed to devolve power from central authority.”
We are in a crucial moment of our history. In our hands is the direction of our country. Let us be vigilant in what is happening. Let us not just be on-lookers but let us be involved.
(Excerpted from a statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Jan. 28, 2019)
