Auxiliary Bishop Pabillo
Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo urged the public on Friday to use the next seven months to thoroughly examine the qualifications and track records of those running in the midterm elections as he pointed out that the country would only have a better future “if we become better voters.”
“As voters, let us show to the politicians that we are better than they. We have better sense than they. We are more discerning. Let us show them that we know how to choose,” Pabillo said on a Facebook post on Friday.
‘Gems in pile of dirt’
Though the list of candidates in next year’s elections is dominated by familiar faces, trapos (traditional politicians) and even people with pending criminal cases, “there are gems among the pile of dirt,” he said.
Pabillo urged the voters to take the time to know the candidates and make sure their choices have the best interest of the country at heart.
For one, he said, voters should look into a candidate’s track record and how he has lived his life.
“If a person is not faithful to his commitment to his wife, will he be faithful to his office? If a person cannot take good care of his family, can he take care of a town, province or district? If a person is a gambler, he will gamble his office! If a person is dirty in his speech and his views, he will be dirty as a public official,” Pabillo said.
The prelate pointed out that voters should also not choose their leaders on the basis of party affiliation and winnability.
“Do not join the bandwagon. You are not wasting your vote by voting for one you believe in. By voting for a bad person because he is winnable, you are being an accomplice in destroying our country,” he said.
Political families
Seeking election in the May 2019 exercise are a number of local and national candidates from political families who have been in power for decades.
In the absence of an antipolitical dynasty law, Pabillo said the voters had the power to put an end to these families’ rule.
“Political dynasties thrive because we vote for them,” he said.
At the end of the five-day filing of certificates of candidacy on Wednesday, the Commission on Elections received the applications of 152 senatorial aspirants, 182 party-list groups and more than 26,000 local candidates.
Up for grabs in the midterm polls are 18,095 seats from senators down to councilors.