Don’t settle for ‘less evil’ in 2016 elections, bishop tells public

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

A Catholic bishop on Wednesday urged the public not to vote in the upcoming presidential elections if there would be no worthy candidates.

Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said it would be better to leave ballot blank than to vote for people who do not deserve to be elected.

“Dapat maging mapili tayo sa pulitika, nag-iisip tayo sa ating bayan, naghahanap tayo ng tao na karapat-dapat sa ating bayan,” he said in an interview with church-run Radyo Veritas. “Huwag tayong pipili sa less evil. Kung wala tayong makitang good, huwag na tayong bumoto.” (We should be picky when it comes to politics because we are looking for people that our nation deserves. We should not settle for less evil. If we can’t pick good candidates, it’s better not to vote.)

Pabillo, chairman of the permanent committee on public affairs of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, also said voters should look beyond the winnability or popularity of candidates, urging them to vote using their conscience.

“Dapat bumoto tayo hindi lang sa mga mananalo. Kahit bumoto ka sa mga mananalo, talo ang boto mo kasi bumoto ka sa masama. Dapat iboto natin ‘yung nasa konsensya natin. Kahit walang bumoto o alam mong hindi lulusot, iboto mo pa rin, so hindi nasayang ang boto mo kasi ang konsensya mo ang ipinahayag mo,” Pabillo said.

(We should vote not according to winnability. Even if you vote for winnable candidates, your vote is still wasted if they are the wrong people. We should vote according to our conscience.)

A week after the release of two presidential polls, the bishop also called on the public not to be swayed by election surveys, calling these as “gimmicks.”

READ: Afraid of surveys?

“’Wag tayong magpadala sa mga survey. Gimik lang ‘yan. Tignan natin ang mga katangian nila (Let’s not be swayed by surveys. Those are just gimmicks. We should examine (the candidates’) traits),” Pabillo said.

The bishop said the Archdiocese of Manila would strengthen its “Huwag Kang Magnakaw” campaign to educate voters in choosing the right leaders.

“[Hindi] kailangan punuin ang balota. Ang nakalagay lang dapat diyan ay ‘yung mga karapat-dapat (Voters don’t have to totally fill out their ballots. Only those who deserve to be elected should be placed there),” he added. IDL