Bishops: We’re not endorsing any candidate

CBCP President Archbishop Socrates Villegas. INQUIRER FILE

THE CATHOLIC Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is not endorsing any candidate for the May 2016 polls, its top official reiterated Tuesday.

CBCP president Lingayen Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas also clarified that Sen. Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. merely asked for prayers and not for his endorsement when the latter visited him over the weekend.

“He just asked for prayers,” Villegas told reporters when asked about the visit. “I answered him I will pray for him.”

Told that other people might see it as blessing the vice presidential candidate with an endorsement, Villegas said: “(They should) ignore their wrong thoughts.”

The CBCP earlier maintained that the Catholic Church would never endorse a candidate, but added that the laity, with the help of dioceses, should do their part in educating voters.

Villegas said voters should heed their conscience and Church teachings in electing the country’s next leaders.

“As the political engine is revved for the presidential elections, we urge our lay persons to be actively engaged in the apostolate of evangelizing the political order,” Villegas said in a pastoral letter.

“While the CBCP and the Catholic Church in the Philippines will never endorse a particular candidate or a particular party, leaving the consciences of voters sovereign in this respect, in keeping with long-accepted moral teachings of the Church, we commend efforts such as these to arrive at a collective discernment on the basis of Catholic standards and principles, that are not necessarily sectarian,” he added.

But despite non-endorsement of candidates, the Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop said the Church could contribute to political education by conducting debates and public fora.

“We encourage debate among the candidates, and we hope that our dioceses will organize public fora and debates that allow the public to familiarize themselves with the positions, platforms, plans, beliefs and convictions of our candidates,” Villegas said, noting that these gatherings should be “permeated by a genuine sense of fairness, consecration to the truth and charity.”

In a statement, Marcos said the meeting with Villegas, which was held at the Arzobizpado Lingayen-Dagupan, happened last Saturday during the fifth day of his “Unity Caravan” in northern Luzon and lasted for 30 minutes.

But Marcos said they did not discussed politics. “We talked about everything, we talked about my family, we didn’t talk about politics,” he said.

“We discussed everything under the sun, except politics. He blessed me. And I am very grateful for that,” he said.

The lawmaker expressed gratitude to Villegas for accommodating him and his group despite the Catholic prelate’s busy schedule.

“He was very gracious to accommodate us …he just came from Manila,” Marcos said.