Bishop to voters: Use social media to support good candidates

MANILA, Philippines — Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo on Wednesday urged the faithful to use the remaining days of the campaign period to rally behind “good candidates” and to use social media “to make them more known.”

In his official blog post, the bishop said ordinary people could help elect deserving candidates by “posting (on social media) the names and programs of good candidates so that they may be (better) known.”

Pabillo also urged voters not to be swayed by survey results and polls, describing them as “part of propaganda meant to condition our votes.”

He added: “Let us remember that elections are different from betting in lotteries or gambling. It is not a matter of betting on winning horses. (Voting) is the free expression of our convictions.

“No matter if my candidates do not have a high rating, my vote for them is not wasted even if they  lose.  What is worse is that I vote for a winnable candidate who is a bad public servant … and may have contributed to the ill in society,”  the prelate said.

Pabillo earlier cited the 10 candidates that lay Christian leaders belonging to the People’s Choice Movement have  recently selected out of the 62 senatorial aspirants, using a set of Christian criteria.

“This is the  serious kind of discernment that bishops are calling for,”  Pabillo said, adding that “many have regretted their votes in the 2016 elections … (so) let this be a lesson to us now. Let us be wiser.”