CBCP: Choose bets based on 10 Commandments

MANILA, Philippines - Let your conscience be your guide, based on standards set in the Ten Commandments, and don’t let pre-election surveys sway you.

These are among the guidelines for Catholic voters contained in a pastoral letter that will be read in all churches in the archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan in Pangasinan.

Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas issued the pastoral letter to be read in his archdiocese until May 8, the last Sunday before the general elections.

Villegas, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), cautioned voters to “be careful in choosing leaders” and not to choose based on who are topping the pre-election surveys.

“You are called to be authentic Catholic voters who decide from prayer and conscience. You are called to take courage and make moral decisions. Your vote can make heaven come down and make our country beautiful and good as God desires it,” he said.

“We need inspired and inspiring leaders who can rally the nation beyond the horizon of our dreams,” he added. “Be free from the tyranny and pressure of trends and herds. Do it right! Choose what is right according to the Ten Commandments.”

He noted that while intelligence and competence are essential for national leaders, “we need to be reminded of our mistakes in the past when we elected intelligent leaders who later on became thieves of government coffers, murderers of the opposition and billionaires from public funds.”

More than intelligence, people need God-fearing leaders who are also bravely and stubbornly loyal to the flag and to the people, he added.

Villegas said that for the first commandment “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have strange gods before me,” the people should not vote for an atheist or for someone who makes fun of the name of God. “A Catholic cannot support a candidate who vows to wipe out religion from public life.”

While every public official is expected to give life to the constitutional posture of “benevolent neutrality” in respect to the attitude of the state towards religion, the Catholic voter cannot and should not lend his support to any candidate whose ideology binds him or her to make the Philippines a secular state that has no tolerance for religion in its public life.

For the second commandment “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” Villegas explained that “the prohibition of using disrespectful language and cuss words extends to the Church of the Lord, the saints and sacred things.”

He also told the people not to vote for candidates who have a history of violating oaths they have made because “perjury is a grave lack of respect for the Lord of all speech.”

For the third commandment “Remember to keep holy the Lord’s Day,” Villegas said in spite of economic constraints, public authorities should ensure citizens a time intended for rest and divine worship.

For the fourth commandment “Honor your father and your mother,” Villegas said a candidate who fails in this commandment can harm the basic unit of society – the family. Political dynasties are also covered by this commandment.