Bishop to voters: ‘Our choice reflects our values’

A Catholic bishop called on voters in next year’s elections to vote responsibly, saying that how they vote reveals who they are.

Bishop Jose Collin Bagaforo of Kidapawan, national director of Caritas Philippines, said the votes people cast are a mirror of them.

“Our choice reflects our values,” Bagaforo said. “It is an expression and affirmation of our human dignity, a foundational principle of Catholic social teaching.”

According to him, voting is God’s gift to people “and how we use this is our gift to our country”.

“It is a fulfilment of one’s responsibility to participate in and influence the social, political affairs of our nation,” he said.

The bishop made the statement during the virtual launching of Halalang Marangal 2022 Coalition on Tuesday.

With the many issues and challenges besetting the country, he said that Filipinos deserve “leaders with servant hearts”.

But to be a true and working servant leader, he said, requires “competence, experience, compassion, kindness, passion and perseverance”.

“A functioning leader provides direction and inspires God’s family to work tirelessly to improve the condition of all Filipinos with preferential attention to the marginalized and excluded,” Bagaforo said.

Halalang Marangal 2022 is a coalition of more than 20 Catholic and other faith-based organizations to ensure “clean, accurate, responsible and transparent” polls.