Apu Ceto urges faithful: Vote for pro-life candidates

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO - San Fernando Archbishop Paciano Aniceto said Tuesday that he will be calling on the faithful here to vote for pro-life candidates, but added he has not yet decided whether to name candidates perceived to be pro-life or anti-life.

Aniceto said what the Diocese of Bacolod did, for example, is not wrong.

The San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City last week urged the public to take down the posters of the so-called "Team Patay," or candidates opposed by the church there for supporting the Reproductive Health (RH) law.

The Diocese of Bacolod identified senatorial candidates Juan Edgardo Angara, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Alan Peter Cayetano, Risa Hontiveros, Teddy Casiño, Jack Enrile, as well as party-list groups Gabriela, Bayan Muna, Akbayan and Anak Pawis as members of "Team Patay."

JV Ejercito, Antonio Trillanes IV, Gregorio Honasan II, Mitos Magsaysay, Aquilino Pimentel III, and Cynthia Villar are under "Team Buhay" or candidates who expressed opposition to the law.

Aniceto said the statement made by the Diocese of Bacolod is merely following the statement of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) on voting for candidates who are pro-life and pro-family.

"For our case, we will also look on the statement of the CBCP but our strategy may be different from that of the Diocese of Bacolod. It is not absolute that you will not name names, it depends on the situation," Aniceto said.

He added there is nothing wrong with naming names, but added he has not decided yet to do the same.

"The CBCP is not giving names of who people should not vote for. But a particular bishop may name candidates, he can do that," Aniceto said, stressing what happened with the voting for the controversial RH law is a point for consideration.