Friday, March 09, 2007 Bishop urges people to vote for pro-life candidates By Reynaldo G. Navales
SAN Fernando City Archbishop Paciano Aniceto has asked the people, particularly members of the Catholic Church, to support political candidates who are pro-life and pro-family.
Aniceto, chairman of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) committee for family and life, issued the statement during the visit of lawyer Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, a senatorial candidate under the Genuine Opposition (GO), to the prelate's office at the Mother of Good Counsel seminary here.
He also appealed to the people to participate in the effort to ensure a clean and honest election.
According to Aniceto, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in the province will be very active in working for peaceful elections. He said the youth will be tapped and will be delegated to work during the May elections.
"We will have Youth Congress wherein we would teach the youth to be on guard to ensure a clean and honest election," he added.
Pimentel, a member of the religious community Couples for Christ (CFC), asked for the archbishop's blessings especially in his political bid and service to the people.
After his visit to Aniceto, Pimentel proceeded to the provincial center of the CFC Family Ministries headed by Brother Reynaldo Espiritu.
The senatorial candidate also solicited the support of his fellow members in the religious community. He revealed his plan to solve the problem of poverty, which he called the "square root of development".
"My plan to defeat poverty has four elements of equal value. It addresses the root cause of poverty and brings development to the entire country," he said.
The four elements, according to Pimentel, are: observe the rule of law, empower the youth specifically through science education, enhance local autonomy, and support and follow Gawad Kalinga.
The CFC initiated Gawad Kalinga, a social program for the indigents that is also being supported by the government and private sector.
