Monday, April 02, 2007 Candidates dared to deny involvement in illegality By Raymond C. Garcia
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Pampanga Archbishop Paciano Aniceto challenged all candidates to categorically and truthfully declare in public that they are not involved in any illegalities.
In a letter released on Saturday, the prelate urged the candidates to tell the public that they have not been and will never be involved in vote buying, any form of cheating in the elections, jueteng and other forms of illegal gambling, indiscriminate and corrupt quarrying, exorbitant campaigning, violence and extrajudicial killings, and illegal drug business.
"We call on all voters, especially the Catholic faithful, to reject any candidate who cannot truthfully and resolutely make any of the declarations listed above," Aniceto said.
"We remind the faithful of their baptismal promise to reject evil, greater or lesser, and to choose the good at all times," he added.
Aniceto also asked the people to remain vigilant even after the elections, over corrupt, immoral and illegal practices in governance.
He asked the electorate to support decent, upright, qualified and capable candidates and to come up with multi-sectoral organizations and movements for good governance.
"We call especially on our youth to celebrate our Easter hope by rejecting cynicism and indifference and by redirecting their energies towards the renewal of society," he said.
In light of the current developments in Philippine politics, Aniceto said: "Our invitation to a collective discernment cannot be timelier than now because for very obvious reasons, the nation's attention is focused on Pampanga due to well-based claims that money is again becoming the very bone of contention over Kapampangan politics."
"The shady patrons who are engaged in illegal and immoral business and who have all the money to spend on elections are bound to take control over politics and governance if we do not do anything to expose and put to a stop their underhanded and manipulative practices," said Aniceto.
In the end, the archbishop together with his comrades in the church decided to speak through their pastoral letter after having been quiet for quite a long time.
"Forgive us for having kept quiet for a long time now, and for perhaps giving you the impression that we have become indifferent about the moral decay that is eating up our beloved province of Pampanga. This statement is in response to your clamor for us to speak up and make our stand clear with regard to the social cancer that is eroding the moral fiber of the Kapampangan society," said Aniceto.
