I DON'T think I'll be happy with the so-called Solid Catholic Vote.
I am a charismatic Catholic. You can expect me to vote for specific opposition candidates such as ocho derecho candidates.
I don't like it when the clergy dictates whom to vote. I belong to a faith that respect God's gift to humankind: the gift of free will.
And a check online proves it. Archbishop Socrates Villegas did not specifically endorse Otso Diretso or mentioned any specific candidates when he urged Catholics not to betray God by their vote. False news, according to a Rappler fact-check.
The archbishop posted a video on his Facebook page which compiles clips of Duterte's tirades against God and criticisms of the Church in the past years. It has a caption that reads, "Are you going to betray God again?"
"The Lord said, 'Are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?' My dear brothers and sisters, are you going to betray God, are you going to deny your faith, by your vote?"
I will vote for some ocho derecho candidates. The issue that binds these opposition is the anti-Duterte stance.
Senatoriable Romulo Macalintal gets my vote. He admitted he was aware that calling out on Catholics may ruin his chances of winning in the senatorial race, but he said he would rather not win than bear in silence the insults against the Church.
"I call on my fellow Catholics to prove that we can stand up for our faith. Now is the time to act," he said at a press briefing in Cubao, Quezon City.
As for other of the candidates, I'm still weighing my options. I still have to vet their positions on Catholic hot-button issues such as contraceptives, abortion, and same-sex marriages.
I still have to contemplate on post-modernist philosophy that basically says, in street lingo, anything goes.
I'm a human rights advocate. So too many of the ocho derecho candidates. We have common grounds, but also sharp divergences.
Delegates from around the world gathered in Warsaw, Poland, over July 6-8, where they gave the green-light motions on the Amnesty International's positions on safe and legal abortion and how states control the production, sale and use of drugs. "We want to make sure we are well placed to fight for the human rights of millions of people whose lives are impacted by how governments criminalize or restrict access to abortion.
Whoa, that is way over my level of acceptance. How can I be a Catholic and also pro-abortion?
Since 2013, I have never renewed my AI membership. My friends want me to renew it.
Well, I have crossed my Rubicon. I can be a human rights advocate in my own way, in my own terms.
bqsanc@yahoomail.com