AT LEAST 27 lay organizations of the Diocese of Bacolod have declared their support for the presidential bid of Vice President Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo and her runningmate Senator Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan at the Redemptorist Shrine’s JP2 Hall in Bacolod City Monday, April 25.
Roberto Magalona, provincial head of the Community of Families for Christ-Gawad Kalinga, said the 27 groups that declared support for Leni-Kiko tandem are among the 35 lay organizations in the city.
These include Friends of the Divine Mercy Missionaries, Ang Dios Gugma, Divine Mercy Philippines, Apostolate of Divine Mercy, Teresian Association, Couple’s for Christ-Global, Adorers of the Holy Trinity, Barangay Sang Virgen Legion of Mary, Catholic Women’s League, Good Shepherd’s Catholic Covenant Community, Casa Maria Prayer Community, Cofradia del Sto. Nino de Cebu, Bukas Loob sa Diyos; Community of Families for Chirst-GK, Apostleship of Prayer, Damas de la Caridad; Guardias de Honore de Maria, Focolare Movement, Worldwide Marriage Encounter, Mother Butler Mission Guild, BCBP North, Sto. Nino Devotes, Knights of Columbus, Daughters of Mary Immaculate, and Servants Communities.
The lay organizations’ representatives signed their manifesto of support for Robredo and Pangilinan, stating that the Catholic lay organizations in the Diocese of Bacolod have convened to discern God’s will for the lay faithful and to make a stand regarding the May 2022 elections.
As the result of their discernment process, the organizations agreed to follow the guidelines that they will respect each lay faithful’s choice of candidates for the May 9 elections.
They will remain as brothers and sisters in the community despite the differences.
It also stated that they encourage each community to go through their own discernment process through prayer and the reading of God’s word, to be guided by the truth, and not to be deceived by propaganda, disinformation, revision of facts, and all forms of lies.
“We highly recommend candidates who are maka-Diyos, maka-pamilya, lingkod-bayan, marunong, maka-kalikasan and matapat. Given these guidelines, and with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have decided to support Robredo for president and Pangilinan for vice president of the Republic of the Philippines,” the groups said in the manifesto.
Former Negros Occidental governor Rafael “Lito” Coscolluela, provincial campaign manager of Robredo People’s Council (RPC)-Negros Occidental, said the 27 lay organizations openly declared their support to Robredo and Pangilinan, while the eight others have not been able to do so because their by-laws do not allow adopting a public partisan position.
“It’s very unusual because this is the first time ever that it’s been done by the lay organizations who have usually adopted a non-partisan position. I think they realized that it’s time to make a stand not for a particular candidate, but for the country,” he said on the sidelines of the event.
It will also send a very strong signal to the diocese, he said, adding that not all dioceses have adopted the same neutral stands and there are some dioceses that are very open.
The former governor noted that the initiative of the lay organizations will constitute heavy pressure on the bishop to also make a stand.
Coscolluela stressed that Robredo also indicated her desire to come back to Bacolod City and Negros Occidental for a “final swing.”
“We will discuss the details with the group so we can make the final announcement within the week,” he said, adding that the most ideal schedule would be in the first week of May.