ARCHBISHOP Romulo Valles asked for the election volunteers to be shepherds, guarding the sentiments of the voters in the 2025 National and Local Elections.
Valles appealed to the volunteers to be shepherds of the hearts and minds of the voters, as it is not only a civil duty for them that is mandated by the government but also God's desire for them to be the shepherd of the voters.
He said the Church of Davao is trying its best to contribute to the election on May 12, 2025 and make the process worthy to be called an electoral process in a democratic country.
"Tomorrow each one would say 'who will be the ones to serve, to help us have better lives. Tomorrow God's love, God’s protection, God's desire that we live good lives would be manifested through sacred voting," he said.
The members of Archdiocesan Commission on Elections Monitoring Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (ACE-COM PPCRV), Davao City Police Office (DCPO), Police Regional Office-Davao Region (PRO-Davao), Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Civilian Security Unit (CSU), Task Force-Davao (TFD), Department of Education (DepEd), and Commission on Election-Davao Region (Comelec-Davao) were blessed before they were deployed.
They also offered a prayer for the election asking for wisdom for the voters to elect candidates that would prioritize justice and dignity. They asked for the Lord to guide the decision of the voters to elect someone in line with the teachings of the Lord.
Meanwhile, ACE-COMM PPCRV Spokesperson Atty. Aireen Lizada said in an interview that their 3,642 volunteers are ready to serve but she expects that there would be challenges in the process. She, however, said that they already have countermeasures in place in response to these challenges.
"Meron pa kaming strike force sa mga areas na mahina ang mga volunteers natin (We have strike force in areas that we have minimal volunteers)," she said.
Lizada added that they have 11 places that have very few volunteers, but they already pulled out some volunteers from other parishes. RGP