The social action arm of the Catholic Church in the Philippines has started a campaign to convince Filipinos to register for the 2022 elections.
Bishop Jose Colin Bagaforo, national director of Caritas Philippines, said the initiative involves the active engagement of local social action centers across the country.
The campaign aims to mobilize church communities to inspire Filipinos, “whether new voters or those who need to reactivate their status,” to register for the elections.
The deadline for the registration of at least seven mission new voters will be on September 2021.
As of March, the country’s Commission on Elections reported that only 2.4 million new voters have been registered.
Bishop Bagaforo said local church communities and the social action network could serve as venue in gathering and convincing the public, especially the youth, to exercise their right to vote.
“We must educate our new voters and remind them that while it is our right to vote, it is also an obligation that we owe to the entire Philippine society,” said the prelate.
Bishop Bagaforo said the role of the Church in election-related campaigns “is to ensure that the public is guided with the Christian values in exercising their civic duty to vote.”
“The coming 2022 election is critical to the nation’s future, therefore, everyone who is qualified to vote must participate in this democratic process that comes once every three years,” he said.
The Church campaign will not only focus on voter registration but also on issues that concern the community, such as the protection of the environment and respect for human rights.
The Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines has earlier urged the electorate “to avoid doing the same mistakes in previous elections.”
“If our lives did not improve after we elected the people who are running the government now, then it is obvious that we made a mistake in the 2016 elections,” said Father Angel Cortez, executive secretary of the association.
“These struggles and problems that we face every day are indicators whether we voted for the right people to lead us or we failed,” he said.
Caritas Philippines and AMRSP joined the launch this week of a multi-sectoral coalition that will advance voters’ education.
At least 29 civil society groups signed as convenors of the initiative dubbed “Regi to Vote.”
“We need to reignite in every Filipino our love for the country through hope, optimism, and even excitement about our collective future,” said Pao Peña, the coalition’s communications head.
Other organizations that joined the coalition are the Sangguniang Laiko ng Pilipinas, Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan, Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle Philippines, and the Philippine Misereor Partnership Inc.
Source: Licas Philippines
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