Choose honest candidates on Oct. 25, PPCRV appeals
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) in Iloilo is appealing to Ilonggo voters not to participate in massive vote-buying considered the “cancer of election.”
Msgr. Meliton Oso, archdiocesan coordinator of PPCRV Iloilo, said their group have been working to inform voters public of their responsibility in choosing honest candidates during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections on Monday.
Vote wisely according to your conscience, he told Ilonggo voters.
Oso, also director of Jaro Archdiocese Social Action Center, said accepting money or any form of goods in favor of any candidate is one way of promoting corruption and dishonesty.
“We need an honest public servant and service should be her/his motivation,” he said.
Oso also appealed to candidates not let politicians use them to further their own personal interests and motives.
“If we have good local leaders, then we will have good national leaders,” he said, adding that the barangay is a foundation of national governance.
Moreover, Oso urged politicians to stay away from the SK election after the PPCRV received reports on town mayors or village chiefs supporting SK candidates.
“Leave the SK election to the youth because this is their training ground to become good leaders in the future,” he told local officials.
Oso said barangay and SK elections should be non-partisan and there is no reason for politicians to finance candidates.
Background Check
Meanwhile, the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency 6 also urged voters to check the background of candidates before voting for them.
PDEA 6 Officer-in-Charge Paul Ledesma said 12 candidates running in various positions in Iloilo City have links to drug personalities in Western Visayas.
“We are against narco-politics. We want everybody to know and to be aware of their plan and modus,” he said.
Last May, Ledesma said six candidates in the region linked to drug lords ran in various local positions but majority of them lost.
“We hope this time, our people will also know how to read between the lines,” he said.
Ledesma said the candidates he is referring to are not directly involved in the illegal drug trade but if they win, they could become protectors of drug lords.
He noted that in previous raids conducted by PDEA 6, some barangay officials were uncooperative.*
