By John Ezekiel J. Hirro
Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas has announced that he would vote for Vice President Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo for president and Sen. Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan for vice president on May 9.
Villegas was among the 1,422 signatories in the statement of support for Robredo and Pangilinan by the group, “Clergy for the Moral Choice.”
In an interview over Christian Esguerra’s “Facts First” podcast, Villegas said he came to the decision after praying and discerning.
“Nagdasal ako, wala akong iniisip na politika, wala akong iniisip na pakinabang sa magiging resulta. Sa aking pananaw ay si Leni Robredo ‘yung pumapasok sa criteria ng moralidad, ng konsensya, ng katwiran at ng pangangailangan ng kapwa-tao,” Villegas said.
The former Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) president also said the next president should halt the deadly drug war of the Duterte administration and not be marred by lies and corruption.
“Gusto kong marinig sa susunod na presidente na sasabihin niyang mali ang pagpatay sa drug addicts na di naman napatunayan; na mali ang pagnanakaw sa bayan, at ang nakaw sa bayan, dapat ibalik sa bayan; na ang kasinungalingan ay kasinungalingan, at hindi ito pwedeng maging basehan ng ating pagpapasya o pamumuno sa ating bayan,” Villegas said.
The Lingayen-Dagupan archbishop also denounced the wave of fake news, misinformation and disinformation on social media.
Tsek.Ph, a fact-checking collective, earlier found that Robredo, the opposition standard-bearer, was the “biggest victim” of disinformation campaigns, while former senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., was the biggest beneficiary.
“Sa sunud-sunod na [pagbobomba] ng kasinungalingan, sa kauulit, nagsisimula nang maniwala [ang tao] doon sa kasinungalingan,” Villegas said. “Hindi ko rin masisi ‘yung voters kasi hindi natin naramdaman, ginagapang na pala ng kasinungalingan yung isip ng ating mga kababayan.”
Villegas said voters should be “wise” and cast intelligent votes on May 9.
“Ang opposite ng intelligent vote ay ang ‘basta’ ang sagot kapag tinanong kung sinong iboboto,” he said.