STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY AND SUPPORT
for the campaign to prevent and reduce waste during election period
By GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES

I wish to express my solidarity and support to the well-timed campaign of the EcoWaste Coalition and the civil society to prevent and reduce waste in connection with the synchronized national and local elections that will take place on May 14, 2007.

I encourage the Commission and Elections, the political parties, poll watchdogs, mass media, the Church and Filipinos from all walks of life to join hands in ensuring a waste-free campaign as this will surely be beneficial to the overall health and sustainability of our communities and our ailing environment.

Preventing and minimizing campaign waste through the ecological and judicious use of resources will lessen the volume of discards that will end up being littered, burned or thrown into our dying rivers and obnoxious dumps that continue to disfigure and contaminate God’s creation.

As stewards of His creation (Gen. 2:19-20), I urge all the faithful, especially the political parties and all those running for public office, to pay careful attention to the health and environmental effects of all campaign materials and events to ensure that “nothing is wasted” (Jn 16:12).

Let us amplify our shared call for a clean election by asking everyone to keep away from wasteful campaign practices and commit to a campaign that is free from fraud and waste

+GAUDENCIO B. CARDINAL ROSALES
Archbishop of Manila

Arzobispado de Mani;a
5 February 2007