Archbishop Rosales issues pastoral letter on elections as easter message

Complete text of Pastoral letter follows:

ELECTION AND NATION BUILDING

Pastoral Letter of His Excellency Most Rev. Gaudencio B. Rosales, Archbishop of Manila, for Easter Sunday 2004

 

Can an election solve (the problem of) corruption?

Election time, like in the past, is the closest the Filipino can come to nation-building. The remaining years of leadership and governance pass swiftly in the effort of retaining the elected post and the exercise of power. But bereft of genuine national vision that is shared by many, the candidates themselves come quickly to fault each other including the system that breeds their kind.

Many partly share the blame with the politicians, because they have sought favours that further disconcert already unstable governance. Aside from the lack of common appreciation for the ideals and values of genuine people and nation-building, our very limited resources have been dissipated through an enormous loss of money pilfered from our national budget yearly. (The WB-IMF [2002] study of the annual RP budget reported a 40% loss from RP’s annual budget through graft and corrupt practices. Other local surveys revealed similar results.)

Corruption in governance and public service is the major obstacle to national progress. Aside from the loss of money from the national treasury corruption destroys values and demoralizes the citizenry. Above all it is a sin against God and His Seventh Commandment, “You shall not steal” (Deut.5:19); and it demands beyond contrition (never only an apology) the restitution of stolen national resources to their rightful owner—the Philippine people.

Help is often needed to (correctly) exercise one’s rights as a citizen

Among us are some who are less prepared to participate responsible in the democratic exercise of an election and in the other tasks of responsible citizenship, like observing laws, the exercise of liberty, and the provision and the proper receiving of services. The weak members of our society must not be taken advantage of, but must instead be helped towards accountable citizenship.

Still in nation building there are many who are not able to discern the difference between the entertaining and the serious, between the real and unreal, between image and actual life, and between responsibility and freedom.

Let us help to educate the people to responsible citizenship. Freedom in a democracy is not only a right; its greater counterpart is accountability. Let all, who can, help towards an enlightened exercise of one’s rights. A “popular” vote does not always mean a responsible choice.

Know your leaders before you want them

One of our rights in a democracy is to elect our leaders who will be tasked to lead us in the affairs of our country.

We ask you, then, to consider the future of your family and country, when you make a choice for national leaders and public servants.

Look for these traits in the person you choose to lead and serve your country.

Beyond belief in God, the candidate must actually fear God.

1. The candidate is a moral, honest and non-violent individual in his or her personal, official and public life.
2. The person seeking the mandate of the people is one who serves through principles and not by popularity and propaganda.
3. The candidate has a genuine love for the poor and not a created image of empathy for them.
4. S/he has a record of an honest pursuit of the common good, is seriously concerned for a sound ecology respecting the integrity of creation and its resources destined for the good of all and is not interested only in the advantage of a select group or industry. (CCC 2415).
5. The candidate does not work in partnership with opportunist-friends, crooks and drug traffickers.
6. S/he openly declares opposition against drugs, wasteful values an practices.
7. The aspiring leader owns a vision that embraces the interest and needs of people.

Prayer and wish for our people and country

We thank you, as we also pray for the public school teachers and all who work and watch at the precincts together with many civic-spirited volunteers and with the officers of the law, who make the election a peaceful and meaningful exercise of citizenship for us all.

We also single out in thanks and praise those Church-related and other socially inspired volunteers who work for the poor by providing them with food and housing.

We invite you to join us in prayer, as we seriously plan very soon, to proceed, with you, towards people development and community building. The movement will be about building up again the people, the poor, the undignified, those with less food, homes and name. It is all about us regaining the attitudes that respect others and about values that build mutually helpful kindness.

We will soon invite you to beyond the “politics” of money, power, class, greed and family ambitions that has held us captive for many generations. There is yet an alternative to bad governance. Let us all hope and let us pray!

Easter is precisely the celebration of the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ over death, sin and evil. And it is only because Christ rose from the dead that our teaching and people’s faith have meaning. (1 Cor. 15:14)

In this new movement everyone will have some little things to contribute for everyone’s good. And the challenge will not be impossible to meet. People development, like nation building, is not achieved only through elections or legislations; it is also gained by little good acts everyone willingly performs. It is principally guided by an envisioned direction, process and motivation.

Let all expressions of goodness be constant. And may it please God that you will be part of it.

May God, in His Son Jesus, bless your good will with the Spirit of Peace!

Thank you.

(SGD) +GAUDENCIO B. ROSALES

Archbishop of Manila
Easter Sunday
11 April 2004