“I Vote Good” campaign launched

CEBU, Philippines - The “I Vote Good” campaign organized by the Dilaab Movement together with the Couples for Christ (CFC) emphasizes on the importance of electing into office people with integrity who espouse Christian values according to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

The campaign intends to help voters choose candidates wisely, to recognize that every individual vote matters and at the same time rethink the value of their vote.

The organizers of the campaign said that by choosing to vote good means to carefully evaluate each candidate, doing deeper than just name recall or a catchy election jingle. The campaign also means voting according to one’s values and conscience and choosing to vote for God, as stated in the CBCP News.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle was the main speaker of the Discernment-Recollection for Election Stakeholders and Candidates where the campaign was launched.

Tagle stressed on the significance of true listening in a leader and explained that empathy is the mark of the truest and deepest form of listening.

As stated in the CBCP News, Tagle said that when a person listens with empathy, that person is able to enter the world of the other person and hear what is really being said and what is really needed from within the world of the other person. He challenged everyone to examine their personal motives for listening.

Tagle’s talk, on the other hand, highlighted several other issues around a central point of listening with empathy. He cited the “true versus a false shepherd” and presented a challenging model to aspire to, in the form of Jesus Christ, the true shepherd.

According to Tagle, a true shepherd enters through the main gate, without stealth or devious intent toward the flock, knows his flock and is not a ‘hired’ one.

On the other hand, a true leader, Tagle said, is the one who understands the needs of his people, spoken and unspoken and is open and transparent to his people suppressing any dishonest intentions and most importantly, he added that a true leader serves not because of the money but with a purpose beyond the money.

Tagle also made emphasis on the relevance of God’s guidance in leading the people, that it is important that a person must discern from the voice of God, which empowers them to implement what God intends for His people. — (FREEMAN)