Seen posted at some parishes: Team Patay posters now invading Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Tarpaulins bearing the lists of candidates under Team Patay and Team Buhay have reached Cebu.

Team Patay refers to the candidates who  voted for the passage of Reproductive Health (RH) bill while the Team Buhay referred to the candidates who oppose it.

Three materials with two designs were posted along the Plaza Hamabar’s sidewalk and on a fence right in front of Patria de Cebu, a few steps from Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral.

The first one, posted in two locations, read: “Make sure your candidates are TEAM BUHAY! Don’t vote for TEAM PATAY!”

It has a brief description that read: “TEAM PATAY=candidates who promoted and voted for the very controversial RH BILL that is unconstitutional, immoral, and promotes a culture of death.”

The second design is similar to the ones posted at a Catholic parish in Bacolod City but has smaller size.

Similar tarpaulins have also been posted at Our Lady of  Guadalupe Parish and Our Lady of Sacred Heart-Capitol Parish.

Listed under Team Buhay (anti-RH) were independent senatorial candidates Lito David, JC delos Reyes and Marwill Llasos.

Partylist Ang PROLIFE was also named under Team Buhay.

Team Patay (pro-RH) includes senatorial candidates Juan Edgardo Angara, Teddy Casiño, Allan Peter Cayetano, Jack Enrile, Francis Escudero, Risa Hontiveros, and Loren Legarda.

Partylist groups included in the Team Patay are Gabriela, Akbayan, Bayan Muna, and AnakPawis.

The Bacolod City tarpaulin carried exactly the same list for Team Patay but has few names for the other group.

While the Cebu tarpaulin has only three, the one in Bacolod had names of candidates from Liberal Party (LP) and United Nationalist Alliance (UNA).

UNA’s JV Estrada, Gringo Honasan and Mitos Magsaysay were listed under Team Buhay together with LP bets Koko Pimentel, Antonio Trillanes and Cynthia Villar.

Church not notified

Msgr. Roberto F. Alesna said they have nothing to do with these materials.

“I just learned about it today (Monday). We were not notified that such will be posted near the cathedral. We do not know who did this,” Alesna told The FREEMAN.

A cathedral parking attendant said he noticed the tarpaulin Saturday morning.

“Adtong una, dinhi na gibutang atubangan sa gate pero gipabalhin didto (pointing at adjacent Plaza Hamabar). Wala sad ko kahibaw kinsa’y nagpabalhin,” said the male attendant who refused to be named.

Another sidewalk vendor shared the same observation.

“Paglakaw namo mga alas-5 sa hapon adtong Byernes, wala pa man na diri. Pagkaugma sa buntag kay naa na ng mga tarp,” he said.

Investigation

Commission on Elections-7 Regional Director Temie Lambino said their office will investigate the matter.

“I will be directing my election officer to take a picture of the tarp. The pictures and findings will be forwarded to our legal department in the head office,” Lambino told The FREEMAN.

Comelec will send a letter to Parks and Playgrounds Commission, which maintains Plaza Hamabar, and to the officials of the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral on the matter.

“Kahit private or public owned and location, they will be notified. Because we are treating these as campaign materials,” Lambino said.

Park administrator Arlie Gesta said they just learned about the tarpaulins yesterday and will remove them due to the absence of permission from their office.

“I just learned now (Monday). We were not informed that tarpaulins will be posted at Plaza Hamabar. We will conduct our own investigation, take photos of it and have it removed,” Gesta told The FREEMAN.

Human Life International (HLI) country director Dr. Rene Bullecer said he has no knowledge about who are those responsible for the campaign.

Bullecer had announced earlier that their group will campaign against officials who supported the RH bill

“Honestly, I do not have any idea about it. Our group will be launching pa our Team Buhay campaign on April 2 without mentioning Team Patay,” Bullecer said in a text message sent to The FREEMAN.

Cebu archdiocese district youth leader Ian Rey Pableo insisted that it is the right of the Church to guide churchgoers.

“There is nothing wrong with tarpaulins. It will still depend on the voter. The church has always been vocal against RH Law,” Pableo said.

Parish Youth Coordinating Council at the Archdiocesan Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe Dean Carlo Sagrado said that the issue should not be blown out.

Not a political campaign

A Church official said that the Team Patay and Team Buhay posters are not a political campaign but a way to raise awareness for the people to use their conscience in choosing the right candidates.

Monsignor Esteban Binghay, the Episcopal Vicar of the Archdioce of Cebu, said that the Church is only for the betterment of the people.

“This is one way of giving awareness to the people to use their conscience in choosing the best candidates to vote for office. Ang Simbahan nagtan-aw sa kaayohan sa katawhan, ang morality behind the issue on politics ang gitan-aw. It is a campaign to the conscience of the people to vote for the best candidates who are not against the morality of the Church,” Binghay said.

“Usa pod kini ka pamaagi sa pagkumpanya alang sa simbahan para sa iyang programa, nga mao ang pagtunhay sa moralidad sa usa ka prinsipyo,” Binghay added. — With Marigold P. Lebumfacil and Sanden J. Anadia/LPM (FREEMAN)