Where the Catholic vote is crucial

Cebuanos turned out in droves to join the massive Anti-Reproductive Health (RH) bill prayer rally that had its beginnings at the Fuente Osmeña where the early birds started praying the Rosary going around the Fuente circle, called the Jericho walk. By 5:45 p.m., Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma and current president of the Catholic Bishop’s Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) arrived and he was with Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, Talisay Mayor Soc Fernandez and former Rep. Raul del Mar.

The procession started exactly at 5 p.m. and Rep. Cutie del Mar joined his dad. A week earlier, I asked Rep. Cutie what would happen to her anti-RH vote if the Liberal Party (LP) insisted on a party vote. She told me in no uncertain terms… that she would never change her anti-RH stand and that she would attend the anti-RH rally called by Arch. Palma. She fulfilled her promise and I salute her for her integrity and commitment to her faith. 

Indeed, in Cebu… politicians from both sides of the political landscape support the stand of the Catholic Church. I was with my good friend, Douglas Gacasan, chairman for the Taskforce for Family & Life for the Visayas at the head of the procession started. It was almost 5:30 p.m. when we passed by the Cebu Normal University (CNU) where we decided to stay behind to see how long was this procession from the Skywalk.

By the time Arch. Palma who was at the lead group arrived in the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral, the tail end of the procession was just leaving the Fuente Osmeña. Indeed, it was the longest prayer (1.8 kms) rally that I have witnessed in a long, long time. The next day, The Freeman estimated the crowd to be around 60,000 participants. The other newspapers came up with a lower figure. Perhaps their reporters did not see that while the procession was in progress… many groups of people joined Arch. Palma to the church.

If you didn’t know…there were huge prayer rallies all over the country’s major capitals. My readers reported thru text that in Baguio, the young and the old held placards in heavy rain and a concelebrated mass with 21 priests were held by Bishop Cenzon. There were prayer rallies in dioceses of Davao, Cagayan de Oro, Iloilo, Batangas and Palo, Leyte.

Perhaps it was merely coincidental that the Philippine National Police estimated the crowd in Manila and in Cebu at exactly 7,000 people. It shows that Police statistics just like their crime statistics are out of sync. We saw the front-page foto in The STAR, the thousands who attended the EDSA Prayer Rally. Incidentally, I gathered from a very reliable source that Presidential Political Adviser Ronald Llamas was in Cebu that afternoon. Was he sent there by Pres. PNoy to see for himself how massive the rally was?

What does these prayer rallies tell our readers? That there is a Catholic vote and as you go into the Provinces, they become a major factor in winning votes. Let me point out that the Catholic vote may not be as massive in urban centers like Manila… but they are certainly strong enough to tip the political balance especially if the surveys show that the rival candidates are head to head in the race. There is where the Catholic vote becomes a factor. This is why politicians cannot discount the Catholic vote . . . because it exists!

Today, the House of Representatives led by House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. will finally vote on the RH bill. All I ask from Speaker Belmonte is for Congress not to repeat the “Trending” that we saw in the Senate Impeachment trial of former Chief Justice Renato Corona… where the Senators were asked to vote one-by-one… giving the others a chance to rethink their vote and go with the critical mass.

May I suggest to Speaker Belmonte that all the members of Congress vote on a piece of paper… then after everyone has done their voting, each one can be called to explain his or her vote. In that way, trending can be avoided. This is what Senate Pres. Juan Ponce Enrile should have done, but then… that is water under the bridge.

Meanwhile, Malacañang spokesman Edwin Lacierda insisted that the Catholic Church respect the 70% of Filipinos whom he insisted support the RH Bill. Of course, Mr. Lacierda would never tell us who paid for that survey and how the questionnaire was done? We’ve always believed that surveys can be manipulated and manipulation under the Aquino Regime has become somewhat of an art with Mr. Lacierda orchestrating behind the scenes.

In their desire to pass the RH Bill, I gathered that the Aquino Regime would be hosting a lunch for Congressmen today… call this the Aquino lobby where most probably, money either in cash or in pork will changed hands. They have forgotten that what the Catholic Church just did last Saturday was to pray for Pres. PNoy and his cohorts who support the RH bill, in the hope that God would talk to their conscience and they would vote to preserve the life of the unborn… the most innocent of God’s creation.

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