Preparing to unleash the Catholic vote

Last Saturday, Dr. Rene Bullecer and I flew to Cagayan de Oro as I was one of the resource speakers for the two-day Family and Life Apostolate Mindanao Assembly with the theme, “Pamilya: Saksi sa Kristohanong Pagtoo” which was held at the Diocesan Pastoral Center in Iligan City. What I did not expect was that the Mindanao assembly was a Mindanao-wide assembly represented by parish based lay communities.

The Mindanao assembly focused on the strategy on how to ensure that those senators and congressmen who voted for the Reproductive Health Bill to pass into a law… get the ire of the Catholic vote. So to those who say that there is no Catholic vote, you better think again… what I saw last Saturday in full packed Diocesan Pastoral Center in Iligan City was a determined group of irate Catholic lay leaders who vowed to work for the defeat of those who sought to destroy the family unit through the RH Law.

Call it timely that the national newspapers came up with a report about that huge tarpaulin inside the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod that proclaimed the words emblazoned in bold letters, “TEAM PATAY and TEAM BUHAY”, which identifies senatorial and congressional candidates that the Catholic faithful should support or reject, according to the Bacolod Diocese.

TEAM PATAY are Jack Enrile, Alan Peter Cayetano, Francis Escudero, Loren Legarda, Juan Edgardo Angara, Teddy Casiño and Risa Hontiveros. These were the people who were in the front lines supporting the passage of the RH Bill. This included Partylist groups, allied with the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), Bayan Muna, Gabriela, Anak Pawis and Akbayan, the favorite of Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino, III. They are called Team Patay because they approved the killing of unborn babies, because the Catholic Church abhors contraception which is no different from abortion because it stops the will of God from giving blessings to parents.

TEAM BUHAY are the Pro-Life candidates, who fought against the RH Bill and did not succumb to the pressure from Malacañang. They are, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, Rep. Mitos Magsaysay, Cynthia Villar, Sen. Koko Pimentel, Sen. Antonio Trillanes and JV Ejercito. However a big question came up whether we should be supporting those Pro-Lifers who are separated from their wives? The question arose because these people are expected to support a proposal for a divorce law in the Philippines. So let's hear from Sen. Koko Pimentel!

Right now, the TEAM PATAY vs. TEAM BUHAY have gone viral, especially in the social networks. Lest you have already forgotten, the majority of Filipino voters belong to the youth who were not even born during the EDSA Revolt? This type of campaigning against those who supported the RH Bill will prove to us once and for all that there's a Catholic vote.

As for the tarpaulin put up in the San Sebastian Cathedral, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered the Diocese of Bacolod to remove it, not because it was offensive, but rather, as Bacolod Election Officer Mavil Majarucon-Sia pointed out that the tarpaulin was 6 feet by 10 feet and therefore it violated the limits set by the Comelec on the size of campaign posters.

For whatever it's worth, the tarpaulin TEAM PATAY VS TEAM BUHAY has now gone viral because of the reports from the national newspapers and on social media. People in Iligan City will simply ask you… are you TEAM PATAY or TEAM BUHAY? No one wants to side with PATAY!

So if this is happening in Bacolod and with the Mindanao Assembly also focused on the same issue in identifying those who voted for the RH Bill so they would be scratched off from the list.

I also discussed thoroughly the problems plaguing the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) and the hardheadedness of Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes who told the IT experts that the PCOS machines can never be hacked. So I told them that just a couple of days ago, the US Military accused the Chinese military of hacking their computers. If you didn't know, military computers are the hardest to hack… yet our avowed Comelec Chairman who admitted last week was an IT illiterate, said that the PCOS machines cannot be hacked. That's why I wrote in my Star column for Brillantes to tell his yarn to the US Marines.

After the question and answer… the audience thanked me for educating them about our history on Sabah and the questions on the PCOS machines. We went back to Cagayan de Oro to catch the Trans Asia ferry back to Cebu. I didn't realize that the Trans Asia Ferry 9 ran aground in Talisay that Saturday morning. Had we known, we would not have taken the boat back to Cebu. But the ride back to Cebu though a bit rough was okay.

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