Philippines
1,000 priests declare support for presidential candidate as more than 400,000 gather in Manila to mark her birthday
Thousands of supporters of Philippine presidential candidate Leni Robredo hold lit mobile phones during a campaign rally coinciding with her birthday in Pasay, Manila, on April 23. (Photo: AFP)
Philippine presidential candidate Leonor “Leni” Robredo celebrated her birthday on April 23 with more than 400,000 supporters — the biggest rally seen in the campaign so far ahead of upcoming polls on May 9.
An estimated 412,000 supporters including many clergymen and nuns attended the event along Macapagal Avenue, a major thoroughfare in capital Manila.
During the rally, the church people presented Robredo with a declaration of support signed by 1,000 priests from across the archipelago as a birthday gift.
A group of clergymen called the Clergy for Moral Choice initiated the signature campaign, which they called a “manifesto of support.”
Father Flavie Villanueva, a staunch critic of outgoing president Rodrigo Duterte, said the declaration was a response to a call by the bishops’ conference in February for Catholics to be defenders of truth against lies and historical revisionism.
The bishops were criticizing election frontrunner Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his supporters who were trying to paint the martial law years under his late father as golden years in Philippine history.
“Our country is in danger of having a kind of leadership that had brought poverty and disdain to our motherland — a son and heir of his father who ruled the country for so many years”
“Like the call of our bishops, we too are observing, examining and reflecting on the upcoming election. We, too, have joined and participated in circles of discernment and consensus building in choosing the right leader the country deserves,” the priests said in the declaration.
The clergymen took a swipe at critics who claimed they were barred by canon law from openly endorsing a political candidate. “It is much easier to keep quiet and to observe. But as ordinated clerics, this is not consistent with our vocation, especially as to what society presently needs.”
The clergymen said Robredo’s candidacy should be supported to prevent the return of another Marcos as leader.
The last opinion surveys had Marcos Jr. leading the race with 50 percent of support with Robredo on 24 percent.
“Our country is in danger of having a kind of leadership that had brought poverty and disdain to our motherland — a son and heir of his father who ruled the country for so many years. Under his 21-year rule, our country was in a desperate state and known as the ‘sick man of Asia’,” the Clergy for Moral Choice priests said in a statement.
The group said it chose Robredo because of her qualities as a “servant leader,” the kind of leader the country presently needs.
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