Early in September, the Catholic Church-run Radyo Veritas 846 launched its 2022 election campaign that seeks a return of "morality and ethics" in governance.
A report on Philippine Star quoted Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary of the public affairs office of the bishops' conference, saying that the "One Godly Vote" campaign will try to convince voters to make “morality and ethics” the standards in choosing candidates.
"Legal and secular principles alone are not sufficient in addressing our country's ills," the report quoted the priest as saying.
"As it now stands, there is a great deal of leaving morality and ethics out of the public sphere."
He said the campaign would reach out to Catholic and non-Catholic voters, and would analyze pressing issues in the country through tapping experts in different fields.
"[Filipinos] should not compromise their votes. They should shun money, they should not be cowed by intimidation," said Fr. Secillano.
"They should not be swayed by empty, shallow and outrageous promises, and they need to hold on to the sacredness of their vote as if their choice is God’s choice to lead us to our future."
Philippine elections are known to be dominated by "guns, goons, and gold" due to the use of money, threats, and even physical attacks to buy or win votes.
During the 2019 midterm elections, at least 20 people were killed in election-related incidents on polling day alone and 43 incidents of election violence.
Jose Torres, Jr., is editor-at-large of the Catholic Asian news site LiCAS.news. He is also editorial consultant of Radio Veritas Asia. He finished his Multimedia Journalism studies at the Konrad Adenauer Asian Center for Journalism at the Ateneo de Manila University.