MANILA (UCAN): “Don’t believe that they will help the poor when they get elected when they aren’t able to help the poor now,” Bishop Broderick Pabillo, the vicar apostolic of Taytay in Palawan, said on November 8, as he urged people to be discerning in their choice of candidate in the presidential and legislative elections next year, saying not all those running for public office “have a heart for the poor.”
Bishop Pabillo, the former apostolic administrator of Manila, warned voters in a pastoral letter for World Day of the Poor, that some politicians have a tendency to deceive voters by making it appear they have the best interests of the poor at heart.
“This year we are being reminded that the poor have always been in our midst. But sad to say, the poor have become victims of politicians who want their votes,” he said, adding that Catholics who do not help the poor were not being true to the call of discipleship of Christ.
The bishop said the “ultimate test” to gauge if a candidate was pro-poor was for voters to check whether that candidate had helped the poor before or during a term in public office.
‘We can never accept the kingship of Jesus if we do not accept the poor as part of our lives. Let us remember that the poor are our brothers and sisters. They too were made in the image and likeness of God. They too were saved by Christ and we shall all be together in heaven’
“The presence of poverty is always a challenge and we should respond not because we feel merciful to them but because it is what our faith calls us to do,” Bishop Pabillo said.
“We can never accept the kingship of Jesus if we do not accept the poor as part of our lives. Let us remember that the poor are our brothers and sisters. They too were made in the image and likeness of God. They too were saved by Christ and we shall all be together in heaven,” the bishop said.
Bishop Pabillo said that part of comforting the poor was not only to give them food, but to oppose a system that had made them poor, such as corruption in government.
“Part of our effort in fighting for them is to fight systems that oppress them like corruption and environmental degradation,” he said.
The bishop brought up environmental concerns on Palawan island over mining, which has allegedly caused landslides and fish deaths.
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Indigenous peoples in the region have voiced concerns over illegal logging due to the prospect of a resurgence of mining activities by private corporations after President Rodrigo Duterte lifted a nine-year moratorium on issuing mining permits in April.
Bishop Pabillo said a politician cannot claim to be pro-poor if they take advantage of the environment.
