NEWSFLASH

BISHOPS: ONLY QUALIFIED SHOWBIZ POLITICOS MUST RUN; WILL NEVER ACCEPT ANTI-LIFE BILL

Manila, Aug. 28, 2000 - Catholic bishops said actors and actresses could run for government office if they possess the qualifications of a leader and show dedication to public service.

"While they’re popular and very competent in their field, this doesn’t mean they’re also competent in the state of governance and are capable of holding public office," said Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Quevedo issued his statement amid reports that prominent showbiz icons like Rudy Fernandez and Nora Aunor are planning to run in the elections next year.

Fernandez is open about running for mayor of Quezon City, while Aunor has started campaigning for a congressional seat in her home province of Albay.

In the weekly CBCP program aired over Radio Veritas, Quevedo clarified yesterday that the Catholic Church was not against the election of actors in government.

However, he said that the desire of these personalities to run for elective positions and cater to the whims of the people simply because they are popular would only foster the "politics of personalities" which the Church frowns on.

"We must guard against the politics of personalities because this... emphasizes the popularity of people rather than their competence and ability to play a role in the government," he said.

Quevedo explained that the education of the people toward responsible citizenship and voting was part of the Church programs needed to be emphasized not only during elections.

"This is the reason why we emphasize the task and responsibility of the Filipino people to elect officials by looking at their qualifications rather than their popularity," he said.

The politics of personalities, according to the CBCP, is a system where the popularity of political candidates weighs in more than the issues, totally disregarding a candidate’s knowledge and competence.

The popularity and "connection" of personalities to the powers that be are more often than not the main criteria for judging who should be elected, the bishops said.

Meanwhile, the CBCP denied yesterday that it pressured members of the House of Representatives to shelve and eventually reject the passage of "anti-life" and "anti-family" bills pending in the chamber.

Archbishop Orlando Quevedo, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), said the Catholic Church can never accept the bills filed in Congress such as the legalization of divorce, abortion and same-sex marriage.

"We didn’t pressure them to shelve these proposals," Quevedo said, explaining that some lawmakers had sought Church leaders’ advice for their position on the proposed measures.

Quevedo said what could have convinced the congressmen to mothball the bills were letters from their constituents in their respective districts who asked them to vote against the proposals.

The CBCP had campaigned to parishioners to write their representative in Congress to reject the measures, which it feared would destroy the Filipino family.

The Archbishop of Cotabato however denied that Church leaders would get back at the authors of the controversial bills in next year’s election by campaigning against them.