ROME— The Catholic bishops’ leadership called on Filipinos to take barangay elections seriously, saying that “good governance should start in our communities”.
Bishop Mylo Hubert Vergara, the vice president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, emphasized that people need to take the necessary steps to bring about change, and it begins with exercising their voting rights.
“Go out and vote for candidates who are honest, who are credible,” said Vergara, who has been in Rome for a major Vatican summit on “synodality”.
“Fill (your ballots with people) with integrity, those who can really help in our barangays and our nation,” he said.
The national government earlier declared October 30 as a special non-working holiday to allow people to cast their votes in the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said the declaration would help achieve its goal of at least 75 percent voter turnout.
Comelec records show there are 67,839,700 registered voters for the barangay elections, while registered youth voters are at 23,254,129.
The bishop reminded the public that voting is an obligation and responsibility of citizenship.
“And Let us fulfill our obligations as citizens,” he said.