Don’t be swayed by bets’ ‘winnability’, bishop urges voters

Saying that voting is not about winning like a lottery but about being heard, a Catholic bishop called on people to vote according their conscience and not because of the candidates’ “winnability”.

“It is not a matter of betting on winning horses. It is the free expression of our convictions,” Manila Auxiliary Broderick Pabillo said.

He reminded the voters of the May 13 midterm polls not to allow surveys to sway them from voting for the right candidates.

“Let us not be conditioned by survey results and polls. These are part of the propaganda and are meant to condition our votes,” Pabillo said.

“Many have regretted their votes in the 2016 elections. Let this be a lesson to us now. Let us be wiser,” he said.

As a Christian obligation, the bishop then urged the lay people to help promote for whom they see as “good candidates” in all possible means.

“On their own they can tell people whom to vote,” he said, adding that this can also be done in social media.

“If more and more lay people do this, this subtle campaigning that is not caught by survey groups can be very effective,” Pabillo added.

Catholic bishops have earlier called on lay groups to campaign for deserving candidates “as an exercise of their Christian faith”.