Only 17 of 66 nat’l bets sign covenant for TRUTH polls at Manila Cathedral

Only 17 out of 66 national candidates who were invited to sign a covenant for a truthful, responsible, upright, transparent, and honest (TRUTH) elections attended the event put together on Monday by the Archdiocese of Manila and Radio Veritas.

Fr. Anton Pascual, president of the archdiocese-run Radio Veritas,  said organizers sent invitations for the Manila Cathedral event to the candidates running for president, vice president and senator.

He said many were not availabledue to the last week of the campaign period.

"We would have preferred their physical presence as this would show their solidarity with the moral position of the Church for this coming election,” Pascual said after the covenant signing held at the Manila Cathedral.

Of the five presidential aspirants, only Vice President Jejomar Binay of United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) and Mar Roxas Liberal Party (LP) were present during the event, which according to Pascual is also a spiritual preparation for the upcoming synchronized 2016 National and Local Elections.

The Vice President was with his daughter, Senator Nancy Binay. Roxas was accompanied by his wife Korina Sanchez.

No vice presidential candidate attended the signing of the covenant, although LP’s Leni Roberdo sent a representative.

The senatorial aspirants present present were Rafael Alunan III, Leila de Lima, Isko Moreno Domagoso, Risa Hontiveros, Lorna Kapuinan, Princess Jacel Kiram, Rey Langit, Getulio Napenas, Susan Ople, Cresente Paez, Martin Romualdez, Roman Romulo, Vicente Sotto III, Francis Tolentino, and Diosdado Valeroso.

"Basically, in spirit, those who are not here also support this TRUTH Covenant of the Church,” Pascual added.

Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle held a mass at 9 a.m. before the covenant signing.

"In being candidates, you need to know that it is a blessing that comes with a responsibility. If you win, it means you must represent the people’s dreams and common good,” he said.

Tagle said that having the majority of votes gives winning candidates the task to uplift the lives of the citizens.

"You are blessed but you have a great responsibility. Blessings cannot come without responsibilities. They go hand-in-hand,” Tagle added.

The Cardinal asked the candidates to look into real needs of the people.

"The candidates also need to study. Study what are the real needs of the people that voted for him. That will go beyond party politics because we are already talking about common good,” he said. —NB, GMA News