Malcolm Conlan, also known in the Philippines as the British with a Filipino heart, expressed his concern after he saw several photos of a priest using the church during an alleged anti-Federalism presentation.
In the photos posted by Conlan, it showed a priest presenting an image to his audience with the text “Of 50 M voters, 34 M did not vote for him. We can then say that 34 M do not want federalism,”
The photo was taken after the dialog between President Rodrigo Duterte and Catholic Bishop Conference of the Philippines President Archbishop Romulo Valles. The former Mayor of Davao City vowed that he would stop attacking the Church after that meeting.
In his post, Conlan even showed doubts about the legitimacy of the photo because he always thought that the teachings of the Bible are to pray for the leaders of the country, help the poor and promote peace and unity.
You can read his whole post below:
Sorry dear friends, I’m not sure if this is a real account of what’s happening right now in the Philippines? Maybe it’s photo shopped? But just in case it is real, can someone explain to me why the Catholic Church in the Philippines is apparently meddling in politics?
I always thought that the role of Christians biblically was to pray for the leaders of the country, help the poor, pray for the sick, promote unity and peace?
Maybe I’m wrong, but this seems to be a campaign against the democratically elected President of the Philippines, Rodrigo Duterte and his political will????
Also, how on earth is the church able to say if the apparent 34 million people who apparently did not vote for President
After some research, we found out that the photo was taken by Manila Bulletin during the Parish Forum hosted by San Ildefonso Parish Makati and Bishop Broderick Pabillo is the one who presented the slideshow.
Bishop Pabillo showed doubts about the proposed charter change of the Duterte administration, believing that it might only give President Rodrigo Duterte more power.
LOOK: Bishop Pabillo shares his analysis of the current Charter Change initiative: "Pres. Duterte wants to have control of the Judiciary & all Independent Commissions." | via @bobreyes pic.twitter.com/HsXIt4LyeP
— Manila Bulletin News (@manilabulletin) July 13, 2018
“How many of you had read the 1987 Constitution? The problem is that most Filipinos don’t know what has been changed/deleted in the proposed (new) constitution.” Bishop Pabillo asked his audience.
He also pointed out in his presentation that “Imperial Manila” got the most share in the budget under President Rodrigo Duterte.
The meeting of CBCP President Archbishop Romulo Valles and President Duterte is also just a propaganda and photo-op according to the Bishop.
Pabillo also urged the people to go to Batasan on the day of SONA to protest against President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Our main concern is not President Duterte. We are after the values our kids will have after his term.” Bishop Pabillo said.
Source: Malcolm Conlan/Manila Bulletin