DADITAMA Gears Up For Upcoming Elections; To Roll Out Honesty Pledge

While registration of new voters are ongoing until this month, Bishops, Priests and Lay Workers on pastoral care of the Davao, Digos, Tagum and Mati Sub-region assessed and laid out possible plan of action for the upcoming national and local elections slated on May 9, 2022.

During the latest virtual meeting of DADITAMA, September 7, about 40 participants were divided into 6 breakout groups to discuss the following: What have you done in preparation for the upcoming elections? How will these be implemented in you ministry or diocese? What are the possible scenarios to watch out for?

Common to all the groups that consisted of Bishops, Vicar Generals, and Episcopal Vicars (Group 1); Pastoral/GKK (Group 2); Formation (Group 3); Service (Group 5); and Family and Life and Youth (Group 6) was at this point in time, preparations are still in the drawing board since past action plan happened in the old normal.

Materials for political education are now being prepared to be integrated in homilies, seminar formations, broadcasts, and other social media platforms sans face to face due to health protocols to avoid the spread of the coronavirus.

Initial talks and coordination are still pending with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a non-partisan, non-sectarian non-profit organization affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines that works to ensure free, fair and fraud-free elections in the Philippines.

Local counterpart of the PPCRV is the ECHAMP or Elections for Clean, Honest, Accurate, Meaningful and Peaceful organized by the Davao Association of Catholic Schools (DACS) in coordination with the Archdiocesan Social Action Center (ASAC).

However, since Catholic Schools are still on modular or online learning, its major role in massing up volunteers for poll watching has been scrapped for next year’s elections.

It was agreed to adapt the Diocese of Digos’ experience in the latest elections in 2016 to come up with a pledge of honesty, dubbed as, “Ako Tarong nga Botante” not only for voters but also for politicians in order to achieve ECHAMP’s goals.

The Bishops shall roll out a Pledge of Honesty for voters to pledge to vote honestly without selling their votes; and for politicians not to buy votes.

Other political schemes were revealed as experienced in previous elections such as “favors” given to servant leaders and to the church in general in the form of donations or love offerings.

It was also proposed to offer prayers for the whole month of October (Rosary Month) with intentions for the pandemic and national and local elections; December 8, 2021 Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and culmination of the Year of Saint Joseph as a DADITAMA Day of Prayer, Fasting and Abstinence for Free, Clean, Honest and Peaceful elections.

Aside from the guidelines from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, DADITAMA Bishops are also expected to publish pastoral guidelines on the elections.

More prayers are being planned to be implemented for a DADITAMA wide 33 Days to Morning Glory do-it-own Retreat guide from the book of Fr. Michael Gaitley starting November 29, 2021 up to Consecration Day on January 1, 2022.