Why Filipino Catholic Priests Wear Pink

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When Filipino Catholic priest Father Nap Baltazar raised his hands to bless those attending Mass, the sleeves of his white vestment slid back to reveal a pink wristband inscribed with the words “Let Leni Leader”.

Baltazar, 47, belongs to a group of like-minded priests in Asia’s largest Catholic nation who have abandoned their neutrality to oppose the presidential candidacy of Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the late dictator’s son and namesake. , and openly support her closest rival, Leni Robredo. , whose team color is pink.

The presidential election is scheduled for May 9 and the latest opinion polls show Marcos, also known as “Bongbong”, holding a double-digit lead over Robredo, while Marcos’ running mate Sara Duterte- Carpio, daughter of incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte, remained the top choice for vice president.

“I will do everything I can to make sure he doesn’t sit as president,” Baltazar said of the 64-year-old Marcos.

The priest, who says he has never publicly campaigned for a politician since his ordination, drives a van adorned with an image of Robredo and the words “Pray and choose wisely.” Your future depends on it” written in pink.

In 1986, the Catholic Church championed a “people power” uprising that overthrew Marcos’ father and drove his family into exile.

But now Marcos Jr., a former congressman and senator, looks set to clinch the presidency, after a decades-long political struggle backed by a family accused of running one of Asia’s most notorious kleptocracies.

The elder Marcos reigned for two decades, nearly half of which under martial law during which thousands of his opponents were beaten and tortured, and disappeared or were killed.

An unthinkable return

Robredo, 56, narrowly beat Marcos in the 2016 vice-presidential race. She is the leader of the opposition and the only female candidate in this year’s presidential election.

A former human rights lawyer, she has been a thorn in Duterte’s side, questioning his war on drugs, his embrace of China and recently the handling of COVID-19.

“Leni embodies the values ​​of the Church and that is why I am not afraid to show my face and support her,” Fr. Edwin Gariguez said when meeting with people from his diocese of Calapan. , south of the capital, in a pink mask and pink shirt promoting Robredo.

The return of a Marcos to the country’s seat of power is unthinkable for millions of Filipinos, including Father John Era, who started the “Pari, Madre, Misyonero Para Kay Leni (Priests, Nuns and Missionaries for Leni) in hopes of using their “influence” to rally support behind her.

Marcos campaigned on a promise to bring unity to the Philippines, but does not question the atrocities committed under his father’s rule, which critics say his family has neither apologized nor properly acknowledged. .

“While presidential candidate Bongbong Marcos calls for unity, we are saddened by the men and women of the Catholic clergy who are doing the exact opposite and have abused the pulpit, allowing it to become a hateful campaign platform and negative,” his spokesperson said. , said Vic Rodriguez.

“As men and women of the stuff, they should be more circumspect, refrain from openly meddling in politics, and cease making reckless imputations or statements which only serve as spiritual, moral, social and culture,” he added.

The Catholic Church, which also participated in a popular uprising in 2001 that led to the ousting of another president, Joseph Estrada, is at the heart of the Philippines.

Four-fifths of the country’s more than 110 million people are Catholic, and many still practice their faith with enthusiasm.

partisan politics

Not everyone in the church approves of the priests’ actions, which have also drawn mixed reactions from Filipinos, who have taken to social media to praise or decry clergymen for taking political sides. .

Father Jerome Secillano, executive secretary for public affairs at the Philippine Conference of Catholic Bishops (CBCP), said church law prohibits clergy from engaging in partisan politics, and the role of church and clerics is “solely for education and formation of consciences.”

Leaders of other religious groups in the Philippines, such as the Kingdom of Jesus Christ and El Shaddai, which politicians have courted in the past because their members are known to follow the advice of their leaders, have also spoken out in support of the Marcos’ candidacy.

And while Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, president of the CBCP, said the church would not dictate who its members should vote for in elections, he hinted which side he favored.

During a Mass on February 8 in his diocese of Caloocan, he gave his blessing to the decision of his lay leaders to support Robredo. “It’s not fair to be neutral when the truth and the future of the country is at stake,” said David who wore a pink mask. “Being neutral means you support evil.”

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