Church's Silence Amidst Electoral Anomaly

Based on the Pulse Asia survey conducted from June 24 to 27, 2022, 82% of Filipino voters trusted the results of the 2022 Presidential elections, and 89% were satisfied with the automated voting system, despite reports of faulty vote counting machines (VCMs). Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. won the Presidential election with 31 million votes, followed by Leni Robredo with 15 million votes. In the Vice Presidential race, Sara Duterte received 32 million votes, followed by Kiko Pangilinan with 9 million votes.

A group primarily composed of former military officials, led by former colonel Leonardo Odoño, has claimed that it found evidence indicating that Smartmatic elected President Marcos instead of the Filipino people. What is this evidence? Retired general Eliseo Rio, the former Information-Communication Technology Secretary (2019) and then chair of the Comelec Advisory Committee, raised the impossibility of transmitting 20 million plus votes within an hour from precinct VCMs to Comelec’s Transparency Server. For months, they requested for a copy of Transmission Logs (record from the Transparency server) but the Comelec only acted lately, giving them the Reception Logs, not the Transmission Logs. They raised the issue whether Comelec is hiding something from the public. Moreover, they also alleged that thousands of VCMs used the same IP address which is an evidence of massive cheating. Meanwhile, Odoño said that they will file an impeachment complaint against the Comelec chairman and commissioners.

In a TV interview, former Senator Trillanes, one of the political leaders of the opposition, stated that their group (Robredo, Pangilinan, et al) did not join the group that questioned the election results because, based on their data, the results are almost identical.

NOW...

A priest whom I admire for his commitment to justice and peace laments about the “silence” of the Catholic Church, particularly the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), and even the clergy and religious who publicly campaigned for Robredo, on critical issues in the Marcos II administration.

“Marcos Jr. seems to govern unopposed. The opposition and revolutionary forces have apparently weakened,” he complains. “The question is: will the Church be able to break its silence and inspire civil society to act?”

He lists some of the issues and concerns that need addressing: (1) the alleged anomalies in the presidential elections; (2) the impending economic and food crisis; (3) the crisis in education; (4) the ongoing armed conflict; (5) human rights violations and accountability; and (6) the climate change emergency.

Why is it that the usually noisy—and nosy—Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) is silent on the alleged electoral anomaly?

Recall that the Catholic clergy was very active in endorsing Leni Robredo, even portraying her as the Virgin Mary and as a Catholic candidate, transforming the Mass into a political event, adorning the churches with pink ribbons and wearing pink masks (especially priests), etc. Perhaps, it is time for introspection, asking themselves before God, where they made a mistake?

Well, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) issued a statement that the 2022 Presidential Elections were “clean and credible.” Most likely, the Catholic bishops find the PPCRV's assessment credible.

To be sure, the claims of electoral anomalies will be bolstered when the Catholic Church joins the crusade against the Smartmatic-Comelec "cheating" tandem.

In 1986, when the CBCP issued a post-election statement condemning the results as fraudulent, it resulted in the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos, the father of the current President. IN THE PAST...

Cardinal Sin led the Catholic Church to become involved in the election—the Snap Election of 1986. On January 25, 1986, the CBCP issued a pastoral exhortation on the Snap Election titled "We Must Obey God Rather Than Men," indicating the Catholic Church's readiness to reject the election results if they favored President Marcos. By choosing this title, the CBCP conveyed a powerful message: the Catholic Church would oppose such a result if it were achieved through dishonesty, manipulation, or other unethical means. Wasn't it a foregone conclusion, considering that the scenario of massive cheating had already been portrayed as Marcos' strategy to retain power?

Cardinal Sin claimed that participation in the elections is not only a political act but also an act of faith. At that time, elections were viewed as purely political, and he urged Filipino Catholics to go out and vote not only to exercise their right as citizens but also to respond to God's call to vote with conscience. This meant, although not stated directly, urging them to vote for Corazon Aquino. Well, the Comelec proclaimed President Ferdinand Marcos winner in the Snap Election. "The Philippine National Assembly formally proclaimed the reelection of President Ferdinand Marcos," the Washington Post reported. The question raised at that time was about election fraud.

On 14 February 1986, the CBCP issued a "Post-Election Statement" condemning the fraudulent conduct of elections, including systematic voter disenfranchisement, widespread and massive vote-buying, deliberate tampering with the election returns, intimidation, and other violent acts such as harassment, terrorism, and murder allegedly committed by state agents.

While there were cases of the aforementioned anomalies, it was impossible for the bishops to gather all the evidence and judge them conscientiously. Without sufficient evidence, it's difficult to make informed judgments about the anomalies. The cheating scenario was already in motion prior to the actual election. At best, assessments of these alleged anomalies were spread through word of mouth. The claimed electoral fraud was shaky or lack of a strong basis. unlike the anomalies exposed by Odoño et al., which have verifiable bases.

And then, our Catholic bishops, on their high horses, announced: “According to moral principles, a government that assumes or retains power through fraudulent means has no moral basis. Such access to power is tantamount to a forcible seizure and cannot command the allegiance of the citizenry.”

The rest is history.