Dear People of God in the Basic Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and Barangays, we greet you with the same greeting of the Lord Jesus Christ after His resurrection from the dead: "Peace be with you!" His greeting and blessing for His followers is peace. Peace is a relationship of fairness among the people and a situation of well-being within a community.
When the followers of the Lord who are in Government, in Civil Society and in the Church work together for the reduction of poverty and for the well-being of the people, there will be genuine peace in our Land. You who are in the grassroot level - the BECS and the Barangays - are especially called by the risen Lord Jesus. He tells you today, "Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you" (John 20:21). Also, He assures us, "And I will be with you always, to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). We, therefore, have nothing to fear.
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, especially the registered voters, the Lord is calling you to take courage and aspire for the common good of the people. Let us all work together to reject the evil of vote-buying and vote-selling. Let us not sell our dignity as voters and as Children of God. Let us not sell our future and the future of the young people. Judas sold our Lord Jesus for thirty pieces of silver, but for us who are faithful followers let us not sell our sacred votes. There is no justifiable reason to sell or buy votes in the eyes of God because vote-buying and vote selling is a terrible evil in our political affairs.
We appeal to all elders and Senior Citizens to let your light continue burning. As disciples of the Risen Lord Jesus, uphold our indigenous and Gospel values of honesty and fairness in choosing candidates for political leadership and public service. You are looked upon as source of good counsel because of what you have realized through the years of life's journey with the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord. As living examples to the young generation, you have the mission of our Lord Jesus Christ to help eradicate the sin of vote-buying and vote-selling.
We appeal to all young people to maintain your idealism even when you see the unfaithfulness of some voters who readily sell their votes. Do not lose hope but remain faithful in verbally opposing any existence of vote-buying and vote-selling.
To those who are greatly tempted to sell their votes because of poverty or any great need, remember the words of the Prophet Isaiah, "Be comforted, my people, be strengthened, says your God" (Isaiah 40:1). You are being assured by the prophet of God that divine assistance is sure to come. It is the Lord God who will eventually remove the bondage of poverty over you by sending dedicated people to work for the common good and real development of poor communities.
To those who are all too willing to become instruments of vote-buying, listen to what the Prophet Isaiah has to say: "These people approach me in words; they honor me with lip-service, while their hearts stay afar... Woe to those who hide deep from God their plans, who work in the dark and say, "Who will know and who will see us?" (Isaiah 29: 13,15). Repentance is the way to salvation. Do not tempt those voters who are in dire need into committing the sin of selling votes. The prophet has this warning to you vote-buyers, "Woe to those who rob the poor of their rights and deprive the helpless of justice!... what will you do on the day of punishment? Where will you flee for help when disaster suddenly comes? Where will you save your wealth? You can do nothing but cringe among the captives and exiles or fall down among the slain. Yet for all this God's anger does not subside, his hand is ready to strike" (Isaiah 10:1-4).
Brothers and sisters in the Family of God, if we are one in unity and solidarity to eradicate vote-buying and vote-selling, the Lord God promises us through the Prophet Ezekiel, "I shall give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. I shall remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I shall put my spirit within you and move you to follow my decrees and keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you shall be my people and I will be your God. I will free you from all your uncleanness. I shall summon the wheat to make it plentiful and so keep famine away from you. I shall see that the fruits of the earth and the produce of the fields are plentiful and that you no longer suffer the disgrace of famine among the nations" (Ezekiel 36:26-30).
Brothers and sisters in the risen Lord Jesus Christ, the message of the Prophet Ezekiel is clear: let us trust in the promise of God our Creator rather than trust in the promises of those who are trying to buy their leadership and public service. As faithful disciples, let us change what is evil in politics and make it clean. Let us bear witness to the Word of God and transform patronage politics into good governance. Together with the Lord and by His grace, we can make a change.
May the Lord of our Salvation bless and protect us. Amen.
(sgd) Most Rev. Rodolfo F. Beltran, D.D.
and the clergy of the Apostolic Vicariate of Bontoc-Lagawe
