Election 'letter' from Philippine bishops is fabricated
- Published on May 13, 2025 at 06:28
- 3 min read
- By Lucille SODIPE, AFP Philippines
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"Their moral authority will be lost if they continue to engage in political activity," reads a Visayan-language Facebook post shared May 9.
It features screenshots of a document under the letterhead of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) and with the signature of its president Cardinal Pablo David (archived link).
"We humbly present the names of several individuals whose lives and aspirations we commend to the discernment of the faithful," reads the apparent "pastoral letter" to the nation's deeply Catholic population before listing the names of 12 Senate bets (archived link).
Similar posts surfaced elsewhere on Facebook just before millions voted in a mid-term election largely defined by the explosive feud between President Ferdinand Marcos and impeached Vice President Sara Duterte (archived link).
With 80 percent of precincts reporting, Senate candidates aligned with Duterte were on track to claim five of 12 seats up for grabs, an initial tally from the poll body released by local media ABS-CBN showed as of May 13 (archived link).
The tally, if it holds, would give the vice president one more seat than predicted in nationwide polls -- a potentially crucial vote in a looming Senate impeachment trial tentatively scheduled for July.
In a statement released on May 10, CBCP's secretary general Monsignor Bernardo Pantin said they do not endorse individual candidates (archived link).
They instead provide "moral and social guidelines to help the faithful make informed choices."
"If names of candidates are mentioned in supposed Church endorsements, consider them false or misleading," he added.
A search of pastoral letters and statements on the CBCP website did not find the supposed document (archived here and here).
The only pastoral letter so far signed by CBCP president David after he became cardinal in December 2024 was titled: "Is there still hope? CBCP pastoral letter calling on faithful to a pilgrimage of hope in Jubilee 2025" (archived here and here). It was issued February 2, 2025.
Further review of CBCP documents from as far back as 1940 shows that statements related to elections did not contain any names of candidates (archived link).
The circulating letter also bore several errors, misspelling "Bishops" in the CBCP's name as "Bischops" and identifying candidate Willie Revillame as "Willy" (archived link).
AFP has debunked more election-related misinformation in the Philippines here.
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