Manila (Agenzia Fides) – The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) invites you to a journey of prayer and action in view of the May 2025 parliamentary elections. The ecclesial movement, founded in 1991, wants to contribute – both spiritually and with concrete actions – to the proper conduct of the elections. “We would like to invoke the help of Divine Providence so that Filipinos do their part to ensure transparent, honest, responsible and peaceful elections,” explains Ana Singson, spokesperson of the movement, which has carried out awareness campaigns in all dioceses, to Fides. Plans include liturgical celebrations organized by various Catholic parishes and schools, information and cultural events, study seminars and, finally, the mobilization of about 450,000 volunteers who will be deployed in polling stations and voting centers across the country to observe the electoral process in all its stages.The PPCRV has been duly accredited by the National Elections Commission (COMELEC) as the citizen body responsible for monitoring electoral processes. As the Elections Commission announced, the May 2025 election will see the introduction of the new automated voting system and, again, close monitoring by observers at the counting machines is necessary to ensure the complete regularity of the processes. “We are reaching out to the laity and especially to young people,” said Ana Singson, “in a non-partisan manner, but with the understanding that everyone’s contribution is crucial to ensure that the democratic process remains lively and meaningful for future generations.” The PPCRV sees young people as “not only the future of our democracy but also an essential part of its present.” “Young people,” the association said, “play a crucial role, not only for the future but also for the present.” The PPCRV held a general assembly in Manila last December, attended by 159 coordinators from dioceses across the country. They renewed their commitment to promote the principles of transparency, honesty, peace and accountability applied to the civil and political transition the country is currently undergoing. “This commitment is not a slogan but a profound reflection of Christ’s victory and his redemptive power. Christ calls each of us to embody hope, courage and integrity as we face the challenges before us,” said PPCRV President Evelyn Singson. The Archbishop of Caceres, Rex Alarcon, the spiritual advisor of the movement, stressed the importance of being an “informed conscience of the nation”: “Faith as a foundation and love of the country as a guide: if we follow these principles, every effort, no matter how small, contributes to building a nation characterized by integrity, justice and hope.” On January 12, a mass was celebrated in the Visayas region (Central Philippines) in the Archdiocese of Cebu. The Archbishop of Cebu, Jose S. Palma, who celebrated the mass, emphasized: “Our baptism makes us heralds of the Good News, leads us to witness our faith in Jesus and to make this testimony tangible in our activities and various services in society. Good politics is at the service of peace and the common good.” Another Mass will be held in Mindanao, in the south of the Philippines, as part of the initiative, and will be presided over by Romulo Valles, Archbishop of Davao.The legislative elections in the Philippines will take place on May 12, 2025. A total of 317 seats in the House of Representatives and 12 of the 24 seats in the Senate will be up for election in view of the 20th Congress of the Philippines. In addition, local elections will be held in all provinces, cities and municipalities in the country. They are called “midterm elections” because those elected will take office in the middle of the term of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 14/1/2024) https://www.fides.org/en/news/75901

Zamboanga (Agenzia Fides) – “Prayer is more powerful than war,” says the Advent message of the “Silsilah” movement for Islamic-Christian dialogue, which this year celebrated the 40th anniversary of its foundation by Father Sebastiano D’Ambra, missionary of the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions (PIME). “Today we are called to intensify our prayer and to participate in the prayer and song of harmony in this difficult time for humanity, marked by wars and conflicts in various parts of the world,” hopes the missionary, who points out that “Christmas is a great opportunity to reflect on the message of love that Jesus Christ brought to the world, not only for Christians, but for all”. The movement reaffirms the message of “love of God, love of neighbor and love of the common good that Christianity, Islam and other religions proclaim” as it prepares to celebrate, together with all social, religious and political forces of the island of Minandao in the southern Philippines, the special World Week of Religious Harmony (1-7 February 2025), which falls during the Holy Year. “The period of the Jubilee Year is also a special time when we open the door of our hearts to everyone. This is what we always advocate in the Silsilah Movement, in the belief that dialogue comes from God and brings people back to God,” said Father D’Ambra.The movement also joined the “Week of Peace” in Mindanao, organized by the Conference of Religious Leaders of Mindanao, which ended on December 4. The annual event was launched in 2001 to promote development and protect peace in the region, to look back on the wounds of the past and build a future of reconciliation in a part of the archipelago where a large part of the Islamic population, about 6 million people, lives.All of these events serve to raise awareness and provide educational and cultural work and are intended to prepare for a historic step in 2025: the people of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) will be able to directly elect their representatives for the first time in the regional parliamentary elections scheduled for May 2025.The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao currently consists of the provinces of Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao del Norte, Maguindanao del Sur and Tawi-Tawi and was created from a peace agreement between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The inclusion of the Sulu Islands as another province in the autonomous region is currently being considered. Currently, the region has a transitional government, the so-called “Bangsamoro Transition Authority”, which serves as an interim government until elections are held. If the elections are confirmed, voters will elect 80 members of parliament, including 40 party representatives, 25 district representatives and eight sector representatives, as well as local officials. The social structure of the clans will be decisive in the electoral campaign, and there are fears that the so-called “rido” phenomenon, a feud between clans with mutual retaliation, could lead to social conflicts in the region. For this reason, the initiatives and commitment of entities such as the “Silsilah” movement are particularly important and have both a concrete and symbolic meaning. (PA) (Agenzia Fides, 14/12/2024) https://www.fides.org/en/news/75901

PPCRV delegates and reviewers in full force at the Launch of the Local Source Code Review (LSCR) for the 2025 National and Local Election. PPCRV Volunteers headed by Dr. William Yu ( PPCRV IT Head), Don Sacamos, Source Code Review PPCRV TM leader and Ryan Ty of Cloud Security Alliance together with COMELEC Chair Garcia, Oct. 11, 2024. The LSCR NLE2025 is open for the Public to participate with the COMELEC to review the programs and systems that will be used for the NLE in 2025. This is the opportunity for all of us to ensure that systems used for the elections are not tampered or alter the true results of the elections. The volunteers of PPCRV render their time to review the various systems from the printing of the ballot, to the machine used during elections, to the systems that count all the votes to declare the winners in the election. That all these adhere to our advocacy of CHAMP (Clean, Honest, Accurate, Meaningful, and Peaceful) elections.The review covers:

By Ana de Villa – Singson I have been a PPCRV volunteer for over 33 years.  PPCRV is the Parish Pastoral Council tasked with Voters Education, Pollwatching and Conducting the Unofficial Parallel Count.  I am also the National Voters Education Head.  Recently, we launched Tibok Pinoy, a values formation program comprising of 6 books and 11 podcasts.  The prayer is to bring values, so much needed and very much lost, back to schools. At the launch held on September 10 at the Dusit Thani Hotel, I gave the speech which launched Tibok Pinoy.  The entirety of the speech is posted below. The 6 books of Tibok Pinoy. One for each model value and the last is book for DISCERNING netizens. Each book begins with the most important value of all…of being MAKA-DIYOS, God-loving and God-fearing. The entire Tibok Pinoy, values development program: 6 book and 11 podcasts. Podcast guest include H.E. Ambassador Henrietta T. De Villa, Samira Gutoc, Margie Moran – Floirendo, Mardi Mapa-Suplido, Ramon Fernandez, Myla Villanueva. QR codes of the podcasts are peppered throughout the books for blended learning. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh-NiCQGQ9ohttps://m.youtube.com/watch?v=3ew2NRhdcA4 While most of you know us as pollwatchers guarding the vote, you see us on Election Day in  our white t-shirts with the Holy Spirit emblazoned on it as our logo, we do more than guard the vote.  We also undertake Voters Education. In 2010, With the onset of automation, we taught  voters the process of using vote counting machines.  We taught from the parish centers, sometimes we taught even from the pulpits,  we educated in roros, public markets, malls, even in buses and domestic planes.  We even went house to house, caravan style.  We won an ANVIL award for our creative  voters education program then and went to Malacanang for another award.  But while we make much of the machines, what matters most is the people.  It is people who create and configure a machine’s protocols.  It is people who cast the votes that are fed into the machines.  It is the people who decide the  leadership and destiny of our country. This is the voter’s education that matters the most, that kind that teaches you how to vote according to your conscience and how to choose worthy candidates.  But after 33 years of voters education, we in PPCRV took time to pause and re-examine.  Have we been successful in educating voters?  If we have, then why are Vote Buying and Vote Selling now raging at a wholesale level where even whole families and whole barangays can be bought?  Where in one night alone, while  waiting for his Bishop, one of our coordinators was plied with PHp 11000 in a matter of 3 hours peddled by various vote buyers?  Our most popular voters education material, PPCRV’s 10 Commandments for Voting, has been adapted many times over, even imported to Indonesia,  but can we really say we  have been successful when many Filipinos  choose candidates on the basis of name familiarity alone, without due diligence on a candidate’s character, capabilities and experience? VOTER’S EDUCATION.  The name itself is a misnomer.  We gather to vote every 3 years.  Is it true and effective education then if we teach only every 3 years during election periods.  VOTER.  Do we truly want to educate a voter only for the singular act of voting once every 3 years? Is that enough?  Or should we educate him to be the best that he can possibly be ?  Should we teach him to be just a good voter or should we aim higher and teach him to be a model Filipino citizen so that his heart beats, throbs, pulses PINOY all the time, anytime, anywhere and everywhere. TIBOK PINOY.  It is PPCRV’s Voters  Education…recharged.  We aim to educate and hone MODEL FILIPINOS, not just good voters, but model Filipinos . But who is a model Filipino?  What charactersistics must he have to be a model Filipino?  PPCRV conducted a nationwide survey to determine the key characteristics of a model Filipino.  The first and by far the leading characteristic is one that warms the heart.  It is of being MAKA-DIYOS.  A model Filipino must be God-loving and God-fearing.  Next, he must be MATAPAT.  MAGALANG, MASIPAG, MATULUNGIN, MAKABAYAN.   MAKA-DIYOS.  While making the podcasts on being Maka-Diyos, I met Samira Gutoc.  Sam is a force of nature.  She was part of ARMM’s legislative body, a one time peace panelist, an environmentalist who has been adjudged by a Jordanian organization as one of the Top 500 Most Influential Muslims in the world.  She said something that struck me.  The Muslim greeting of SALAM means peace and it is very close to the Jewish Shalom which also means peace.  They share the same words and yet are mortal enemies.  Catholics and Muslims both believe in Angel Gabriel, in Jesus who is a disciple to them, their Ramadan is actually in emulation of Jesus’ 30 days in the desert.  And yet despite having so much in common, our religions and cultures are engaged in a protracted war in the South.  Are we truly Maka-Diyos if we cannot rise above our differences to discover that we have so much more in common than we have differences?  MATAPAT.  When no one is watching, when the mettle of a man’s honesty matters the most, when there are no witnesses, are we MATAPAT?  In our book and podcast of MATAPAT you will meet RONALD GADALAN.  He is a janitor at NAIA 2.  He has been working there for 14 years and to this day he is not a permanent employee.  One day, while cleaning in the departure lounge, he found a Louis Vuitton bag.  Inside it was cash and jewelry worth Php 2.5 Million Pesos.  No one was watching.  There was no CCTV in that area.  And Roland, with tuition fees for his sons in college, what did he do?  He returned the Louis Vuitton bag to the lost and found and the bag was returned to its grateful owner.  When we are