CBCP head responds to Marcos camp: We only renounce Satan, prince of lies

The Catholic Church does not incite hatred, the head of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines said, in response to a claim by Bongbong Marcos' camp that some priests and Church members are taking part in "hateful and negative campaigning."

"No, we don't foment hatred. That's unChristian," CBCP President Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said in a statement, according to Sandra Aguinaldo's report on 24 Oras on Monday.

"The only enemy we are taught to renounce is Satan—who is the prince of lies and who alone is happy when the social media are used to spread lies and disinformation," he added.

Marcos' spokesperson, lawyer Vic Rodriguez, over the weekend accused priests and other members of the Church of “hateful and negative campaigning.”

“As men and women of the cloth, they should be more circumspect, refrain from openly meddling with politics and stop making reckless imputation or statement that only serves as a spiritual, moral, social and cultural poison,” Rodriguez said.

Rodriguez issued the statement after David, on the anniversary of the People Power Revolution on February 25, released a pastoral letter warning the public of the "radical distortions" of the events of Martial Law, during Marcos' father Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship.

"We are alarmed by this distortion of the truth of history and the attempt to delete or destroy our collective memory through the seeding of lies and false narratives. This is dangerous, for it poisons our collective consciousness and destroys the moral foundations of our institutions," the pastoral letter said.

In a separate statement over the weekend, CBCP Permanent Committee on Public Affairs executive secretary Reverend Fr. Jerome Secillano also said that "this candidate might not tolerate factual information and dissenting opinions after all."

Secillano added in a Facebook post that being non-partisan and staying neutral are not the same thing. "In the battle against evil, injustice, lies, etc., the Church has always been brave in expressing her stand - she is against evil, she is NOT neutral," he said, adding at the end, "no to incompetent, unjust and self-serving politicians. No to thieves and liars too!" — BM, GMA News