From October 1 to 8, the Electoral Commission registers the candidacies of those who want to run in the legislative elections of May 2025: the 12 senatorial positions, among the most coveted. Monsignor Ruperto Cruz Santos calls for collaboration between the Church and institutions. He calls on politicians to reflect “on the well-being of the community.”
Manila () – “Those who aspire to public office should reflect deeply on the well-being of the community and the good of our nation.” That’s what he said Bishop of Antipolo, Ruperto Cruz Santosduring a celebration at the Coast Guard headquarters in Manila, urging those seeking public office to think of their commitment as a mission, working as servants and shepherds for all. In fact, from yesterday until October 8, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) began accepting the candidacies or certificates of candidacy (CoC) of those who will run in the 2025 national and local elections. The next midterm elections They will be in May and it is expected that there will be a face to face between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his predecessor and former ally, Rodrigo Duterte.
Next year’s event will determine the election of 12 senators, 254 district deputies, 63 party representatives, 82 governors and vice-governors, 1,682 members of large city councils, 800 members of provincial councils, 11,948 members of city councils, 149 mayors and deputy mayors, 1,493 municipal mayors and 40 representatives of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), the autonomous region in the southwest of the island of Mindanao called for its first sensible elections.
Addressing the Christian community, the prelate added: “Each of us has our own life situation and different roles in society. We are members of the Mother Church. In the same way, the government includes and involves us. You and I are citizens. We are also believers in Almighty God. He then used a metaphor: “We are like train tracks: straight and aligned, not twisted or separated.” He stressed how crucial it is to share responsibilities, urging valuable collaboration between the Church and institutions. «You in the government, who take care of them as citizens, and we in the Church, who guide them as believers, towards the same destination: salvation. For you it is the salvation of the body, for us it is the salvation of the soul. Saving them is our service: service through the government and service through the Church.
“Although we have different roles in life and different social powers, we are not enemies or antagonists,” added Bishop Ruperto Cruz Santos. The common good unites priests and politicians in service to the country. Therefore, both in the government and in the Church, the call is to be faithful servants. «We are servants of the people. “The people have chosen us and ordained us priests,” he added, “the Church and the nation expect us to serve the people.”
The bishop said that the help of voters and electors is urgently needed, their compassion, without any expectation of reciprocity. In fact, serving others shows God’s love: ‘We have received from God more than we expected: beautiful, abundant, excellent and overflowing gifts. However, we cannot keep these blessings to ourselves. On the contrary, let us share them with others, help those in need and offer our gifts to God through our compassion and service to the people he has entrusted to us,” Santos said.
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