MANILA (UCAN): Tomas Osmeña, mayor of Cebu, in the central the Philippines, rapped Imee Marcos, daughter of former president and late dictator, Ferdinand Marcos and his wife, Imelda, for attempting to politicise the city’s celebration of the feast of the Child Jesus, or Sinulog festival.
 
On January 18, authorities took down a huge poster of Marcos, who is a candidate for senator in this year’s mid-term elections. 
 

MANILA (UCAN): Bishop Buenaventura Famadico of San Pablo, head of the Episcopal Commission on Clergy warned priests against seeking public office after candidates began filing their intention to run in the May 2019 mid-term elections.
 
The period to file certificates of candidacy ran from October 11 to 17.
 

MANILA (UCAN): Faced with the high costs of the siege and martial law in Mindanao coupled with the billions of pesos eaten up by the slaughter campaign disguised as a war on drugs, the poor of The Philippines are being dealt a further blow with a radical slashing of social service budgets.
 
Instead, billions of pesos are being transferred to budgets for the most indefinable and least transparent area of state expenditure; security.
 

MANILA (UCAN): In responding to the widespread accusation that the upcoming May 9 presidential election in The Philippines is fielding such a poor crop of probable candidates that choosing one to work for the common good of the whole country may be a bit like choosing between the devil or the deep blue sea.

In a pastoral statement released on February 3, Being Eucharistic in Life and Deeds, the bishops say voters must be guided by a sense of the common good when choosing their leaders.

MANILA (UCAN): A new law that, for the first time in Philippine history addresses the banning of political dynasties in the country, has received a widespread popular acclaim.

The president, Noynoy Aquino, signed the bill into law on January 19 prohibiting young people, who have relatives holding elective positions in government, from seeking a seat in the SangguniangKabataan (Youth Council).

TAIPEI (SE): The outcome of the presidential elections held in Taiwan on January 16 may signal the coming of a new era for the people of the island conclave.

But in Church circles, a big topic of interest has been the election of the first Catholic, Chen Chien-jen, as a vice president, with many Catholics seeming to believe this makes him a Church whipping boy in the parliament.