“Public officials must be partners in good governance and show honesty, integrity and transparency in serving the public”.This advice arrived from card. Ricardo Vidal, archbishop of Cebu, during a Mass organized by the Dilaab Foundation at the St. Joseph de Patriarch Parish in Mabolo and attended by newly elected officials of different cities and municipalities in Cebu.
“Hopefully with public service you will let the Holy Spirit guide you in decision making” added the prelate who also invited officials to “to set aside their differences and help each other”.
As reported in the last few weeks, the run up to the May elections was overshadowed by numerous violent episodes. This is why the Catholic Church closely followed the election process, urging for a freedom of choice and encouraging people to express their true will.
“To seek the common good requires that we set aside the differences and focus on resolving differences with civility and candour,” underlined Msgr Vidal. “There must be a determined effort to isolate the debate only within the parameters of the issues involved. To pull in other elements extraneous to the primary issue would be reckless escalation”.
According to the archbishop of Cebu the democratic process must be based on “rules of rational behaviour and fair play” and this “is not only true in the art of governance but in the most basic human relations”.
“Even little children understand the rules of fair play and they protest whenever a partner violates the ground rules of a particular game: because nobody is perfect, there is always a need for cooperation, for consultation for consensus building and above all civility in the conduct of every affair”.
Card. Vidal invited the officials to improve the living conditions of the city and its inhabitants, where no one’s concern is left behind and no one’s interest is put ahead. May Jesus, - concluded the prelate - the king who humbles himself to become a little child, be your guide in the ways of good governance”.
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