By Sofia Baldonado
In a webinar on Wednesday titled, “#YOUthVote2022: Handa ka na ba maging game changer?”, guest speaker Br. Arian Lopez, FSC discussed the principles shared by the De La Salle Brothers of the Philippines to help students better choose the next leaders to vote for in the upcoming election.
With the letter released by the De La Salle Brothers of the Philippines on Dec. 9 titled, “Discerning Our Future: The 2022 Elections”, Br. Lopez, FSC discussed how the initiatives of the brothers were put into work to send out a united message for the students.
“Normally, people of the church and other people from certain professions try to be too specific with regards to [naming] preferred candidates, but the brothers said we have to be able to share with all of our schools a process by which they [could] discern and choose their candidates.” the De La Salle Brother stressed.
He also said that around November to December, the De La Salle Brothers initially discussed how they could help the De La Salle schools prepare for the upcoming elections, then directed to issuing the released statement shared by the brothers.
“This is a very general document outlining criteria so that each school depending on their situation, their students… they can decide kung paano nila ilalabas ‘yung mensahe ng tamang pagpili ng kandidato sa ating eleksyon.” he added.
Meanwhile, he also highlighted that in the statement released which mentioned the eight principles to consider before voting is not new knowledge to citizens, and that taking action will give true essence to the enumerated ones.
“These are lessons that you (students) have been studying ever since you started at school. All of these are lessons we already learned, and voting is a concrete step in making those lessons jump out of paper, jump from what we are told, to concrete actions.”
Furthermore, the De La Salle Brother encouraged the students to know the importance of understanding what it should take in deciding for the candidates that deserve the votes.
“Hindi bago ‘yung [itinuturo] namin ng mga taong nagsasalita sa harap niyo, ito ay mga bagay na panghabang-buhay na satin binibigay, panghabang-buhay pa rin natin isasabuhay. Hindi ito retreat, hindi ito recollection, hindi ito school project, ito ay buhay ng buong bansa.” Br. Lopez, FSC explained.
To watch the full replay of the live-streamed voter education event, click the link below.
https://www.facebook.com/DLSMHSIOfficial/videos/519968799546321/
