The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines on Friday warned the faithful against a "pandemic of lies" that seeks to distort events that led to the ouster of the Marcos dictatorship 36 years ago.
People Power is "not an invention of one person, one party, or one color", said Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David, the CBCP president. "Radical distortions" that are spread on social media seek to change the historical narrative, he said.
"This virus paralyzes our capacity to recognize God, respect truth and goodness. Thus, we do not realize that there is a ‘pandemic of lies,’ especially in the social media. This is very serious," said David, who also serves as the CBCP president.
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David rued the use of troll farms to change public opinion on the events surrounding People Power.
"We did not invent the historic event that happened in EDSA; it was a fruit of love of neighbor and faith. With you, we were simply part of it. You and the world witnessed the peaceful revolution, which was rightly called People Power," he said.
"Many of us, Bishops, were witnesses of the injustice and cruelty of Martial Law. And up until now, the human rights abuses, the victims, the corruption, the grave debt and economic downturn of the country due to dictatorship are all well-documented. Again, we did not make these up. These are all written in our history."
David urged Filipinos to engage in dialogue, listen to their conscience, and discern what's good and true ahead of the May 9 elections, with presidential candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. leading in the surveys.
"Let us stand up for truth. Remember: goodness without truth is pretense. Service without truth is manipulation. There can be no justice without truth. Even charity, without truth, is only sentimentalism. An election or any process that is not based on truth is but a deception and cannot be trusted."
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