Kalookan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David leads a requiem Mass for the late Pope Francis at the San Roque Cathedral on April 22, 2025. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

MANILA — A supposed letter from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines endorsing candidates for senator is fake, the office of Kalookan Cardinal Pablo Virgilio David — the supposed signatory — warned on Saturday.

In a social media post, David’s office warned of a letter circulating online that claimed the CBCP was backing. Copies of the letter were also sent to newsrooms, supposedly by the CBCP Secretariat.

“Neither the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines nor Cardinal Pablo Virgilio ‘Ambo’ David is endorsing any political candidates for the May 12 elections,” David’s office said.

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It also urged Catholics to verify information before sharing and to “be responsible and help stop the spread of disinformation.”

The supposed letter does not appear on the CBCP website nor on CBCP News, its news service.

Msgr. Bernardo Pantin, CBCP secretary general, also disavowed the letter.

"It has come to our attention that social media posts claim Cardinal David issued a statement endorsing certain senatorial candidates. Please exercise discernment when reading such  social media posts," Pantin said in a statement Saturday. 

"The Church does not endorse specific candidates. It only offers guidelines to help the faithful make informed choices based on moral and social teachings. If names of candidates are mentioned in supposed Church endorsements, consider them false or misleading," he added.

WHAT WAS IN THE LETTER?

The disavowed letter was written to look like a pastoral letter addressed to the “Brothers and Sisters in Christ” and referenced verses from the Bible — using quotes from different translations — to make it look authentic.

It also presented a list of names of people the CBCP was supposedly “[commending] to the discernment of the faithful.”

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The supposed list had names of candidates from the dominant factions Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas and the PDP-Laban and an independent candidate.

The campaign season for the midterm election on Monday has seen an increase in disinformation, with government institutions calling for tighter regulation of social media and for stiff penalties for making and spreading false information.

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