FULL TEXT: Pastoral letter of Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas for May 17

SAD AND ANGRY BUT BRAVE AND HOPEFUL

Pastoral letter of Archbishop Socrates Villegas to be read as homily in all Masses in the Archdiocese of Lingayen Dagupan on Ascension Sunday, May 17, 2026

My dear People of God in the Church of Lingayen Dagupan:

Time flies. On Good Friday, we remembered the death of God on the cross and the disappointment of the apostles. On Easter Sunday, we saw the confusion and disbelief of the apostles seeing the risen Lord. Today, Ascension Day, we reflect on the sadness of separation and the painful reality of goodbyes.

These feeling are with us now as we reflect as a nation on the events of the past week.

We are disappointed and downcast. We are confused and in disbelief. We mourn the departure, not of the Lord, but of moral values and government decency. Obscenity has dislodged honor.

We mourn the worsening problem of corruption of people’s money. We keep hoping to get out of the quicksand of corruption, but we just keep getting deeper into the pit.

The level of plundered money just keeps breaking previous levels. The height of Satanic lying and murder of truth and facts just keeps getting higher.

Instead of defending themselves, the accused hide behind legalese and procedural delay. The truth is glaring and unassailable.

The sudden change in the leadership of the Senate, mandated by law to try the impeachment case, is like a grafitti on the wall showing another devious plan to delay the trial.

It was not for the country but for “somebody”. It is obscene. It is unbelievable that men and women called “honorable” could do such a brazen exercise of power. The Senate is now used as a shield for a suspect-at-large with a valid warrant of arrest from a lawful court.

It is confusing. It is unbelievable. It is pathetic. It is disgusting. It is shameless. How did we reach this low level of public service? But beyond the incredible level of corruption and shameless exercise of political power, we have hope. May pag-asa pa!

The Lord, before ascending to heaven, sent us forth to make the Gospel of hope and renewal known and spread to the whole the world. But first, let us take responsibility for this slide down of moral standards in political leadership. The guilt begins with us.

Our hands are bloodstained because our hands voted for such corrupt criminals into office. We are not innocent. We your pastors gave you moral guidance but you did not heed.

You chose feelings over reason. You chose tribalism over the nation. You chose vote selling over conscience. You chose

glamor over competence. What we sow is what we reap. Repent and then rise.

Even then, even if our hands voted for these corrupt incompetent officials, our hands hold the power of hope and the power to change. What can our hands do?

Let those hands fold in PRAYER and seek forgiveness from God. A nation at prayer will heal our land. The moral sickness of our country cannot be healed by mere activism; it must first be surrendered to God in prayer.

Use your hands to PROTEST. In today’s rampant deceit and abuse of power, neutrality has become a mask for cowardice. Silence in the face of lies is moral surrender. Reject corruption and never regard it as a normal part of daily life.

Use all the legal means to PRESSURE for political change. True reform requires not only prayer and protest but perseverance. Many of us today have grown weary and cynical. God’s time unfolds when His people act with faith and moral courage.

We must therefore apply constant moral pressure, not through violence or coercion, but through conscience and conviction.

Evil persists not because it is strong, but because good people stop pushing.

Reject the corrupt in the next elections. Review and evaluate their records of public service. Your vote is your power. Use it to the maximum. The justice system can punish the corrupt during and after their tenure.

We can also punish the corrupt by defeating them in the ballot. We insist on accountability and transparency within the context of rule of law.

The mandate of the Lord’s ascension to heaven is to remain here and continue the mission. Bawal and duwag. Bawal magbulag-bulagan. Bawal manlamig. Bawal ang sinungaling at magnanakaw at walang kahihiyan.

Huwag mapagod manindigan at huwag matakot lumaban para sa tama!

Walang DDS or pinklawan. Walang Ilocano o Bisaya. Lahat tayo para lamang sa Diyos at sa bayan. Laging para sa Diyos at sa bayan. Yon lagi. Yon lamang.

May Mary Help of Christians help us renew our land!

From the Cathedral of Saint John the Evangelist, Dagupan City, May 17, 2026

+SOCRATES B. VILLEGAS

Archbishop of Lingayen Dagupan