According to Francia, the PCM, an interfaith movement, is doing what it can to gain support for the 10 candidates. “We need an independent Senate that can scrutinize all the loans and agreements that Duterte secretly enters into with China,” he added. An independent Senate is needed to prevent the President “from allowing or giving China greater access to our government and to our natural resources,” he said. “That is why we need to elect 10 more opposition senators,” Francia said. The PCM Negros members are leaders of different lay organizations from Catholic, Evangelical and Protestant communities, as well as faith-based NGOs from various parts of Negros Occidental, Dr. Violeta Gonzaga, PCM Negros convenor, said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer April 16, 2019 15:56 UTC