Note: forwarded message attached.
---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check out new cars at Yahoo! Autos.
----- Message from robert orfrecio <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> on Mon, 7 May 2007
17:21:09 -0700 (PDT) ----- To:
uplb ards <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject:
[ARDS_uplb] THE UNKNOWNS Senate bets
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: rey barcelon <reybarcelon@ gmail.com>
Date: Apr 30, 2007 10:59 AM
Subject: Fwd: THE UNKNOWNS Senate bets
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] com
Hello po! In case you agree with me.. pls pass...
-reyb
>THE UNKNOWNS Senate bets run on God-centered politics
>By Christian V. Esguerra, Inquirer
>
>MANILA , Philippines -- The tall man, grinning, offered handshakes to
>shoppers. A total stranger, he was welcomed anyway at the Greenhills
>"tiangge" in San Juan yesterday.
>
>"I am Dr. Martin Bautista. I am running for senator under Ang Kapatiran
>(The Brotherhood) party. I am not a traditional politician," he told
>curious
>strangers huddled around him.
>
>"Bautista who? Ang Kapatiran what?" was the quietly polite reaction of the
>shoppers. One went further and asked: "Do you have any chance of winning?"
>
>Bautista, 44, knows only too well it's a tall order to go against a bunch
>of senatorial hopefuls parading celebrity wives, prominent names and
>bottomless campaign kitties.
>
>But the gastro-enterologist would not have abandoned a lucrative medical
>practice in the United States if he was not convinced of victory, or at
>least a shot at it.
>
>Bautista left for the US a year after he graduated from the University of
>the Philippines in 1989. Throughout the 17 years that he spent as a
>physician in New York and Oklahoma , he said he never applied for a green
>card.
>
>Last year, he came home for good, bringing with him his wife, a UP-trained
>pulmonologist, and four young daughters.
>
>"Life is short, so better spend it by doing something good for your
>country," he said in an interview at the Ang Kapatiran headquarters at
>Greenmeadows in Pasig .
>
>Ang Kapatiran ( Alliance for the Common Good) is a political party put up
>three years ago by Nandy Pacheco, the well-known advocate for a gunless
>society. The party promotes God-centered politics and calls for the
>abolition of the "pork barrel" and gambling, among other advocacies.
>
>Aside from Bautista, the party is fielding three other candidates for
>senator Mario Ongkiko, Zosimo Paredes and Adrian Sison, who are all
>lawyers.
>
>Except for Ongkiko and Paredes, the two others are unknowns in politics.
>
>"All the pundits are saying that we won't win, but that's a defective
>concept," said the 50-year-old Sison who specializes in family law and
>taxation cases.
>
>"We're praying that the people will finally wake up and realize that there
>are genuine alternatives to traditional politics and politicians, " he
>said.
>
>There's an abundance of idealism among th e four candidates, including
>Ongkiko who has been practicing law for the past 50 years. At 75, he
>doesn't really need the prestige and clout that come with being a senator
>to cement his place in the sun.
>
>"I can earn enough to last me my lifetime. But I'm not thinking of myself.
>I'm doing this for my children and my grandchildren, " he said.
>
>So it is also with the 58-year-old Paredes who is best remembered for
>publicly criticizing the transfer of an American soldier, the convicted
>rapist Daniel Smith, to the custody of the US Embassy.
>
>It cost Paredes his job as executive director of the presidential
>commission monitoring the implementation of the Visiting Forces Agreement.
>
>Paredes clarified that he would not use the issue to land a Senate seat. He
>said he had no intention of even mentioning the name of the Filipino woman
>who accused the US Marine officer of raping her.
>
>"I won't mention anything about it unless I'm asked. I didn't even know
>that many Filipinos appreciated what I had done," he said.
>
>Pacheco said the decision to field senatorial candidates in May was meant
>in part to educate Filipino voters who have become inured to traditional
>politics.
>
>"The people are truly fed up with what they see," he said.
>
>"If [the Kapitiran candidates] win, it will be a clear sign that Filipino
>voters are becoming mature," he said.
>
>"Three lawyers and a doctor who are dedicated to God can do a lot to make a
>difference in the Senate.
>
>They all vow to vigorously pursue the Kapatiran vision "to bring back the
>teachings of God into the center of politics." This is the response of
>Pacheco and his peers to the Second Vatican Council's idea of an "empowered
>laity."
>
>"The laity must lead in the renewing of politics," says one of the group's
>leaders.
>
>The party is clearly "pro-life," is for "progressive disarmament" in the
>national and international level, and regards as a priority projects for
>the homeless, elderly, prisoners, disabled, veterans and the youth.
>Kapatiran is also unique in vowing to discipline members for any
>wrongdoing.
>
>Ongkiko said theirs was the only genuine political party, noting that both
>the administration' s Team Unity and the Genuine Opposition were carrying
>candidates who used to belong to the other side.
>
>"There's no opposition or administration, it's just a fantasy. They don't
>have a platform. All they want is to win," he said. Paredes said that some
>administration and opposition candidates would eventually "cancel each
>other out," paving the way for Kapatiran candidates to be noticed and
>eventually fill in the spaces in the magic 12.
>
>
>"It's like seeing a streak of white in a backdrop of black," he said.
>
>The Kapatiran candidates are banking on the honest support of well-meaning
>Filipinos to make up for their lack of political machinery.
>
>"We ask the people to run our campaign, to champion the cause of change,"
>Ongkiko said.
>
>The party has launched a project called "Alay Panglinis Pulitika" to invite
>campaign donations. It has also quietly enlisted the support of a number of
>parish-based organizations, including the wide-ranging Basic Ecclesial
>Communities (BECs). Not being entitled to poll watchers, it will rely on
>groups like the Parish Pastoral Council for
>Responsible Voting to ensure honest elections in May and indirectly
>safeguard their votes.
>
>The campaign strategy is quite different from the traditional political
>gimmicks the sunny smiles, colorful dress, catchy jingles and celebrity
>endorsers that this early are threatening to dull the taste of Filipino
>voters just three days into the official campaign period.
>
>Ongkiko, Paredes, Sison and Bautista will basically rely on the best of
>intentions and work to effectively communicate them to voters.
>
>"We will talk seriously and sanely to our people," Paredes said.
>
>For Bautista, the presence of God will help in the communication job, much
>like what the Holy Spirit did for St. Paul and the Apostles when they
>spread the good news nearly 2,000 years ago.
>
>Yesterday, Bautista was on a one-man campaign at the densely populated
>Greenhills area. Offering nothing but flyers, a sincere greeting and a
>clear legislative program, he was not shunned as just another nuisance
>candidate.
>
>It's a good start for someone who doesn't ride on the popularity of a
>former president, does not sing or dance, and is not the husband of a movie
>star, and nor a movie star himself.
>
>Don't pick lemons.
>
>"The Lord is all I have, so in Him I put my hope." -- Lamentations 3:24
>
>=========== = ====
>
>(Pls. pass to your mailing list. May God help us make the right choices.)
____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ ________
_._,_.___
.
---------------------------------
Ahhh...imagining that irresistible "new car" smell?
Check outnew cars at Yahoo! Autos.<<image/gif>>
