My Candidates in 2013 Elections

Yes, it's fiesta season.

I feel like I’m searching for a needle in a haystack when I making a list of candidates who I’ll vote this coming election. It is very hard because there are so many candidates to choose from and almost all of them had the same slogans and motherhood-statements.

Looking back at the set of candidates that I chose in the 2010 elections made me realize that my criteria became stricter. Many things had changed since 2010. I was drawn more to the Catholic Faith and I have been active in fighting against the RH Bill (now a law) and other proposed DEATH bills.

The criteria that I have for choosing the candidate that I will vote for are as follows:

Criteria 1: He/she does not promote ideologies that are in contradiction to the teachings of the Catholic Church. More specifically, the candidate is not an advocate of contraception, abortion, euthanasia, same sex union, divorce and other beliefs that are against the sanctity of the family and sacredness of life.

Criteria 2: The candidate is living (or trying to live) a morally upright life. This means that he/she is not having an extra-marital affair, or a boss of a criminal organization, etc.

I know that these criteria are very strict but these are the things I can’t compromise. I can compromise my stand on gun ownership, economic policies, foreign policy and other aspects but not these criteria.

I think that only four candidates satisfied my criteria and I will surely vote for them this election. These candidates are:

Marwil Llasos (#20)

Marwil Llasos is one of the senatorial candidates of Ang Kapatiran Party. What I like with this candidate, aside from satisfying my criteria, is that he is not afraid to say that he is a Catholic especially now that secularism is on the rise in this country. In a TV debate, he introduced himself as a consecrated secular Dominican which made me say that this man is courageous indeed. He is also a lawyer thus he will not have a hard time crafting laws in Senate. Please check the Monk’s Hobbit blog for more info about Marwil Llasos.

Lito Yap David (#9)

Lito David (Ang Kapatiran Party) is certified Tondo-boy. He was born in the slums of Tondo and spent his young life making ends meet with his parents. With this kind of experiences that Lito David has, I can say that he truly feels the plight of the poor. As he said, “I went through poverty. Saw it, ate, slept, lived with and struggled against it, often at the risk of losing what I have established for myself and my family.” 

Having a poor-family background is not the only qualifications of Lito. He worked for a very long time in the government and served as staff of Senator Kit Tatad and Senator Jaworski. This means that Lito knows the ins and outs of Senate. If you really want a Senator who truly cares for the poor families in our country, I highly suggest that you vote Lito Yap David.

Please check Monk’s Hobbit blog for more info about Lito David.

JC Delos Reyes (#10)

Those who followed the 2010 elections surely know JC Delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran Party. He ran the presidential race even though he and the party don’t have the machinery and funds of the mainstream parties. He lost the last election but his zeal for improving our government didn’t end there. He continues the fight with other Ang Kapatiran Party candidates as he run for a Senate seat.

JC Delos Reyes is not a newbie in governance because he was once a councilor in Olongapo City. JC campaigned against illegal drugs and rampant violations of Hanjin against its workers. He may be a relative of the Gordons but he said that he parted ways from that famous political clan for the sake of his fight against political dynasties. This is what I admired with JC. He can use this connection with the famous name of the Gordon clan to get positions in the government but he never does so. You will notice that he don’t use “Gordon” in his campaign.

If you want a service with a heart then please vote for JC Delos Reyes this coming election.

Please check Monk’s Hobbit blog for more info about JC Delos Reyes.

Mitos Magsaysay (#23)

Mitos Magsaysay fought to the end during the fight against the RH Bill in Congress. She fought on even many of the anti-RH lawmakers already folded to the pressure of Noynoy Aquino and gang. She could easily give up the fight and get the pork barrel funds and the friendship of those who are in Malakanyang. But she didn’t and that’s what I admired of her.

My friends in the Filipinos for Life group met Mitos Magsaysay a lot of times during talks and their usual comment that she is a down-to-earth politician. I will vote for her because I know that she has the guts to stand up for what we are fighting for. She will be an iron lady in the Senate.

These are just four candidates that I will surely vote this coming election. I’m still 8 candidates short for the 12 positions that I can vote for in the Senate. Other candidates that I’m considering are Koko Pimentel, Christian Seneres, Greco Belgica, Bal Falcone and Samson Alcantara.

For the partylist, I’ll be voting for the Ang Prolife Partylist (#42)

I’m sure that this partylist is not connected to any communist group nor a front of mainstream political party or political clan. Ang Prolife Partylist’s stands on the anti-life bills are very clear. They are against the culture of DEATH.

These are the candidates that I had chosen this 2013 Election. I hope and pray that you consider them also when you go to the election precinct on May 13. It is time to stop voting for the same old politicians who are espousing beliefs that are destructive to our nation. It is time to bring true progress. Please vote Marwil Llasos (#20), Lito David (#9), JC Delos Reyes (#10) and Mitos Magsaysay (#23) for the Senate and Ang Prolife Partylist (#42) for Congress.

---

Image source is the Team Buhay Facebook page.

End of the Month Roundup - April 2013

The month of April finally came to its end. My blog series about our 18-kilometer pilgrimage from Monumento to Baclaran Church also came to its end. I enjoyed reminiscing our exhausting but unique experience. I do hope that many of you enjoyed reading about it too.

I know that some of you are expecting to read about my adventures in Thailand. I'm happy to announce that I will resume talking about my Siamese adventures in the month of May. My topic for that month is the shopping places in Bangkok. I'm sure that shopaholics out there will enjoy this blog series.

April can be considered a stressful month for me. I felt the shock of the sudden change of environment. My life is easy and workload-free in Thailand, which is very different from my life in the Philippines. I returned to our office to deal with 6-month pending workloads and other requests. There is so much activities that I don't know how to fit my time.

I'm also back to commuting between our house and the office, which means that I'm back in competing with hundreds of commuters every day in getting good seats inside the bus. The Summer season is unhelpful too because of the stroke inducing heat. The Election Season, with the irritating campaign jingles, disgusting political posters, and the more disgusting promises (a.k.a. lies), also made my April less than savory.

Fortunately, April is not all gloomy. There are many things to enjoy especially the things that I missed while in Thailand. These are my family, the warm embrace of my Beloved, the daily visit to the Adoration Chapel and the present-everywhere Catholic churches. Even commuting is fun when I see amusing scenes like this:

A Naruto character appeared.

Really, there's no other place like home. :-)

Me and my Beloved went to a movie for the first time since I returned to Thailand. We watched “It Takes a Man and a Woman” starring John Lloyd Cruz and Sarah Geronimo.

(Source: Starmometer)

The movie is OK but it paled in comparison to other local movies that we watched last year.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that I got another chance to visit Lucban this month. I saw the Kamay ni Hesus Shrine again and it is now more beautiful than the first time I visited it about 3 years ago.

I will talk about our visit to Lucban maybe before this year ends.

Now. Let me give you the summary of post that I posted in the month of April. This month is dominated by my posts about our pilgrimage from Monumento to Baclaran Church. I also talked about my cooking like the fish sausage and the tortang talong. I also talked about the delicious Chinese dishes at Lan Zhou La Mien and the noodles I had eaten at Victory Monument, Bangkok.

I divided my narrative about our pilgrimage into four parts. The first part is the beginning of our pilgrimage, the second is the walk from Monumento to Blumentritt, the third part is the walk from Blumentritt to Binondo Church and the last part is the walk from Binondo to Baclaran Church.

Filipinos for Life pilgrims.

A positive note about this pilgrimage is that some people became interested with what we did. Some people, including Ma'am Maritel Ledesma, said that they want to have their own Lenten pilgrimage. I do hope that many people will join or make their own pilgrimage in the next Lenten Season. I'm sure that our Lord will be glad to see many Christians doing acts of penance and sacrifices.

These are the things that happened to me and my blog for the month of April. Hope that you also enjoyed this month. May we all have a blessed month of May. God bless you all.

End of the Month Roundup is the monthly segment of this blog that summarizes all the adventures that I featured for the month.