Philippine Midterm Election 2013: President Benigno Aquino III versus Vice President Jejomar Binay

President Aquino

Even though President Benigno Aquino III and Vice President Jejomar Binay are not candidates in the upcoming May 13, 2013 Philippine mid-term election, both of them are spearheading the campaign of their party or coalition’s local and national candidates all over the country. Aquino is campaigning for Liberal Party led coalition Team Pinoy while Binay is campaigning for the opposition coalition UNA. The struggle of the two highest officials of the Philippines in this campaign period to make their candidate win in the election is a prelude for the things to come in the 2016 Philippine Presidential Election. Vice President Binay has already expressed his desire to run as president in the 2016 election. President Aquino on the other hand will not be vying for that position because he is given only one term of office under the Philippine Constitution.

Senatorial candidates of the president under the Team Pinoy coalition have been leading in the surveys conducted by different public opinion polling bodies. In a recent survey 9 out of the 12 senatorial candidates of the president have a big chance winning in the election. UNA candidates are expected to win at least 3 senate seats.  

The result of the midterm election is crucial for President Aquino because after the election he will be already in the second half of this term. If majority of the mayors, governors, congressmen and senators who win are members of his own party, the Liberal, or the administration coalition, then he will have a majority of members of congress and local officials who are supportive of his policies and programs. An overwhelming win by the administration party will make the president stay strong for the remaining years in his office despite the fact that he is ineligible for reelection.                                                                                                                 

The president should come to terms with a Supreme Court (SC) that is filled with majority of justices who are appointed by a former president who is his political adversary.  The president supported and signed the Reproductive Health (RH) Law. However, the petitioners against it successfully got a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) from the SC suspending its implementation.  The SC’s issuance of TRO on an administration sponsored law is a reflection of the state of relationship between the executive and the judicial branches of government.

A win by the opposition coalition UNA of the majority of the elective positions in the government in the election bodes no good for the president. It is a scenario on which he will become a lame duck president. Majority of the members of congress and the heads of local government units will gravitate towards a figure which they will see as having the best chance to become the next president. In that kind of situation the president will be hard put in pursuing his policies and programs that may result in unsatisfactory performance and his unpopularity to the people. It will also be difficult for his anointed candidate to succeed him win against an opposition candidate who has the support of the majority of incumbent national and local officials who are candidates in the next presidential election.

Vice President Jejomar Binay’s bid for the 2016 presidential election will be surely boosted by a win of UNA candidates. However, his early pronouncement to aspire for that position has put him under the scrutiny of many people, and some issues that came out are negative. There are allegations that he and his family have amassed unexplained wealth while in office. And there is also the hot issue of political dynasty. Members of the vice president’s family hold different elective offices all at the same time. His son Jun-jun is running for reelection as Mayor of Makati, and so is his daughter, Abigail who seeks reelection as a representative of Makati. Nancy, the eldest daughter of the vice president is running for senator.  

It is believed that President Aquino will choose as his successor Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas III in 2016. A resounding win of the president’s Team Pinoy in the midterm 2013 election and his good performance in the second half of his term will boost the chance of his anointed one to become the next president of the Philippines.

Philippine Election 2013: Churches or Religious Leaders Should Refrain from Endorsing or Opposing the Election of Candidates

The Philippine election is just around the corner. Since the country gained independence from the United States, it has been the practice of some churches through their priests or religious leaders to endorse or oppose the election of candidates for public office. At present, some priests of the Catholic Church are endorsing or opposing the election of some senatorial candidates over the Reproductive Health (RH) Law. People are also expecting that within several days the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC), a minority but strong and solid sect will publicly announce its endorsement of senatorial bets. Members of this sect are known for voting as a bloc during election.

Despite the fact that RH Bill is already a law, the Catholic Church is still fighting against its implementation. It also vows to oppose measures on matters that promote abortion, gay marriage and other social issues. Filipinos look up to their religious leaders for moral guidance and spiritual enrichment. Because of that role the church has been at odds with government leaders who were dictatorial and corrupt. A case in point is the role played by the church in denouncing the Marcos regime for its violations of human rights and other excesses. Most people however are averse of the church interfering on their right of suffrage or of priest engaging in partisan political activity. Partisanship during the election may involve telling the members on whom to vote during the election or telling the voters not to vote for some candidates especially if it is done through the pulpit or publicly through the radio and other media. There is no issue if a religious leader expresses his voting preference in a private and personal forum or in a private conversation with his flock, friends and acquaintances.                                               

The involvement of religious leaders in partisan political acts, and the practice of politicians in seeking the help of a religious leader to boost their candidacy are not good since it may bring about undesirable consequences. Politicians who think that they win because of the help of a church through its leaders will be beholden to them so that they may not make policies or enact laws that are detrimental to the interest of that religious group. In return the religious group may turn a blind eye to the inefficiency or the abuses of the powers that be.

If religious leaders can really make politicians win an election because of their hold on their members, then they are a force to reckon with in the Philippine society. Politicians would not dare to cross their path lest they lost in the election. Under these circumstances said religious leaders can exert its influence or pressure on officials in the important branches of the government which are the legislative, executive and the judiciary. In exchange of their votes and other support, these religious groups can also put their members in high positions in the government because of their power and connections. As a result, the principle of the separation of the church and the state will be undermined because religious leaders can influence the affairs of the government behind the scenes.

To improve the Philippine electoral process, legislators should pass laws prohibiting religious leaders from endorsing or opposing the election of candidates during election or from engaging in activities that are politically partisan. Religious groups which insist to engage in partisan political activities should be stripped of their tax-exempt status.

A Sense of Deja Vu in the Ambush of Mayor Ruth Guingona

Just a few days before the mid-term Philippine election on May 13, 2013, the convoy of Mayor Ruth de Lara Guingona was ambushed in the evening of April 20, 2013 by about 50 communist rebels. The incident happened after the mayor had gone to the village of Alatagan to crown the winner of the fiesta’s local beauty pageant.         

Mayor Guingona belongs to the prominent de Lara family whose patriarch Vicente de Lara was a former congressman and governor of Misamis Oriental. The park at the provincial capitol was named after him.

On the convoy’s way home, the insurgents tried to stop the first vehicle by setting up a bamboo roadblock. Sensing danger, the driver managed to break through the armed men by ignoring them and by speeding up the vehicle. However, the vehicle where the mayor was on was impeded by the road block.  That vehicle was fired upon with rifles and grenade launcher. The communists however were not able to get close to the overturned vehicle because the police escorts exchanged fires with them. During the firefight the driver and one of her bodyguards shielded the mayor from the bullets which cost their lives. That extraordinary act of loyalty saved the life of the mayor although she suffered from bullet and shrapnel wounds in her arms and feet. After she and her companions were rescued by reinforcing troops, the mayor was airlifted by a chopper to Cagayan de Oro, and she was later confined at the CUMC Hospital. The doctors pronounced her condition as stable.

In a statement the CPP/NPA leadership of Northern Mindanao took responsibility for the incident and apologized to the mayor and her family. It said that the higher leadership of the regional NPA did not order the action of its armed men. And what happened was its men’s own initiative in instantaneously reacting to a certain tactical situation in the field. It alleged that it was the escorts of the mayor who fired the first shot.  It also said that the mayor violated the NPA’s own policies of the election gun ban, that the mayor entered the NPA controlled territory without first asking permit and that she brought along with her police escorts. However, the escorts of the mayor refuted the CPP/NPA’s statements and asserted that what really happened was an ambush.

In the aftermath of the ambush different sectors condemned the incident that was perpetrated by the CPP/NPA considering that the mayor is already 78 years old and that she is not a candidate in the election. She is already in the third and last of her term as mayor, and that she is not seeking anymore another elective office. President Benigno Aquino who happened to be in a campaign sortie in Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental made a brief visit to the mayor in the hospital on April 22, 2013. The president who is the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces vowed to go after the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

The attempt on the life or the killing of a wife of former high government officials of the Philippines is not unprecedented. Mayor Ruth de Lara Guingona, the wife of former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. is a victim of communist terrorism. The most prominent victim was Aurora Aragon Quezon, the wife of the late Manuel L. Quezon, the first president of the Philippine Commonwealth. On April 28, 1949, the former first lady was on her way to the opening of Quezon Memorial Hospital when her convoy of 13 vehicles was waylaid and ambushed by about 100-200 communist rebels along Baler-Bongabong Road. In that incident the former first lady and her daughter “Baby” were killed.

The murder of the well-loved former first lady boomeranged to the communists because many Filipinos were outraged of the act. Ramon Magsaysay who was appointed as defense secretary and later elected as President of the Philippines dealt a death blow to the growing menace of Communist insurgency which during its height nearly captured the national capital of Manila. The social reforms that he instituted restored the people’s faith in the government, and his aggressive military actions against the armed communists who were also called the HUKBALAHAP effectively crushed the communist rebellion in the Philippines in the early 50’s.

A March for Life and for Clean, Honest and Orderly Election

On the afternoon of April 20, 2013, members of the Knight of Columbus of Cagayan de Oro and Misamis Oriental marched from Vicente de Lara Park at the provincial capitol building to Plaza Divisoria passing through main streets of Cagayan de Oro City.

The march was a show of Knight of Columbus members’ support for the conduct of free, honest and orderly May 13, 2013 mid-term election. It is also their expression of solidarity with the Catholic Church in opposing government policies and issues that will affect the morality of the faithful. A simple program was held at Plaza Divisoria. The speakers included Atty. Macudi Agus, Master of the 4^th degree; Atty. Proculo Sarmin, 8^th Division, NLRC commissioner and Monsignor Elmer Abacahin, President of the Cagayan de Oro Press Club.

The speakers deplored election anomalies such as vote buying, vote selling and cheating. They also touched on the Reproductive Health (RH) Law, abortion, divorce and same sex marriage. The Knight of Columbus being the defenders of the Catholic faith were urged to support the Catholic church in its stand on those issues that undermines the faithful‘s moral and spiritual fortitude.  Although Reproductive Health Bill was already signed by President Aquino into law, the petitioners against it successfully got a restraining order from the Philippine Supreme Court thus suspending its implementation.

Although the gathering was aimed in discussing present political and social issues, it was however non-partisan. It did not specifically mention or endorse any name of a candidate for the election. But the members are enjoined to take heed on the Catholic Church guidance on the ideal traits of a candidate. These include being pro-life, pro-people, pro-God, pro-environment and being patriotic.

Can Facebook Help Candidates Win in the May 2013 Philippine Mid-term Election?

With less than a month for the May 13, 2013 Philippine mid-term election, local and national candidates are now in the homestretch of their campaign to win an elective office.

In this election, candidates spend huge amount of effort and money to carry out their activities that include shaking of hands, speaking before a crowd in a public stage and the pasting of posters in places where it is allowed to be done.                                   

The advent of the internet and the availability of social networking service site like Facebook and Twitter have made it possible for new comers and least known candidates to enhance their electoral campaign by the use of said internet sites. Candidates must however adhere to the terms and policies in using site such as Facebook since any violation can result to the banning of their account.                                                                                                                                                                      

A candidate who has an account in Facebook can make his political programs known to his friends and he can also create his own group or join other groups to maximize the number of persons he could interact with. An interesting post or topic can generate many “likes” or comments from friends and other users.

In the local level, the political landscape is usually dominated by incumbent politicians. The unscrupulous ones are wont to keep their position as long as they can because with it comes power and more money. They are derisively called traditional politicians or “trapo” whose greed is hidden in the name of public service.                                                                                                                                                                           

In a society where most of the voters belong to the “D” and “E” classes or the poor and less educated, the results of the election are always swayed in favor of the incumbent and moneyed politicians. Some astute local executives subtly establish a system of political patronage where the poor looks up to them as “benefactor” but all the while exploiting them for their political advantage.  These politicians even go to the extent of buying votes to win an election. As a result, politicians are elected not because of their integrity or competence, but because of their cunning to win election by all means. This flawed political process gives rise to social maladies like the proliferation of political dynasties and corruption because politicians have to recoup what they spent in the election.

The internet with its social networking sites such as Facebook is a tool that can help minimize the excesses of some politicians during a particular period such as election. Users can share to his friends in Facebook a report from other media such as newspapers, and they can also post blogs, photos and videos related to an event. What is good about it is that the access of Facebook is for free.                                                                                                          

Through Facebook people can seek information regarding the qualification and track records of a candidate. A positive or negative report on him can generate favorable or unfavorable perceptions or reactions. Some of the hot topics during this period are on political dynasty and corruption. Some candidates consider the latter issue as a sort of “mudslinging”. However, in a country where corruption is believed to be pervasive, it is a very valid election issue. Candidates should be a fair game to the attack so that they can refute it or clear their name before the public with regards to negative reports or allegations.

Some candidates however downplay the importance of Facebook in influencing the decision of the voters. They say that most of the Facebook users come from the middle income and upper classes of the voting population. And those belonging to classes “D” and “E” who comprised the majority of the voters do not have access of the Internet and therefore have no Facebook account so that the use of the site will only have a minimal effect on the result of the May 13 election especially at the local level. The claim maybe correct since incumbent local candidates who are flooded with negative post and bad comments at Facebook seem to be still widely and warmly received by the people especially the poor.

Facebook alone will not make a candidate win because of the many other factors that are involved in winning an election. But Facebook will certainly be of help to a candidate at the national level because of its wide coverage. At the local level Facebook will also be of help but to

a lesser extent. Local candidates therefore should exert more time and effort to reach out to the poor to win their hearts and minds in this coming May 13, 2013 mid-term election.

Philippine Commonwealth Government of Manuel L. Quezon Helped 1,200 Jews Escape the Holocaust

President Manuel L. Quezon

The number of Jews living in the Philippines is significantly small however their presence in the country is surprisingly long. Jewish presence in the Philippines dates back to the Spanish Colonial era. There was the story of Jorge and Domingo Rodriguez, the Spanish-Jewish brothers who escaped the Spanish Inquisition and settled in the Philippines in the 1590’s. Both men were charged and convicted of practicing their Jewish faith while outwardly professing that they were Roman Catholics.

After the Spanish-American War of 1898, Spain ceded the Philippines to the United States. During the American colonial period there were American Jews who served in the US armed forces. After their separation from the military service some of them joined Jewish civilians who opted to settle in the Philippines which was then an unincorporated US territory in the Far East. Notable personalities included the Frieder Brothers who established businesses and helped organize the Jewish community in Manila.

The meteoric rise of Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Party in Germany in the 1930’s was a serious threat to the Jewish people all over Europe. The party headed by Adolf Hitler devised a scheme to systematically exterminate the Jews. Fearing for their lives, the Jews from Germany, Austria and other fascist countries flocked to friendly embassies to seek refuge to countries that would let them in.

The Commonwealth of the Philippines was one of the few countries of the world which heeded the call of the Jewish people for help. President Manuel L. Quezon, Paul V. McNutt, the US High Commissioner to the Philippines and the leaders of the Jewish community worked together to come up with a rescue effort. In relation to it, Quezon granted 10,000 working visas for Jews who would come to the country. In addition resettlement areas in Mindanao were prepared for them.

At first there was only a trickle of Jews who came to the Philippines. Most of those who did were Jews from Shanghai, China who escaped from the Chinese-Japanese armed conflict. But after Nazi Germany invaded Poland in 1939 the persecution of the Jews increased, and as a result more and more Jews wanted to get out of the fascist regimes of Europe. As the war escalated in Europe, Hitler became more obsessed than ever to conquer Europe and implement the “final solution” to deal with the Jews. In the Philippines the number of Jews that seek refuge from Europe from 1937 to 1941 reached 1,200. The flow of refugees stopped when the Japanese invaded and occupied the country at the outbreak of the Second World War.  

In the Philippines, during the war, some of the Filipino and American officials whom the Japanese perceived as uncooperative were incarcerated, and so were some foreign nationals especially Americans who were considered by the Japanese as “enemy aliens”. Some of the Americans were American-Jews. The Germans though were fortunate of being considered by the Japanese as ally in the war. Since the Japanese was hard put in distinguishing between an ethnic German and a German-Jew, the Jews in the Philippines were not subjected to the same level of anti-Semitism that their brothers in Europe suffered in the hands of Nazi Germans. However, like most Filipinos and Americans, the Jews also suffered the brutalities and the horrors caused by the war.

Quezon died while in exile in the US on August 1, 1944, and the Second World War ended in August 1945 with the defeat of the Japanese. On July 4, 1946, the Philippines gained its independence from the United States. The two events saw the Jews resettling either to the United States or Israel so that the number of them in the Philippines greatly diminished. Just after the war the Jewish population in Manila was just only about 600.

Philippine empathy on the plight of the Jewish people was further shown during the implementation of the United Nation Partition Plan of Palestine when the Philippines became the only Asian Country that voted in favor of it on November 9, 1947. The majority of affirmative votes for the plan paved the way for the creation of the state of Israel.

The world has only little knowledge of the deed of President Manuel L. Quezon and the Philippine Commonwealth to save the lives of 1,200 souls from the horrors of the Holocaust of which over 6,000,000 innocent Jews were victimized by state-sponsored murder and terrorism of the Nazi regime of Adolf Hitler. Slowly but surely, however, the Israelis, the Filipinos and the people of the world take cognizant of that exemplary deed by honoring President Quezon and his commonwealth government with the construction and unveiling of the “Open Doors” Monument on June 21, 2009 at the Holocaust Memorial Park in Rishon Lezion, a city south of Tel Aviv in Israel. 

People's March against Crime and Violence

Concerned Citizens of Cagayan de Oro staged their protest march against alarming incidence of crimes in the city on March 17, 2013. The march started at the Rodelsa Circle or rotunda and ended at the Vicente de Lara Park at the Misamis Oriental Provincial Capitol. It was attended by civil society groups, relatives of the victims, members of the police and the military and concerned citizens. In the park, the participants of the march held a brief program in a kiosk where the organizers, the family members of the victims and police and military officers delivered short speech.   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Most heists are perpetrated by criminals riding in tandem on motorcycle. Usual victims are women or those who have lesser physical capability to defend themselves against ruthless criminals who are usually armed with a caliber 9 mm or .45 in. pistol. When opportunity presents itself, criminals on motorcycle grab the bag or other things containing cash or other valuable of the victims. They have no hesitation of shooting and killing a victim if she or he resists or refuses to give his or her money or belongings to them. A person in the vicinity who plays a hero for the victim will be shot too. It is ironic that as of late crimes are committed with the use of guns when COMELEC and other concerned government authorities are supposed to implement the gun ban.

Lately, the criminals become so daring that victims are robbed and killed even near the vicinity of their home, and businessmen are held up inside their establishment even during broad daylight. One recent victim of the spate of crimes committed in the city was a money changer who was about to board a taxi. The robber who was waiting for him in a nearby store suddenly rushed to the victim, shot him and grabbed the bag containing cash and other valuables worth more than a million pesos.

The people of Cagayan de Oro call their place as a “City of Golden Friendship”. The slogan is indicative of their hospitable and friendly dispositions. Those traits made the city a magnet for immigrants and investors from other places. They also made Cagayan de Oro as one of the most peaceful cities of the Philippines. The series of crimes committed against law-abiding citizens of the city is threatening to destroy the good image of a peaceful city on which Cagayan de Oro has been known for.

For a growing city in the Philippines such as Cagayan de Oro crimes are bound to happen. And the normal course of event is to identify and arrest the criminal and bring him to the bar of justice. But the people of the city observe that many of the perpetrators of kidnappings, bombings, robberies and killings are not caught and punished. And it seems that local civilian and police authorities are helpless to do something about the crimes.

Although the number of people who attended the march was significantly small, the participants have conveyed their message to concerned government authorities. The message includes important issue on the safety of the residents, the prevention of crimes and the giving of justice to the family of victims of criminal elements.