My Dear Fellow Filipinos

March 27, 2007
Manila, Philippines

To My Dear Fellow Filipinos,

On May 14, 2007, or 47 days from today, we will have the national and local elections. Every Filipino voter, as in previous elections, shall again be required to vote for senatorial candidates as well as local candidates like Governors, Mayors, etc.

This elections is very crucial!

It comes at a time when;
a.) The Philippines has been adjudged as the most corrupt country in Asia;
b.) The Philippines, for a long time now, has been or continue to be one of the poorest, if not the poorest, in Asia and/or in the world; and
c.) That no less than the President of the Philippines and her Administration has been indicted before the Permanent People’s Tribunal in The Hague, in The Netherlands for multiple violations of human rights.

The foregoing considered, it is not difficult to see or realize now that many, if not most, of our representatives (the politicians) in government have failed us, the very people that these politicians were sworn to serve.

We are partly to blame! But, most of the blame, perhaps, goes to these politicians (candidates then) who took us for a ride or who have successfully masqueraded themselves into something or someone who they were not.

And we have fallen for them! We have known no better! Or, simply, we have taken things lightly, very lightly, at the polls! We have taken for granted our right of suffrage, or, we just couldn’t care less! We have put no regard in the sanctity of the ballot!

Having accepted the stark reality that we are, inevitably, in, we also must now accept the reality that another election is at hand, forthcoming, or just around the corner.

We now have a chance to right the wrongs of the past; a chance not to commit the same mistakes!

I have been in government for many, many, years. After my graduation from the Philippine Military Academy in 1971, I have been, as a military officer, assigned in different places (Laguna, Quezon, Bataan, Benguet, Baguio City, and La Union) in the Philippines, and occupying various positions in the Philippine Constabulary (now defunct and replaced by the Philippine National Police).

I have been (elected) an Assemblyman, or, Member of Parliament (MP), at the 1st (and last) Regular Batasang Pambansa (National Parliament), representing the province of Ifugao.

I have been (appointed) a Deputy Director-General (with rank of Deputy Minister, or, Undersecretary) of the Office of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Minorities (OMACC). I have been (appointed) Legal Counsel and Special Assistant to the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP), Office of the President. And corollary to this, I have been(appointed), also, Vice Chairman of Southern Philippines Development Authority Deactivation Task Force (SDTF).

And until recently, January 31, 2007, I have been Undersecretary, Office of the President; and Commissioner and Executive Director of the Presidential Commission on the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFACOM).

For the past thirty six (36) years of my life and throughout all the various positions I have held and the different places I have worked in, I have seen, first hand, the following:

a.) The stark or abject poverty of our people especially in the country-sides and the growing slum areas in the urban centers;

b.) The corruption, abuse and utter disregard of life, and patronage or boot-licking in the military;

c.) The unabated abuse or misuse of authority or power or their positions, and the graft and corruption, of our politicians and other public or government officials and personnel; and

d.) The deplorable or callous violation and/or surrender of our sovereignty as a nation and people in the name of foreign relations or in fear of losing foreign aids, and trading and security partners.

The last one on the list above, cost me my most recent position in government, but without any regret, whatsoever. I tendered my resignation and eventually quit my post on January 31, 2007, because I took a stand diametrically opposed to that of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Administration vis-à-vis the unceremonious or unauthorized whisking away or transfer of convicted US Marines Lance Corporal Daniel Smith from the Makati City Jail to the US Embassy premises in Manila (without any court order or authorization) in the dead of a Friday night of December 29, 2007, in the middle of the Yuletide or Christmas Season. Indeed, it was a clear case where the “Palace took the law into its hands.” In a democracy like ours and in a society of laws and not of men, like the Philippines, “Nobody is over and above the law!” From the lowliest Juan Dela Cruz to the highest President Arroyo, they are all under and subject to the supremacy and majesty of the law.

Such act was a grave and despicable violation of the centuries-honored principles of the separation of powers and the rule of law enshrined in no less than the highest law of the land, the Philippine Constitution of 1987.

Confronted by the power wielders in Malacañang, I stood my ground, owned up to my words quoted in the newspapers and accepted full responsibility for having publicly expressed them, and said: “Ergo, my further stay in my office is untenable, Therefore, I am resigning.” And the rest is history.

As mentioned in my previous post, in late January or early February of this year, 2007, while I was in the midst of weighing options as where or in what place, Baguio City or Metro Manila, will I teach “Law and Government” and go back to law practice again, I received a call from an acquaintance, Atty. Reynaldo “Nandy” Pacheco. Over the phone, he invited me to run as a Senatorial Candidate under the Ang Kapatiran Party this coming May 14, 2007 elections. My quick repartee was: “I would love to but I don’t have the funds or budget for it.” He said he’ll send me the Ang Kapatiran Party documents which embody the party’s principles and platform. He further said that if I could embrace all the party’s principles and platform and could commit myself to them, then they shall take me in as member and as candidate for the Senate. The necessary expenses for my running, he said, shall be dealt with by the party, Nandy assured me.

Forthwith, I received the party documents as promised. I browsed over them as quickly as I could. Lo and behold! Just as quickly, I told Nandy, “Yes, I embrace them all, and that I am accepting the invitation to run for Senator under the Ang Kapatiran Party.”

My reasons for running as Senator are all well-written in the letter and are all placed behind or in the spirit of the Principles and Platform of the Ang Kapatiran Party, hereunder, to wit:

Section 1. Belief in God Almighty.

Section 2. Life and Dignity of the Human Person. We believe that every human life is sacred from conception to natural death, that people are more important than things, and that the measure of every institution is whether or not it enhances the life and dignity of the human person…..

Section 3. Family, Community and Participation. The human person is not only sacred but inherently social…..

Section 4. Rights and Responsibilities. As social beings, our relationships are governed by a web of rights and corresponding duties…..

Section 5. Preferential Option for the Poor and Vulnerable. The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members…..

Section 6. Dignity of Work and Rights of Workers. The economy must serve people, not vice versa…..

Section 7. Solidarity. Because of the interdependence of all members of the human family around the globe, we have a moral responsibility to commit ourselves to the common good at all levels: in local communities, in our nation, and in the community of nations. We are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers, wherever they may be…..

Section 8. Care for God’s Creation. The world that God created has been entrusted to us, yet our use of it must be directed by God’s plan for creation, not simply by our own benefit…..

Section 9. Peace and Active Nonviolence. The road to total liberation is not the way of violence, class struggle or hate; it is the way of love, brotherhood and peaceful solidarity…..

The foregoing considered, my dear kababayan, my fellow Filipino, for love of our country and our fellow countrymen, and all for the Glory of God, The Almighty, I have accepted the role, difficult as it is, of being a Candidate for Senator, an alternative good candidate, modesty aside, in this coming elections. In the same light, may I therefore, in all humility, remind you of your role, which is just as noble and vital as mine, which is the role of being a conscientious, wise, and vigilant voter.

May I, also, humbly, solicit your vote for me, Atty Jess Paredes, and for my two other fellow candidates for Senator in the Ang Kapatiran Party in the persons of: Atty Adrian Sison and Dr. Martin Bautista.

Maraming salamat po! May God bless you, our countrymen, and our motherland, the Philippines!

Evil shall not prevail in our land if we, good people, you and I, shall do something! Mabuhay and Pilipinas! Mabuhay ang Pilipino! Mabuhay tayong lahat! All Glory to God!

I remain,

Very truly yours,

Atty. Zosimo Jesus “Jess” Mendoza Paredes II