on Philippine politics and elections

this letter wast sent to me by email from my father’s sister who has been residing in the US for over 30 years. i rarely get an email from her. and when i do, it is usually a forwarded message about some disgruntled guy ranting Philippines this or Philippines that. most of the time i don’t read it. it’s a waste of my time.

the following letter, however, i feel i should share with you. i don’t know if this Mr. Keh is a real person or just an alias, but the gist of the letter does have some strong points about Philippine politics and elections. he is perhaps the nth Filipino who has written an “Open Letter” and emailed it to his friends in the hope that it would be read by as many Filipinos as possible. ok i’m giving a hand.. . what little of it i can give.

i absolutely abhor politics here in the Philippines! and elections is just around the corner. geesh.. . God help us! if Spain has the traditional Running of the Bulls, we also have an even more dangerous tradition.. . one i would call Wading with the Crocodiles. and i don’t like saying this one bit.

——————————————————–

An Open Letter to EveryFilipino 

Dear Fellow Filipino,

Good day to all of you! Before I begin my letter... just a disclaimer, for
people who know me they know that I love the Philippines very much and I
am not really one who rants and complaints to high heavens about what is
happening to our country and does nothing about it, in fact, I feel that
at my relatively young age of 27, I have done much service to the
Philippines by setting up Pathways to Higher Education which has sent more
than 500 poor but deserving students to college and AHON Foundation which has
already built two public elementary school libraries that have benefitted
more than 3,500 students. Yet, after seeing how events in our nation have
transpired the past few weeks and talking with some friends, I feel the
urge to share with you my own thoughts and feelings.

Over the weekend, we saw the completion of two major political alliances
for this coming Senate Elections that has just began here in the
Philippines. Now we have two political forces with familiar faces nonetheless on
opposite sides of the fences. On one end, you have Tito Sotto and Tessie
Aquino-Oreta who were two major stalwarts of the opposition and the FPJ
Campaign in 2004 hobnobbing with the woman (Pres. GMA) whom they claimed to
have cheated FPJ in the last Presidential Elections.On the other side of
the fence, you see Manny Villar, the former house speaker who was actually
responsible for impeaching Erap now part of the United Opposition who is
led by no less than... Erap himself. Now if you don't see anything wrong
with this picture then you must be one of the many Filipinos who have accepted this
very sad reality that there is indeed no permanent ideals that our
government leaders stand up for but rather they just go where there self-interests can
best be served. It is this kind of politics why I no longer wonder why good
people like Ramon Magsaysay Awardee Mayor Jesse Robredo of Naga City or
outstanding Bulacan Governor Josie Dela Cruz will find it hard or worse,
never be elected to national positions.

It is with these in mind that I'd like to share with you what are events
this coming May elections that will make me consider leaving the
Philippines:

1.) If former COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano of Hello Garci fame
wins in his bid to become Congressman of Bukidnon...seeking to replace a
good man no less in incumbent Cong. Neric Acosta... We would really be the
laughing stock of the whole world if we allow a man with the reputation of
Garci to be one of our so called "Honorable Gentlemen".

2.) If Dancing Queen Tessie Aquino Oreta reclaims her seat at the
Senate...I hope that all of us would still remember that dance that she did
during the 2001 impeachment hearings after they voted to overrule the decision of
then Chief Justice Davide... let us make sure that people like her never
make it to the Senate again.

3.) If Richard Gomez becomes a senator... what does he know about making
laws? We already have the likes of Bong Revilla and Lito Lapid in the
Senate and their performance or lack of it would be reason enough not to
elect another actor who has no prior experience in government to the
distinguished halls of the Senate.

4.) If Gringo Honasan wins again.... have we not learned our lesson? I
cannot believe that just because someone is charismatic then we will just
elect him to become one of our senators despite the fact that he has time
and again caused so much instability in our country... if we want a
military junta similar to that of Thailand ... then lets all vote for this
guy....

5.) If Manny Pacquiao becomes Congressman of General Santos
City...everybody loves Manny the Boxing Champ but Manny the Lawmaker? Lets
be realistic here, Manny is our Hero alright but I think it takes more than
just great boxing skills and a desire to serve to be able to make
appropriate laws that would help uplift the lives of the many Filipinos who
live in Poverty.

6.) If Lito Lapid wins for Mayor of Makati City... I don't like Jojo Binay
as well but Lito Lapid as city mayor of the country's finance and business
center?!?! And do you really think he is from Makati and has good plans for
the city? The Arroyos asking someone like him to run just goes to show you
how much love and concern this government has for our country.

7.) If Chavit Singson becomes a Senator, Illegal Gambling = Chavit...enough
said.

Now if all of these 7 things happen during this coming elections then don't
be surprised if I decide to leave this country that I love dearly. Like I
said during the first part of my letter, I feel that I have done much
forthis country but I think its time that Filipinos become more vigilant
and
critical in selecting our leaders for the sake of our future and the
generations that will go beyond us. So I appeal to every Filipino who asks
what can I actually do for my country... Choose and vote for the right
people this coming elections, huwag na tayong magpaloko sa mga kandidatong
maganda lang ang jingle o gwapo lang sa mga poster. Let us choose leaders
who have a good track record for service and who are genuinely committed
towards serving our country.

Manindigan naman tayong lahat para sa ating Kinabukasan at para sa
Kapakanan ng ating Bayan!

Thank you very much for your time in reading this letter.

Sincerely,

Harvey S. Keh

KAILANGANG MABASA ITO NG 80 MILLIONG PILIPINO !!! IPASA NYO NG IPASA !!!

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Notice: This article was published on March 17, 2007 and the content above may be out of date.
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