We are now in the worst episode of our history as a nation, where evil triumphs over good, lies derail truth, corruption dislodges honesty, and self-interest of our leaders prevails over the interest of the Filipino people. Our situation is much worse than the martial law regime under President Marcos. Because of these, we had been searching for a leader who has the morally integrity to be our next president. With the sudden death of President Cory last August 1, 2009, God made a divine intervention (“Deus ex-machina”), in our history. God answered our prayers and He sent us a very important message that we, the Filipino people, deserve a second chance-- a second chance to restore our distorted moral values and to reconstruct our disintegrating political system. A humble and reluctant leader has emerged from the very lost of a great President. This man is no other than the son of our dearest President Cory-- Senator Noynoy Aquino.
History has just repeated itself before our very eyes. With the turn of events, which started with President Cory’s funeral march was a “déjà vu” of Ninoy’s funeral march in 1983 that ignited the flame of nationalism in every Filipino’s heart. With Senator Mar Roxas’ withdrawal from the presidential bid, it reminded us of the Doy Laurel- Cory Aquino tandem in the 1985 election. Senator Doy Laurel made a great sacrifice, by giving up his personal ambition of the presidency for the sake of our country’s interest. Similarly, Senator Mar Roxas did a noble act of self-sacrifice and paved the way to Senator Noynoy to lead the 2010 presidential race. The unfolding of these events should take us seriously towards deeper introspection of God’s message. It is now the time that we let go of our own personal interest and think of what is best for our country. The May 2010 election is just around the corner. Let us value our sacred votes this time, and cast them to the most deserving candidate, the one who we can trust and can unite us together as a nation.
In 1986, we fought the battle against the dictator. Filled with courage, together we marched to Camp Crame to show our unity and our strength as a people through people power. Victorious, we ousted President Marcos from power and we installed Cory to be our new president. But along the way we abandoned her and expected her to do miracles with all the mess that was left behind by President Marcos after he looted our nation’s wealth. By this time, we should have learned our lessons well. Our second chance is at hand-- the very chance of which we can redeem ourselves to restore our nation’s pride. Let us bear in mind that no president, no matter how morally good and intelligent he is, can make this country move forward unless we take part in rebuilding our distorted system of government and established institutions. Let us do our part as citizens of this country. Let us not cast only upon the shoulders of our next president the load of responsibilities, but let us contribute in our nation building, in reconstructing our broken moral values and resuscitating our drowning patriotism.
President Cory’s death is the tipping point that we have been waiting for. It awakened our long dormant hearts thirsty for change. President Cory’s sufferings with colon cancer renewed Ninoy’s sacrifices. Her death was a new kind of martyrdom for the Filipino people—reminding us that every Filipino is worth dying for. But, have we asked ourselves if we are worth ding for? Senator Ninoy and President Cory sowed the seed of selfless leadership through their examples and by laying down their lives for the good of the country. It is now the time that we reap the fruits of their labor – and that fruit is Senator Noynoy. He is the fruit of a good tree, which Christ described in the Gospel. Many were awed by the story of the little Jiggy (President Cory’s grandson) and the jar of chocolates, when he asked her if it belongs to the Filipino people. It is clear how President molded in the young mind of the little Jiggy, that you should not steal the things that belong to the Filipino people. There is no doubt how Ninoy and Cory successfully raised their children and grandchildren with the right breeding, and inculcated in them what selfless public service and accountability really meant.
Many criticized Noynoy for being so closely attached to his mother, but will that make him less of becoming a good President. Definitely not! His closeness to President Cory made him imbibed the values and characteristics we admired about Tita Cory. There is no doubt Senator Noynoy is the one, the Moses who will lead us to the desert of national restoration. He is the one, who has the moral ascendancy to lead us to the Promised Land, who is humble enough (just like his mother) to pass on the responsibility to Joshua (the next president) when his term ends. Just like in the Bible story, the role of Moses was to prepare his people for 40 years of purification on their way to the Promised Land. In the same manner, Senator Noynoy will pave us the way and will level off mountains of corruption and injustice as we traverse together the desert of our socio-political indifferences.
In this time of change, what we need is a leader with an extraordinary breeding, like Senator Noynoy, who can motivate our people to take part in the ripple of change out of volunteerism and service. What we need is a leader like him whose bloodline has proven what self-sacrifice is all about by laying down one’s life for the sake of his people— the very virtue of shepherding, not of dictatorship. What we need is a leader like him who recognizes the strength of every Filipino by empowering them to be self-sufficient through micro-financing— the essence of the new people power that he learned from his mother. What we need is a leader, like him who has the moral integrity and credibility to lead this country, someone above the normal and traditional politicians. What we need is a leader, like him, who can inspire our citizenry with the true sense of patriotism, founded on love for God, country, and our fellowmen. What we need is a leader, like him, who can mobilize our people to preserve and protect our God-given natural resources and to develop our God-given talents to be self-sufficient in our food supply and basic services. What we need is a leader who is trustworthy to re-construct our constitution, rehabilitate our systems of government and institution, and who has the political will to establish controls to protect the integrity of public service.
Senator Noynoy is the only one who is not deceptive in character. His honesty as a leader that flows within his veins will unite us together to rally behind him in his presidential aspiration. We need a leader like him who can win this election through our bare support and voluntary contributions as citizens for change. If we consolidate our votes together we will make history, and we install a leader who wins the presidency outside the traditional political campaign. Since he owes nobody but us, who pushed him to run for the sacred office, then, he has our mandate to lead us and he has all our support that he needs for change.
We have to help Senator Noynoy to win, and we have to help him achieve this by making his position and platform of government clear to the masses. We must cascade the idea to every Filipino that we have no better alternative. If we really care for this country and think of the future of the succeeding generations, we have to campaign for Noynoy. We should make people understand that he can be our "Transition President"-- who will overhaul all systems of government and reconstruct our constitution by building a strong foundation that bears our very ideals as a nation. He is the one who can do this without any vested interest to reap the fruits of his labor and to go beyond his term. We have to help him then, in establishing safeguards to protect our new system of government and our new Constitution once put in place. So that, whoever will be the next president, we are assured that he has no power to obliterate and desecrate our Constitution just like in America. That is precisely the reason why in United States, the euphoria and the feeling of hope of every American, after having a newly elected president. Everybody knows he will imbibe and protect the idealism of their forefathers that were sown in the fore-grounds of their established institutions and system of government, that he, even as president, has no power to alter.
Moreover, no one among our presidentiables is facing a greater accountability than Senator Noynoy. He bears the name of the two re-known heroes of our time. Surely, though he is not capable of doing it, he will not disgrace his family and much more the Filipino people who voted for him, of any act of corruption. No one is better qualified than him who grew up from hardships and sacrifices, whose father was a victim of political persecution. He is the son of the honest, prayerful, humble and patriotic president of our country. We are assured that he learned so many things from his first hand experience as he grew up beside President Cory. Senator Noynoy is well-equipped for the presidency. He has his father’s intelligence and his mother compassionate and peace-loving heart. He is ready to serve as our next president.
If Senator Noynoy wins, we hope to see major changes in our political party system. We wish to go back to the two-party system, each of which will have a separate campaign funds generated from our annual taxes, so that every citizen will learn to value his vote to the letter. We hope we can make campaign funds from any supporters a crime, punishable by law so that we can do away with the “utang-na-loob” mentality. We hope to have elected Supreme Court Chief Justice and Ombudsman, instead of having them as presidential appointees. We hope to have court justices elected by the Judiciary and Bar Council through secret balloting just like during the election of the pope, and not appointed by the president. We hope to see the same process with the AFP Chief and Chief PNP. They should be elected through secret balloting by the board of Generals. We hope to see the practice of professionalism in all branches of government by making Secretary position a career path in every department, not presidential appointment. We hope to see key-positions to be elected, either by the people or the organizing body that they represent to get rid of the “tuta-mentality”. We hope to see the countryside develop to discourage people congesting in the cities jobless. We wish to see our police force utilized to patrol our highways in order to keep it safe and orderly, and not merely to escort VIP’s on roads to beat the traffic. We hope to see a president, who has the political will to impose discipline and safety consciousness to our public transport sectors, particularly jeepney and bus drivers and the maritime industry. Lastly, during his term we hope we can elect our Constitutional Convention delegates to work on charter change because we are assured of a president with a clean intent and a reliable delegation.
The 2010 presidential election is our turning point; it is our very last chance for change. God gave us this second chance at hand to restore our nation from its spiritual deterioration, socio-political disintegration and moral decadence. Let us not waste this chance. Let us vote for Senator Noynoy – he is our only hope! He is the People’s President who can unite us together as a people. The choice is on our hands now, it is up to us whether to accept the challenge or not. The God given golden opportunity at hand it is up to us to decide.
Mabuhay si Senator Noynoy! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
Jun Rosales