Skip to main content

Filipinos Deserve Better . . . An Open Letter to Every Filipino

Eirene Jhone Aguila
Wed, 18 Mar 2009 03:15:46 -0700

Dear Fellow Filipino,

I hope you can spare us a few minutes of your time.

With the Elections of 2010 fast approaching, time is running out for us to
choose well. Old faces… could it be that they got us to where we are now?
Almost everywhere you go, people are tired of the old faces, old
establishments, old ties and old players that seem to be our only options.
People ask, “*eto na lang ba*?” We say, “*why settle?*” We’ve been doing
that time in and time out and look where it has gotten us.

We personally believe we deserve better choices. We deserve to be given an
opportunity to choose good leaders. While there is always a big premium on
voters education and getting people to register, one of the loudest
arguments against this is – “*eh, wala namang pagpipilian – bakit pa*?” We
believe that Filipinos are not stupid – not *bobo*. Given a chance to vote
for leaders who have an uncompromising stand against graft, make the most
use of our scarce and limited resources not for personal gain but to deliver
the services needed by the people, political will to make difficult and
unpopular yet much needed decisions for the good of the country, will not
coddle and protect the corrupt, consistently embody ethical principles,
practice good governance and endeavor to be effective public servants, have
a heart genuinely for the people, we Filipinos will go out and vote – and
vote wisely. Given the chance, we will do what’s right.

We hope you can join us in urging Governors Grace Padaca and Among Ed
Panlilio to run for the highest positions in the land. Governor Padaca is a
victim of polio and needs crutches to walk but despite this she is best
known for having fought against well-entrenched powers in Isabela and for
winning the elections without use of guns, gold and goons. In her 5 years as
governor of one of the top rice-producing provinces of the Philippines, she
has tirelessly worked for the betterment of the lives of her constituents
and has improved the conditions of Isabela so much so that today, Isabelinos
enjoy the fruits of the rice and corn price stabilization program of Gov.
Grace, among the many other improvements she has instituted in her province.
Last year, Gov. Padaca was awarded one of Asia's highest honors, the Ramon
Magsaysay Award for Government Service.

Governor Panlilio’s coming into power in Pampanga is a testament to the
Filipinos’ desire to reclaim their land. Having won against reputedly the
biggest illegal gambling lord in the country and the quarry-king of Central
Luzon, Among Gov reclaimed for the Capampangans a sense of pride that they
can choose good leaders who go beyond only selfish desires. Today, as he
serves the people of Pampanga, he continues to be an inspiration to those
who wish to do good and fight against the system of corruption no matter how
difficult.

Many say that the biggest problem in Philippine society today is not so much
economic. Poverty is not the biggest challenge we face, rather, it is a
growing cynicism of people and mistrust in government. A lot have lost hope
that government can work for them and that our government leaders have the
interest of the people as their primordial concern. We do not need mediocre
public servants, we do not need intellectuals who will remain silent and
choose to abstain on crucial matters and not stand up for what is right. We
are tired of compromised leaders who first seek to appease and repay their
financiers, their supporters and their allies before thinking of country.
What we need are those who will stand up for the people and promote the
people’s agenda, not their own or that of their allies and families only.

If you believe that we Filipinos deserve better and that we should be given
better options in our choice for leaders, join us in this petition. Send us
your *NAME, CONTACT INFORMATION and LOCATION* if you think Among Gov and Gov
Grace should run for president and vice-president. You may send these to
graceamong.thebettercho...@gmail.com . While it might seem like a fight
between David and Goliath at this point, we believe that nothing is
impossible with the Filipino.

Join us as we dream and work for a better Philippines! Is genuine reform
possible in the Philippines? We think so.

Always,

Atty. Eirene Aguila

PS

I hope you can pass this on and share this with your family and friends who
are also looking for better options for the country. Thank you!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Five Poems by Danton Remoto

In the Graveyard Danton Remoto The walls round the graveyard Are ancient and cracked. The moss is too thick they look dark. The paint on my grandfather’s tomb Has the color of bone. Two yellow candles we lighted, Then we uttered our prayers. On my left, somebody’s skull Stares back at me: a black Nothingness in the eyes. The graveyard smells of dust Finer than the pore of one’s skin— Dust mixed with milk gone sour. We are about to depart When a black cat darts Across our path, quickly, With a rat still quivering In its mouth. * Immigration Border Crossing (From Sadao, Thailand to Bukit Changloon, Malaysia) Danton Remoto On their faces that betray No emotion You can read the unspoken Questions: Are you really A Filipino? Why is your skin Not the color of padi ? Your eyes, Why are they slanted Like the ones Who eat babi ? And your palms, Why are there no callouses Layered like th...

A mansion of many languages

BY DANTON REMOTO, abs-sbnNEWS.com/Newsbreak | 10/16/2008 1:00 AM REMOTE CONTROL In 1977, my mentor, the National Artist for Literature and Theater Rolando S. Tinio, said: “It is too simple-minded to suppose that enthusiasm for Filipino as lingua franca and national language of the country necessarily involves the elimination of English usage or training for it in schools. Proficiency in English provides us with all the advantages that champions of English say it does – access to the vast fund of culture expressed in it, mobility in various spheres of the international scene, especially those dominated by the English-speaking Americans, participation in a quality of modern life of which some features may be assimilated by us with great advantage. Linguistic nationalism does not imply cultural chauvinism. Nobody wants to go back to the mountains. The essential Filipino is not the center of an onion one gets at by peeling off layer after layer of vegetable skin. One’s experience with onio...

Taboan: Philippine Writers' Festival 2009

By John Iremil E. Teodoro, Contributor The Daily Tribune 02/26/2009 A happy and historical gathering of wordsmiths with phallocentric and Manila-centric overtones *** This is from my friend, the excellent poet and critic John Iremil Teodoro, who writes from the magical island of Panay. I wish I have his energy, his passion and his time to write. Writing needs necessary leisure. But this budding, bading politician has shifted his directions. On this day alone, I have to attend not one, not two, but three political meetings. And there goes that new poem out of the window. Sigh. *** According to Ricardo de Ungria, a poet of the first magnitude and the director of Taboan: The Philippine International Writers Festival 2009, “the original idea was for a simple get together of writers from all over the country who have been recipients, directly or indirectly, of grants and awards from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA). What happened last Feb. 11 to 13 was far from being ...