Thursday, January 21, 2010

Senatorial bet urges voter assessment of candidates and parties

SENATORIAL BET PURSUES VOTERS’ EDUCATION: Lawyer Adrian Sison, or Dado to his close friends and relatives, found another advocacy while pursuing a seat in the Senate of the Philippines as a senatorial candidate of the “Ang Kapatiran Party” in May---using his campaign time, Dado is simultaneously engaged in voters’ education, giving them lessons on choosing a candidate on the basis of issues and not on personalities.

When he was interviewed live Wednesday, January 20, 2010, over BATAS INTERNET TV and BATAS INTERNET RADIO at the Internet website www.batasradio.com, Dado said Filipinos must be taught to measure each candidate and each political party on what they have done, for or against, on the many burning issues of the day.

This way, Dado told me and my co-host Bishop Bert Mercado over the program “Batas Media Reports, which airs from 7 to 8 in the morning, Mondays to Fridays at www.batasradio.com, voters will see who among the candidates and the parties have already served the people, and how.

This will help the country move forward more expeditiously, Dado explained, on the theory that only candidates and political parties who have already performed well for the country and its people in the past would be expected to perform well again, especially after they shall have been elected during the May 2010 elections.

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CANDIDATES AND POLITICAL PARTIES MUST BE ASSESSED BY VOTERS: Dado, who was a classmate of mine at the UP College of Law in Diliman, Quezon City some years back, asked voters to come up with some kind of a “matrix”, which will contain a list of candidates and their parties, as well as a list of various issues which have affected the Philippines and Filipinos.

Then, using this matrix, the voters will rate the candidates and their parties, giving them a grade between 0 to 10, depending on how good, or how bad, they acted on each of the issues or problems appearing on the list. A poor performer gets a 1, or a 0, while a so-so performer could get a 3 or 4, while the good ones will be rated 6, or up to 10.

Based on these rates, or grades, if you will, voters will be able to assess each and every candidate, enabling them to decide to vote only for the best performers. In this manner, Dado told me, voting based on popularity, familiarity, or riches, will be minimized or altogether eliminated.

Come to think of it, this system (which conscientious Christians in US also resorted to in times past) can really revolutionize the manner of choosing our officials through elections, and will assure that only the best and the brightest will serve among our midst, which can only result in better governance.

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BISHOP ASKS SC TO ALLOW HIM TO RUN FOR PRESIDENT: Here is a press release which we received from the Internet Asia News and Features: “2010 Presidential Candidate Bishop Norberto L. Mercado, through his lawyers, has filed a certiorari (petition) with a request for a temporary restraining order or TRO / injunction at the Supreme Court.

The case against the COMELEC is docketed SC G.R. No. 190786, for Certiorari with TRO/Injunction. Mercado's petition was received by the Supreme Court on January 19, 2010 at 3:48 PM, with a filing fee of P4,730.00 .

“The case he filed focuses on the culpable violation of the present Philippine Constitution by the COMELEC Chair and Commissioners. This matter is with regards to his qualifications as a presidential candidate in accordance with the Philippine Constitution as specifically enumerated in Article V11,Section 2, and the unconstitutionality of COMELEC Resolutions 8713 and 8743 .

" `... The COMELEC, likewise, violated due process as provided for by the present Philippine Constitution. As an aspiring candidate for the highest office of the land, and as a Filipino citizen, it is my duty to defend the Constitution from those who wilfully violate it because they are obsessed with power, and they think they can do anything, even culpably violating the nation's supreme law,’ Mercado said...”

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AGONY OF JESUS, AS THE FIRST SORROWFUL MYSTERY: After the Joyful Mysteries and the Mysteries of Light, the Holy Rosary of Roman Catholic Christians deal with the so-called “Sorrowful Mysteries”, which depict the parts of the life of Jesus that culminate in His death on the cross.

The first of these “Sorrowful Mysteries” is the “Agony of Jesus”, which is the story of Jesus agonizing at his impending crucifixion and death on the cross, and which is found in Matthew 26:36-45, Mark 14:32-42 and Luke 22:39-46 of the Bible.

In this story, Jesus is portrayed as being sorrowful and troubled, knowing as He did what was going to happen to him in just a few hours, even prompting Him to say “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”

Certainly, this is a powerful picture of Jesus in his human attributes, especially when this is viewed in the light of His subsequent statement, which shows Him placing completely His trust and confidence in the Father with the words “My Father, if it is possible, may this cub be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”

The question is, if Jesus is the Son of God, why would he be troubled, and why would he say that, if possible, “this cup be taken from me”?

The answer, I believe, is that, it is necessary to show that in his human attributes, Jesus could agonize just like ordinary men, so that humans will not really despair when problems come to them, no matter how great those problems maybe.

There is a solution to the agony that everyone feels, and the solution is precisely what Jesus did: placing complete trust and confidence in the will of God.

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