12 slots are up for grabs, out of 50 candidates:
Which of these senators do I recommend?
First on my list is Richard Gordon, who would be President if it were only up to me. We've seen what he has done with volunteers at the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority. Our family stayed in one of the houses in the 90s. The volunteer service we got would put the Bayad Center Shoppesville to shame. We also saw how cars would stop at intersections and take turns going. The only place I know where people are this afraid of breaking laws would be in Makati. Say what you will about Jajejomar (--Jon Santos) Binay, but Makati is the most efficient city that I've been to in the Philippines.
Even without Gordon's work with the Red Cross, and his entertaining and informative radio show, Gordon's the best politician we have.
And I almost forgot. I love his Wow Philippines ads.
Then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo signed into law Gordon's Veterans Bill, which allowed veterans from receiving benefits from the US government.
Another superstar is Franklin Drilon. Check out all the positions he has held, aside from the ones I'm enumerating in Atimiti. His most outstanding accomplishments are the convictions of Mayor Antonio Sanchez and Claudio Teehankee, Jr., when Drilon was DOJ Secretary. In the Juetengate Scandal, Drilon had opted to open the second envelope. Someone has told me that there was nothing in it, but why all the fuss?
Anyway, Drilon was President of the Senate that opposed Executive Order 264, which prohibited the Senate from attending Congressional hearings. The same Senate also opposed Proclamation 1017, which imposes a state of national emergency. The Supreme Court upheld the Senate stand on both issues.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Drilon was primary author of a law that created an oversight committee for government-operated and -controlled corporations. As Chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, Drilon also worked for the Sin Tax Law.
Drilon was also one of the Senator-Judges who voted for the impeachment of Chief Justice Renato Corona.
My friend told me to check out Francis Tolentino's malaswang video, which I didn't, so he's here. He's here because under his MMDA term, billboards had size limits. Also under his watch, the Metro Manila Film Festival did away with box office receipts as criteria for winning Best Picture. He also relaunched the Pasig Ferry System. Nice try, but brownie points for effort.
Former Department of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima is in my Magic 12 for filing a case against the Iglesia ni Cristo officers. I recall how she replied to the religious persecution complaint. Something like, Alangan namang I do nothing?
The Judicial Executive Legislative Advisory and Consultative Council was Francis Pangilinan's brainchild. The JELACC was formed to strengthen coordination and consultation among the three branches of government.
Serge Osmena's expose on gross costs led to the cancellation of the Balog-Balog Irrigation Project. He was then Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization. Osmena also voted for the opening of the second envelope.
With a "shoe-string budget," he placed 10th in the 2010 elections and became senator for a third time.
I only remember Lorna Kapunan in the Hayden Kho case, where she was his lawyer. It turns out that she was the first person to obtain a Writ of Kalikasan from the Supreme Court on the Barangay Bangkal oil spill case. I wanted to get a third party verification on this, but it seems that Domini Torrevillas just copy-pasted some data from Kapunan's website.
Anyway, the Supreme Court decided in favor of Kapunan's clients, stewardesses who were dismissed for being 50 years or older.
Kapunan has also worked on pro bono cases for human rights victims and media writers.
If elected, she will work for anti-dynasty, anti-monopoly and fair competition laws. Would be interesting to know the details of these laws.
The thing I have against her is that she used to be Janet Napoles' lawyer, on the kidnapping case.
Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel has 2 pieces of successful legislation:
- The Cheaper Medicines Law, which allowed parallel importation of medicines to lower their prices; and
- The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms, which extends the CARP as well as made it more suitable to farmers.
Walden Bello's Wikipedia page was the most surprising of all, as he had broken in World Bank headquarters and stole 3,000 pages that supposedly showed the connection between the IMF, the World Bank and then-President Ferdinand Marcos. He talks about these documents in Development Debacle: The World Bank in the Philippines. He left the Communist Party of the Philippines after he heard that double agents were killed. Bello is a critic of economic globalization.
Juan Miguel Zubiri isn't just about resigning amid poll fraud allegations. He is also a biofuel advocate.
I read Susan Ople's Panorama column, where she talks about labor issues. She is President of the Blas Ople Policy Center, which helps distressed OFWs around the world.
Rafael Alunan is in my so-so list. All I see about him so far is that he's a leader of the West Philippine Sea Coalition, which has protested against China.
I must admit that there are a lot of candidates who I've never heard of. I hope to look into them further.
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