This has been going around the past days.. it might be helpful... or not.. just passing it along...



From: boysie castillo


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 facesnonetheless 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 for this 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 k andidatong 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.

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

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Calling each other "ignorant and stupid," senatorial candidates Panfilo Lacson and Propero Pichay, Jr. criticized each other over a bill allowing the scrutiny of government officials' bank accounts.

The word war erupted after Pichay dismissed Lacson's challenge that dared administration bets to open their bank accounts to promote transparency in government. Pichay said Lacson's bill was "ignorant and stupid" as well as unnecessary since the Commission on Audit is already mandated to look into candidates' bank accounts.

Lacson's dare came as an offshoot of a bill he filed that seeks to exclude government officials from the Bank Secrecy Law.

The re-electionist senator threw the insult back at Pichay. He said the Surigao del Sur congressman should review the law. "I'm at a loss for words to describe him, aside from being very stupid. He doesn't know what he is talking about," Lacson said.

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Are you willing to vote for these two senate candidates? I am sure when the two gets a seat at the senate this kind of scenario will still going on. They will become the cat and dog at the senate and we don’t want that because we wanted seriousness with our law and we don’t want things like this to happen again. So, ako kung boboto man ako, pag-isipan ko muna kung karapat dapat ba talagang iboto ang dalawang ito.

The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) main office in Intramuros and the nearby Manila Hotel where an administration political convention was being held, were deluged with the candidates’ supporters including entertainment stars backed by brass bands.

Huh! Philippine elections are now so showbiz, the candidates really proved the masses that the Traditional Politics was gone and Showbiz Politics is in.

The crowd buildup began when Mega Star Sharon Cuneta Pangilinan accompanied her husband Sen. Francis Pangilinan followed by Sen. Ralph Recto, who was with his wife, Lipa Mayor Vilma Santos. Not only that, Richard Gomez bring with him his lovely Lucy Torres, Singson was even accompanied by boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and some other candidates filed for their certificate of candidacy make some gimmicks to draw crowd at the Commission on Election. Despite an order barring them from leaving their workstations, COMELEC personnel went out of their offices to gaze at the movie personalities. Filipino nga naman o, kailangan pa ba na pag fiestahan yun?

They are even making dry gimmicks for their slogans and TV campaigns. Like Mike Defensor’s "walking ‘tol" and "standing ‘tol" posters, saying they showed his frustration to become tall. ‘Tol is a street word for brother. Some even used the church by attending mass at the Cathedral

If these candidates will get a position in the senate, what will be there platforms, more to showbiz and less to the people? I don’t think politics is for popularity or good looks; Politics is more on serving the people not entertaining them. We already seen the performances of these people and I hope you think before voting for them.

Paenggoy even said “Filipinos are poor and have local economies that do poorly against Asian neighbors. That is why more have to work abroad and look for anything that will make them earn more (dollar), whether it is Care giving, nurse, OFW, etc. But such achievements will not be able to provide sufficient livelihood to most. Human capital flight also has incredible costs to those who remain; for example, the PMA reports that the country may soon experience sever crisis due to a shortage of doctors and nurses. And that is taking place in a country where many shortages already take place, from rice to medicine to police men to teachers.”

Since May 14, 2007 elections is near, think carefully who’s candidates to vote for that you think and are sure can make or help our economy better not for worst. Let us STOP too much politicking, think for the good of our country and fellowmen, VOTE WISELY.