Friday, December 12, 2008

The choices of my friends

E·N·Q·U·I·R·Y
DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL

The choices of my friends
Sunday, 05 13, 2007

Campaigning — that boisterous, rollicking time when the air was full of speeches and the speeches were full of moist air — has ended. Many have made up their minds, after sifting through the clutter of conflicting claims made by the candidates. The charlatans have been identified for what they are, and those who are good for their promises are in for the vote.

I have canvassed my friends all over, and they have sent me the top names among their preferences.

Reggie Pastrana of Romblon will vote for the sedate senator seeking reelection, who has stayed the longest in the Senate and passed the most number of laws that have benefited the nation, whose constituency cuts across the youth to the elderly, and has remained the only calming voice in a recent season of disorder and strident voices. With that senator, as Reggie says, ang gara ng buhay natin.

Dan Pinto, a vagabond who lives “here, there and everywhere” when not staying in his legal residence somewhere in Legarda, will vote for she who has carried the torch in the search for truth in the May 2004 elections, performed very well in her past stint in the Senate, and could very well be our president by 2010.

Ella Recta of Ilocos Norte will vote for that young medical doctor who took a vow of poverty by giving up his lucrative practice abroad, who wears his heart where it should be, and who is the personification of the politician who is not a politician.

Luz Gorrero of Pampanga will vote for that young man who never fails to talk sense, even when he flashes that toothpaste smile especially when he says “cheese,” who is the future of enlightened Philippine politics — decent, intelligent, compassionate — and who is the beacon of the followers of my hero who was cheated in the May 2004 elections.

Ading Seno of Cebu City will vote for that senator whose visage extends from Aparri to Jolo, whose involvement in show business has not deterred him from making good in public service, so that this senator, once back in the Senate, could resume his crusade against prohibited drugs and in empowering local governments.

Frank Abalos of Lanao will vote for that lady senator who performed well at the Senate several years ago, the teasing notwithstanding, who would rather take pride in being called the benefactress of teachers instead of just being the sister of the hero slain at the tarmac.

Dennis Adre of Davao will vote for that senator who has always been a rebel with a cause, whose dream has never died every time he puts his life on the line for country, whose grin goes so well with his program for national recovery.

Jovy Bernabe of Bacolod City will vote for that young soldier who epitomizes the gallantry, bravery and honesty of the man in uniform, who has captured the respect of fellow officers and the rank-and-file alike, and thrilled them like no other when he stood his ground against the enticements to turn around and desert the principles he espouses.

Bololo Rañeses of Naga City will vote for she who could roll over the coals of our discontent, the widow who has vowed to continue the advocacies of her husband, a man who would have been a fearless and incorruptible president had not the perverse hand of fate intervened.

Cesar Salazar of Bulacan will vote for that bete noire of the primus among the so-called gentlemen of our country, who never runs out of issues with which to scourge the latter, and whose exposés ring with such zing and ping that every one sits up and takes notice that all is not well with our country.

Gil Soria of Tarlac will vote for the son of the gracious lady who led us back to the blessings of democracy, who has earned his spurs in the House, thereby establishing his bona fides as a legislator, who could bring back to the Senate the same vibrancy akin to a time past, that was the hallmark of the Senate where his father once held sway.

Ed Escueta of Quezon will vote for the comebacking lady senator who, aside from her consistency in her advocacy for the arts and culture, has been proved all too prophetic in the nick of time by her unwavering opposition to trade liberalization.

As they say, it’s different strokes for different folks. Whatever their reasons and despite the surveys, my friends are entitled to their own choices. This is how democracy works — unless some Garci-like character again clutters the political atmosphere with deceptive static and renders the voices of my friends into meaningless blips in the count. We will see soon enough.

I have a fair inkling about who my friends’ choices are, and I hope the rest of the nation does. What is common to these choices are their good public service record, their consistency in their advocacies, their credibility at delivering on their promises. We might as well adopt these choices as our own, too, if we are to expect a Senate that will not be a complaisant stooge of a co-equal branch of the government, a Senate that will serve once more as a forum of wise men legislating for the good, instead of being a tumultuous charivari of discordant and divisive views that can only confuse the nation.

These could very well be the standards by which the rest of the nation should vote tomorrow.

Against a niggling fear that tomorrow’s polls might not turn out to be honest, orderly, and peaceful — including that for the party-lists where Jericho Acedera of Mindoro is very much involved for a party that gives assurances for the disabled — my friend Johnny Borra from Parañaque City has given me, in his usual tone, the assurance that it will be: Asahan mo.

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