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 to 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 faces nonetheless 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 their 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..
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 kandidatong 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.
Sncerely,
Harvey S. Keh
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