Noli, Gibo or Bayani?

Mirror, mirror on the wall, who among three government officials is the fairest of them all so as to be the standard bearer of the merged administration Lakas-CMD-Kampi political party? Will it be Vice President Noli de Castro? Or Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro? Or Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando? It’s everybody’s guess, and the excitement resonates and titillates.

Last Sunday’s Philippine STAR reported Presidential Adviser for Political Affairs Gabriel Claudio as saying there would be a consensus from the ranks of the party in choosing the presidential candidate and there would be “no dictation coming from the President. “All of them are given a fair chance under the process,” Claudio said. “Under the party rules, the national executive committee can exercise the powers of a national convention.” The convention is scheduled for September 15.

Claudio said the national executive committee of the party will choose the standard bearer. This will be composed of 60 members coming from the Senate, the House of Representatives, local government executives, Cabinet members, and the private sector.

Claudio said members of the government body will make consultations with their respective constituents and supporters before choosing the presidential candidate for the administration.

Claudio stressed that the selection of the standard bearer by the national executive committee does not necessarily mean the party leadership was totally eschewing a national convention.

President Macapagal-Arroyo, said Claudio, will let the party decide on who would be its standard bearer. “There is always wisdom and security in a democratic process. This also will allow party members to be stakeholders in this decision and the presidential candidate would be better assured of party support.”

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The three potential choices are reported to have their supporters to ensure their winning the presidential election in 2010, and that they have been faring well in opinion surveys. Teodoro has the support of the 49 governor-members of the League of Provinces of the Philippines (LPP). De Castro’s own supporters claim that de Castro has the nod of the party leadership.

The media have a field day getting potential standard bearers or presidentiables, to speak at their forums and press conferences. Teodoro and Fernando have been very open about their programs. As for Mr. de Castro, unfortunately, he has yet to be accessible to media, and appear in news forums so the public will know what his programs are.

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This afternoon, a video documentary on the life of the late statesman Raul S. Manglapus will be premiered at Cinema 4, Power Plant Mall at Rockwell. The documentary, entitled Faith in the Filipino, Lessons from Raul S. Manglapus, presents how his reformist political ideas inspired a generation of Filipinos.

The documentary is directed by Filipino-American filmmaker Isabel Enriquez Kenny. Kenny directed for the Public Broadcasting System in the US and is currently a member of the faculty of the communications department of Ateneo de Manila University. She is also a recipient of the National Book Award for Film in 2005 for her book, Making Documentations in the Philippines.

The film is organized by the Centrist Policy Institute (CPI), and co-sponsored by the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (KAS), the ABS-CBN Foundation, Inc., and the Kapit Bisig Para sa Ilog Pasig.

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Women’s groups are outraged by the impending transfer of convicted rapist Francisco Juan “Paco” Larranaga to a penal facility in Spain to serve the remainder of his life sentence for the rape and murder of the Chiong sisters in Cebu in 1997.

According to the signatories of a statement being circulated, not many Filipinos are aware that an RP-Spain Transfer of Sentenced Persons Agreement has been signed by the Philippine government in May 2007, and supported by a domestic law that became effective in January 2008. The local law was authored by Rep. Antonio Cuenco of the 2nd District of Cebu.

The women are asking, first, why the legislators of this law prioritized the country of Spain for the treaty. In November 2007, while the bill was being deliberated on, the Chiong family already expressed objection to the passage of the RP-Spain TSPA for favoring Larranaga. During the same period, Larranaga was appealing his conviction to the Supreme Court. The women are asking: “Is it pure coincidence that the rapist is a ‘scion of the powerful and wealthy Osmeña clan of Cebu?’”

Second, the women are asking, “Why prioritize Spain when 128 overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are languishing in Kuwaiti jails compared to seven detained in Spain?” Ed Malaya of the DFA legal affairs office has commented that the law will benefit Filipinos serving their sentences in other countries. Well and good, but why, again should Spain be prioritized?

The Philippine Embassy in Kuala Lumpur reported that the most number of Filipino detainees is found in Malaysia with 1,600. The department of Foreign Affairs itself reported that as of June 2007, there were 4,770 Filipinos languishing in jails in 63 countries and territories. Japan has 734, with 130 in Osaka; Qatar, 554; the US, 406; Abu Dhabi, 198; Saudi Arabia (in Jeddah only), 161, and Hong Kong, 127.”

Write the women: “When government favors convicted rapists or simply ‘reprimands’ its appointed officials accused of wife battering who all come from the elite, where do ordinary citizens turn to for justice? Yet, we must remain vigilant and pursue perpetrators of sexual crimes against women, even as they may be protected by this government itself.” 

The signatories are Jean Enriquez, Coalition Against Trafficking in Women-Asia Pacific (CATW-AP) and World March of Women-Pilipinas; Marlene Sindayen, Alliance of Progressive Labor (API)-Women; Atty. Cristina Sevilla, Women LEAD and ECPAt-Philippines’ Lotlot D. Requizo, KAISAKA; Ana Marie R. Nemenzo, Woman Health, Philippines; Liza Gonzales, Bagong Kamalayan Collective, Inc. (BKCI), Monina Geaga, Sarilaya; Mercedes Fabros, Welga ng Kababaihan; Anna Leah Sarabia, Kababaihan Laban sa Karahasan Foundation, and Yuen Abana, Task Force Subic Rape (FSAR).

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