On making people decide/Gordon top volunteer awardee

Former President Fidel V. Ramos told reporters at the Pandesal Forum at Kamuning Bakery last week that having choices would allow the voice of the people to be heard.

He was referring to the disqualification cases being handled by the Commission on Elections against presidential aspirants Grace Poe and Rodrigo Duterte. My understanding of the president’s statement, as gathered from the published newspaper reports, is that the names of the two candidates be placed on the ballots to be printed by Comelec, and regardless of the decisions reached by Comelec and the Supreme Court, people’s votes for both aspirants will be counted.

Poe has been disqualified by two divisions of the Comelec which decided that she did not comply with residency requirements for the presidency and her not being a natural-born Filipino.

The senator has appealed both decisions to the Comelec en banc, and has indicated that she will take her case before the Supreme Court if necessary.

A case remains pending before the Comelec against Duterte, who is seeking to run as a substitute candidate of the PDP-Laban party.

With due respect to the former president, I agree with Senate President Franklin M. Drilon that the Comelec must uphold and the public must observe the country’s election laws and its regulations for “a fair, credible and orderly election next year.”

“We have rules which are necessary for an orderly society,” Drilon said at the Kapihan sa Senado.

“If we just say that we let the people decide, then we might as well throw all the rules out of the window, let’s discard all the rules, and let everybody run,” Drilon stressed.

The former Justice Secretary said there are rules that govern the conduct of elections in the country, which the Comelec is duty-bound to observe and implement.

He added that these rules are in accordance with the Constitution that provides clear guidelines regarding the conduct of elections in the country.

“We have basic rules which in any civilized society will be necessary in order to prevent disorder. So if you are saying just let the people decide, precisely there are rules in order that people can rationally decide,” Drilon said.

He told reporters that it is due to these rules and regulations that the Comelec has to validate every certificate of candidacy (COC) filed before it and prevent nuisance candidates from running.

“Why do we disqualify people because they are nuisance candidates? Because we have certain rules to follow,” he added.

He pointed out that if the Comelec will go along with the let-the-people-decide philosophy, then the poll body erred in voiding the COCs filed by the other 125 presidential aspirants.

“If we are to apply the let-the-people-decide philosophy on the disqualification cases against Senator Grace Poe and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, then the Comelec should have also allowed ‘Archangel Lucifer,’ ‘Kuya P,’ ‘Kapitan Kuryente,’ and all other individuals who filed their COCs to run for president,” Drilon said.

“We cannot provide exemptions to individuals under our laws and regulations while denying the same to others. If we leave the case of Poe and Duterte in the hands of the people to decide, then we should also ask them to decide on the fate of the 125 nuisance candidates who want to run for president. A situation like that is unacceptable,” the Senate chief said.

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Believing in the important role of volunteerism in development and nation-building, the Philippine National Volunteer Service Coordinating Agency annually recognizes the exemplary performance and dedication to service of Filipino volunteers in helping people and communities through the annual Search for Outstanding Volunteers. The SOV is the highlight of the celebration of the National Volunteer Month, which is held every December.

The SOV comes in two awarding categories, namely the National Outstanding Volunteer Award and the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award. The first category is conferred to an individual or organization for outstanding volunteer service that has made a significant contribution to uplifting the lives of people and communities served.

The second is awarded to an individual or organization for consistent and outstanding volunteer service and whose achievement is regarded as an inspiration and role model in the field of volunteerism.

Previous recipients of the Volunteer Lifetime Achievement Award were Lourdes Casas, Quezon Girl Scouts of the Philippines; Leonarda N. Camacho; Amelia J. Gordon; Jesuit Volunteer Philippines Federation Inc.; Teresita Ang See; Dr. Helena Z. Benitez; Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement; Philippine Red Cross; Dr. Ledevina  Cariño  (posthumous); retired Justice Leonor Ines Luciano; Esther Asuncion Vibal; Ambassador Henrietta Tambunting de Villa; Sr. Eva Fidela Maamo, SPC, MD; Margarita Coscolluela, and Rosa Rosal.

This year’s sole recipient of the said award is former Sen.  Richard Dick Gordon.

For 48 years now and as the current chairman and CEO of the Philippine Red Cross, Dick and his staff and have been  very active in disaster rescue, relief, and rehabilitation efforts. He was quickly at the scene in the July 16, 1990 killer quake that hit the Luzon provinces; the June 15, 1991 Mt. Pinatubo eruption, and typhoons, such as Frank, Ondoy, Pepeng, Sendong, Ruby, Yolanda, Lando and others.

He also negotiated (without ransom paid), for the release of 18 Filipino hostages from the Abu Sayyaf in March 2000; the May 2001 Dos Palmas Palawan kidnapping; the OFWs in Southern Lebanon caught in the Hezbollah-Israeli conflict in August 2006, and in March 2009, led a prayer rally and appealed for the successful release of International Red Cross volunteers abducted in Sulu.

He also mobilized aid for the February 2004 Superferry fire; the 2006 Ultra stampede of the Wowowee anniversary show; the October 2007 Glorietta blast; the June 2008 MV Princess of the Stars tragedy, and provided psychosocial and first aid assistance and transported home the survivors of the Superferry 9 tragedy. He also moved organizations to rescue fishermen lost at sea.

In 2006, Dick launched nationwide the Red Cross 143 program to prepare and train communities to be self-reliant and ready in the face of calamities and typhoons. Through his leadership, more than 166,000 homes have been repaired and built from 2004 up to the present in areas hit by landslides, typhoons Milenyo, Reming, Yoyong, Violeta, Unding, and Yolanda, and armed conflict in Mindanao.

During the 62nd anniversary of PRC, Dick distributed 62 ambulances and fire trucks to the different PRC chapters, in line with his dream of modernizing and strengthening PRC’s rescue capability.

A volunteer in civic organizations since childhood, Dick’s greatest contributions to the promotion of volunteerism in the country was when he motivated some 8,000 people, including students and residents of Olongapo and Bataan to rebuild Subic after the Pinatubo eruption and the removal of the Navy force. Taking their cue from Dick, who led by example, the volunteers never stole anything from what was left behind by the Americans.

Dick creates volunteers; his transformational leadership inspires trust, belief and respect. He also goes out of his way to help people, even people he doesn’t know personally who call him up at all hours, often in the wee hours of the morning. Anyone, especially poor people, can call him anytime because he gives out his number.

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