For Senators:
Ex-Leftists, Anti-Marcos Activists Get Bayan Muna Support

Four of the nine senatorial candidates endorsed by the party-list Bayan Muna (BM or people first) trace their political roots to student radicalism. The rest are either anti-Marcos personalities or have supported BM’s electoral platforms.

By Alexander Martin Remollino 
Bulatlat.com

Four of the nine senatorial candidates endorsed by the party-list group Bayan Muna (BM or people first) trace their political roots to student radicalism. The rest are either anti-Marcos personalities or have supported BM’s electoral platforms.

The nine candidates for the May 10 senatorial elections endorsed by the progressive political party are: former Senate President Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. of the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, which is fielding Fernando Poe, Jr. as its presidential bet; Carlos Padilla III of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino wing that is backing the presidential bid of Sen. Panfilo Lacson;

Frank Chavez and Perfecto Yasay, Jr. of presidential contender Raul Roco’s Alyansa ng Pag-asa; Heherson Alvarez, an independent candidate; and Mar Roxas, Lito Lapid, Pia Cayetano, and Ramon Revilla, Jr. of the administration K4 Coalition.

BM announced its endorsement of the nine senatoriables’ candidacies in a press conference at the Hotel Rembrandt in Quezon City on April 20. All the candidates except Revilla, Jr. were present in the news conference.

Bayan Muna and other allied progressive parties have yet to announce whom they will support for president and vice-president.

Including other allied progressive party-list groups, BM’s organized constituencies alone could reach millions of voters.

Student radicals

Four of the nine candidates endorsed by BM are former student activists: Padilla III, Alvarez, Yasay and Chavez.

Padilla III, House minority leader in the 12^th Congress, was a student radical at the Polytehnic University of the Philippines in the late 1960s-1970s. PUP, known then as Philippine College of Commerce (PCC), was a hotbed of Kabataang Makabayan (KM or patriotic youth) whose members included now presidential aspirant Bro. Eddie Villanueva and BM House lead nominee Satur Ocampo. KM was founded in 1964 by Jose Maria Sison, who now lives in exile in The Netherlands.

Padilla is considered an ally of Bayan Muna on issues concerning sovereignty and foreign policy. He is part of Legislators Against War (LAW), an alliance of senators and congressmen formed by BM representatives against U.S.-led wars of aggression.

Alvarez describes himself as a former president of the Student Cultural Association of the University of the Philippines (SCAUP), a progressive study group also founded by Sison in the late 1950s. Alvarez was a member of the progressive bloc of the 1971 Constitutional Convention that included now human rights lawyer and UN Judge Romeo Capulong and pre-martial law student leader Enrique Voltaire Garcia III. His own brother, an anti-Marcos activist, was abducted and summarily executed by Marcos agents during martial law.

Chavez takes pride in having been an activist of the First Quarter Storm of 1970 while studying law at the University of the Philippines. As chairman of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) years after the Marcos overthrow, he was one of the public officials who spoke against corruption in the Aquino presidency (1986-1992). He also served as solicitor general.

Yasay, also a lawyer, is said to be a former KM member, too. As chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) during Joseph Estrada’s presidency, he was one of the first government officials to expose corruption in the said administration. He testified in Estrada’s impeachment trial and was a prominent figure in the People Power 2 uprising in January 2001.

On the other hand, Pimentel was jailed four times by the Marcos regime for his activities as a human rights lawyer  and oppositionist during the martial law era. He also served as counsel for then detained anti-Marcos senator, Benigno Aquino, Jr. Aquino was later assassinated by Marcos agents upon his return from U.S. exile in 1983. As a senator in 1991, Pimentel voted against the proposed renewal of the U.S. bases in the Philippines.

“Mr. Palengke”

Roxas, former trade secretary, has earned the monicker “Mr. Palengke” (literally, market buyer) because of his avowed concern for the welfare of “the small and unknown businessmen - the market vendors, the bakers, the tailors,” whose interests he says he will promote if he is elected senator. Roxas also pushed for reforms within the World Trade Organization (WTO) during its Fifth Ministerial Meeting held in Cancun, Mexico in September last year.

The WTO, opposed by social activists from its inception almost a decade ago, is increasingly coming under criticism from Third World countries for imposing an uneven economic field where they are forced to compete with rich capitalist ones.

Pimentel, Alvarez, and Chavez, according to Bayan Muna, have long and proven track records as anti-fascist and anti-corruption crusaders. They are recognized names in the campaigns against the Marcos dictatorship and the Estrada presidency.

Revilla, who was not able to come, has committed to push for workers’ wage increase, BM secretary general Nathanael Santiago told reporters.

Santiago also said that Lapid has supported the advocacies of BM and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance) as Pampanga governor, while Cayetano has committed to support BM on many issues particularly women’s and children’s rights.

Revilla and Lapid are both actors; while Cayetano is a lawyer like her late father, Sen. Rene Cayetano.

Bayan Muna, which topped the 2001 elections for party-list groups, ranked first among party-list groups in the March 2004 survey of Pulse Asia garnering 22 percent of the total respondents’ votes. Observers expect these votes to significantly influence the chances of the senatoriables supported by Bayan Muna.

In 2001, Bayan Muna endorsed the candidacies of 12 senatorial bets. Most of them won Senate seats.

Bases of endorsement

Santiago, who emceed the news conference, said that the candidates BM is endorsing are not necessarily the ones who are topping the surveys.

In a press statement, BM said that the nine senatorial aspirants it is supporting have committed to work closely with the progressive political party in pushing for what it calls a “people’s platform,” which includes: decent jobs and livelihood, legislating a pro-Filipino economy, advocacy of meaningful peace and social justice; and the defense of the country’s sovereignty, human rights, and civil liberties.

Lead party-list nominee Ocampo, also said that the nine senatorial aspirants have also agreed to defend the progressive political party against harassment by National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, who has accused its representatives of channeling government funds to the New People’s Army and filed disqualification cases against it and five other progressive parties: Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Anak ng Bayan Youth Party, Migrante Sectoral Party, and Suara Bangsamoro Party for allegedly being fronts of armed rebel groups.

“They will be helping us to defend the right of Bayan Muna to remain a legitimate party,” he said.

On the other hand, former Bayan secretary general and BM nominee Teddy Casiño said that the nine have been working with the political party in advancing various people’s issues.

“There may be issues where we don’t agree with them, but we think that in major issues where we feel there is a need for cooperation, we agree with each other,” Casiño told reporters. “This relationship will not be one of convenience for the elections, because our plan is to continue working with them on the basis of...issues and concerns confronting the people.”

BM and other progressive party-list groups also endorse candidates for national and local posts from the mainstream political parties, based on their respective commitments on specific issues concerning the people as well as their track records in public service.

Youth endorsement

Four of the candidates supported by BM had earlier been endorsed by the Anak ng Bayan Youth Party. They are Pimentel, Padilla, Chavez, and Alvarez.

Anak ng Bayan (literally, nation’s children) is the only youth party accredited by the Commission on Elections. It garnered 5.9 percent of the total respondents’ votes in the Pulse Asia survey last March, sharing second place among party-list groups with Akbayan, whose party-list nominees include a government peace negotiator.

The youth party announced its endorsement of the four senatoriables’ candidacies in a press conference last April 13 at Sulo Hotel. The event was highlighted by the signing of a “Covenant for Education and Employment” between the youth party and the four senatorial aspirants, formalizing unity among them on the following issues confronting the youth: campaign for the basic right to education, campaign for decent and sufficient employment, action against massive poverty, and vigilance against corruption and other forms of fraud and exploitation in government.

Apolinario Alvarez, Anak ng Bayan’s lead party-list nominee said: “We chose them based on their clean track record in governance and their progressive stance in every important national and youth issue for the past years. These four candidates have long been allies of the youth in their fight concerning various issues, particularly education and employment, even before election period. They have proven themselves worthy to be named as...the ‘Youth's Choices’ for senators.” Bulatlat.com

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