Unique political party

Sometimes members of Congress are also capable of giving us some pleasant surprises with the expeditious yet assiduous way they pass a bill. One such pleasant surprise is the passage of the very controversial law abolishing the death penalty. In a country with a legislature full of argumentative politicians, it is really unexpected that such a highly debatable proposal would encounter easy sailing and receive almost lop-sided favorable votes. In fact there were more heated debates outside than inside the halls of Congress. I hope our legislators would give us more of such pleasant surprises.

Seeing such kind of Congress at work in the repeal of the death penalty law brings to mind various pro-life groups quietly but fervently advocating and convincing the nation that it is more for the common good to do away with this cruel and inhuman punishment in our penal system. One such group is a duly registered political party known as "Ang Kapatiran" founded by Nandy Pacheco whose previous claim to fame is his almost single handed advocacy of a gun-less society that is now part of the Ang Kapatiran’s platform.

Our country has remained stagnant in all aspects of life maybe not only because of our self-seeking politicians but more so because we are a nation full of carpers and critics who keep on complaining and finding faults but who have not done anything to help solve their complaints. We have a lot of people who are long in words but short in action. But Nandy Pacheco is exactly the opposite. He believes that a Filipino has no right to complain about the depressing situation we are in if he will just sit down and watch from the sidelines. Ever the Catholic gentleman, Nandy decided to be active and to do something about our present situation by being involved in political life. Guided by a Christian conscience, he assumed the almost impossible task of "infusing the temporal order with Christian values" while respecting "the nature and rightful autonomy of that order". In this light was "Ang Kapatiran" conceived and born.

"Ang Kapatiran" is indeed a unique and unusual political party under the existing political milieu of big time, power politics. Skeptics may even tag it as outlandish and quixotic because it is espousing a new brand of politics of "virtue, good citizenship, duty, transparency and accountability". Realizing that none of the ruling political parties, past or present, accepts as members only those who are ethical, honest, honorable and incorruptible, and adopts the principle that before anyone can claim his rights he must first perform his duties and responsibilities as citizens, Ang Kapatiran presents this alternative choice. It gives the people an entirely different platform that focuses "more on moral principles than political expediency, more on the needs of the poor and vulnerable than the interests of the rich and powerful, more on the pursuit of the common good than the demands of special interests, and more on the culture of life than the culture of death". It is the only political party expressly declaring in its Constitution and By-Laws that "every human life is sacred from conception to natural death that people are more important than things and that the measure of every institution is whether or not it enhances the life and dignity of the human person". The party and its members rally around the very unselfish and humanitarian phrase of "walang sinuman ang nabubuhay para sa sarili lamang".

Quietly, Mr. Pacheco goes around the country campaigning for membership in Ang Kapatiran especially among the Catholic laity. As he presents an alternative that seems extreme under existing political standards although still ultimately viable, he may have surely encountered a lot of skepticism and experienced serious setbacks amidst modest gains. Sometimes he may feel like a "voice in the wilderness" but he plods on because he thinks that he has no right to complain and criticize by just being a fence sitter or an armchair analyst. People like Nandy Pacheco inspires hope for our country as he himself has not lost hope and has continued to dream dreams despite the almost insurmountable odds he faces and the somewhat lonely crusade he pursues. Someday when he looks back to these challenging times, I am sure Nandy will say that his toils were not in vain.