Ang Kapatiran party list

Of the ten political parties accredited by the Commission on Elections, the Ang Kapatiran Party is like a David fighting Goliaths. Some citizens who want change look at the party as possibly providing the answer, it being the most God-oriented platform and candidates for national positions from president to vice-president and eight senators.

Ang Kapatiran’s founding principles are based on belief in, among others, one God, rights and responsibilities, the common good. Its agenda speak of God being “at the center of politics: Love God above all, and others as yourself; a friend to all nations, an enemy to none.” It speaks of promoting a society that is graft-free, gun-less, job-filled and garbage-free, and green-filled.

This columnist had breakfast with the AKP presidential candidate John Carlos “JC” de los Reyes, vice-presidential candidate Dominador “Jun” Chipeco, party president Eric Manalang, and founder Reynaldo “Nandy” Pacheco at Nandy’s residence. Talk at the table revolved around the party’s adopting a “politics” of virtue and integrity, and its being “snubbed” by organizers of most of the televised presidential forums, which it calls “preferential forums” featuring the elite and already known candidates.

Curiously, the AKP standard-bearer, JC, is a nephew of Bagumbayan presidential candidate Richard “Dick” Gordon, who is already known far and wide for the national, local, and international positions he has held. JC’s mother is Barbara Gordon de los Reyes, brother of Senator Gordon. Needless to say, JC’s running created no little tension in the clan; his uncle was not talking to him in the beginning, and said JC was “deadma,” meaning loser, although he now smiles and hugs his nephew at public appearances. Some observers say votes for JC divert votes for Dick.

JC was voted No. One councilor in Olongapo City in the 1995 election. He was an activist for good, filing resolutions opposing the activation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant, the establishment of a coal-powered plant and the establishment of the Ocean 9 casino. He was the legal counsel of families of victims of the Korean firm Hanjin’s shipyard accidents. He wanted to run for vice-mayor in 1998, but was stopped by his mom, so he went to St. Louis University in Baguio for law studies. He went into business and successfully manufactured construction bricks.

JC, in his late 40s, is soft-spoken, and driven by AKP ideals. If he is elected, one of his priorities will be to support legislation to put an end to political dynasties. Strange, since he comes from a political dynasty: his grandfather on his mother’s side, Sergio Bayan, was Baguio’s first mayor during President Manuel Quezon’s time; his grandfather on his mother’s side, James Gordon Jr., was Olongapo’s first mayor, and his grandmother also served as Olongapo mayor. Then there’s his uncle Dick serving as constitutional convention delegate, Olongapo City mayor, then senator. There’s his aunt Kay, Dick’s wife, serving as congresswoman. Precisely, JC said, his being president will give him clout to ask legislators to end dynasties’ control of Philippine politics.

VP candidate Chipeco, a lawyer from Calamba, Laguna, is not directly linked to the Chipeco dynasty. He knows his party is running against political giants, and its entry into the presidential race is “a leap of faith,” but he has faith in the goodness of an awakened citizenry, and he wants to promote an image of Filipinos as being “honest people . . . that they are not hopeless and corrupt.”

The Ang Kapatiran has delicately picked its senatorial candidates: Manny Valdehuesa, former United Nations executive; Rizalito “Lito” David, a socio-political analyst; Atty. Jo Aurea Imbong, a family rights and life advocate; Atty. Zosimo “Jess” Paredes, a businessman; Atty. Grace Rinoza-Plazo, mediation counselor; journalist Adrian Sison; Reginald “Reggie” Tamayo, two-term outstanding councilor and university professor, and Col. Hector “Tarzan” Tarrazona, retired jet fighter pilot and management consultant.

AKP president Manalang, retired San Miguel Corporation executive, is into the packaging business. He had been disillusioned with some politicians. “God will not bless me by living without a purpose,” he said. Then he met Nandy, and together with the 5,000 AKP card-bearing members, and1,000 supporters from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, he is convinced that change can be achieved, “all we need are people with capabilities, courage, and self-sacrifice.”

AKP needs financial support. Nandy, the man behind the ban-the-gun movement, sees government spending for the advertising expenses of political parties as a way of stopping corruption.

 Persons who want to help Ang Kapatiran may contact the party office at San Antonio Village, Pasig City, tel. 9860974, and 0917-33022240 and 0921-2576055, or akpstaff@angkapatiran party.org.

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On another front, the Department of Education (DepEd) explains that the reason for the frequent absenteeism and poor school performance of pupils belonging to poor families is due to lack of food in their homes. Ilene Soronio, 35, sums up the problem faced by mothers of school children when she said that her two children, frequent absentees, now go to school regularly and are healthy and eager to learn after they became beneficiaries of the Food for School Program. Under the program, children in day care centers and Grades 1 to 3 in public elementary schools are given rations of iron-fortified rice for120 days.

Irene says, every week, her two kids at a barangay day care center in Aroroy, Masbate, are given National Food Authority rice to take home. “This means a lot to us. Now that we have rice, and the kids go to school feeling full and interested in their studies. My husband’s small earnings now go to the purchase of other immediate family needs.”

According to the latest report submitted to the National Nutrition Council, more than 2 million preschool and school children in priority and food-poor provinces have benefited from the Food for School Program since its inception in 2007.

 The Food for School Program is the Department of Social and Welfare Development’s contribution to the Accelerated Hunger-Mitigation Program (AHMP) led by the NNC. The NNC provides oversight function in the implementation of the AHMP. The DSWD and DepEd are two of the major players in the Anti-Hunger Task Force which was created through Exective Order 616 and led by the Health secretary, who acts as NNC chair.

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