Everyone who knows me knows that I don’t do politics. I don’t even read the newspaper or watch the news. When I was young, I wanted to be a newscaster. I guess my impression was it was a glamorous job that paid well. During my senior year in high school, I got to experience a day in the life of Angelique Lazo. She was a famous newscaster back then and we got to tag along with her for a day as part of a school project. It was then that I realized that the news was really not my thing. So I decided to take up AB Communication in Ateneo instead of BA Broadcast Communication in UP. That said, I hardly ever post anything related to politics on my blog.
But then this happens. On May 13, 2019, we as a nation must once again vote. Vote for senators, congressmen, mayors, etc. Just when you thought people would’ve learned by now, they prove you otherwise. I’m APPALLED by the Pulse Asia survey results. Lito Lapid? Bong Revilla (who just got out of JAIL, by the way)? Imee Marcos? My gosh.
As a rule, I never say yes to political invitations. Well, when I was new to blogging I did say yes to an event with Chiz Escudero. But that was out of sheer morbid curiosity because I had no idea what happened at such events. Anyhow, because of what I’m seeing I felt compelled to adjust a bit. I will now consider hearing out what candidates I approve of have to say and share. So that was how I met Cindy Lotuaco-Ejercito, wife of Senator JV Ejercito. We had a casual roundtable discussion over lunch that gave me a glimpse of the man behind the position. Does that mean I approve of JV? Yes it does. Why?
First of all, I have worked (I say worked because our workplace is in San Juan City) for almost 2 decades and I have experienced the leadership of JV Ejercito as mayor, also his mother’s, incumbent San Juan mayor Guia Gomez:
- I’ve seen firsthand how San Juan has progressed under them… mainly how a significant percentage of urban poor were provided with housing which eliminated a lot of squatting.
- I love how easy it is for me to just go to City Hall and avail of notary services for numerous contracts I handle.
- Paying real estate taxes and renewing business permits are not hard to do in San Juan.
- The city is relatively safe and I can walk around for most part of the day undisturbed.
When JV became a congressman, he authored / co-sponsored 161 bills, 5 of which were approved by the House and passed to the Senate for consideration… of which the most notable for me was HB 6144 Domestic Workers Act of 2012 or Kasambahay Bill. He supports the death penalty too, as do I.
I guess I remember JV Ejercito the most for his efforts in trying to help the LTFRB, Uber, and Grab reach a compromise when Uber was still in business. Uber was my preferred ride-sharing service and so of course I was concerned when they were being targeted by the LTFRB.
Honestly, these are the biggest factors for my decision to support JV Ejercito’s senate candidacy — my personal experience. Everything below, I researched.
JV Ejercito also spearheaded the approval and enactment of Senate Bill 1896 or the Universal Healthcare Act, which he authored. Under the UHC, all Filipinos (even OFWs) are covered by the national health insurance program. He also authored and sponsored the recently enacted National Integrated Cancer Control Act which aims to prevent cancer cases and improve cancer survivorship among Filipinos by scaling up essential programs and increasing investments that battle cancer. The law also seeks to provide more accessible and affordable cancer treatments as well as support the recovery and reintegration to society of cancer survivors.
Anyway, I’m not here to convince you to vote for who I’m voting, but rather to PLEASE put more thought into your votes. Every vote counts. A lot of people were up in arms when Irene Marcos was invited to Ateneo, but here’s Imee Marcos topping the senatorial survey. Believe me, I did the same amount of research for Lito Lapid and Bong Revilla (as I will do for everyone else) and I found NOTHING SIGNIFICANT. What have they ever done? NOTHING. I did find long lists of movies under their names though. O_o
We are voting in less than a month. I’m pretty certain I will also voting for Grace Poe, Nancy Binay, Samira Gutoc-Tumawis, and Bam Aquino. I still have slots to fill though, so if you have senatoriables in mind please do share.
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2 Comments
Maybe you could consider Florin Hilbay and Chel Diokno too? 🙂
Chel Diokno
Florin Hilbay
Neli Colmenares
We need more brilliant minds in the Senate.