For the very first time, this blog is making a political endorsement: Martin Donato Bautista for Senator.

1.Uncompromised: Martin D Bautista is not a product of the corrupt political process that forms perfectly compromised candidates who are beholden to a wide variety of wealthy and powerful special interest groups. He can walk away from all this political spectacle in his own time and in his own terms but will not do so on account of the many serious problems of his country that he is willing to help solve.

2.Duty: Martin D Bautista understands that public service is a sacred trust and responsibility, it is not a means of making a living. He promises to serve for only one term of office.

3.Open Mind: While Martin D Bautista has strong opinions and is passionate about defending them, he is willing to listen and discuss and to continuously study all the critical and relevant issues of the day. He does not view an evolving mind as a sign of weakness.

4.Vision and Road Map: Martin D Bautista has a clear vision for the future. He has a clear-cut idea regarding which direction the country should take and more important, he has a realistic course of action that will unite the country towards common goals.

5.Capable: Dr. Martin D Bautista has been preparing for this opportunity to help the country for a long time. 12 years at the Ateneo de Manila, 9 years at the University of the Philippines, 6 years at the State University of New York, 10 years of private medical practice in a rural community, constantly adhering to a rigorous regimen of continued self-learning.

6.Character: Martin D Bautista is familiar with adversity. He welcomes challenges and stays in the struggle knowing that each day spent committed to his principles and ideals makes him a stronger person. He understands the enormity of the challenge but has a deep abiding faith in God and the Filipino people.

7.Conscience: Martin D Bautista has courageously followed his conscience throughout his life even when it entailed personal sacrifice.

Participated in a sparsely-attended debate today. All 3 of us from Kapatiran together with 2 candidates from the opposition joined. The rest did not bother as these are precisely the events that can quickly expose weaknesses in a well-funded candidate’s carefully crafted image. Too bad for the first time voters assembled in the auditorium. They had expected a substantial exchange of ideas and opinions regarding important issues between parties with different philosophies but since we had the place largely to ourselves it actually worked well for the three of us because we were given the opportunity to talk about our various positions with little time pressure.

People, largely have not heard about us. Reality is you need to spend millions on tv, radio and print ads for your message to be made known to the millions of voters out there. This would not be a problem in the US but here in our country, where 40% live on less than a dollar a day, this kind of spending would be immoral. And traditional politicians justify this behavior by claiming that for them to serve as leaders, they need to get elected first. Where these funds originate is plain knowledge to everyone. A giant web of contributor-investors with their own agendas keep the ball rolling. No wonder why we haven’t had considerable change translate into progress all these years.

Quite a few members of the audience asked me about my plans after the elections. I assured them all that I was planning to remain politically active. I also told them I represented the beginning of a wave of Filipinos forced to flee abroad who had had enough. We are going to take our country back.

She was a 40 year old writer who felt “an emptiness” and journeyed all the way to an impoverished area in Bicol where she taught English and helped complete strangers for close to 2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer. She represented everything that is good about America. Her senseless killing put an end to it all. A tragic loss for our country.

I love America because for many years I lived among Americans who were capable of doing so much good and who tried their best each day to live their lives for others. I can think of legions of Americans who would fit this bill just as Julia (http://juliainthephilippines.blogspot.com ) must have seen all the good we Filipinos are capable of rendering.

I mourn for you, Julia. Eternal rest grant unto Julia, O Lord. And let perpetual light shine upon her. May she rest in Peace.

1.Why did you enter the enclave of politics?What prodded you to compete with other candidates who have well-oiled political machinery, famous, and have so much resources?What makes Kapatiran candidates different/distinct from others?How would you describe country's political system?

Our country is going down because our leaders are thinking about the next election all the time. Our leaders regularly fail to plan in advance and invest in the future. Why should ordinary citizens continue to default on our responsibilities to our country to persons more interested in becoming Mayors of big cities and visionless individuals who treat governance as a way of making a living? I estimated that a doctor could see about 70 charity patients a day and at the end of 20 years treat half a million patients. In 20 years this figure would represent .25%. Why should we abandon the formation of public policy to persons who don’t appreciate the enormous responsibility and trust given to them by the people?

“Competing” with other candidates will provide the public with an idea of who we are and what Ang Kapatiran represents? The people will see a big difference and will regret why the well-oiled traditional political machinery prevents better-prepared outsiders from participating.

2. Do you also have the same concern over alleged "rampant cheating" during elections? Do you believe that there's really padding and shaving of votes?So far, how do you evaluate this year's May elections?

Many people have told me it is futile to participate in Philippine elections because whatever votes we receive will not be counted anyway and that it is from poorly-funded candidates like ourselves that our votes are “transferred” to paying candidates. Message received loud and clear but this will not deter me from continuing to work 18 hours a day because this is a struggle for the heart and soul of our country. The stakes are simply too high for us to continue to take all these abuses lying down and in silence.

3. How would you evaluate people's response to Kapatiran? How's your campaign trail?Have you identified so far your bailiwicks? How would you evaluate your political machinery? Is it enough to help you to be enlisted in the Magic 12?Are you not discouraged by the surveys depicting that none of you has a chance to win such seat?

Personally, what keeps me doggedly going despite all the insurmountable odds that you enumerate is the sincere and intense support that we get from complete strangers, kindred souls. It is great comfort to realize that there a lot of us who feel the same way for our country and there is a lot of passion out there for substantial, non-violent change. We are not willing to compromise however by joining the fray and spend indecent amounts of money that could very well go into feeding programs for poor and hungry children. I am not ashamed to admit that I am asking people to pray. We have relied on our human capacities for too long and look where it has led us. To resolve our serious problems will need much more than faith in our human faculties.

4. If you'll be given a chance to lead, what are your advocacy, and programs? What do you think are the needs of this country-socio-political and economic?What do you think is the best antidote to country's problems?

Our country needs leaders who have genuine faith in the Filipino people. The opposite of faith and belief is fear, we urgently need leaders who will not be afraid to seek a different direction. We have assiduously complied with all the conditions set forth by various financial institutions and compared to our neighbors, we have only lagged behind even more. We need to get away from this “utang-import” mentality that is keeping us from fully realizing our potential to produce. This mentality is keeping us from effectively negotiating with other countries regarding trade agreements, lending rates, environmental accords…We need leaders who will deal with the international community as equals. We need leaders with clear visions for our country. We need leaders with road maps on how to achieve these goals. We need credible leaders with the right priorities (education, health and infrastructure) and who continuously think of investing for the future. Courageous leaders who have no problem making tremendously difficult but morally correct decisions.

5.Any appeal, message to Filipino people?

We seem to have lost all semblance of control in our country. The peace and order situation is appalling, human rights abuses are routine, our economy appears to be at the complete mercy of external forces, corruption is rampant, we expect to produce succeeding competitive generations without investing in education and healthcare. It is time to take our country back from the narrow, self-serving interests of entrenched traditional political entrepreneurs. We urgently need to change course. This will require the united effort of all of us, law-abiding, hard-working, God-fearing and silent citizens who compose the overwhelming majority in our country. We have the power to change our nation. The process may be long and difficult but we have to begin immediately.

A large portion of the campaign is devoted to researching relevant issues of the day. I don't have a campaign staff yet to handle these matters. These are the answers I supplied to an organization that maintains a website where Senatorial candidates can express their views:

A. Access to Quality Education
List two specific steps you will initiate or support to ensure greater access to affordable, quality education.
(Please limit your answer to 250 words.)
Repeal the Automatic Appropriations Law and this will allow our negotiators to demand better terms for all our debts. Education is allotted 11% and debt service 28%. By dropping interest payments to 23% you will effectively raise the education budget by 50%. You will be able to double teacher salaries (and subsequently attract the best minds in the country), buy relevant textbooks and construct schools. When these basic requirements have been improved, the curricula can be modified to stress communication and computing skills; emphasis should be likewise placed on inculcating a sense of history and identity among our students that will lead to a greater appreciation of their country.

We need to exploit the internet. Each classroom should have one DSL-connected computer for every 5 students. This will provide unfettered access to the New York Times, Encarta and mathematical websites. These resources provide an enormous wealth of information which may be inexpensively accessed. Computers will also enable distance-learning among adults who missed out on educational opportunities in their youth. Communication between experts at home and overseas will be facilitated and our students will be able to participate in discussions all over the world.

B. Employment Opportunities for Youth
List two major policies and programs you will initiate or support that will generate more quality domestic jobs for the young generation.
(Please limit your answer to 250 words.)

We live in a global economy and the availability of domestic jobs will depend on how competitive our youth will become. This requires purposeful national will to invest in education, healthcare and infrastructure. We need to wean ourselves from the “utang-import” mentality which retards our productive capacity. There needs to be a national movement which will force us to produce most of our needs. Clearly, the prescriptions set forth by some major lending institutions which we have diligently followed for more than 20 years have not been effective in stimulating our economy as effectively as our closest neighbors. We hardly create finished products. Corruption is more rampant in an economy that is loan-based because it is easier to steal something that was not earned through work.

No further trade liberalization will occur pending a thorough review of their effect on national interests. We need to begin negotiating more courageously with the idea that disadvantageous terms translate into higher mortality rates, lower standards of living, worsening poverty and less competitive citizens.