Wanted: support for a new political force

ALMOST ALL Filipinos hunger and thirst for good governance and authentic public service.

Ang Kapatiran Party, or the Alliance for the Common Good, is a Commission on Elections-accredited national political party. It is the only political party that promotes platform-based politics with clear and specific objectives all aimed at enhancing the common good, and whose candidates are committed to the party’s founding principles and platform.

Kapatiran’s aim is to put God at the center of politics—restore morality in public office, and order and peace (peace is the result of order); and bring an end to dirty or traditional politics (trapo)—the politics of pork barrel, political dynasties, bribery and corruption, personality or celebrity, deceit, dishonesty, patronage, payoff, unprincipled compromises, big money politics, “guns, goons and gold,” unliquidated cash advances, electoral chicanery and other political shenanigans.

Kapatiran’s focus is on moral principles, not on political expediency; on the needs of the poor and vulnerable, not those of the rich and the powerful; on the pursuit of the common good, not the demands of special interests; and on the culture of life and Christ’s peace.

Our vision is for all Filipinos, regardless of religious beliefs, to accept and live out

Christ’s peace.

With the approach of the 2016 elections, Kapatiran is appealing to all Filipinos who are retired from government, private companies and international organizations, and have been blessed by God with good health, talent and treasure to become members of Ang Kapatiran Party and run for any elective position—national or local—to serve for one term only.

“Much is required from the person to whom much has been given; much more is required from the person to whom much more has been given” (Luke 12:48). This is the stewardship of politics.

In Kapatiran, principles come first before the candidate, who “must be coherent with the professed faith, that they have moral firmness, the capacity of educated judgment, professional competence, and passion for service to the common good.”

We must also institutionalize the gun ban in public places, not only during the election period but for the rest of the year—with absolutely no exemptions, except authorized police officers and military personnel in uniform and on duty; fix the term of office of the chief of staff of the Armed Forces to three years regardless of the statutory age requirement; discourage the glorification of sex and violence, pornography, dishonesty, vice, materialism and hedonism; and replace them with structures of virtue, Christ’s peace, responsibility and achievement.

This could only be achieved by a responsible political party whose candidates are committed to implement its principles and platform.

Our dreams and aspirations for the poor cannot be realized as long as we allow politics to be debased and prostituted to its current low level. If we want our country to change for the better, we need to change the present breed of politicians with a new set of men and women who will serve and not be served, and who will lead by example. But most importantly, we the voters ought to change our values and build a nation of character. The stream cannot be higher than its source.

We have to recover our sense of the common good because we have become too individualistic. We forget that by pursuing the community’s interest we benefit the individuals within, including ourselves.

In this new political environment, we ask for everyone’s help to campaign for Kapatiran candidates through financial assistance and labor of love. We must develop a sense of community where people are committed to the welfare of each other.

We would do well to remember the moral principle that men, individually, are responsible for what they make of themselves; and, collectively, for the world in which they live.

Nandy Pacheco is the founder of Ang Kapatiran Party.