CCHOPE ELECTION 2001

GUIDELINES IN CHOOSING CANDIDATES
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines - CBCP

1. Personal Background

a) Lifestyle – What kind of life do candidates live? What are their priorities? These information would determine the kind of policies and programs of governance that the candidates would be promoting. Government leaders must be pro-people and pro-poor and should live a simple, not lavish, lifestyle.

b) Social class – What is the social class of the candidates? These would determine their biases and target beneficiaries of their policies and programs. Government leaders must be able to share in the pains, joys, experiences and actions of the poor.

c) Social consciousness – What consciousness are the candidates preserving or promoting? These would determine the candidates' class-consciousness, inclination and bias. Government leaders should live and promote the consciousness of the people, not of a particular class, especially of the elite.

d) Social groupings or organizations affiliation. What organizations, affiliations do candidates belong with? These provide voters the idea of groups that may have potential influence on the decisions of the candidates. Government leaders should not favor a particular group but must go beyond the interest of their group and reach for the underprivileged, underrepresented, and marginalized sectors in the society.

e.) Business enterprises or interests – What are the candidates' sources of wealth? These may determine the candidates' bias for enactment of laws and policies. Government leaders are voted to serve; not to be served; to promote the common good not top to protect their own business interests. There should never be a conflict of interest.

2. Personal Ability

a.) Credibility, integrity, honesty
b.) Competency and capacity to listen and dialogue with people
c.) Decisiveness and responsibleness
d.) Commitment to genuine peace and development of people
e.) Commitment to create a simple but loving and happy family
f.) Respect for political beliefs, plurality and tolerance

3. Promoter of Human Rights

a.) Initiates or supports peace efforts, consultation and negotiation
b.) Advocates against distorted development projects
c.) Respects and encourages people's right to exercise their human rights
d.) Upholds civilian rights and introduces military reform

4. Promoter of Progressive Economic Development

a.) Initiates and/or supports legislation of a progressive tax system
b.) Enacts policies and implements programs on food security and affordability
c.) Advocates against the Pork Barrel, Automatic Appropriation on Foreign Debt
d.) Prioritizes economic sovereignty over global integration of economy; adopts genuine sustainable development over globalization process
e.) Promotes to patronize local goods and products over foreign made
f.) Advocates the repeal of Mining Act of 1995 and Retail Trade Liberalization Law

5. Advocate for Social Justice Agenda

a.) Enforces the full implementation of agrarian reform law
b.) Enacts Fisheries and Aquatic Reform law
c.) Enforces the Indigenous People's Right Act
d.) Promotes socialized and affordable housing for urban poor
e.) Promotes sustainable agriculture in the agricultural sector
f.) Facilitates the equal access for women to employment and opportunities
g.) Abrogates policies on contractualization of workers and preserves the right of workers to security of tenure, and initiate socialization of salary
h.) Protects children's right
i.) Enacts laws for the care and interest of elderly and disabled people

6. Promoter of Political Development

a.) Enforces the praxis of democratic form of government
b.) Allows the citizens to exercise their constitutional rights
c.) Reviews and amends the Local Government Code of 1991
d.) Reviews and amends the Party-list System Law
e.) Enforces the election of local sectoral representatives
f.) Enacts law on absentee voting
g.) Enacts law of Political Dynasty

7. Protector and Preserver of the National Patrimony/Sovereignty and Foreign Relations

a.) Supports the repudiation of foreign debt
b.) Files motion for reconsideration on the Supreme Court's ruling on the constitutionality of the ratification of the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the American government
c.) Repeals Mining Act of 1991 and the Retail Trade Liberalization law

8. Advocate for the Administration of Law and Justice

a.) Pushes for the speedy arrest of kidnappers, bank robbers, drug lords, etc.
b.) Pushes for the speedy trial and dispensation cases
c.) Respects judiciary procedures: no political appointee in the judiciary
d.) Persecutes big fish corrupt government officials

9. Promoter of the Integrity of God's Creation

a.) Protests land conversion and imposes heavy punishment on violators
b.) Protests landfills and dumpsites
c.) Supports the demand to US government to clean and pay social cost of toxic substance dumped in Subic and Clark
d.) Imposes heavy penalty to violator of anti-dumping of toxic substances
e.) Enforces the Clean Air Act
f.) Bans the use of pesticide residue or the use of chemical fertilizers
g.) Stops or minimizes construction of Geothermal plant
h.) Bans illegal fishing
i.) Supports the total log ban and initiates reforestation program
j.) Requires public hearing or consultation and community's approval and resource maintenance in the construction of dams and mining exploration

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Last Updated: Sunday, May 06, 2001 10:06:02 AM