JOIN KAPATIRAN AND IMPROVE GOVERNANCE

A POLITICAL PLATFORM WORTH EXAMINING
By Kapatiran sa Pangkalahatang Kabutihan

The upcoming local elections in May 2007 need not again be a choice among the “least of evils”. Barring any unfortunate development that may be brought about by a hasty charter change, we shall be electing into public office 12 senators, 212 congressional district representatives, 53 party list congressmen, 158 provincial governors and vice-governors, 758 provincial board members, 3,230 mayors and vice-mayors, and 13,314 councilors or a total of 17,725 public positions. Time flies but with 2 years down the road, let us prepare ahead and not be demoralized early or withdraw into silence or resign altogether such as to let fate alone determine our country’s future.

Imagine a million, two million, three million or more Filipinos comprising of individuals from all walks of life, of various faiths, of NGOs, of civil societies, of sectoral groups, of business and labor organizations bonding together to form the single largest non-partisan political movement ever, united under a common platform of government for the common good rooted on such universal principles as sanctity of the human life and dignity of the human person; call to family, community and participation; rights and responsibilities; options for the poor and vulnerable; dignity of work and rights of workers; solidarity and care for God’s creation; and consistent ethic of life - and demanding the same from all candidates and political parties alike vying for elective positions in our land!

Let us then examine the following platform prepared by Kapatiran sa Pangkalahatang Kabutihan, or for short, KPK - a political movement for the common good, a foundation registered with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

SPIRITUAL DIMENSION
1) Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

MORAL DIMENSION
2) Promote the integral development and total well-being of all Filipinos – in and outside the schools – through character-building, values formation,….consistent ethic of life and basic political education.
3) Dismantle the social structures that glorify guns, sex and pornography, the culture of death and violence, dishonesty, vice, materialism and hedonism, and replace them with structures of virtue, peace, responsibility and achievement.
4) Abolish all forms of gambling whether run by government or the private sector.
5) Abolish the death penalty.
6) End the use of torture to extract confession.
7) End fraternity violence in schools and other institutions, as well as in sports whose main aim is to inflict physical harm or violence on the opponent.
8) Actively promote responsible parenthood and natural family planning.
9) Reorient mass media towards fostering values that contribute to the formation of national commitment that is maka-Diyos, maka-bayan, at maka-tao.

FOREIGN POLICY
10) Fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy: “They (peoples) shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not raise sword against another nation, neither shall they train for war again (gunless society)”; to be a nation that is a friend to all and an enemy to none; pursue peace based on love, justice, reconciliation, active nonviolence and progressive disarmament for all nations.

SOCIAL DIMENSION
(Good Governance)
11) Abolish the “pork barrel” system in any form and regardless of its name.
12) Accord the highest priority to projects and programs for the underprivileged, the homeless, the elderly, the prisoners, the disabled veterans and the youth; and support non-government organizations or communities whose projects directly benefit the poor.
13) Make representation before the Supreme Court to bring about the speedy administration of justice.
14) Ensure rapid and sustained economic growth for sustainable poverty reduction and better quality of life for all.
 raise private and public savings rates to increase total investment rate;
 enhance investment in human resource development, especially by strengthening education in the sciences, mathematics, engineering and English;
 streamline government bureaucracy to reduce personnel expenditures (besides reducing corruption);
 drastically improve tax administration and revenue generation;
 do away with laws, rules and regulations that give government personnel, like the BIR, the discretion to allow or disallow certain deductions or exemptions, etc.;
 prioritize agricultural development and attain a high degree of self-sufficiency by encouraging productivity through the introduction of new technologies and support infrastructure;
 promote industrialization by encouraging the expansion of useful industries, including telecommunications and information technology, to more effectively harness our God-given resources for the economic well-being of the people; attain a stable balance of trade by encouraging the development of new export products and improving existing ones.
15) Ensure transparency and public accountability in government activities and transactions; reinforce vigilance against graft and corruption, abuse of authority, and waste in all three branches of the government and at all levels of bureaucracy; public officials must live within their means and shun profligacy.
16) Enforce by administrative/ criminal action failure by public officials to liquidate their cash advances within a reasonable period of time as may be prescribed by law or regulation.
17) Undertake a thorough review of the systems and procedures and guidelines on procurement in all government institutions aimed at forestalling the commission of graft and corruption.
18) Promote a safe, clean, healthy and wholesome environment, particularly zero-waste management; promote stewardship as a way of life; and promote the development of parks throughout the country.

SOCIAL DIMENSION
(Peace and Order)
19) Make it a criminal offense for anyone to carry a gun or any other deadly weapon in public places, unless the bearer is authorized, in uniform and on duty; enforce the law against the use of tinted windows in motor vehicles.
20) Restore the original stiff penalty for the illegal possession of firearms, without pardon or parole.
21) Mandate the periodic public inventory, decommissioning and melting down of all confiscated guns for conversion into useful instruments.
22) Actively promote a drug-free Philippines by helping identify drug lords, pushers and users and taking part in their arrest, prosecution and sanction according to the tenets of justice.

SOCIAL DIMENSION
(Political Culture)
23) End the practice of appointing former military officers as Secretary of National Defense.
24) Disallow elected and appointed public officials from writing regular columns, from acting in movies and television shows, from acting as commentators or anchorpersons on radio and television, and from appearing on TV and radio commercials and print advertisements and billboards.
25) End the unwholesome practice of setting up billboards or similar media in public places naming the public official responsible for the project.
26) Apply to everyone the Constitutional ban against relatives of incumbent government officials up to the third degree from seeking public office simultaneously or succeeding the former, and to make it unlawful for any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives to run for another office without first resigning from his/her position six months before the elections.
27) To field national and local candidates (servant leaders) who are morally upright and competent and who subscribe to the objectives and platform of the Party.
28) Submit to the Filipino people proposed amendments to the Philippine Constitution consistent with the principles, values and objectives of the Party.

Let us therefore UNITE ON A COMMON PLATFORM to end the betrayal of public trust by elected & appointed public officials, man’s inhumanity to man, the poor and the marginalized exploited by unscrupulous politicians to promote selfish ends, the deterioration of public & private morality, the decline of the family, high crime rates and increased corruption in government.

Let us therefore UNITE ON A COMMON PLATFORM to renew the kind of politics we have, which has been characterized by personality, deception, hypocrisy, dishonesty, patronage, pay-off, immoral compromises, and of guns, goons and gold.

Let us therefore UNITE ON A COMMON PLATFORM to make politics an effective means for the integral development of all rather than a tool for the advancement of a privileged few; to prove that politics, far from being a distraction from the spiritual, is a medium through which we can love our neighbors, promote justice, peace, human rights, and the common good; and to be a vehicle for social transformation.

Let us therefore participate actively in a popular clamor for the emergence of responsible and accountable candidates and political parties with platforms comprising specific policy objectives, issues and concerns that promote the common good - the only antidote to our dirty politics!

JOIN US! YOUR COUNTRY NEEDS YOU!
Kapatiran sa Pangkalahatang Kabutihan (KPK)
29 Guerrero Street, Xavierville I, Loyola Heights, Quezon City
Phone: 911-7448; 929-0145 Fax: 421-4784
Mobile: (0917) 532-7936; (0918) 905-6569
Email: kpkcommongood@hotmail.com