I was and am a Pichay Fan

My Dad and I supported Prospero Pichay for the Philippine senate election this year.  Personally, I distributed campaign materials (mostly Pichay fans) in Baccarra, Ilocos Norte when my uncle celebrated the 25th anniversary of his priestly ordination (I did this very discreetly since my uncle is apolitical) and in our hometown of Cabanatuan particularly on the last day of the campaign period (Saturday, 12 May). My father did a lot of (much difficult) things for Pichay.  This is the first time in the history of our family that we actively supported a candidate (and a group too, the party list A Teacher.) 

Well Pichay (as of today) is doing poorly (but not VERY poorly) in the senatorial race.  As the preelection surveys predicted, he will place number 17 and so far that is what is happening. If we consider, however, that he is a newbie in the national political scene (he was a congressman, technically a local position, as you may know) this placement is not dismal (although, as they say, talo pa rin.)

Why Pichay?  First of all, he is a recently discovered relative of my father who is a Pichay on the mother side. They can both trace their roots to Pangasinan.  They have common relatives.  But, if my friends truly know me, they would know that this is not the primary reason for my support of this guy.  The second is this: since he had placed himself in the limelight in the congress, I got quite impressed with him.  He did not project the image of a sleazy politician. He too had the courage to support the Arroyo administration when it appears that today if a politician wants to be famous among us Filipinos, he should criticize the administration.  In other words, uso at sikat kang politiko kung babatikusin mo ang administrasyon.

I am not an outright pro-Gloria.  I have lived under five presidents (Marcos, Aquino, Ramos, Estrada, and today Arroyo; yes my dears, I am THAT old, hehehe) and my attitude had always been that of objectivity, of critical collaboration (I do not know if this term is proper, but I used it anyhow since I think I have encountered and used this in the past.)  I did not approve of the ugly things that were happening under those administrations, but I also recognized the good things that were occurring in our country under those leaders. 

Today, I have much more hope for our country than I ever had before. And I am not being ironic here. There is much to be done against the poverty, the despair, the red tape, the corruption, the overpopulation, the migration of intellectuals, the flight of my fellow teachers and other workers, and other things besides, but we are moving forward and upward.  There are signs, not the least of which are the results of the recent elections.  And so, I saw no reason not to support one or two candidates who are under the administration line up. I voted for Joker Arroyo, Ralph Recto, Miguel Zubiri, Michael Defensor, Edgardo Angara and Prospero Pichay for example. I balanced my candidates with the proper dose of opposition: Loren Legarda, Francis Pangilinan, Benigno Aquino III, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar and Francis Escudero. I do not like Honasan because I witnessed the destructive effects of the coup d'etats he led in the 1980s and therefore I am also against the means taken by Trillanes and his group.  Compared to them, I believe in the Spirit of EDSA 1 encapsulated in that song Handog ng Filipino sa Mundo.

To summarize, there are so many good candidates on both sides; GO and TU, and the independents too.  For this alone, I anticipate a much brighter future for our nation.  If only Pichay would win.