Many Filipinos voted for "Buhay" (Life) in the last 2007 elections

[Ma.Eugenia]

I have great news!

A pro-life, El Shaddai-backed (Catholic group) organization called “Buhay Hayaan Yumabong” (BUHAY) --Engish translation: “Let Life Fluorish” (LIFE) --steadily maintained its No. 1 ranking in the party-list race in our May 2007 elections here in the Philippines.

With about 87.5 percent of the 104 local certificates of canvass (CoC) counted on Tuesday, BUHAY has breached the one million mark with 1,064,234 votes, assuring the group of at least three seats in Congress.

You can read this news in this site:

newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view_article.php?article_id=68509

and

uw.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=79293

Philippine Congress, like in the Congress in the US, is where many of our laws are debated on and passed.

What’s exciting about this is pro-life, BUHAY, will be in a good position to promote laws that protect life (at all stages) in my country.

I am glad many Filipinos have stood up for the pro-life cause.

 

[Ma.Eugenia]

Okay…spoke too soon.

When I posted the above post, I was elated because my family and I voted for BUHAY precisely because it is pro-life—at least that is how is presented itself to be.

Now, I am confused / dismayed / angry at what I read in the news in a major newspaper today:

See:

newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view_article.php?article_id=70330

Having the highest number of votes for party-list in the country, they are now entitled to 3 seats in congress. (In the past election in 2004 they only got one seat).

With the incumbent Buhay Rep. Rene Velarde, the son of the El Shaddai leader, a shoe-in for one of the seats, there is now an opening for two other members for Congress. Two groups are now vying for control.

I am dismayed that one list endorses some people who have been connected with pro-choice organizations or have strong family leanings towards pro-choice to represent us pro-lifers who voted for it. Talk about conflict of interest!

According to the article, one person in the list actually worked for the “Population Commission, a bitter enemy of pro-life groups”.
Another was the wife of a former congressman who was among the authors of the Reproductive Health Bill, or HB 4110.

The CBCP (Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines) had spoken against this bill here and had called for its rejection:

rcam.org/cbcp/hb4110statement.htm

A pro-life House of Representative member also spoke out against this bill here:

prolife.org.ph/article/articleview/242/1/66

I am so dismayed that after getting our votes, BUHAY organization, which has been been promoting itself as pro-life, has one group considering choosing pro-choice people to represent us.

In the last election each voter could only vote for one party list. I gave my one vote to BUHAY because I am pro-life.

I hope that now that they are assured of winning, the reason why we gave our votes to BUHAY (because we are pro-life) should be respected, or else I will really, really feel cheated.