IF YOU BELIEVE . . .

If you believe that God is not stupid; that Duterte’s remark disrespects God’s second
commandment “Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain”; that the Pope does
not deserve to be called a “son of a whore”; that Catholic priests must not be vilified and
threatened with harm.

If you believe that women are not useless without their vagina; that Duterte’s belief is
contemptuous of God’s fourth commandment “Honor thy father and mother”; that it smacks of
misogyny and belittles what our mothers, sisters and daughters have done for our families and
our society.

If you believe that cuss words should not be part of our everyday language; that rape jokes and
sexual abuse of kasambahays are wrong; that the government especially the President must set
the example for decency and good manners.

If you believe in the sanctity of human life; that EJKs violate God’s fifth commandment “Thou
shalt not kill”; that every man no matter his station in life is entitled to due process; that no man,
not even the President, has the authority to decide who lives and who dies.

If you believe that the government’s war against drugs is misguided; that while all agree that the
drug problem is serious and must be addressed, efforts must also focus on the supply side –
where drugs are coming from and how their entry can be prevented - instead of murdering
suspected small time pushers and suspected addicts.

If you believe that it is the government’s responsibility to pursue a genuine war against
corruption; that plunderers and thieves must be prosecuted convicted and jailed instead of being
set free.

If you believe that public office is a public trust; that government officials are accountable to the
people; that instead of their SALNs being virtually withheld from the press and the public by
ridiculous protocols, it should be made freely available and questions thereon properly answered.

If you believe that political dynasties should be prohibited as provided under Section 26 of the
Constitution; that instead of implementing the constitution, which every president takes an oath
to uphold and despite statistics showing that local governments ruled by political dynasties are
among the poorest in the country, the Duterte family has spearheaded this political dynasty
practice with all his adult children running for office; that despite his daughter heading only a
supposedly regional party, she is campaigning nationwide making it obvious that she is actually
aiming to succeed into the presidency.

If you believe that while it is right to pursue an independent foreign policy, we must not pivot to
China alone but should establish friendly relations with other countries as well; that Duterte must
treat leaders of other countries with decorum and not called “sons of whores” whenever they
disagree with his foolish ideas.
If you believe that it is the government’s responsibility to protect the country’s territorial
integrity and its patrimonial assets; that it should take advantage of the wide menu of options to
assert our rights in the West Philippine Sea instead of trumpeting a simplistic view that we
cannot win a war against China.

If you believe that we should explore other sources of loans aside from China as it is evident that
China imposes higher interest rates and very onerous loan conditions; that instead of agreeing to
confidentiality provisions, the government should fully disclose all loan conditions and their
implications as we the Filipino taxpayers, our children and our children’s children, are the ones
who would pay for these loans and suffer the consequences of unfair provisions.

If you believe that history must not be distorted; that it is false to claim that Marcos is the “best
President the Philippines ever had”; ignoring the fact that the Marcos regime resulted in the
incarceration torture and death of thousands of his opponents; even if his family stole billions
from the Filipino people and spirited the money out in various institutions abroad; even if his
regime gave rise to cronyism and loss of millions in unpaid behest loans; even if his
mismanagement ran the economy to the ground culminating in the declaration of a moratorium
(a euphemism for bankruptcy) on the payment of external debt in 1983.

If you believe that we should never allow another dictator to rule our country again.

If you share these beliefs, then please join me in supporting and campaigning for the genuine
opposition, the Otso Diretso candidates and Neri Colmenares. Duterte has already corrupted or
intimidated the institutions in our country which can put a check on presidential abuse: the
Supreme Court, the Lower House, the Ombudsman and the Department of Justice.

Fellow Filipinos, an independent senate is our last hope to thwart an emerging dictatorship.