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BUHAY Party-List
Historical Background
As shown in its official ‘birth certificate’, Buhay Party-List came into existence on October 20, 1999.
In so far as the 13th Congress is concerned or the just concluded second term of Buhay Party-List as one of the party-list organizations in the House of Representatives, there are two seats officially occupied. These were given to the following nominees, namely: Rep. Rene M. Velarde and Rep. Hans Christian M. Seneres.
This slot is based on the 2004 election results where it got 705,375 votes or 5.5889 in terms of percentage to total votes.
Historians or observers of trends think that so-called religious-affiliated groups such as Buhay, CIBAC, and ALAGAD showed marked success. This means that in the last 2004 elections, some 45% or 13 million Filipino voters have voted for the party-list organizations.
If this were reliable gauge, then more than 13 million are expected to vote come May 14, 2007 for party-list organizations alone.
Exit Polls conducted by ABS-CBN/SWS in 2004 by regions gives Buhay an encouraging sign of a winning pattern – an uptrend in terms of the votes it may be expected to receive after this May 2007 elections.
It is one of its prayers to make a dent in history as the number one party-list more people will support, believe in, and stand for.
Buhay Party-List Constituencies
By and large, the Buhay Party-List has for its constituencies the following marginalized sectors of our Philippine society, to wit:
- 1) the unborn babies
2) the mothers
3) women
4) children
5) the family
6) the sick
7) elderly
8) the disabled
9) all those who otherwise cannot protect themselves alone
Thus from the mere cursory view, it would appear that Buhay Party-List extends its arm and reaches out to the poor in our Great Social Divide.
Advocacies
At the time Buhay Party-List came into existence as a national political party under the party-list system, its advocacies are anchored along three central pillars, a tripod as if it were, erected on the moral high ground. And these are its advocacies to wit:
1) Pro-Life. The key to progress and strength of the Republic is to protect and permit human life to flourish starting from its conception in the mother’s womb till the final stage of its existence.
2) For Productivity. Education allows for equal opportunities for everyone. Good and affordable education makes a productive citizen. Productive citizens are instruments of progress and the country’s strength.
3) For Good Governance. Protection of life ad the making of a productive citizenry are only possible through good governance. It allows for a fair enforcement of the law, order, and optimum utilization of resources for its people.
Objectives
Buhay Party-List has not confined its role and competence as a pro-life advocacy group. It has also invested in the field of education through provision of generous scholarship or study grants to deserving students from across all social classes.
Further, it has always stood on the high moral ground when issues that could be turning points of history are concerned. The charter change move was arrested when its hardline adherents attempted to ram it down through the people’s throats.
Likewise, no less than President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo found reason to lift the death penalty law through the strong intercession of Buhay Party-List.
New and bold efforts are seen coming come 14th Congress and again, Buhay Party-List must stand its guard. If pro-choice will have its day, the immediate destruction of marriage, family, human life, morality, conscience, and humankind will be some of its irreversible consequences.
Buhay Party-List has always been taken to task.
Its goals are then as follows:
- To promote people’s consciousness in upholding the basic rights and welfare of the unborn, the aged, the sick the disabled and other members of society who otherwise are incapable of protecting themselves alone.
- To promote families as well as strengthen and enhance the desirable family life
- To encourage participation of various sectors in decision-making and transformation of society
- To advance and promote respect for human life, establish life support systems and ecological balance
- To advocate for a just and equitable distribution of government projects, programs and funds
- To reject and denounce all forms of discrimination based on roots, lineage, ***, religion, wealth, age, and physical condition
- To uphold the rule of law, to respect the voice of the majority and to fully safeguard the Bill of Rights
Accomplishments
There can be said to be at least two moments in history when Buhay Party-List figured prominently. One is the enactment of the anti-death penalty law. The other is the determined move to do a charter change.
Without Buhay Party-List at the forefront of these moral gridlocks, the future of Philippine politics would have been most regrettable.
Buhay Party-List is again the last stumbling block for the plan of some groups to prescribe a culture of choice, a culture of promiscuity, and a culture of death as fully espoused in various bills, or so-called d.e.a.t.h bills (divorce, euthanasia, abortion, two-child policy and homesexuality).
This is why a pet bill in the 13th Congress or HB 4643 had been under heavy attack from these groups that would want to totally change the moral landscape in our collective existence. And if they would have succeeded, our moral values would have been eroded, our Christian conscience would have been injured, and the role of the Church would have been grossly disregarded.
Buhay Party-List takes charge of providing indigents and the sick with medical services and medicines through the PGH, study grants or scholarships to poor but deserving students in private and public colleges or universities through the CHED, skills training and development through TESDA, grants-in-aid and financial assistance to the poor and the needy through the DSWD, and other pro-poor related goods and services through direct intervention.
Buhay has also provided for additional classroom buildings, dialysis centers, farm-to-market roads, health care centers and other such small infrastructure projects on a limited scope due to budgetary considerations. In other words, they are also instrumental in helping LGUs achieve more accomplishments for their own constituents.
Expectations
Buhay Party-List kicked off its campaign with a simple formula laid down. Friends, family, neighbors will be educated on what Buhay Party-List stands for and they will be enjoined to vote for Buhay Party-List.
Then, this will be replicated until more people within these circles (friends, family, neighbor, extended kindred) would have been educated of the role and competence of Buhay Party-List and enjoined to recruit more believers, adherents and supporters.
When this turns full circle, Buhay hopes to add one more congressional seat in the upcoming 14th Congress and in the process in a better position to push all its plans, projects and programs for the good of our people and society.
Today, Buhay Party-List calls on all well-meaning Filipino voters to join our cause.
Buhay Party-List: three years hence
Buhay Party-List, due to increasing public clamor would again participate in this May 14, 2007 elections that would choose the new sets of national and local leaders in this country.
Well on its third term as party-list, Buhay looks forward to a more aggressive approach in the delivery of basic goods and services more especially to its immediate constituencies.
It hopes to make it to the number one amongst the party-list organizations participating in order to have three congressional seats in Congress from its qualified nominees.
Buhay Party-List hopes to go full swing in the infrastructure side or so-called ‘hard projects’ where it can bring together many of our poor people and so that their needs get attended more systematically and their requirements provided promptly.
It is not farfetched that in the process, Buhay Party-List would have in fact unofficially created some ‘political subdivisions’ such as Buhay-Youth, Buhay-Women, Buhay-Mothers, Buhay-Sick, Buhay-The Aged, Buhay-Unborn Babies, Buhay-The Unprotected.
The best of all possible worlds is within reach.
Discussion
If there ought to be a higher moral authority in matters moral, issues human, and concerns social and societal, then the Church enjoys the highest precedence. Buhay is inclined to believe that it is well within the role and competence of the Church to preach morals or Christian conscience especially when new conditions of human existence tend to erode moral values.
Buhay Party-List travels in the opposite road of the morality lane on the issue of abortion with the more vocal counter-advocacy groups such as EnGenderRights, Inc., the Center for Reproductive Rights, and other local groups or individuals who advocate for so-called “death” bills.
Buhay Party-List has always supported the Covenant for Life launched by the Pro-Life Philippines, advocacies in the international realm espoused by the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, the global peace formula or inter-faith dialogue as in the World Peace Forum, the environmental concerns as discussed in the Kyoto Protocol of 2004, and so on.
In recapitulation, Buhay Party List gravitates around its strong and unrelenting pro-life advocacy since it believes in the importance of human capital, the lack of which has injured some countries that tried to embrace zero population targets.
Further, Buhay Party-List believes in education as the key to more opportunities for productivity. The more educated the people are, the more productive they could become in society.
Also, it believes that good governance must usher in good laws, good order, and equitable distribution of wealth for country and people.
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Source: Office of Rep. Rene M. Velarde
BUHAY Party-List (pro-life group)
Originally Posted by Reginald
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