Why I am staying in the Philippines (5): Ang Kapatiran campaign updates

Get to know more about the Ang Kapatiran Party and candidates here and here and through these other articles:

PDInquirer ELEKSYON 2007: Rich man, poor man share bottom rung in surveys
http://www.inquirer.net/specialfeatures/eleksyon2007/view.php?article=20070310-53983
Bautista said they have also adopted a simple strategy to deal with people asking for money during sorties, a practice that the Kapatiran wants to eradicate.

At a campaign sortie in Divisoria on Thursday, the doctor was approached by a middle-aged woman who asked him for money to buy medicine for a relative.
Another woman in her 30s, with a child in tow, also asked for money, saying: “I need to go home to Samar so I can vote.”

Bautista politely declined, explaining in Filipino: “You know very well that I have nothing to give you. And if I did, you ought to think about how I will get that money back in the future.”
Both women turned away. Bautista knew he had just lost two votes, his price for turning his back on “trapo” politics.

http://dissects.blogspot.com/2007/03/dr-martin-bautista.html
Dr. Martin D. Bautista, 44, used to be a practicing Filipino gastroenterologist in Oklahoma, USA for 17 years, but recently decided to return home to the Philippines to run for Senator in the coming May elections this year.

A foolish decision? Highly-esteemed pundits like Conrado de Quiros and Katrina Legarda do not think so. In fact, they think he is doing this country a great service by making a difference when it really matters.

Dr. Bautista always had the Philippines in his mind while abroad. A few years ago, in a TV program hosted by Ann Curry about Asian Americans in the US, Dr. Bautista was quoted saying that not returning to the Philippines would be like "a tragedy beyond description."

Ang Kapatiran candidates receive El Shaddai endorsement
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=70888

Eleksyon 2007 Inquirer Podcast: Dr. Martin Bautista
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/podcasts/index.php?podtitle=Eleksyon%202007%20Podcast:%20Martin%20Bautista&podurl=http://servepath-ss.dagupan.com:8080/eleksyon2007/inquirernet-eleksyon2007-ep21a-03262007.mp3&xe=XE_NEWS_PODCAST_ARTICLE

Podcast transcripts
http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=57521
Dr. Bautista talks to Lynette Luna, the Breaking News Editor of Inquirer.net about his reasons for working in the US, his reason for returning, running for Senator, his ideas on term limits for those in public office and his prescription for making the country a better nation.

http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=57522
Dr. Bautista discusses with Joel Guinto, part of the defense beat team of Inquirer.net, issues like El Shaddai endorsement, the Visiting Forces Agreement, human rights abuses, the Erap plunder case, and political dynasties.

http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=57523
Veronica Uy, a member of the Inquirer.net Senate reportorial team, asks Dr Bautista about his priority bills in the upper chamber of Congress, his stand on reproductive health issues, same-sex unions, plus a reiteration of the process through which he decided to run for the Senate.

http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=57524
Dr Bautista talks to Nonoy Espina about Overseas Filipino Workers, Expanded VAT, the economy, and his faith in the Filipino.

http://services.inquirer.net/print/print.php?article_id=57525
Dr Bautista shares his views on the nursing boards leakage, the exodus of health professionals, and life of an OFW.

Doctor comes home to run for Senate and ‘give back’ to poor
http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=57257

It is not about winning
http://archive.inquirer.net/view.php?db=1&story_id=57778
Charging into the political arena like lambs entering a lions' den, the three senatorial candidates of Ang Kapatiran [The Brotherhood] party present themselves like animals about to be slaughtered. They make no dent in the opinion polls and the candidates of the major parties consider them as no threat. The truth is, Martin Bautista, Adrian Sison and Zosimo Jesus Paredes represent the tip of the spear that will draw first blood from the monster called traditional politics.