By Perfecto T. Raymundo, Jr.
QUEZON CITY — The Universal Guardians Brotherhood or the Unyon ng mga Gabay ng Bayan (UGB) Partylist on Tuesday night (April 29) called for a fair and honest national and local elections (NLE) on May 12.
In a press conference at Simon’s Place,
UGB President Melvin “UGMF Isaac” L. Contapay said that since 1976, it’s the first time that the Guardians are participating in the elections, citing fears of widespread electoral fraud.
Contapay is the 1st Nominee of UGB Partylist, and Maria Charo Calalo is the 2nd Nominee.
Contapay added that they said need to act now and prevent the so-called trending or mind conditioning on the results of the elections.
They cited the true essence of Partylist System that is representing the underprivileged and marginalized sectors of society.
*Online voting was conducted for the first time, but there was no transparency,” Contapay said.
Contapay stressed that the Comelec should implement fully the Fair Elections Act to ensure an honest, fair and peaceful elections.
“We will propose amendments to the Omnibus Elections Law. For as long as there is vote buying, the country will continue to degrade,” Contapay said.
“We are very very confident to win in the elections because we have 5 to 6 million members nationwide and even abroad, consisting of volunteer members,” he added.
Former Senator Gregorio Honasan has not yet approached the Council of the UGB for support and endorsement in the May 12 NLE.
Contapay stressed that the Guardians have to participate in the elections now and fight against electoral fraud.
He explained that they have 210,000 Guardians ID cards -bearing members in one chapter alone. Other chapters of UGB have their own respective members.
Contapay expressed confidence that they are out to help, citing that the P20 per kilo of rice is “doable”, referring to the campaign promise of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr., which will be sold in the Visayas (Regions VI, VII and VIII).
According to Contapay, the NFA (National Food Authority) should directly buy rice or palay from the farmers and not from the traders in order to have a stable price of rice per kilo.
“Six years’ term of office is short for a good President,” Contapay said, noting that former President Rodrigo Roa Duterte is a Guardian.
“300,000 (votes) is good enough for Partylist,” he said the reason why they will only run for Congress (House of Representatives) and not in the Senate of the Philippines.
“Our scholarship starts in the second year college, third year and fourth year college coinciding with the end of the three-year term in Congress,” Contapay said.
“We have the numbers. We are here for solutions,” he added.
The UGB Partylist also assured that their rallies on Labor Day (May 1) will be peaceful and orderly.
They urged the Comelec, as a quasi-judicial body, to extend even for an hour for the manual counting of the votes before the actual electronic transmission of the election results in the spirit of transparency.
They hoped that the UGB’s call: “Labanan ang pandaraya. Stand for clean, fair & honest elections” will be heard and done.
Calalo emphasized the call for a fair and honest elections on May 12.
She cited the important role of women such as the parents with special children.
She is advocating for “Love Yourself” Program for the benefit and welfare of women and children, as well as the LGBTIQ + community. ###
