MANILA — A group of retired military officers on Friday urged voters to elect local and national leaders who will inspire and motivate the younger generation in the May mid-term elections.
“We postulate that during these challenging times the country needs leaders to inspire our younger generations who shall inherit our patrimony, culture and traditions. Let us therefore elect candidates with vision, character, and will to become the proper role models of our youth, specially our students and school children,” said the Advocates for National Interest (ANI) in a statement Friday.
ANI described itself as composed of retired military officers who collectively possess experience and education in public service, diplomacy, defense and security, legislation, and public order and safety.
It added that it is one with the Filipino people in exercising their freedom to select from among the candidates those who have manifest competence, honesty, dedication, morality and patriotism.
“We appreciate the recent government announcement that corruption is a social scourge that must be addressed squarely to effect a lasting national development and reecho Abraham Lincoln’s view that if one cannot resolve to be honest in a given position then he or she could look for another occupation where honesty is not required. We subscribe to the constitutional provision that ‘public office is a public trust’ to mean that public officials should have a strong foundation of core values and principles like honesty because “for ordinary transactions of daily life, we have to believe that most people are telling the truth most of the time,” ANI stated.
During these challenging times, the group said the country needs leaders to inspire the younger generations who will inherit its patrimony, culture and traditions.
“Let us therefore elect candidates with vision, character, and will to become the proper role models of our youth, specially our students and school children,” it added.
Also, the group believes that the conduct of orderly, honest and peaceful elections this May would allow the selection of candidates who are God-fearing, averse to corruption, competent, and people-oriented.
“Finally, we firmly believe that the Filipino people, if democratic principles and way of life were to reign and flourish, deserve no less than honest and corruption-free elections, leaders with integrity and credible institutions,” it said.
Among the signatories to the statement are retired generals Renato De Villa, Rodolfo Biazon, Alexander Yano, Recaredo Sarmiento, Edilberto Adan and Victor Ibrado.