22 March 2013 – If we take a look at all the candidates running to become part of the next Philippine senate, the one senatorial candidate who is most likely to stand out from the pack is the former congressman of Cagayan Jack Enrile. Why is this so? For starters, even though he shares the last name of one of the most influential political families in the country, not to mention being the only son of the current Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile Sr., this is not the main reason why he remains, according to the latest Pulse Asia survey, one of the top twelve most popular senatorial nominees, and, if truth be told, throughout his campaign he has not relied on his family name, unlike other senatorial candidates, to win the hearts and minds of the Philippine voters. Instead, Jack is relying on his invaluable political experience and history of public service during the years from 1998-2001, 2001-2004, 2004-2007, and 2010-2013 when he was the congressman of the First District of the Province of Cagayan. Jack knows that if voters were to look at his political achievements, then it would absolutely be more than enough to convince the country’s voters with regards to his worthiness as a senator.
Out of all his political achievements, there are two that arguably have made Jack Enrile into the popular senatorial candidate he now is. These are the creation and championing of two working class-friendly bills: the “Food Requirement Plan for Filipinos” bill and the “Magna Carta for Household Helpers”, otherwise more known as the “Batas Kasambahay”, which was just passed last December 2012. The “Food Requirement Plan for Filipinos” wants to urge the Department of Agriculture to de-prioritize the consistent exporting of the country’s food supply to international market, and as an alternative equally distribute the larger part of this vast food supply into the homes of hungry Filipinos all around the provinces. In the meantime, the “Batas Kasambahay” promises improved wages, welfare and working conditions for household helpers, for the reason that they make up a large chunk of the country’s entire workforce. As evinced through these two popular bills, Jack Enrile boasts a heartfelt dedication in helping find effective solutions to combat the devastating problems of hunger and poverty that is being faced day by the day by the majority of the citizens of this country — as a consequence, Jack has become a very important senatorial candidate.
