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Aquino-Roxas. Estrada-Binay. Gordon-Fernando. Teodoro-Manzano. Villar-Legarda. These ten names should be on any good citizen’s mind these days, not just because it’s already campaign season, but because this is one of the few times when we shouldn’t mind being bombarded by politicians’ voices. It’s better to hear candidates speak, than to imagine that their silences make them the least of all evils.

Yes, this could all be only talk—but only when we’re clear about what we want and what our elected leaders stand for can we also hold them liable for breaking their promises. We know the power we hold as citizens—we’ve been through the 1986 EDSA Revolution and EDSA Dos—and while we can be proud of taking to the streets to protest the shortcomings of those in power, it makes sense to choose our leaders more intelligently to begin with. Here, we give you a rundown of the issues that are important to consider as you make the most crucial of choices for the coming elections.

The urgency that is the environment. With Ondoy and Pepeng fresh in our memories, we’re more likely to listen to what candidates say about the environment. What every country—developing countries like ours in particular—needs is sustainable development as theorized by Maximo V. Kalaw, who said that our government must use the environment as the core of its vision for development. Sustainable development sees the log ban and the anti-smoke belching campaign, garbage collection and climate change, as aspects of a bigger picture that’s informed by the more important issues of capitalism, political will, urban planning, and everyday living. Because the recent typhoons have hit even homes that used to withstand storms, the issue of sustainable development is at the forefront of many citizens’ minds—at this time more than any other.

After two months of being a fugitive from the law, murder suspect Jason Ivler was finally arrested yesterday, January 18, at his mother’s Blue Ridge A Subdivision home. The stepson of ADB British Economist Stephen Pollard—and nephew of folk singer Freddie Aguilar—was taken into police custody after an exchange of gunfire he initiated with the NBI special unit left him seriously injured, according to ABS-CBN News. Ivler’s mother Marlene (Aguilar’s sister) appears to have successfully hidden her son in a storage room, which authorities had missed even after two previous raids on her house.

Ivler is the prime suspect in the November 18 road rage slaying of Renato Victor Ebarle, son of Presidential Chief of Staff Renato Ebarle, Sr., as reported by Spot.ph. Witness accounts place a 25- to 30-year-old Caucasian man, about 5’8”, with a shaved head and an arm tattoo at the scene of the crime. After a near collision with the victim, the suspect apparently stepped out of his blue Honda CRV and shot the 27-year-old Ebarle three times at close range through the latter’s windshield. Authorities were able to match the suspect’s diplomatic plate number to stepfather Pollard’s vehicle, and Ivler has been on the run ever since.

Up until her son’s arrest on Sunday, Marlene Aguilar-Pollard strongly denied that Ivler was taking refuge in her home. The ABS-CBN News report notes that she even told the authorities of an email from her son claiming he had fled to America. Now, the mother of three could face charges for harboring an offender classified as “armed and dangerous” and whose name even appears on the Interpol Red Notice List. According to DZMM, Marlene is currently at an NBI facility for questioning, on the grounds of “obstruction of justice.”

A distraught Marlene Aguilar-Pollard appears in a QTV interview.
(Source: QTV )

In such a situation, a mother’s responsibility puts her in a quandary. Does she turn over her child to the authorities, who may very well put him behind bars for the rest of his life—or does she go with her defensive instincts and shield her child from harm (even if he is guilty)?  A recent update from Spot.ph shows an anguished Marlene in an interview on QTV’s Balitanghali, tearfully telling the world, “I want everyone to know that no matter what my son did, I love him with all my heart and soul.”

Manila Standard Today columnist Connie Veneracion, in a piece entitled “Wrong love and the spoiled brat,” notes that protecting your child in such situations may be counterproductive. She says, “A child who never learns to face the consequences of his actions often turns into an adult like Jason Ivler—he doesn’t know there are limits because he feels that his parents will always be there to take care of the bad consequences.” Being overprotective of a young child may not be the best thing to do as a parent—what more the case of harboring a fugitive from the law, and consequently being charged for obstruction of justice, as Marlene did? Would you have done things differently? Share your stand by voting in our poll!

(Photo source for flashbox image: sxc.hu)

Have you started planning out your holidays for the year? Take a look at the list below (based on Proclamation No. 1841, signed in July 2009) so you can think ahead to your next long-weekend trip because there are 11 long weekends in 2010!

• January 1, Friday: New Year’s Day (regular holiday)
• February 22, Monday: EDSA Revolution Anniversary (special holiday for schools moved from February 25)
• April 1, Thursday: Maundy Thursday (regular holiday)
• April 2, Friday: Good Friday (regular holiday)
• April 9, Friday: Araw ng Kagitingan: (regular holiday) 
• May 1, Saturday: Labor Day (regular holiday)
• June 14, Monday: Independence Day (regular holiday deferred from June 12)
• August 23, Monday: Ninoy Aquino Day (special non-working holiday deferred from August 21)
• August 30, Monday: National Heroes Day: August 30 (regular holiday)
• November 1, Monday: All Saints Day (special non-working holiday)
• November 29, Monday: Bonifacio Day (regular holiday moved from November 30)
• December 24, Friday: Additional Special (Non-Working) Day 
• December 25, Saturday: Christmas Day (regular holiday)
• December 27, Monday: Rizal Day (regular holiday moved from December 30) 
• December 31, Friday: Last Day of the Year (special non-working holiday)

The Islamic holidays Eid’l Ftir and Eid’l Adha will also be observed as national holidays; however, their exact dates will be declared after these have been determined by the Office of Muslim Affairs.

To view an official list of Philippine holidays for this and past years, refer to the page on PinoyMoneyTalk.com. You can also check out Spot.ph’s article on the declared holidays to see a list of long weekends. For even more holidays, click on to the next page.