Why I Believe It is a Must for Bro. Eddie To be the Next President
I don’t have grand delusions that Bro. Eddie is perfect because I am level-headed enough to know no man is perfect. However, at this moment when the condition of our country is almost beyond description so that we can only gape, speechless, at how it is being pillaged by both man and nature, the perfect man to lead us out of this rut is, no doubt, no less than Bro. Eddie.
HE FOUGHT FOR RIGHTS
Yes, I believe Bro. Eddie is perfect for the job of President of this seemingly God-forsaken nation but I don’t say this only because he is the lone current national leader with presidential potential that spent his youth fighting for the rights of the poor and the oppressed. His college years as a student of Bachelor of Science in Economics were not spent studying and reading books on Economics alone. His preoccupations then were studying the condition of his people, reading the red-colored, left-leaning books by Marx and Lenin, among others, and leading rallies against factory owners in behalf of underpaid workers.
Not only that, he also led a demonstration in Bulacan against the administration of a hospital that refused to render medical services to patients that were unable to pay deposits or down payments. No one was surprised Bro. Eddie, the unstoppable firebrand that he was during those years, was fired at twice (on both occasions spared by Divine Providence), and twice imprisoned during the Martial Law period. It sort of seemed his natural destiny to go through the lonely, unpopular and dangerous path trodden exclusively by born-leaders.
HE IS AN ECONOMIST
With all honesty I believe Bro. Eddie is the best for the job at The Palace but I am not for him only because he is in the know when it comes to the how-to’s of Oplan Redeeming Philippine Economy. For seven years, Bro. Eddie taught Economics and Finance at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines, and for almost 31 years now has been doing the same, teaching Economics and Finance, to the more than 5 million national and global members of the JIL Church using non-contestable Biblical principles on prosperity and success. There are real-time, real-world people who benefited from Bro. Eddie’s Bible-based Economics and Finance coaching. These people are still around to tell their turn-around stories.
Who else can be better than Bro. Eddie? He knows human philosophy on growing an economy, as well as the supernatural oracles of the Ancient of Days regarding man’s economic lot.
HE TRULY LOVED HIS PARENTS
I am not for Bro. Eddie only because he fiercely advocates respect and love for parents. Oh how his eyes would gleam in filial piety and love for his father and mother, the late Joaquin Tuazon Villanueva (former Olympic sprinter and World War II veteran) and Maria Cruz Villanueva, each and every time he would talk about them! Wherever he went and as time would permit, Bro. Eddie would encourage his audience to shower affection on their parents while the old folks can still appreciate expressions of love. Those who know Bro. Eddie personally could attest how he loved and respected his mother-in-law, the late Inang Nena Rivas Jose.
Moreover, Bro. Eddie’s special attention was on the retirees and senior citizen members of JIL. There was one old lady that regularly attended the worship services at JIL Bocaue but would go home when Bro. Eddie was not the speaker. Upon realizing someone else was preaching, this wheelchair-bound Lola would motion to her caregiver to take her from the front row where she would usually stay and would ask to be brought home. For her, it was alright to remain two-hours on her uncomfortable wheelchair if Bro. Eddie was the one sharing the message. I guess it was because Bro. Eddie had a way of making her feel so special. After each service, he would go up to the frail Lola, hug her and pray for her. Bro. Eddie’s little acts of love meant the world to that Lola!
Time and again, Bro. Eddie would gently remind us not to do what others usually do – give parents fine food and expensive bouquet of flowers when they are already in their deathbed, unable to speak and powerless to comprehend or appreciate.
HE IS GENEROUS
I know things will look up if Bro. Eddie sits as president. Why not, when I know he has generosity and compassion, two leadership traits that are rare among the present breed of leaders whose favorite words could be I, Me, Mine and My Family. As the longest sitting regent on the Board of Regents of the Philippine Polytechnic University, he opted to divert his honorarium to the university’s scholarship program.
At the JIL Colleges Foundation, the school he founded to give poor Bulakenyos inexpensive but quality education, Bro. Eddie and his family have scholars, apart from those that are sponsored by the Foundation itself. The list of his kind acts is long but in my heart lies a snapshot of one bright morning in 1985 when a UP student, Bro. Eddie’s scholar, lost her wallet. She could not leave for school and was already crying as she went scouring for her purse in every corner of the Kubo that served as the mess hall for JIL Bocaue church employees.
That young girl was miserable; the P150 in her purse meant a possible grade of 1.25 or INC because it was her finals exam day. All of a sudden, Bro. Eddie called her and, with his back turned to her, spoke. She could barely understand what he was saying because he was not facing her. She inched closer, but still he would not turn to her. His arms were behind him, positioned as if he was in handcuffs.
The girl saw that he was holding what looked like a piece of tiny yellowish paper in his right hand and finally got the message – he was trying to give her something but did not want others to see what he was doing. In less than two seconds, the transaction that has since then got stuck in the girl’s memory bank transpired: a crumpled P500-bill was transferred to the surprised girl’s hand, Houdini-like. Zap. Just like that. The girl got P350 richer! From that moment until today, my heart (I was that young girl) wells up with gratitude for Bro. Eddie’s generosity.
HIS UNIQUENESS
I am not for Bro. Eddie only because he is an advocate of justice (he twice attempted to finish law studies so he could give free legal services to the poor), because he is brave and generous, because he is an economist, etc. etc. Having and being these things will definitely make him a good president but other presidential aspirants may also love justice, may be brave and generous, too, and may also know economics like him.
I don’t want him to be president because of the entries in his curriculum vitae that others may also have in theirs. I want him to be president, in fact I BELIEVE he is the perfect person to become our next president, for one and only one reason: BRO. EDDIE ALONE, among the president-material personalities, can boast of seasons-proven integrity. Everyone can learn the same governance skills, can acquire education, can pad up their resumes. But integrity cannot be faked. It cannot be stolen. Integrity is Bro. Eddie’s edge, his strongest strength and the very factor, if not the ONLY factor, needed for a presidency to succeed.
Bro. Eddie has been UNDER PUBLIC SCRUTINY FOR ALMOST 31 YEARS NOW, being the head of JIL Church Worldwide, but has not, ever since, been found to have had abused his power in all G departrments (gold, girls and guns). Like most noble leaders who dared to be different and did not flow along with the crowd, he has had to go through anti-Bro. Eddie smear campaigns but has never been found guilty of any crime or breach of public trust. To date, no allegation against Bro. Eddie has ever prospered. As Gamaliel said, if it is not of God it shall not stand. His brand of leadership, the RIGHT LEADERSHIP, has stood the test of time because he served the 5-million strong JIL Church with Righteousness, Integrity, Godliness, Helpfulness and Trustworthiness (R.I.G.H.T.).
As history tells, the country’s ills will not be solved merely by having a lawyer, or a military strategist, or an actor, or an economist, as president. We have had such leaders but the country has remained shackled in abject poverty. Corruption has even become fashionable (aka acceptable). Perpetrators of crime against the masses have become bolder by the day!
This leads us to conclude the Philippines needs a president who has, on top of his Excellence, Courage, and Vision, incorruptible integrity because it is only with seasons-proven incorruptible integrity that a leader will be able to rule with compassion and justice that will usher in a new Philippines in a new generation of hope for the new Filipino.
So far, only Bro. Eddie fits this description that is why I believe he must be our next president.
MORE ON RIGHT LEADERSHIP
What is the worst enemy of the Filipino? Is it poverty? Is it corruption? Different surveys reveal different results. It is kind of the chicken and egg thing. At any rate, it cannot be denied Philippines has a leadership crisis that spawned unabated, consistent corruption both in the high and low places of the government. Hence, there is a need for right leadership, the kind of leadership that will promote righteousness, integrity, helpfulness, and trustworthiness among civil servants.
Bro. Eddie will be able to provide this type of leadership because he is beholden to God. Not that the others are not. It is just that for 30 years now Bro. Eddie has been an employee, so to speak, of this just and fair All-powerful God and as such has developed an acute sense of accountability (can you imagine the awe it inspires in a man, working for somebody who sees him and all he does 24-7).
Bro. Eddie is not a traditional politician who fears man and man’s opinion. What matters to him is giving God what is due to Him; his words and the meditation of his heart are all brought under God’s censure. On this account the Filipino people can rest assured they will not be short-changed, deceived or sold in any manner because Bro. Eddie’s training has taught him to do everything to give honor to the name of his employer (God).
Every time friends and supporters talk about his “need” to drop the “Brother” before “Eddie” because it sounds less political and downright churchy, he always would boldly say that he will never drop the word “Brother” before his name because it is the evidence of God’s transformational work in his life, a proof of God’s power to reinvent man: the radical activist Eddie who used to be an atheist fighting against capitalist employers and land-grabbers is now a changed man.
Some thought that Bro. Eddie’s spiritual experience took away his love for his country and people. They could not be more wrong. In truth, because of the genuine love of God that was shed abroad in Bro. Eddie’s heart on the day he entered into a personal relationship with Him, Bro. Eddie’s compassion for the Filipino people burned stronger than ever.
The changed Eddie, now called Bro. Eddie, encountered the Only One who could effectuate change: God. Because of this encounter, Bro. Eddie understood what real change was, and learned how real change could come about. Through his spiritual journey with the God of all Wisdom, Bro. Eddie learned right leadership.
WHAT CAN BRO. EDDIE’S RIGHT LEADERSHIP DO?
Having led the JIL Church Worldwide for almost 31 years now practicing RIGHT leadership, it will be easy for Bro. Eddie to do the same in government and blaze the trail in corruption demolition. This will pave the way for those in government rank and file to practice R.I.G.H.T. service. As things from above (presidential level) get cleaned up, those below will have to follow suit. Kung ano ang puno ay siya rin ang magiging bunga.
Also, as a church pastor for more than three decades now, Bro. Eddie is used to exercising RIGHT leadership, the leadership that puts the interest of the flocks (Filipino people) over and above the safety and welfare of the pastor (president). Contrary to what observers say that his being a pastor is a minus factor, it is
Being in touch with Filipinos overseas because JIL Church has satellites in 44 countries and he visits these places regularly to provide counsel, inspire and assess living conditions of our dispersed brothers, Bro. Eddie knows the common problems besieging contract workers. Because he will be guided by right principles (righteousness, integrity, Godliness, helpfulness, and trustworthiness), it is expected that as soon as he sits as president placement fees will be standardized, illegal recruiters will be prosecuted, while at the same time jobs for returning workers will be created so that instead of Filipinos going away, more and more workers will be coming home to the Philippines.
I am certain these and countless other benefits will be enjoyed by the Filipino people from Bro. Eddie’s RIGHT leadership. I think I have fully justified my conviction that he must be elected as the next President of the Republic of the Philippines.
