QUEZON CITY – They are living heroes, veterans of wars against communist insurgents, separatist rebels and terrorists, among others.
They – Gens. Reynaldo Velasco, Gen. Leo Napenas and Gen. Van Luspo and their fellow leaders of the Philippine National Police Retirees Association Inc. party-list (PRAI) – have also retired as top officers in the PNP and other services, but they refuse to remain idle after spending the best part of their lives maintaining peace and order and protecting the people and country.
Protecting the people and maintaining peace and order in the country is an endless concern of not just the officials and authorities but the people as well and should never stop as they are sine quanon to progress, growth and development, the three party-list PRAI generals pointed out in continuing dialogues with media and groups of veterans and retirees of the uniformed services.
“We are in it all together, if we want to ensure the welfare of the people, including veterans, retirees and their families, and for our country to move on,” Gens. Velasco, Napenas and Luspo said.
“We cannot just rest on our medals and achievements as police and military officers and so we are participating in the party-list elections through the PRAI so we can help speed up reforms and measures for the good of our country and people, especially the lowly veterans and retirees and their families,” General Velasco said.
“We are offering our talents and skills once more to our country and people not just in police and military service but in civilian work that we were in for sometime,” said General Velasco, who just retired also as Chairman and Administrator of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) during which he spearheaded projects, programs and plans to ensure water security for more than 25 million Filipinos in Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Bulacan, Rizal, Quezon, Cavite and Laguna.
During their dialogues, General Velasco and other PRAI leaders spelled out their plans and programs on healthcare, housing, education, environment, livelihood, pension and poverty alleviation and social services, especially when police and military retirees and their families are involved.
Filipinos in the country and those who reside and work abroad can support a party-list group as well as the President, Vice President and Senators in the 2022 elections under the overseas absentee voting law, the generals said.
Unlike in other elections, overseas Filipino voters can now vote by mail, the generals said, explaining that the ballots will be mailed to their known place of residence and the voters will then have to return the filled-up ballots by mail to the Philippine embassies or consulates that mailed them to them.
Some 1.7 million overseas Filipinos in more than 120 countries have registered as overseas absentee voters becoming a potent force to elect officials of their motherland, they said.
Overseas Filipino absentee voters will vote early starting April but they can still vote until May 9, 2022, they added.
