AN WARAY Party-List in Congress: Pushing A Notch Higher The Countryside Development Agenda
From a small group of coffee-drinking buddies engaging in spirited discourse on about everything - from the day's intriguing headlines to the disturbing fact that more people from the provinces are gravitating towards Imperial Manila - AN WARAY Party-List defied political odds by winning its first ever elections last May 2004.
AN WARAY Philippines was born sometime in 2001 with now Rep. Florencio "Bem" Noel as founder. The new Waray group immediately got busy by rushing to Metro slum areas hit by fire and other calamities, conducting relief operations and extending medical-dental assistance.
It was no coincidence that most of the families that they helped during that period were Waraynons. It was also no coincidence that they were all here in Metro Manila because of the grinding poverty in their provinces.
AN WARAY Party-List, which means "Ang Wala" in Filipino, also knows that urban migration is not only exclusive to Waraynons but also to other poor people from the provinces who now comprise the growing army of slum dwellers in the Metro Manila.
AN WARAY Party-List leaders felt that a piece-meal response to the problems of their poor kababayans would not suffice but that it should be taken in a larger context and viewed with a sharp political eye.
"At that stage, with our relief efforts being done left and right, we knew we could only do less. We needed a bigger avenue to channel all our goals," AN WARAY Party-List founder Noel recalls.
Thus, after a vigorous debate on the justness of entering a new battlefield, AN WARAY decided to transform itself into a political bloc of all Waray organizations and individuals and test the "unfriendly" electoral waters.
But the road to victory was not paved with the flamboyance and grace of Kuratsa nor with the sweetness of binagol. AN WARAY, as an evolving party-list organization, did not have the luxury of skipping the usual birth pains.
After an initial rejection by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), AN WARAY Party-List was finally accredited as a party-list organization in February of 2004 - qualified to run in the May elections.
But supporters and organizers of AN WARAY persevered and continued winning the confidence of the Waraynons and even the non-Warays who could identify with the group's chosen advocacy.
They perhaps thought that what was good for the Warays could also be good for the Muslims and Christians of Mindanao, the Ilocanos, the Bicolanos, the Ilonggos, the Boholanos, the Cebuanos, and other province-based Filipinos who yearn to go back to their places of birth and stay there for good with food and jobs available to them.
It stuck to its battlecry of addressing the worsening problem of urban migration and unemployment in the countryside. AN WARAY propagated the line that the lack of employment and the high illiteracy rate are among the root causes of urban migration.
With limited resources, AN WARAY Party-List forged strategic alliances with other existing organizations and NGOs, who shared the same goals and advocacies. It chosen five successful Waraynons as nominees whose dedication to the Waray cause was unquestionable, namely: Rep. Noel, Neil Benedict Montejo, Daryll Grace Abayon, Bebot Diaz and Raoul Creencia.
And since it was required to mount a national campaign similar to a senator, AN WARAY Party-List practically invaded even "non-Waray areas" like some parts of Mindanao, Bicolandia, Northern Luzon and even Calabarzon.
AN WARAY Party-List's message was heard and understood in many corners of the country.
The message was not the exclusive redemption of the Waraynons but the emancipation, if possible, of all poor people who are forced to leave their homes to escape poverty and ignorance.
But first things first, AN WARAY Party-List would not be able to help the other distressed sectors, if it cannot help its own Waray brothers and sisters, according to Noel.
The perseverance and hardwork of all Waraynons nationwide paid-off as AN WARAY Party-List made a phenomenal showing in the last elections and went on to win a seat in the House of Representatives.
On June 2, 2004, party-list leaders, members and volunteers witnessed with bated breath as Congressman Florencio "Bem" Noel of AN WARAY Party-List took his oath before COMELEC officials.
The journey, by then, had just begun.
