Marwil Llasos

Marwil Llasos is a Filipino business consultant and politician currently running as a candidate for the 2013 Philippine Senate elections.

Personal Background
Atty. Marwil Llasos was born in December 28, 1975 in Daraga, Albay. He is the son of Wilson Llasos, a witness in the Agrava Fact Finding Board, which investigated the Aquino-Galman double murder case in 1983; and Marichu Nacor, who hailed from Barcelona, Sorsogon.

Llasos is now residing in Roxas District, Quezon City, although he is a registered voter in Tagas, Daraga, Albay, his hometown.

Education
Atty. Llasos finished elementary at Divine Word College of Legazpi City where he graduated with honors in 1988. He then went to Bicol University College of Education Laboratory High School for his secondary education, where he became the Literary Editor of the school paper The Mayon. He was also an active officer of different school organizations.

Llasos graduated from Bicol University with a degree in Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and took his Bachelor of Laws at the University of the Philippines, in which he had three scholarships. Afterwards, he went to Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila for his Master of Laws degree. In 2005, Atty. Llasos became a Fellow for a Post-Graduate Diploma in Humanitarian Law at the International Committee of the Red Cross at the National Academy of Legal Studies and Research (NALSAR), University of Law, Hyderabad, India.

Career
Atty. Llasos worked as an Instructor in Social Science, heading the Social Science Department, and was the coordinator for Research, Extension and Development Services of Computer Arts and Technological College in Old Albay District, Legazpi City from 1996 to 1998.

After finishing his Bachelor of Laws, he served as Law Education Specialist in the Institute of International Legal Studies of the UP Law Center in 2005. In 2006, he taught in The Manila Times Institute for Paralegal Studies while practicing law in various firms. He became a professional lecturer at the School of Law and Jurisprudence of Centro Escolar University in Makati City in 2009.

Llasos is currently teaching Economics, Philippine Government and Constitution, and other law subjects at Siena College in Quezon City and Siena College of San Jose in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

He authored and published several legal articles and studies.

Public Service
Atty. Llasos was a youth leader and community worker. He served as SK Councilor, SK Chairman and ex-officio member of the Sangguniang Barangay of Bgy. Tagas, Daraga, Albay. He was elected as the first President of the Social Service Club of ABS-CBN Foundation] in Legazpi City in 1996.

In 2000, he served as Executive Assistant and Legal Consultant in the Department of Agrarian Reform, appearing as a Resource Person in the House of Representatives Committee on Agrarian Reform.

At present, he serves as Senior Lawyer for Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. (IDEALS), a non-government organization (NGO) providing services to farmers and migrant workers, among others.

Apostolate
Atty. Llasos is also known as “Brother Mars,” being a commissioned lay preacher, catechist and apologist as a consecrated secular Dominican.

Personal Crusade

 * Strengthening State Universities and Colleges, fiscal autonomy for them
 * Extension of CARPER
 * Universal healthcare
 * Lower power rates

Ang Kapatiran Party
As one of the candidates fielded by the Ang Kapatiran party, Llasos adheres to the party platform which includes:
 * Spiritual Dimension
 * Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness
 * Moral Dimensions
 * Build a nation of character and promote the integral development and total well-being of all Filipinos through values formation on such universal principles as sanctity of human life and dignity of the human person; call to family, community and participation, common good, rights and responsibilities, preferential option for the poor, dignity of work and rights of workers, solidarity, care for God’s creation, consistent ethic of life, good citizenship, and basic political education.
 * Discourage the glorification of sex and violence, pornography, dishonesty, vice, materialism and hedonism, and replace them with structures of virtue, peace, responsibility and achievement.
 * Abolish all forms of gambling.
 * Abolish the death penalty.
 * End the use of torture.
 * End violence in school fraternities and other institutions, and regulate sports whose main aim is to inflict physical harm or violence on the opponent.
 * Actively promote responsible parenthood and natural family planning.
 * Encourage media to foster values that contribute to the formation of a national commitment that is maka-Diyos, maka-buhay, maka-bayan, at maka-tao.
 * Social Dimension
 * Consistently promote the culture of life, peace, active nonviolence and progressive disarmament.
 * Declare as contrary to public policy, public morals, public interest, good customs and the common good: the glorification of the culture of death and violence in movies, television, videograms, radio, print media, billboards, posters, and the exhibition and sale of guns and the posting of pro-gun stickers in public places.
 * Multidimensional Approach to Peace and Order
 * Make it a criminal offense for anyone except police officers or soldiers and licensed private security guards in uniform and on duty, to carry firearms or any other weapons in public places.
 * Increase the penalty for illegal possession of firearms or violation of any firearms law to reclusion temporal (12 to 20 years without parole or pardon). Impose perpetual disqualification to hold public office on violators who are public officials.
 * Disallow the obscuring of the windows of motor vehicles. (This makes sense in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling that vehicles should not be searched nor occupants subjected to bodily search.)
 * Ban the exhibit and/or sale of firearms and ammunition in malls and other public places.
 * Ban the manufacture, importation or sale of toy guns, air guns or replicas of guns.
 * Ban the export of firearms.
 * Ban the import of guns except high-powered guns for use by the police and the military.
 * Legalize and place under tight government control the local production and sale of firearms for use by the police and military as well as the civilians for sports and home protection. Manufacture and sale of firearms without authorization of the government shall be punishable with the same penalty for illegal possession of firearms as provided in No. 13 above.
 * Require applicants for firearm permits to show to the authorities that he/she has a gun safety deposit box at home approved by the police.
 * Mandate the periodic inventory, decommissioning and melting down of all confiscated guns for conversion into manhole covers and other useful instruments.
 * Give financial rewards to those who take advantage of the general amnesty whereby individuals may voluntarily surrender unlicensed firearms with no questions asked and without incurring any criminal or civil liability. No other form of amnesty shall be allowed.
 * Impose the same penalty for illegal possession of firearms on anyone found guilty of “planting evidence” to incriminate others.
 * Formulate and implement a no-nonsense national strategy to eliminate the manufacture, distribution, trafficking, transshipment, sale and use of all illegal drugs.
 * Uphold the primacy of peace negotiations and put an end to all forms of militarist measures; address the centuries-old root problems of the armed conflicts to make way for peaceful co-existence among the Muslims, the Lumads and the Christians in Mindanao.
 * End the climate of impunity for extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances by conducting thorough investigations, pursuing conviction of perpetrators, and providing adequate protection for witnesses.
 * Good Governance
 * Abolish the pork barrel system.
 * Accord high priority and provide funding to projects and programs for the underprivileged, the indigenous peoples, the elderly, the prisoners, the disabled, the veterans and the youth, and support non-government organizations or communities whose projects directly benefit the poor.
 * Conduct a comprehensive debt audit ; attain the moral leverage to renegotiate debt; bring own debt servicing and prioritize basic public services.
 * Make representations before the Supreme Court to bring about the speedy administration of justice.
 * Ensure transparency and public accountability in government activities and transaction; reinforce vigilance against graft and corruption, abuse of authority, and waste in all three branches of the government and at all levels of bureaucracy; ensure that public officials shun profligacy and live within their means.
 * Prosecute guilty and corrupt public officials, no matter their position or political ties.
 * Institutionalize civil society participation in the budget process and pass the freedom of information bill to allow citizens to monitor and exact accountability from public officials.
 * Enforce by administrative/criminal action the failure of public officials to liquidate their cash advances within a reasonable period, not exceeding three months.
 * Undertake a thorough review of the systems and procedures and guidelines on the procurement in all government institutions aimed at forestalling the commission of graft and corruption.
 * Promote a safe, clean, healthy and wholesome environment, particularly zero waste management; promote stewardship as a way of life; and promote the development of parks throughout the country.
 * Safeguard essential goods and services such as water, power, education, and health against private control, commodification, and overuse. Markets must not gain control over shared resources. The government should serve as a steward of public commons, not an agent of privatization. The government should also explore community-based ways of managing public commons.
 * Provide incentives and public financing for green jobs and environment-friendly technology and processes, adopt mitigation and adaptation measures to protect the people who suffer the harshest repercussions of climate change, and stop further destruction of our ecosystems on which our nation’s future depends.
 * Economic Development
 * Ensure rapid and sustained economic growth for sustainable poverty reduction and better quality of life for all
 * Political Culture
 * Maintain civilian supremacy over the military at all times.
 * Fix the term of office of the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces to three years regardless of the statutory age of retirement.
 * Disallow active military and police personnel to be assigned as aides and security officers.
 * Forbid elected and appointed public officials to write regular columns, act in movies and television shows, act as commentators or anchorpersons on radio and television, and appear on TV and radio commercials and print advertisements, posters and billboards.
 * Forbid the setting up of billboards or similar media in public places with pictures of the public official responsible for the project or for any other purpose.
 * Apply to everyone the Constitutional ban against relatives of incumbent government officials up to the third degree from seeking public office simultaneously or succeeding the former, and to make it unlawful for any member of the Senate or the House of Representatives to run for another office without first resigning from his/her current position six months before the elections.
 * Promote national and local candidates (servant leaders) who are morally upright and competent and who subscribe to the founding principles and platform of Ang Kapatiran.
 * Require candidates for President, Vice President, Senators and Congressmen to possess a college degree, in addition to the Constitutional requirements for public office.
 * Foreign Policy
 * Strive to fulfill Isaiah’s prophecy: “They [peoples] shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks, nation shall not raise sword against another nation, neither shall they train for war again [a gunless society].
 * Pursue peace based on love, justice, reconciliation, active nonviolence and progressive disarmament.
 * Be a nation that is a friend to all and an enemy to none.