There is a supposed quote attributed to Edmund Burke that goes, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” And that’s what we have here. In a nation where the cancer of corruption has spread from the lowest level to the highest, in both the public and private spheres, it becomes a daunting challenge for anyone to triumph over it.

Yesterday, I found out about this call on facebook from Brian Ong, Fritz Tentativa and Benjamin Espina: Manolo Quezon for Senator.

Who is Manolo Quezon? Manuel Quezon III is the Explainer. He is that pundit on cable television, the op-ed writer, a Mac user, and more importantly he has geek cred enough to blog the Long View and be read. If you’re into the whole bloodline business, yes, he is descended from that President Manuel Quezon from the Commonwealth.

At the height of Ondoy, Quezon spearheaded and helped coordinate things both online and offline. He did not need to be a public official. He did not take credit for it. He led.

Manolo Quezon himself doesn’t like to run for public office. Who would want to, when politics is a dirty business? And yet here we are. Our country has corruption in every strata of society. Quezon understands this just as he understands the importance of defeating the Great Book Blockade.

Yes, it is a risk that drafting Manolo Quezon for Senator is a disservice to him, the person. That by doing so, we risk sending him to face the horde of the dark side. Quezon may be unwilling to do this, for obvious reasons and for many reasons, to face this battle, on his own, resources and inclination notwithstanding.

There are five million people from the Philippines on Facebook. Espina, Ong and Tentativa are asking for a million to join. Just maybe, if that number is reached can help sway Manolo Quezon to throw his hat in the ring.

The daunting challenges of tomorrow is great. Manolo Quezon, I believe, more than the likes of Lapid, Jamby and Jingoy, understands what this country needs and has the ability to help make it possible. In 1770, Burke wrote in Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents, “So when bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle.”

The good must associate. We need good men in the Senate. I urge you to join the group to draft Manolo Quezon for Senator, and ask others to do so as well.

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