The Philippine Online Chronicles

Before Blog Watch, I planned to get to know the presidentiables and hoped to hear from them in person, so that I would be able to write about them, and eventually pick my best bet. It did not dawn on me, that that small meeting in September with Gus Vibal, his team from Vibal Foundation/Philippine Online Chronicles (POC), Noemi Lardizabal-Dado and myself, would materialize to what is now the BlogWatch that has in the recent past gotten into the pages of major newspapers, even TV stations after it was launched on 24 November. In so short a time, BlogWatch has been able to interview the likes of Chiz Escudero, Manny Villar, and Nicanor Perlas. Other interviews have been set with Bro Eddie Villanueva on 9 January, and the rest of the candidates . We have a case though of an elusive candidate (I am not sure though if this candidate knows about his being elusive. Or is the elusiveness created by his campaign staff. Ugh! If he were to win, his staff could be wallowing in power!)

A dream

I had the dream of having one-on-one interviews with the 2010 presidential aspirants, and even had a list of questions that I wanted to ask them. What do you want to see in the platforms of government of presidential aspirants? I watched “Harapan 2010” and felt that the audience could have asked more substantial questions to really grill the candidates. Of the candidates, I would have liked to hear more straight to the point and specific answers and no motherhood questions. That said, I feel sorry for candidates with little exposure to speaking before a big crowd, much less, a national or international audience.

But then, what would forums such as Harapan prove, when each candidate is allowed only 2 minutes each to answer a certain question? The voting public wants to hear more—I wonder how at the end of such forums the organizers would come out with a survey, like saying “…42% of 1,499 voters chose Aquino, followed closely by Teodoro at 37%, Villanueva at 9%, and Gordon at 8%. Aquino has dominated recent national surveys, while Teodoro ranked only 2% in voter preference…”  And where does that place the lesser known candidates, like Perlas and delos Reyes. In some news, Perlas’ name was not even mentioned, though he was there at Harapan (though now he has been vindicated—with Comelec’s decision to disquality him, his name has been in newspapers and television, and his small voice, representing “new politics” as against the “trapos” is now being heard.

My questions

1. What measures will you undertake in order to eradicate corruption from the lowest to the highest echelons of government and Philippine society in general?
2. What measures will you undertake in order to generate more jobs that provide living wages and salaries to our citizens?
3. What measures will you undertake in order to overhaul the education system in the country given that the state of public education is not doing as well as it should?
4. What measures will you undertake in order to protect our Overseas Filipino Workers (OFW)’s while they are working abroad and to make sure they have a job waiting for them when they do return to the country?
5. And what about the OFWs who are in death row, like the Lanuza case? How will you quickly resolve them?
6. What are your long-term and short term solutions to addressing the issue of poverty?
7. How do you plan to make our tourism industry globally competitive, sustainable, and environmentally sound?
8. There are many infrastructures built by the government which are not being used, like unoccupied housing projects, and unfinished structures, to name some examples. What do you plan to do with the wasting assets of the government?
9. What local and international measures do you plan to undertake in order to address our environmental problems?
10. What do you think are the factors that led to warlord-ism in the Philippines? What measures will you be undertaking to address warlord-ism in the country?
11. At present, there is no law which comprehensively addresses the issue of political dynasties and many politicians come from political clans.  What specific measures you will be undertaking in order to address the issue of political dynasties?
12. What specific measures will you undertake to make your administration transparent and fully accountable to the people? How do you balance the executive privilege with the need for transparency in government?
13. What specific measures will you undertake to address the Mindanao problem and bring lasting peace to Mindanao?
14. Not too long ago, former President Estrada was granted presidential pardon, much to the dismay of the many Filipinos who rallied in the streets to put him out of Malacanang. While granting pardons is solely the President’s prerogative, please explain your policy on granting pardons and if we will be expecting similar controversial pardons in the future?
15. Many people criticize candidates for the inordinately huge amounts they spend for their election campaigns, and wish that these resources were instead used elsewhere. How do you launch a national campaign without spending too much?
16. Specifically, how will you reduce, if not totally eradicate political killings in the country?
17. Specifically, how will you reduce, if not totally eradicate the killing of mediamen?
18. If you can change the constitution, what provisions would you like to change?
19. About the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill—give a direct answer. Do you support it or not?
20. How will you implement your platform in government?

YOU!

What burning questions do you have in mind?  Assuming your candidate answers them, are his words any good or just empty election rhetoric?

Photos by Noemi Lardizabal-Dado. Some Rights Reserved.

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