FOR RICHARD “Dick” Gordon, 33 years of political experience plus over 40 years of being a Red Cross volunteer are his edge over other presidential candidates.
In the fourth installation of the Sabay sa Bayan (SSB) talks, presidential and vice presidential candidates Dick Gordon and Bayani Fernando talked about their platforms in relation to their experiences as local government officials.
Gordon and Fernando both became mayors of Olongapo City and Marikina City, respectively.
The talk, titled, “Developing Local Government Units” was held on February 26 at the Colayco Pavilion.
Focusing on education
If elected president, Gordon wants to focus on education by giving Kindles to students and raising teachers’ salaries to P40, 000. A Kindle is a device that can hold around 9,000 e-books.
To fund this project, Gordon plans to raise the text messaging fee from P1 to P1.50.
“If we say that P0.50 will be added to the text [messaging fee], magagalit kayo sa akin. Batuhin niyo na ako (you will get mad at me. You can now throw stones at me) … [but] it is our sacrifice,” he said.
Gordon added that he plans to amend the constitution, specifically the President’s appointment of the Ombudsman. “That way, the husband of the president can no longer recommend his classmate from the Ateneo Law School to become the Ombudsman.”
Current Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez was the classmate of First Gentleman Mike Arroyo in law school.
Gordon also proposes that government offices be open for 24 hours so that the public could be served better.
Mr. Political Will
For “Mr. Political Will” Fernando, Filipinos do not need to find solutions to poverty and corruption since the laws themselves serve as the answers to the problems. He said that government officials just need to be stricter with implementation.
Fernando said that leaders have become so afraid of the people and the votes. “What do we need? Political will… if [one] applies political will, it is not the end of his political career,” he said. Fernando defines political will as implementation of the law.
Gordon affirmed this saying that the Filipinos are very tolerant people, “tolerant for injustice…crime, and corruption.”
Fernando said that the government officials and even the police are very lenient in implementing the laws because they always feel pity for the people.
“We are designing our society for the poor for so long, and for the first time, at least, we’re successful. Now, we’re all poor because [of that pity],” he said.
From his experiences as an engineer, mayor, and chairman of the Metro Manila Development Authority, Fernando also said that one could change social behavior by changing the physical environment.
Fernando, who donned an engineer’s hat during the forum, cited Marikina as an example and said that when roadways were built and things put in order, discipline came about.
He also said that the Philippines needs an engineer because the country “may be losing more in failed engineering than in failed corruption; and corruption itself might be due to failed engineering.”
Change for the country
Both Gordon and Fernando agreed that it is possible to create change in the country as they have proven during their terms in Olongapo and Marikina.
“We need a leadership that would demand an adequate change. I have always said that what this country needs is not a change of men but a change in men,” Gordon said.
The tandem pointed out certain problems in the country that needs to be solved like little productivity, being lenient in implementing laws, and laziness to work.
Gordon then challenged the students to vote wisely and listen to the candidates. “Are you going to be captured by surveys? By people who say “ako para sa mahirap (I am for the poor)? They always say that everything is for the poor but when they take over, they make the poor become poorer,” he said in a mix of English and Filipino.
Good turnout
SSB Project Head Gio Alejo said that so far, this talk had the highest attendance.
“A lot of the students who came were not required. [We’ve been receiving] really good feedback. It’s good that [the candidates] have cited the history of their work,” Sanggunian Finance Officer Rob Roque said.
Participant Jan Patrick Calupitan said that Gordon is very decisive. “After the talk, I’m convinced to vote for him,” he said.
SSB is under the Ateneo Task Force’s Voters’ Information campaign. Senator Chiz Escudero, presidential candidate Nick Perlas, and senatorial candidates Ruffy Biazon and Yasmin Lao were the previous speakers.
