Presidential Policy Forum

by Dahli Aspillera (Malaya) Jan 18, 2010

http://www.malaya.com.ph/01182010/eddahli.html

I LEFT my sick bed Thursday hoping to see them all on stage at the C. P. Romulo Foundation and ANC Channel Presidential Policy Forum at AIM in Makati. Three came: Senator Richard Gordon, Gilbert Teodoro, and Sen. Manuel Villar who mostly used Pilipino for the native voters tuned in on radio, leaving the non-voting foreign diplomats inside the auditorium needing translations.

Quotable quotes of that morning:

"Where are the others?" – former President Fidel V. Ramos.

"You have to check our records. What have we done in the past?" – Villar.

"You cannot buy the presidency. You cannot inherit the presidency. You have to earn it." – Gordon.

"This is the problem with elections. We make a lot of promises. But the thing is, you ask us what we will do. And it’s also important to ask us whether we can do these things." – Villar.

"That is the paradox of Philippine society. The challenge is really to provide an example that you can lead fairly clearly. You don’t provide false expectations to our people. We, if God grants us to become president, are mere leaders of a movement, leaders of organization. The burden is shared not only among us but among citizens, not only collectively but individually." – Teodoro.

"We have to start believing that we are horizon chasers ... Action, not words. We have to look at track records of candidates ... Check our records. What did we do in our city? What did we do in our province? What did we do when we were congressmen, when we were senators, in the Cabinet?" – Gordon


"The bidding will be live on TV. This term is not going to be corrupt. The next leader and his administration should lead by example and crack the whip on the few institutions that have the highest level of corruption." – Villar.

"Corruption can’t be solved if we have somebody like a president who commits a crime, and you pardon him. There’s no way people will believe if you pardon people." – Gordon.

"On raising Filipinos’ competitiveness… add one more year to basic and secondary education, and teach another language, like Spanish, in preparatory school." – Teodoro.

"China in particular is the most important country for us in the future…To me, [Spratley] need not be a hindrance toward a much closer relations with China . Use China as the biggest source, not the US ." – Villar.

"We have fallen out of competitiveness and the first thing that comes to mind is corruption." – Gordon.

"In the first six months, we will concentrate on domestic matters. But eventually, the Asia-Pacific Economic Conference in Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in Vietnam , as scheduled later this year." – Teodoro

"All the jingles that some people are trying to come up with to say that they are pro-poor and everything like that, that’s a lot of hokum. Everybody is pro-poor and you know it. Who can do it? Who has done it? Who will do it? Yes, we have done it. Yes we must." – Gordon.

"The importance of improving the country’s educational system and stamping out corruption in helping the country attain global competitiveness…We should have more legitimate Ph.D.’s and master’s degree holders. We have the smallest ratio in the world." – Teodoro.

"Reeboks, I use it, it’s a great product because it is made in Subic " – Gordon.

"I’m a multi-tasker, I’ve been building teams all my life–in business, in Congress, in the Senate. I am trained. I have experience." – Villar.

"The Filipino is a great manager of his talents. What is important is to provide him with the opportunity upon which there is a rule of law, there is a regime of meritocracy." – Gordon.

"The next president should be able to compete with the other presidents like Thailand , Malaysia , China and the US . The next president must lead the nation into competing," – Villar.

The forum, "Philippine Credibility and Competitiveness in the World" attended by journalists, members of the diplomatic corps, and the business community. Moderator was Ramon "Ricky" Carandang; in the question panel were Rodolfo C. Severino, Jaime Flor Cruz, and Ana Marie Pamintuan.

The presidentiables invited but not present: Senator Noynoy Aquino, Liberal Party, deposed President Joseph Estrada, declined the invitation made in October. Sen. Jamby Madrigal, Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Councilor John Carlos de los Reyes previously declined or were no-shows.