So you want to be president? A close look at those who want to lead

MANILA, Philippines – To help voters make an informed choice in May, The Philippine STAR is conducting interviews with the presidential aspirants, in no particular order, depending on their availability in the heat of the campaign.

Meetings are hosted by The STAR in the newspaper’s office, with the editorial staff asking the candidates questions on a wide range of issues.

The recorded answers, portions of which can be viewed online, can be used as reference for campaign promises met or unfulfilled, goals achieved or changed.

To cover as many topics as possible, the candidates are requested to keep their answers brief, but three hours is still not enough to cover a presidential aspirant’s program of government. Space limitations also compel The STAR to condense the answers for publication. Still, even the brief answers provide useful glimpses into the platforms and plans of each candidate in case of victory.

Mary Grace Natividad Poe-Llamanzares ‘Grace’

Independent Campaign Slogan: Gobyernong May Puso: Walang Maiiwan, Sama-sama Tayong Uunlad

• Baptized Sept. 3, 1968 in Iloilo

•Spouse: Teodoro Misael Vera Llamanzares (IT consultant)

• Children: Brian (23, reporter-on-leave); Hannah (16, student);  Anika (11, student)

• Parents: Ronald Allan Kelly Poe aka Fernando Poe Jr. (actor, director, producer), Jesusa Sonora aka Susan Roces (actress)

• Religion: Roman Catholic

• Residence: Quezon City

Educational Attainment

•  Elementary: Saint Paul College Pasig/Makati

•  Secondary: Assumption College (1986)

•  Undergraduate Course: University of the Philippines-Manila, Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies (1986-1988); Boston College, Political Science (1991)

Campaign platform:

My vision is built on two pillars. These pillars may also be considered as the broad strategies designed to realize my vision. Broadly put, these pillars are:

Walang Maiiwan: Focus on poverty alleviation coupled with inclusive, sustainable and resilient growth. The objective is to attain global competitiveness driven by a culture of excellence.

Gobyernong may Puso: Open, accountable, and competent governance, free of corruption, which operates under the rule of law and upholds human rights.

Academic/Civic/Other Honors:

• Convenor of Kontra Daya, a coalition for the reform of the Philippine electoral system

• College scholar (1987)

• Sophomore batch representative to the Student Council (UP) SY 1987-1988

• Chairman of the College Freshman Assembly (UP) SY 1986-1987

Jobs/Positions Held

•  Pre-school teacher at Montessori School of Cedar Lane in  US (1995-1998); procurement liason officer at US Geological Survey (1998-2005)

• Project manager, CSC Scientific Inc. (2001-2004)

• Vice president, FPJ productions and Film  Archive (2005-2010)

• Movie and Television Review and Classification Board chair (2010-2012)

• Senator (2013-present), elected with 20,337,327 votes, the most in Philippine election history

TOP CAMPAIGN SUPPORTERS (financial, aircraft/logistics)

On Danding Cojuangco:   The support of NPC is made through their candidates, mostly in the provinces.

On Ramon Ang: No financial support, but I know that he’s been very supportive also through his different connections with the NPC. We also borrow aircraft from him. But after the campaign period, we are definitely paying for those. But, again, you will see in our SOCE the detailed list of the people who donated to us together with their TIN numbers.

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Oscar Orbos

MEDIA MANAGER: Many, one of them is Bud Britanico

KEY ADVISERS:  Cielito Habito, Romy Bernardo, Raul Fabella, Ben Diokno

WHO WILL BE YOUR LITTLE PRESIDENT?  In my shortlist, I’m thinking of Ace Durano.

What role will your spouse play?

Chief inspiration.

Well, my husband is not a lawyer, so he really can’t advise me din on legal matters. He’s IT, so maybe he can make sure that all of our files in Malacanang hindi ma-ha-hack—I don’t know—something like that.

Well, as I said, my husband will—his main role is really to take care of the family still. I mean, my kids are still pretty young, and I think he’s doing a good job at that. He’s very patient. My kids love him more because he’s more permissive than I am. But he will represent me if there’s a need for a family member to be there for a particular official function.

Chief inspiration?

Well, as I said, my husband’s main role is really to take care of the family. I mean, my kids are still pretty young, and I think he’s doing a good job at that. He’s very patient. My kids love him more because he’s more permissive than I am. But he will represent me if there’s a need for a family member to be there for a particular official function.

Short-term priorities:

Job generation is a priority for me. Our existing government projects, particularly infrastructure, will be for the short- and the long-term. Short-term, you have all of the jobs that will be generated; long-term, obviously, if you build more roads, you complete all these projects, then the future generation will be able to benefit from it as well.

As a mother, I would like to institute immediately the free lunch program in all public elementary schools. When it comes to peace and order and development, I will declare drugs a threat to national security, and convene right away the National Security Council to be able to assess the security position of the Philippines in terms of the West Philippine Sea, in terms of our relationship with Malaysia, in terms of our problems with drugs and crime.

Long-term priorities:

Our business policies – we should make the Philippines conducive to investments. The Anti-Red Tape Act… the ease of doing business in the Philippines – actually they’re not harmonized. The local government laws aren’t harmonized with the national government laws, so it’s actually hard to start a business.  Second, our taxes. I think immediately, for the short-term and the long-term, we should have a definite decrease in our corporate and personal income taxes.

I want to make sure that agriculture is also a priority. Plus MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) as well as tourism are areas that can generate jobs for us. For agriculture, I’ve already promised that at least during my administration there will be a moratorium on paying for irrigation.

NET WORTH: P89,464,819.36 (2014 SALN); P148.9 million (2013 SALN)

Why do you deserve to win ?

It’s so self-serving for me to say I deserve to win. If people think I deserve to win, it’s maybe because they know that I have their best interest at heart. I will do what I can to make sure that the family, the Filipino family, is provided for – that their needs are protected. But I also can assure them that I will not steal from them, that like them I would like to have a country that we can all be proud of, that we can all say that each and every person is given the opportunity and that the government is there to support the people.

How will you deal with the following:

Peace process with the MILF

Yes, (I will pursue peace talks) and I think it should be an inclusive peace process, not just confined to one group. Let’s include other groups in Mindanao as well, the MNLF, the indigenous peoples, the Christians, they are part of it.

Peace process with the CPP-NDF

We need to continue those talks. We may not have the perfect peace process or peace talks, but at least while we’re talking, we’re not shooting at each other; and that in itself is already an achievement.

Terror groups (Abu Sayyaf, JI, IS)

Zero tolerance for terrorists. We should really do everything in our power to prevent terrorist activities, to crush them. All-out development for Mindanao can really ease the problem of terrorism.

Criminality

It really begins with who you are going to appoint as your PNP head, your crime czar. So I will appoint the best people.

Climate change

We really need to push for the COP21.  Let’s look at how we manage the use of our energy sources and eventually, when we have more renewable sources of energy – hydro, solar, wind – prices will go down.

Another thing is we really need to educate the people. You don’t throw your trash just anywhere… We should use less diesel engine cars

What are your plans for the following:

Curbing corruption

I will really – sincerely and not just lip service – push for the Freedom of Information bill in Congress. I also think we really need to seriously look at our Commission on Audit because they are undermanned.

Cutting red tape

We need to be serious with our drive against corruption by strengthening these offices (COA, AMLC, BIR, etc.) and also getting rid of frivolous regulations. We’re on our best behavior if there’s a camera. So, in government offices, let’s install more CCTV cameras. We should have a list of government agencies that are most susceptible to corruption.

Solving Metro Manila traffic

Let’s finish the MRT-7 project which will run up to San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.

Resolving the MRT mess

They ordered Dalian trains from China; little by little, they said it will be operational but I really don’t see it. If I see that those trains don’t work, let’s get rid of them… Let’s start again: eat our mistakes, start again, because there are many companies – like Hyundai – that are promising that they can deliver a more reliable train service within 13 months.

For us to be trusted by the international community, we should honor our commitments. But, if for some reason that commitment turns out to be disadvantageous to us, we should jail the secretary who signed the contract.

NAIA problems

I am looking at having another runway at NAIA, at the same time, let’s look at developing Sangley (as another public airport).  We should also utilize Clark and Subic.

High health care costs:

The complaint of the provincial and city hospitals is that the government basically just left it to the local government to take care of sustaining the hospitals. But if the province is poor, they can’t really support the needs of their hospitals. Revenue from sin taxes is about P140 billion. Let’s give a one-time grant to the 82 provinces of P1 billion each to rehabilitate their hospitals.

Weak rule of law and inefficient judiciary:

The appointment of our judges and justices should really not be political. We should listen to the recommendations of independent groups when it comes to the appointments.

We should have a strong internal affairs group that will really monitor the actions of the judges (to address corruption issues).

Positions On:

Charter change

The Constitution should be a living document. I think we should prioritize changes in our economic provisions, particularly foreign ownership on certain businesses and utilities, but I’m definitely not for foreign ownership of land.

West Philippine Sea/China/arbitration

We should pressure the UN arbitration (court) to come up with a decision.  Yeah, so that’s a given. There are other areas of negotiation with China, particularly our economic ties, our educational ties, our cultural ties, but when it comes to the West Philippine Sea, I think that we should really engage the support of our allies. It’s foolish for us to think that we can do this alone. We should knock on the door of the international community and, if they are true allies, then they should really stand with us.

EDCA/US as an ally

Well, the Supreme Court made a decision on that. I would have preferred that the Senate had an active role in ratifying that. I think we’re better off to have joint cooperation, not just with the US, but also our other allies like Japan and Australia.

Foreign policy priorities

The priority of any administration should be the safety of our OFWs abroad. The Philippines should have engaged in bilateral agreements with countries where we have workers, like Saudi Arabia. The protection of our OFW should be our priority.

The West Philippine Sea, that’s also a priority; the situation of our countrymen in Mindanao and the closing of the borders in Malaysia, that is also a priority. We should have a consulate in Tawi-Tawi because majority of our people who cross the borders are illegals have no documents.

Patronage politics

If anybody is supporting me financially, what will I promise them? I promise them this: a level playing field. I can say, with a straight face, nobody has asked me for particular favors or a position.

Reproductive health

It’s important that we take care of the health of our women and I don’t think we should cut the budget for reproductive health. It’s not just about birth control; it’s also for parents, for women who would like to have children, and how to be in their best health condition to be able to bear children.

Tax reform

Immediately, we should lower corporate income taxes. If we are to stay competitive with the ASEAN economic integration, it will be more lucrative for investors to set up in the Philippines but only if we’re competitive.

Role of the church / INC and other religious groups – have you met with the INC / El Shaddai  --We should maintain a separation, obviously, of Church and State. But there’s no denying that they represent also the sentiments of our people. In terms of these religious groups, when we allow them their basic freedom to practice their religion, we respect also whatever opinions they have…

What is the state of the country you will inherit on July 1?

It’s a very disillusioned country that I am inheriting. People know that they want something different but they don’t even know what it is, except that their life will be better. People are not anymore sitting down and contemplating to what degree they want change. They just want something different. That’s the state of the country that we are (in).

We need a leader that will not only inspire but will actually show that he/she can deliver results reasonably quickly.

How do you see the country at the end of your term?

I think that the country will be more stable and progressive economically. There will be

more jobs, definitely.

How will you:

Encourage investments that will create jobs and bring home OFWs

The real way for us to be able to absorb our OFWs is to ease foreign ownership restrictions, because then we will have foreign direct investments in the country, which will create more jobs – manufacturing, even public services and utilities.

Reduce poverty

You can only do that by making sure that there is proper income and permanent source of livelihood, real jobs.

Improve quality of education

The impression is K-12 is an added burden to parents. But the main objective of K-12 is good because it will give our children competency when they graduate. Whether or not they continue on to college, they should have a certain competency.

Promote tourism

Obviously we have to have the best infrastructure for them to want to come here. We should have a good tourism secretary that can market our country very well. Peace and order is also very important. We should also help the provinces or the different towns to market themselves.

Promote the creative industry

The government hasn’t really been very active since the last three administrations in promoting the arts. We should be able to market our content abroad because that’s also how we influence other people, other cultures.

Promote the Philippines as a location shoot destination. I will offer an incentive of less taxes or no taxes if you will show the beautiful side of the Philippines.

Boost agriculture

Improve irrigation, make irrigation free for farmers.

What is your take on agrarian reform?

The problem with land reform is that we give them land, but we don’t give them support. We failed on the second part. We need to subsidize the farmers’ needs, like fertilizer and seeds.

We have to take an inventory of the farmers who already received the land that’s supposed to be theirs, but we should intensify government support because they can’t even mortgage their land. We should finish it off already.

State of health:

Have you ever consulted a psychologist?

No, but my mother-in-law is a psychologist and I see her all the time. So no, not officially. No, I haven’t seen a psychologist.

A psychologist was part of a program that we had for primary healthcare. I remember when my father died, I saw one; it was in 2004 (while still in the US, but not in the Philippines).

A psychiatrist? No.

Are you in favor of...