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

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.

Miriam graduated cum laude from the UP College of Law in 1969.

Miriam Palma Defensor-Santiago ‘Miriam’

People’s Reform Party Campaign Slogan: Si Miriam ang Sagot

• Born June 15, 1945 in Iloilo City

•Spouse: Narciso  Santiago Jr.

• Children: Narciso Santiago III, Alexander Robert Santiago

• Religion: Roman Catholic

• Residence: Quezon City, San Juan

Educational Attainment

•  Elementary: La Paz Elementary School, valedictorian (1957)

•  Secondary: Iloilo Provincial National High School, valedictorian (1961)

•  Undergraduate Course: Bachelor of Arts in Political Science, University of the Philippines-Visayas, magna cum laude (1965)

• Post Graduate: Bachelor of Laws, UP College Law, cum laude (1969)

• Numerous honorary doctorate degrees and international fellowships

Campaign Platform:

“My administration will bequeath to the next president a better and stronger nation than what I will inherit from this administration. In 2022, I will turn over to my successor a nation that is more prosperous, a people more united and prouder of their leaders, and political institutions that are more stable. I commit to invest in people, in public infrastructure and in political institutions. I commit that the Philippine economy will grow faster than ever before, that it will be truly inclusive by making sure that real incomes of workers will increase over time.”

NETWORTH: P85,909, 512 (as of December 2015)

TOP CAMPAIGN SUPPORTERS: Nobody can ever reveal those things. They won’t want to be identified because if they pick the wrong candidate then the victorious candidate will run after them.

CAMPAIGN MANAGER: My husband. We’re a mom-and-pop operation because we have no money to hire an outsider, they charge exorbitant fees for their expertise.

MEDIA MANAGER: Arveen Patria

KEY ADVISERS: I have a rotating panel of consultants or key advisers who are experts in their field and who are reputed to be such and I’m very close to them. Benjamin Diokno, for example.

LITTLE PRESIDENT: That will be the chief of staff or the secretary of the Cabinet. That remains to be seen. I will not name any speculated figures for the Cabinet because it might embarrass both them and me, if in the final analysis I decide to appoint somebody else. I have to set up a search committee and get to the bottom of whether that person is really competent.

ROLE OF SPOUSE: He had better keep quiet because I have been elected by the majority of voters... His role is to console and comfort me when things are too pressured or too stressed. I’d do the same for him.

Will You Live In Malacañang?

I have to study that. Find out how much is the traffic going to affect travel time and if it’s not feasible, then...

Jobs/Positions Held

• Law professor, UP; professor of political science, Trinity University of Asia  (1971-1974)

• Member, Board of Censors for Motion Pictures (1977-1979)

•  Presiding judge, Quezon City RTC Branch 106 (1983-1987)

• Commissioner, Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (1988-1989)

• Secretary, Department of Agrarian Reform (1989)

•  Senior partner, Defensor Santiago Law Firm (1992-present)

• Senator (1995-2001/2004 to present)

Select Laws Authored

• Reproductive Health Act of 2012

• Sin Tax Law;

• Climate Change Act of 2009;

• Renewable Energy Act of 2008;

• Philippine Act on Crimes against International Humanitarian Law;

• Magna Carta of Women;

• Cybercrime Act of 2012;

• Archipelagic Baselines Act of 2009

Notable Awards

• Magsaysay Award for Government Service (1988)

• TOYM Award for Law (1985)

• TOWNS Award for Law (1986)

How will you deal with:

Peace process with the milf

First of all, we have to find out who is the real representative of the Bangsamoro...there are many groups. If you chose one, all the rest will rise up in revolution against us. They have to have their own internal procedure for choosing which is one is representative of the Bangsamoro people.

Next, the Bangsamoro bill was not passed in part because of my opposition to it... It is setting up a sub state; they are a complete government. Our Constitution allows only for regional autonomy. This Bangsamoro Basic Law went beyond that. But certainly we have to consider all the previous documents and (agreements).

Peace process with the CPP-NDF

That’s very difficult because we have a very rigid set of rules by which to operate, and it is always not consonant with the tenets of our democratic government. Other presidents have tried other methods. I think if we have a strong and vibrant economy, they will just on their own drop their opposition.

On Joma Sison’s endorsement of a candidate: We can’t allow Joma Sison to dictate to us here, far away from him, how we should vote. His endorsement for Duterte, I will not mind it, I will disregard it.

Abu Sayyaf

We have to distinguish those who are guilty of political offenses. We have to define first what is a bona fide Abu Sayyaf member. What identifies them? They’re prone to violence, they believe in violence as a method of social change. We have to address civil unrest in Mindanao.

Climate change/COP

Yes, I will endorse the COP21 to the Senate.

Positions On:

Charter change: I’m in favor. Before, as a constitutional law professor, I was vehemently against any move to change the Charter because I always argued that the Charter is a permanent institution by itself. We cannot keep amending our Constitution as if we were altering a piece of legislation. But today, for example, the anti-dynasty provision leaves it to the legislature which has never enacted it because it goes against their personal interest.

Additionally, we have the economic nationalist provisions. For us to be competitive, maybe we have to amend the Charter. 

EDCA: The less foreign presence in our country, the more sovereign and independent minded we shall be.

Philippines’ maritime claims, international arbitration: Diplomacy always remains an instrument. We take the two tracks of diplomacy – first track is state to state. The second track is more informal and concerns backdoor meetings…

Second, we should beef up our Coast Guard and Philippine Navy.

Reproductive Health Law: I’m very strongly in favor of it; I was one of the authors. We in the Senate managed to pass it despite the fact that it has been stymied for almost a decade. But we still have some way to go, because the Supreme Court (is considering) whether a budget for reproductive health should be cut off completely. If we don’t get any appropriation, we would have won the battle but lost the war.

Income tax cut: Our tax policy is 20 years old, so I’m in favor of reducing income tax both for personal and corporate, to 25 percent.

Role of the Church / religious groups: Like all politicians, you don’t really go and say please endorse me. You just go and present yourself to the executive minister who receives you very cordially. But you’ll never know if they’ll support you... 

State of health

I’m almost normal, except that I cannot over exert myself because that will bring on the symptoms of cancer, like shortness of breath.

Why are you running?

I already graduated from my senatorial term. I’m prohibited from running for another term. But at my age of 70, I have vast experience in all the different branches of government. So I was thinking: what a waste to use it as a caretaker or as a nanny for my grandkids. So I thought I will offer myself again to the Filipino people.

First executive order

Investigate the commercial survey firms. If I win, I will ask them: Why did I win?

Aside from that, the FOI Bill. I will have one of my partymates file it in Congress and I will certify it as urgent.

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

The country will be more stable, more prosperous. Peace and order will be a thing you can take for granted. The economy will be very robust with our emphasis on agriculture – since we are basically an agricultural country – industrialization and good economic management.

So there will be a time six years later when every Filipino will stand up and declare “I’m proud to be a Filipino.” 

What is the state of the nation you are inheriting at noon of june 30?

We’re muddling along. We are surviving, that’s all. We don’t have a sense of unity, a sense of community welfare. No Filipino will do a thing just because it is his civic duty to do that. When I was on my way here, there was a truck ahead of us, and the driver spat out of the window in full view of all the cars and the traffic below. 

So we have to have a more unified sense. We have to have a sense of belief in and love for our country and a selfless desire to serve others.

Plans For The Following:

Curbing corruption

Corruption is a state of mind. We were corrupted during World War 2. During the Japanese occupation, it was every man for himself. I believe that today, we can save things, base our actions on the fact that a Filipino is basically honest, except for some senators... 

Solving Metro Manila traffic

Metro Manila really has no space. We have to have a new capital site, preferably near the Clark area. We’ll have a new government center, an IT park and an education center. With the present ovepopulation, we have to build a railway system that goes around Metro Manila, including adjacent provinces like Laguna, Cavite and Bulacan. Also a sort of metro train system and a completely new railway system from Manila to Sorsogon. We have been detached from railway solutions, it is time we return to it... Separate bicycle and motorcycle lanes. Drivers of PUVs should be paid a salary, not on commission.

Mass transit

As I said, we have to have our railway system. Some people now say it is possible to build a subway in Metro Manila, even if it is below sea level.

Airport woes

We need new runways.

Port congestion

Obviously we need a new port, and scientists have to tell us whether it is feasible in Bataan or in another place. And there has to be a firmer Customs commissioner.

Inadequate infrastructure

That is one main failing of the the Aquino administration, it’s been underspending. We have to overspend on infrastructure because it’s the best way to provide jobs and  prevent inflation... build as many roads and bridges as we can.

High power costs/alternative energy

We have one of the highest electricity rates in the world because we have privatized it. We must make it a government project, and we must have a subsidy from government.

I’m the author of the alternative energy law. We must have diversified sources of energy.

Interconnectivity/ telecom services

We need to ramp it up, and you need money to do that. So I will have to determine whether it can get budget priority or whether it can wait with other projects.

High health care costs

We have to have a prevention and maintenance system, plus PhilHealth coverage could be expanded to include every Filipino.

Weak rule of law/inefficient judiciary

Let us study whether it’s good for democracy to take away the power of appointment over the judiciary from the President. To whom shall we give it? We cannot give it to Congress, they will politicize the whole thing, trivialize it.

How will you:

Encourage investments that will create jobs and bring home OFWs?

Try very hard to go into a flurry of  construction and reconstruction for six years and make sure that the allocation from the budget is above 5 to 7 percent of the budget. And keep the inflation rate low, at 3 percent.

We have to revamp our visa requirements so it will be easier for foreigners to get a Philippine visa. And secondly, we have to simplify our business rules and make them user-friendly. These foreigners are usually frustrated because of all of the petty corruption when they apply for permits, licenses and other documents. We have to make sure that there is a one-stop shop. We have to make the foreigners friendly to us by being friendly to them first.

And then we have to restudy our Constitution, which provides that any business enterprise must be owned 60 percent by Filipinos. This is a great put-off for businessmen. You cannot expect a businessman to invest his hard earned dollars here and then remain only a minority owner of the property.

Spur growth so we can catch up with our ASEAN neighbors?

We have to make our products more competitive. To enter the ASEAN economic community, we should be more competitive. But that’s a good thing, because you become competitive not just against our ASEAN neighbors, but also the entire world. 

Reduce poverty?

Continue the CCT program with certain modification. For example you can have cash for work; if the father is working, they get more cash for civic activities. I was one of the authors of the conditiional cash transfer program in the Senate.

Improve the quality of education?

I notice that we are very proficient as a people in speaking English. But when we are abroad, we hesitate to speak English because of our accent. We have to speak English with the same accent...

We must make sure that we’re in step with the rest of the world; we cannot just be autonomous. On the K-12 program, I would like to revisit it. It adds two years before college... just because it works in the western states doesn’t necessarily mean that it will work for us. And you are displacing about 70,000 teachers.

Promote tourism and the creative industry?

Tourism, first of all, we have to improve the peace and order situation. No tourist will ever apply for a visa from a country where trouble is brewing. So, we have to attend to the Mindanao unrest.

We can try and implement a program to acquaint little children with the humanities very early in their life. We have to fight a losing battle against laptops and other computer devices. Like for example my kids, but only my children, my rule was no machines at the dining table, and no machines after 10 p.m.

Boost agriculture?

First we have to have growth friendly projects for agriculture. There should be free irrigiation for our farmers. That’s why our farmers are having a hard time. They have no water for irrigation, They have to buy the water. And then we should promote water impounding facilities. Next, we should also build post harvest facilities, we should have new crop varieties mandated by technology.

What is your take on agrarian reform?

When I was first appointed secretary of agrarian reform, my first sentence to the press was: I was born to raise hell. I knew that there was very stiff landlord resistance.But I set an example with myself: my husband had nearly a hundred hectares in Tarlac, the richest rice producing area in the country. But because under the law there is a certain base figure, he could not retain any of it. So we just gave it all up for agrarian reform. One big stumbling block is that the owners would try to convert the land from agricultural to commercial or residential before we began to implement it.

Are you in favor of...