The Presidential forum had been held last December 02, 2009 at UST Auditorium and I was able to watch the forum on ABS-CBN last night hosted by Ted Failon. This program had been organized to give the hopeful Presidentiables the chance to let the people know about their platforms and the chance for the people to ask questions.
It had been attended by 7 hopeful Presidentiables. Present are Administration bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, former President Josseph “Erap” Estrada, Senator Noynoy Aquino, environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, Brother Eddie Villanueva, Senator Richard “Dick” Gordon, Senator Noynoy Aquino and Olongapo Councilor JC Delos Reyes. Senator Manny Villar was not able to make it to the forum.
The forum had started with a 2 minutes brief introduction of each candidate. They had stated their plans and the summary of their platforms and made an appeal to everybody to support them with the mission and the vision they have for better Philippines.
After a brief introduction, Failon delivered the first question and everybody was given 2 minutes to answer the question.
The First question is: If Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will win in Congress for 2010 election and will become the Speaker of the House, how will it affect t them as a President?
Teodoro:
Arroyo will surely follow his platform because they are in the same party, so this is an advantage oh his end.
Estrada:
He did not answer the question directly; instead he stated that Arroyo had insulted the Office of Presidency because of her decision to run in Congress. And if ever she will win in the upcoming election, he will not allow her to become the Speaker of the House at all.
Perlas:
This is what he exactly said: “Hahabulin ko si Arroyo sa kanyang nagawang kasalanan kahit harangan pa nya”.
Villanueva:
He will use his full power as a President to not allow Arroyo to become the Speaker of the House.
Gordon:
He will amend the constitution but will not allow Arroyo to take full control over it as a Speaker of the House.
Aquino:
He will utilize the same power for the advantage of the country but he will oppose any plan of Arroyo to extend her term.
Delos Reyes:
He will use his influence to convince the Congress not to allow Arroyo to become Speaker of the House.
That would have been the end of the first round of question but Estrada made an appeal to give him another 40 seconds to speak regarding the question. The management allowed him to speak.
Estrada said (on his 40 seconds extention) that Arroyo should resign first if she intends to run in accordance to the constitution. She should show some delicadeza.
On the second round of question, each candidate should answer the question in two minutes, then the next candidate will rebut for 1 minute, then he will be given 30 seconds to defend his side. The question came from Mr. Freddie Solinap, the publisher of “Periodiko Ini” of Koronadal City.
The question is: If you are the President, what will be your first three commands after knowing the Maguindanao Massacre.
Delos Reyes answered first:
1. Total Gun Ban- he said this is in the constitution but never been implemented because nobody is respecting it.
He was not able to finish in two minutes because he focused too much on what the constitution is telling about the Total Gun Ban and how the past administration had been dealing with this issue.
Aquino was asked to use his one minute to rebut but he refused to do so, instead he asked to proceed with his turn to speak.
According to Aquino:
1. His first action is to regain peace. He will assign soldiers and Police without the influence of politics.
2. Those who allowed private armies should be accountable.
Aquino was not able to finish in two minutes. Gordon was asked to rebut but he did not challenged Noynoy and he just proceed with his two minutes turn.
Gordon’s responses are:
1. He will not wait for the massacre to happen. If he is the President, this will not happen.
2. Immediate action to disarm everybody.
3. Assign a special court
Villanueva was asked to dispute, but he also refuses. Then he took his 2 minutes turn.
Villanueva’s actions are as follow:
1. Order Defense Secretary Chief of Staff and PNP Chief to arrest the suspects immediately
2. Destroy and dismantle all private armies
3. Suspend all government officials who have direct and indirect connection with private armies
And he added the fourth action.
4. Device ways and means for people in Mindanao not to go with Private Armies. He will conduct livelihood programs for them instead.
Perlas was asked to rebut but he too refuses and proceed with his 2 minutes turn.
This is what Perlas will do:
1. Arrest immediately the suspects and dismantle private armies in Maguindanao
2. Dismantle private armies in all other regions also
3. Reduce poverty in ARMM
Erap was asked to rebut and everybody was surprised when Erap said he will use his one minute to challenge his opponent. He said that he will not consent it, he will not consider people who are “Utak warlord”.
Perlas was given 30 minutes to answer Erap’s challenge. He was somehow confused because that seems to be an agreement to what he just said and it’s not a dispute at all.
Erap answered: “Hindi pa ako tapos eh”, followed by a sound laugh from the audience.
Now, it’s Erap 2 minutes turn to answer. As soon as the timer starts, he did not say anything. He is not even aware that it is his turn to speak. The audience laughed again. Ted carefully explained to Erap that it is his 2 minutes turn to speak. Then Erap said: “Ulitin mo yong tanong, inulit mo kanina sa kanila eh”. The audience laughed again. I felt like I am watching a sitcom when it is Erap’s turn to speak. LOL
After Failon repeated the question for Erap, he answered not only three points but four.
1. It will not happen if I am the President. I will not allow warlord.
2. I will arrest the suspect within 12 hours.
3. Use full force of the law against them.
4. I will do to them what they have done.
Teodoro did not rebut Erap’s statement and opted to have his 2 minutes turn to answer the question.
Teodoro will do the following:
1. Dismantle private armies and groups.
2. Prevent by increasing police visibility.
3. Use the legal process and full force of the law.
Delos Reyes however rebuts Teodoro in one minute. He said the private armies are the result of Arroyo’s friendship. To resolve the issue, we must consider moral values first before political experience.
Teodoro answered back in 30 seconds and said that we need enforcement aside from moral values.
More exciting questions and answers on my next blog post.
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I am glad you posted this. I failed to watch this on tv. I guess the forum was like a sitcom with Erap around. He is not serious in answering the questions. I can’t wait for part two! I am expecting more laughs from Erap!!
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Hi Precious…thanks for the comment…..more exciting questions on part 2. I will be posting it later.
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