Isang Tanong

I saw the replay of Isang Tanong: The Senatorial Forum by GMA 7 this Friday. They invited senatorial candidates to answer questions from a panel of newscasters, journalists and I also saw a representative from a Catholic organization (I forgot what org, though). Each candidate was given a minute and a half to answer the question thrown at them and after that they had to pick a question, this time coming from other senatorial candidates, from a ballot box. They had to answer in about a minute or so.

Loren Legarda
Just like any other seasoned politician, she was very calm in answering the questions. Of course, one could see that she can’t still forget the last elections where in she claimed she was cheated on. She later stated that she can proudly say that she didn’t receive a bribe all her life. She said she stands by her principles.

Mike Defensor
Again he was asked about the undying Garci Tapes issue in connection to how the laws should be written clearly. I didn’t catch what the exact question was but I remember he went on defending the President that according to the investigator, there was an anomaly (I won’t go further because I’m so sick of this issue). Anyway, he was also calm and he was able to satisfactorily answer the questions.

Richard Gomez
It was so obvious in his body language that he was really nervous. He constantly repeated what he has already said and it seemed like he didn’t have an organized thought when answering. There were moments when he would stutter and his tone didn’t have conviction. He is in favor of amending the constitution but he said that such amendment should be done after Gloria Arroyo’s term to avoid conflict of interests. He also said, “Kung maganda and pagpapatakbo ng gobyerno, hindi na naming kailangan tumakbo”. What did he mean by that? That he’s the messiah this country has been waiting for?

Ping Lacson
When asked about peace and unity, he said that he was against the abolishment of death penalty. He claimed that he’s the only senator who didn’t receive pork barrel (by choice).

Zosimo Paredes
Who the hell is he?

Victor Wood
I don’t know why he was there in the first place. I thought the COMELEC declared him as a nuisance candidate, and I wonder why they didn’t. Of all the candidates, I must say, he cracked me up. He was talking all these nonsense and he wasn’t answering the questions being asked. When asked about corruption, he talked about the million peso ad campaigns of the other candidates. My interpretation: He was jealous because he didn’t have money to pay for ads. When asked about constitutional change he quipped, “Are you talking about Parliament?..ah wala akong knowledge dyan… wala po akong idea dyan”. Illegal logging as a heinous crime? “Uh, depende kung gano kabigat yung kasalanan nya… wala nang mga puno…” I think his sanity was also gone.

Cesar Montano
Looked like his nerves were eating him up. There were times when you’d catch him mumbling, talking to himself. He was asked why he is fighting for Charter Change when by the moment it’s approved; the office he’s running for will be dissolved. He said that more than anyone else, the voting public should be the one to benefit and not the officials. He was also asked if he knew where the budget for the campaigns came from. He answered that they came from businessmen who support their advocacies. When it was his time to pick a question from the ballot box, he got Loren Legarda’s which was something to this effect: What can you do to placate people’s fear of vote rigging and violence this coming election? His answer: “I think we should pray”.

Oliver Lozano
Obviously a Marcos loyalist. He doesn’t want Charter Change, he goes for character change.

Prospero Pichay
I was surprised. I didn’t really expect him to answer the questions point blank and speak with clarity. He was actually one of the few candidates who looked like they know what they were talking about. He is for constitutional amendment personally because with the present system he said, it would be close to impossible for a common person (meaning without millions of pesos) to run for office. But he said that we should go for massive consultation because in the end, it is the public who will decide. Several of the issues he would bring up were the problems in Mindanao and when elected he said he’s sure to address them.

Kiko Pangilinan
He is fighting for a faster judicial system. He thinks that the judicial system in the Philippines is so slow that the rate of conviction is very low. The conviction rate currently is 20% and he thinks that that should go up at least 50% to fight crimes such as graft and corruption.

Melchor Chavez
Question: “Aside from making and reviewing laws, what should be the other responsibilities of a Senator?”
Answer: Huwag na kayong magnakaw!

And we see the confused faces of the panel get more confused.

Tessie Aquino-Oreta
She took the question (“Aside from making and reviewing laws, what should be the other responsibilities of a Senator?”) literally and gave us the flow chart of law-making from its drafting to debate. It must be the butterflies in her stomach. We all know that she was from former Pres. Estrada’s side and now she’s with the administration. When asked who is better as president, Erap or Gloria, she gave a safe answer by saying that she won’t be able to say who because Erap didn’t finish his term and now she said that the peso is doing well so the programs and management style of Gloria must be working. As far as I’m concerned, she joined the Administration because she was put aside by the Opposition in favor of other candidates.

Koko Pimentel
Son of Nene Pimentel. He said he was running for Senator because he’s so smart to be dealing with LGU problems like road construction and repair. No he didn’t actually say that. That was just what I think he was saying, because he said that he wants to address more complicated issues like poverty, education, etc.

Eduardo Orpilla
Question: “Why is the plunder case of Erap still not solved? What seems to be the problem?”
Answer: “Kulang ang pang-unawa at pagmamahalan ng ating mamamayan kaya tumagal ang plunder case”.

Go figure.
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General observation: Most of the candidates would state the issues and problems of the country. That it should be this and that, but they wouldn’t tell you what specific steps they would take to address the problems.

Ok, that's it. I'm off to Batangas.