Although the last debate on Sunday, the 24th of April was conducted in English mostly, still the people sat it out to find out for themselves as to who would merit being elected as president. The debate furthermore showed who are presidentiables and who are not worthy of even being included in the list.
May I posit my ideas on the different topics that were discussed:
TRAFFIC -- I think that the lasting solution to the traffic in MetroManila is to disperse industries and offices, and to stop the erection of high rise buildings. When these are done, then that means people will go out of MMla and find residences near their places of work. When high rise bldgs are prohibited, then less people will be staying in MMla.
POVERTY -- When a child is poor and complains about not being able to go to school, I think that is a big problem that should be put on the shoulders of the barangay chairperson. Barangays get allotments and so the chair is responsible for shaking the pillars of our society to get help for his or her constituents.
OFW -- the final solution I can see to this is, right, create jobs in the country. In the 70's it was good to send people abroad because Marcos had made travelling a privilege of the elite. Airfares were highly expensive. I myself was able to leave several times in the 80's only because my sister was able to share her stewardess benefits with me, which had meant my enjoying 50% discounts and more from airfares, apart from the free tickets provided by sponsors of international conferences to which I had been invited. But the elected president upon assumption of post must find out which provinces have the most number of OFW relatives and then study how to make them more nurturing of their constituents.
CONTRACTUALIZATION -- This work contract is anti-UN-ILO pronouncements of upholding the dignity of labor. Everyone in this planet should condemn the Department of Labor and Employment for allowing it to exist in our country, the seat of People Power. Look what power our workers have now.
MINDANAO PEACE -- this has to be planned in three stages. First stage is to integrate all the citizens of Mindanao into the Philippine socio-cultural fabric. Second is to weed out the warlords. Third is to get Sabah because it is oil-rich and could greatly help in solving economic problems, not only in Mindanao but those of the whole country.
CHINA -- This can be resolved easily, not militarily nor by a dramatic scene like RD planting a flag at the boundary near the West Philippine Sea Island and exposing himself unnecessarily to harsh consequences.
Once the UN resolves the case in our favor, then we can ask all the ASEAN countries who sign the decision to join us in boycotting all Chinese products. That would mean a great economic loss. And from the ASEAN Bloc we could spread our influence to the other continents as well.
It is only through cooperation that China can say that it is a world power that recognizes the need for a moral stand that considers the plight of all of her neighbors.
One thing I noticed in the last debate though was the rather subtle sadism of one of the candidates. First he said that he had nothing to ask the other candidate as he had deemed her more intelligent than he is and that she is very much capable of being the president. Then his question was, "How are you?" meaning healthwise. I find it sadistic instead of being a caring question because it was a double-edged sword -- the other side of the blade or question was --"are you sure you are capable of leading the country?" If I were to ask someone about his or her health, I would say, " "Ma'am, how are you? I hope you are well now." Then I would say "I have nothing more to ask you Ma'am because I know you could answer any question that I would raise." Concern for an ailing person should be shown first, if any statement is going to considered a humane treatment.
So you see Folks, we need to be very sharp in the exchanges. As we go up the rungs of the social ladder, we can see that even those who purport to be stupid but actually are not, have hidden arsenals of cruel techniques to "kill" their opponents, literally and figuratively.
So help us God in our choices, Folks. Let us pray hard that we could discern who is the best candidate that will lead us through another 6 years, hopefully, under a happier atmosphere.
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