Twenty-one senatoriables pit their wits against each other last February 9 in Debate 2019: GMA Network’s Senatorial Face-Off. The televised debate, hosted by Pia Arcangel and Vicky Morales, was organized into two rounds. In the first round, candidates had to face a panel of veteran journalists who fielded staggering questions concerning the senatoriables’ track record and competence level.
Rookies, old-timers, controversial figures
Those who were present included five members of the opposition’s Otso Diretso senatorial slate—Atty. Chel Diokno, Samira Gutoc, Gary Alejano, Atty. Erin Tañada, and Atty. Romy Macalintal. Neri Colmenares and labor leaders Leodigario “Ka-Leody” De Guzman from the Partido Lakas ng Masa and Atty. Ernesto Arellano from the Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi were also in attendance.
The administration’s PDP-Laban slate present included former Philippine National Police Chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa, Francis Tolentino, Zajid “Dong” Mangudadatu, and former Senate President Koko Pimentel. Re-electionist JV Ejercito, who is seeking his second consecutive term under the Nationalist People’s Coalition, was also present.
The rest of the participants included aspiring senatorial newcomers such as Ilocos Norte governor Imee Marcos from the Nacionalista Party, former Interior secretary Raffy Alunan from the Bagumbayan Party, Atty. Larry Gadon of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, Diosdado “Dado” Padilla of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas, independent candidate and journalist Jiggy Manicad, “Doc” Willie Ong of Lakas-CMD, Melchor Chavez of Labor Party Philippines, and Agnes Escudero of Katipunan ng Kamalayang Kayumanggi.
“Patuloy po namin ipagtatanggol, at ipaglalaban”
The debate proper began with the 21 senatoriables being split into four groups. Each group took turns facing the panel, which consisted of journalists Mel Tiangco, Jessica Soho, Arnold Clavio, and Howie Severino. Apart from responding to the panelists, candidates also had the chance to field one question to a fellow candidate in their group.
The first group was composed of Marcos, Colmenares, Alunan, Alejano, and Pimentel. When questioned on her family’s alleged ill-gotten wealth, Marcos declined to comment on the efforts of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance to recover the Marcos family plunder.
However, she maintained that they are not ignoring these accusations against them. “Patuloy po namin ipagtatanggol at ipaglalaban—ebidensiya sa ebidensiya, dokumento sa dokumento—lahat ng mga paratang [na ito],” she declared.
(We will continue to fight and defend ourselves—evidence against evidence, documents against documents—against all of these accusations.)
Colmenares, meanwhile, addressed allegations of abuses against leftist rebel groups. “Any human rights violations, gawa man ‘yan ng AFP, NPA o iba pa ‘mang mga rebeldeng grupo ay dapat pong tutulan yan,” he firmly said.
(Any human rights violations, either by the AFP, NPA or any other rebel group, should be opposed.)
“Alam natin na maraming scalawag sa bawat pillar,” claimed Alunan as he defended the failure of President Rodrigo Duterte’s campaign promise of resolving criminality in three to six months.
(We know that there are many scalawags in each pillar [of the criminal justice system].)
Alejano, on the other hand, defended the Oakwood mutiny mounted against the administration during Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s presidency: “Ang isyu ng korapsyon ay talagang laganap at that time, na pumapatay sa ordinaryong sibilyan—kaya kami nag-aklas.”
(The issue of corruption was truly rampant at that time; it kills ordinary citizens—that is why we mounted a mutiny.)
Pimentel shielded himself from criticism stemming from the low number of bills he authored, citing free irrigation, free tuition, and the increase in base pay for uniformed services as some of the initiatives he pushed for through legislature. “Let us not compete sa paramihan ng na-file. ‘Yung iba diyan nagkokopyahan lang. Hindi po ako ganyan.”
(Let us not compete with the number [of bills] filed. Other [legislators] are just copying from one another. I’m not like that.)
“Mga bayaran ‘yan, mga propagandist at mga cheater”
Diokno, Gadon, Dela Rosa, Ejercito, and Gutoc formed the second group. Receiving the first question from the panel, Diokno defended human rights advocates from the criticisms directed towards them, specifically that they are allegedly more concerned with “rights rather than lives.” “There is no difference between human rights and human life. There is no shortcut to justice. If we want to purge corruption and criminality, we need to fix our justice system,” Diokno explained in Filipino.
Gadon, known for his brazen remarks, defended his actions and claimed that the charges cited against him—gross misconduct, gross immoral conduct, and violation of the lawyer’s oath—were not grounds for disbarment. He attacked surveys on electoral preferences describing them as “propaganda, mind conditioning, [and a] prelude to cheating.” “Kasinungalingan ‘yangPulse Asia at SWS na ‘yan. Mga bayaran ‘yan, mga propagandist at mga cheater.”
(Pulse Asia and SWS [surveys] are lies. They are paid hacks, propagandists, and cheaters.)
Faced with the question of criminal liabilities of police officers, including the killing of 17-year-old Kian de los Santos and South Korean businessman Jee Ick Joo, Dela Rosa claimed that the “sensational cases” under his term have been solved. “Ang internal cleansing ng PNP po ay tuloy-tuloy,” he stated. (The internal cleansing of PNP continues on.)
Despite filing the Anti-Political Dynasty Act, Ejercito acknowledged himself as being part of a dynasty but claimed that he realized capable people without resources to campaign must have the chance to run for a position. He defended the provision of having a ban only up to the second degree of consanguinity, arguing that it would be unfair for competent relatives to be not given the opportunity to hold office.
A newcomer into national politics, Gutoc’s contribution to local politics and peace in Mindanao was brought into question. Gutoc emphasized her spearheading of public order initiatives and stressed the necessity of good governance in Mindanao, citing, “Tayo ay nag–advocate as assemblywoman na buksan ang mga libro ng ARMM dahil malaki ang pera na naibibigay ng national [government] dito sa autonomous region.”
([I] advocated, as assemblywoman, to open the books of ARMM because the national government allocates a lot of money into the autonomous region.)
“Hindi ko po kayo kayang biguin o traydorin”
The third group to face the panelists was made up of Ong, Padilla, Arellano, Manicad, and Tañada. Ong was questioned regarding his decision to run for senator, given his background as a medical doctor. “As a private practitioner, I could only help maybe one hundred or two hundred patients, but in the Senate, I could help more people,” Ong answered in Filipino. As Ong does not collect professional fees as a doctor, he explained that his campaign is ran primarily through social media and through exposure on mainstream media.
“Nakita ko pa na nasasayang ang pera talaga ng ating gobyerno doon sa mga ghost school na iyon,” lamented Padilla when asked about the scholarships given by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority. He served as Deputy Director General for the agency before deciding to pursue his bid for senator.
(I witnessed how much of the government’s money was wasted in these ghost schools.)
On the question of Chinese laborers coming into the Philippines, Arellano slammed the administration’s policies. “Hindi totoo na ang mga trabaho na ginagawa ng mga Chinese na nandito ay hindi kaya ng mga Pilipino,” he strongly argued. (It is not true that Filipinos are incapable of doing the jobs of Chinese workers in this country.)
Manicad—who previously came under fire for supposedly betraying his colleagues in the media to pursue his political aspirations—denied these allegations. “Hindi ko po kayo kayang biguin o traydorin,” he insisted. He continued by saying that he believes press freedom is not instantaneous, but is instead earned through truthfulness, honesty, integrity, and impartial reporting.
(I will neither disappoint nor betray you.)
Finally, Soho asked Tañada about his thoughts on what errors the Liberal Party made during the previous administration. The candidate highlighted a reason behind the Liberal Party’s failure to secure the presidential position during the last election. “Kung sa nakikita po natin na itong mga programang ito ay natutugunan yung mga problema ng ating mamamayan, maliwanag po na alam po nila yan. Ang problema lang ay kung naiintindihan nila ang nagawa ng ating nakaraang gobyerno o hindi,” he claimed.
(It’s clear that the public knows that there are programs that exist to meet their needs. The problem lies in whether or not they understand what the past administration was able to do.)
“Kung ako’y hindi na tatakbo, wala na akong pag-asa manalo”
Mangudadatu, Tolentino, Macalintal, Escudero, Chavez, and De Guzman made up the last group of the first round. On the topic of poverty in provinces like Maguindanao, Mangudadatu claimed that it was not directly linked to political dynasties, elaborating “Walang koneksyon po yung pagiging political dynasty o yung maraming kaapelyido sa Mindanao. Ang cause ng poverty sa Mindanao is due to yung [mga] giyera na hindi masolusyunan ng gobyerno.”
(Having political dynasties or namesakes is not linked [as the cause of poverty in Mindanao]. It is due to the conflicts left unresolved by the government.)
Meanwhile, Tolentino was questioned on the failure of the Manila Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA) to resolve the longstanding issue of traffic. “Alam niyo po, panahon na para i-amend ang MMDA Law,” he responded, citing the agency’s limited implementing powers to address concerns linked to traffic like MRT operations and the rising number of bus franchises.
(You know, it is high time that the MMDA Law be amended.)
“Wala naman akong nakitang conflict of interest doon kasi lahat ng kliente ko mga pulitiko, mga natulungan kong kandidato kaya ang hinihiling ko naman sila [ay] ikampanya naman ako sa lugar nila,” stated Macalintal. (I don’t see any conflict of interest since all of my clients are politicians or candidates that I helped, so all that I asked was that they campaign for me in their areas.)
The veteran election lawyer was asked to explain how his exchange deal strategy with his political clients would not cause issues should he win as senator. This is in reference to a previous revelation made by Macalintal himself in October last year where he bared the workings of his strategy: he would provide legal assistance to his clients, who in exchange would aid in his senatorial campaign.
Escudero, who is among the leaders of the Tribal Government of the Philippines, spoke about her possible agendas should she be elected. “Ang problema sa mga indigenous communities natin, sa mga kabundukan ay wala talagang definite source of income. Habang nagpapatubo sila ng palay, ng mais, wala silang ibang pinagkakaabalahan,” she elaborated.
(The problem in our indigenous communities located upland is that they have no definite source of income. While they grow rice and corn, they have nothing else to spend their time on.)
Since 1992, Chavez has attempted to secure a senatorial seat eight times. He was declared a nuisance candidate five times and was allowed to run for the remaining instances. Despite his losing streak, he remains undeterred. “Kung ako’y hindi na tatakbo, wala na akong pag-asa manalo,” he reasoned. (If I don’t run, then I have no hope of winning.)
Though he was the last candidate to face the panel, De Guzman remained firm in his assertion that he would be able to push for the end of contractualization even as a potential newcomer. “Ang masakit nga sa halip na ipagbawal [ang contractualization] tulad ng ipinangako ay naging legal [ito] dahil pinanatili ang third party, yung labor contractor,” he pointed out, citing the current administration’s shortcomings.
(What hurts is that instead of banning contractualization as promised, it was instead legalized since they retained the third party: the labor contractor.)
This is part one of a series.
