Noy, Manny no-show in prexy forums here

TWO of the three leading presidentiables snubbed the presidential forum of the Ateneo de Davao University attended by hundreds of students, and another forum sponsored by an international evangelist.

Both forums were held at Davao City Tuesday with the Ateneo forum at their Jacinto campus in the morning while the afternoon forum was held at the central headquarters of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy's Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name in Buhangin.

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Presidentiables Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino of the Liberal Party, and Manuel “Manny” Villar of the Nacionalista Party were nowhere in sight in both forums.

Joseph Estrada of the Partido ng Masang Pilipino also did not attend the Ateneo forum, but came in late at the forum sponsored by Quiboloy, dubbed as "Sukatan 2010" as his plane was still stuck at the hangar of the Ninoy Aquino International Airport at around 1 p.m.

The presidential forum started around 3:30 p.m.

It was learned that the presidential forum of Quiboloy was initially slated on February 11 but due to Aquino's unavailability, the international evangelist decided to move it to March 9 with Aquino committing to attend the event.

At the last minute, Aquino reportedly decided to cancel his attendance to Quiboloy's forum. Aquino said he was advised by his physician to refrain from travelling by plane due to an illness. JC delos Reyes who was at the Ateneo forum in the morning surprisingly failed to attend the afternoon event.

No word of honor

Before the start of the presidential forum, Quiboloy informed the audience that no less than Senator Aquino was the one who chose March 9 as his favored date to attend the first ever presidential forum to be held in Davao City.

The pastor said though that on March 8, he received a letter from Aquino stating that his doctor advised him against traveling by plane.

To this reason, Pastor Quiboloy quoted a biblical passage that says “commitment is your word of honor, when you fail to fulfill your commitment you have no word and you have no honor.”

Ateneo students who were all eager to listen to the candidates were as dismayed as Pastor Quiboloy by the absence of the presidentiables.

Ash Lagon, student writer of Ateneo, said many of his classmates are rooting for either Aquino or Villar. But due to their absence, they shifted their choice to either Richard Gordon or Jamby Madrigal or Gibo Teodoro who were all present during the forum.

Other presidentiables present at the Ateneo forum were Nicanor Perlas, Eddie Villanueva, and JC delos Reyes.

Among the candidates, it was former defense secretary Teodoro who got the most thunderous applause from the students.

Taking advantage of the absence

The six candidates present took the chance to present their platform to the Ateneo students and faculty in the “Panghisgot-hisgot (Discussions) 2010 Presidential Forum”.

When asked of their policy on the Mindanao peace process, JC delos Reyes said the peace process has failed as there was no involvement of the Mindanao stakeholders in the negotiations. He said that under his administration, the peace process will be done within just one year if his government would be successful in “breaking paradigms”.

Senator Gordon said leaders must have a clear vision of where it wants to take Mindanao for the peace process to succeed.

Senator Madrigal said the Arroyo administration has mismanaged the peace process. That instead of showing good faith, the administration has terrorized the people in Mindanao by militarizing the island.

Teodoro said there should be no single peace process in Mindanao rather it should be localized.

“Nobody can impose any paradigm of peace on Mindanao but the Mindanaoan themselves,” Teodoro said.

Villanueva said that genuine peace in Mindanao can only be attained if the participating parties exercise genuine sincerity. He said both parties should also take into consideration the historical events that led to the Mindanao conflict. Lastly, Villanueva said, Mindanao must have bigger share of the national budget for it to be progressive.

Warlordism

When asked about warlordism in Mindanao and the proliferation of private armies, Villanueva said he will not tolerate private armies in the country and will dismantle them once elected.

Teodoro said for the government to be able to rid Mindanao of warlords, there must be infusion of government projects for the problem not to recur once eradicated.

Perlas said the Ampatuan problem of the government is the result of traditional politics. He vowed to dismantle all private armies within 100 days of his administration.

Perlas’ statement was seconded by Madrigal who said that the November 23 Maguindanao massacre was a failure on the part of the Defense department, once headed by Teodoro, “for allowing so much money and power to the Ampatuans”.

“We need to put them where they ought to be. If not in jail, cut off their heads,” Madrigal said that was met with loud applause from the audience.

Gordon said the problem on warlordism in Mindanao was a result of the lack of accountability on the leaders and the people as well. He said that if the people will continue to be nonchalant about the culture of impunity that’s happening in many parts of Mindanao then the problem will continue.

JC delos Reyes on the other hand said that once elected, he will ask Congress to give life to the anti-political dynasty law that has been pending since the 8th Congress.

On mining

On the issue on mining, most of the presidentiables are calling for the repeal of the Mining Act of 1995.

Madrigal said the interest of the indigenous peoples must reign over mining interests. She said there is no such thing as sustainable mining in the country.

Perlas is also for the repeal of the mining law and added that there must be an environment agency that totally respects and honestly follow the criteria of the issuance of the environmental clearance certificate which he said is not being strictly followed.

Gordon said the government must also be selective in inviting foreign investors in the mining industry. He said the government must also see to it that there is value added to the minerals we export so as to increase the income of the local miners. Gordon said there is also a need for a government that appreciates the value of mining and not just of their own pockets.

Teodoro said he is for mining provided that they meet his three criteria – non-destructive, proponent agrees to return the condition of the mining site back to its original state upon leaving the area, and the local community must agree.

He said the government must also be strict on the small-scale mining which, he said, is the one that’s destroying the environment if unabated. Teodoro said the mining industry could also be used as a stepping stone for the country to achieve industrial development.

Delos Reyes said he will be strict with the large-scale miners. Vilanueva meanwhile said that he will call for the immediate suspension of large-scale open pit mining in the country once elected.

Mindanao 20 years from now

Asked of their projection of Mindanao twenty years from now, Villanueva said the island will become the food basket not just of the Philippines but of Asia. Madrigal thinks so too.

Delos Reyes said Mindanao will become the center of development in the near future provided that Malacañang cares more for Mindanao.

Teodoro envisioned Mindanao to become agriculturally progressive 20 years from now and will become the “power center” of the Republic of the Philippines.

Gordon urged the Mindanaoan to take part in the process of change for Mindanao to become peaceful and progressive by 2030. Perlas said Mindanao will become the beacon of a successful peace negotiation for the world to emulate in the next twenty years.

Power crisis

On the power crisis that’s bugging Mindanao the past weeks, Madrigal said the problem could be traced back to the Marcos era where big dams started sprouting like mushrooms. She said what should be done at present is to create smaller dams so as to provide power in more areas.

Madrigal said she will also be diverting the huge allocation for debt payment to the projects that would solve the current power crisis that affects not just Mindanao but the whole country.

Perlas looks at energy efficiency as the key in solving the power crisis. He said that aside from deploying power barges to affected areas, the government must also tap other sources of energy other than what is existing.

Teodoro is looking at increasing the generating capacity in Mindanao as the immediate solution. Midterm solution meanwhile would be for the creation of the sustainable and renewable energy road map. He said an increase on the water catchment system would also be helpful to address the problem on decreasing water supply.

Villanueva said emergency measures must be implemented to address the power crisis. Aside from deploying more mobile power barges and the tapping of alternative sources of energy, there also must be action on the oil industry which he partly blamed for the crisis.

The Bangon Pilipinas party standard bearer said regulation on the oil industry must be restored. (Ben O. Tesiorna)