I WAS invited by former congressman Rufus Rodriguez for coffee at his residence in Nazareth sometime last week. And since our acquaintanceship goes back years from the time I orchestrated the Sendong run and Election run with Xavier University in 2012 and 2013 (which he fully supported by the way), I did not hesitate to pay him a visit. The coffee chat escalated into a discussion on his bid for a congressional seat in the second district.
I am probably a poisoned source as I have been a fan of the lawmaker and his achievements over the years. I even endorsed him a couple of times in my column in the previous elections. In short, you can take this article with a grain of salt. Besides this is not really an endorsement of some sort. As the chief of this paper, more than my personal bias, I am duty-bound to provide every running politician equal access to our platform to communicate their message to the electorate.
In fact, I have already started making the rounds to interview politicians who are not as comfortable or who are hesitant to reach us out. This way, our readers will be well informed about their respective platforms and how they plan to make them happen if they ever win. Ultimately, it will be up to the voters whom they shall entrust our public offices to.
Back to Rufus, when asked why he is running again for congress, he simply said for continuity of what he and his brother have started in district 2. Being Jesuit educated, he anchors his cause to heed the call to help the poor and the marginalized. His blueprint for the next three years can be encapsulated on HEED - Health, Education, Employment, and Development through infrastructure.
While those may seem mother statements, the seasoned lawmaker happily substantiated them with concrete programs and projects he has already accomplished and eagerly shares his plans in expanding them if given yet another chance.
For health, while he has built numerous barangay health centers in the urban barangays he would like to build more in the remote barangays where access to healthcare is a great challenge. While he has lobbied time and again for an increased Philhealth coverage, he still aims to increase the number of beneficiaries as he also plans to make into law a bill that will transform the Northern Mindanao Medical Center from a 600-bed capacity to 1,000-bed capacity.
For education, public schools need more classrooms and the needed budget can be lobbied in Congress, a game he has mastered over the years. More than the infrastructure, he hopes to push for financial assistance for poor students who got into state colleges and universities to ensure they can really graduate from college. For those who failed to get into public colleges, a subsidy for tuition in private colleges and universities should be made available as well. Rufus obviously puts premium not just in education but for Kagay-anons to really graduate with a degree.
For employment, Rufus believes in barangay-based livelihood, and that budget can be sourced from national agencies such as DOLE for livelihood trainings and startups.
For infrastructure development, he eyes a comprehensive city-wide drainage system that will once and for all end our perennial problem in flooding. The crafting of such plan will cost millions, but when such is already made available, its implementation can already be offered to international aids and grants and that only a small fraction of the cost as counterpart shall be shouldered by the government.
While Rufus’ plan seems ambitious for a three-year term, his track record of delivering exactly what he promises would show that his blueprint is within reach. He knows what he wants to give to district 2, and he is obviously very prepared. That is probably one most commendable about his bid.
And while I was impressed with what he shared to me over coffee, I would like to suggest one thing I hope would be seriously lobbied in congress by whoever gets a congressional seat after the elections.
Aside from providing what we immediately need here in our locality, such as those he mentioned, a congressman can also push for game changing laws that can evenly distribute our wealth starting with re-crafting tax laws that shall be sensitive of the gap between the rich and the poor. Genuine land reform that will facilitate distribution of lands to farmers who till them should also be pushed.
The fact that there are still so much poverty around us shows we still lack the correct laws that can really change our society for the better. Infrastructures are good, they propel local economy, but creating the correct laws - that is the real game changer.