THE tandem of PDP-Laban standard bearer Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Senator Alan Peter Cayetano visited the University of the Philippines (UP) in Diliman, Quezon City Thursday afternoon to attend the CNN Philippines' third installment of their Town Hall meeting which was held at the UP Film Center.
The 800-seater Cine Adarna was filled to the rafters mostly by UP students with others already standing or sitting at the floor just to watch the Duterte-Cayetano tandem talk about various issues concerning the students and the nation.
Among them was UP student leader John Paulo delas Nievas who earlier filed a petition before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for Duterte's disqualification. The Comelec dismissed the petition.
Hosted by CNN Philippines chief correspondent Pia Hontiveros, Town Hall was also aired live via CNN Philippines' Facebook page.
Duterte again captured the audience with his no-nonsense stance and cussing that elicited laughter and giggles from the students.
Criminality
Among the topics discussed was Duterte's statement to resign if he could not solve criminalities within 3-6 months. The mayor said his statement was merely a "figure of speech" to drive out his resolve to stop crimes all over the country.
Duterte admitted that it would be a daunting task to totally stop criminals from doing harm to the innocent people but said that a strict enforcement of the laws is all it takes.
Cayetano, meanwhile, defended Duterte from accusations of his being behind the summary killings in Davao.
The senator said that even under Roxas, Binay or Poe's administration, there will surely be killings still.
The difference, Cayetano said, is that under the Duterte administration, there are more criminals who will die rather than the innocent ones.
Duterte said that if ever he wins, the Commission on Human Rights would surely be very busy. His statement drew laughter from the crowd.
Juvenile criminality
Duterte said that the nation is presently "growing criminals" and he blamed this to the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act of 2006 or the "Pangilinan Law" after its author Senator Francis Pangilinan.
He said that children in conflict with the law (CICL) no longer acquire the sense of accountability due to Pangilinan law. He said that under his administration, he will restore the age of criminal responsibility to 15 years old.
Duterte said that criminal groups are taking advantage of the Pangilinan Law by employing minors to do the crimes for them. He said that if this continues in the future, the criminal justice system of the country will collapse.
"We are in a mess because of conflicting laws. Dahil sa papogi-pogi na yan. Kilala nyo ba si (Kiko) Pangilinan? Paki-regards ako pag nakita nyo. We do not protect the child because of these convoluted laws. Bumabagsak ang criminal justice system because the law allow the juveniles to grow criminals," Duterte said.
Use of nuclear power plant
An online query was posted regarding the possible revival of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant. Duterte said that with the growing power crisis, especially in Mindanao, all available sources of power must be tapped.
Duterte, however, said that it must be weighed in carefully with regards to the benefit and dangers of tapping power sources like nuclear. The mayor said that a stable power reserves is very important in enticing investors to the country.
Duterte said that climate change must also be taken into context. He admitted that coal use must be reduced to the barest minimum thus the need to look into other sources of energy other than fossil fuels.
Cayetano, meanwhile, said that the best way to address climate change is address poverty. He outlined three ways on how to do it -- federalism, government funding, and discipline.
Agriculture
On the agricultural sector, Duterte said that under his administration irrigation will be for free. Farmers will also be provided with their needs like funding, seedling, fertilizers, subsidies. Duterte said he will also build more farm-to-market roads.
The mayor said there also must be identification of the most suitable crops to grow in each areas and concentrate on that.
Duterte earlier said that there are many programs of then President Ferdinand Marcos that are exemplary and that he plans to revive. Among them was Marcos' Masagana 99.
Masagana 99 was a program in the Philippines under Marcos that promoted the planting of Green Revolution varieties of rice developed by the International Rice Research Institute.
For a brief spell during Marcos' dictatorship, the Philippines became self-sufficient in rice, reversing a trend of buying overseas to fill in shortages in the staple since colonial times.