Sen. Mar Roxas obliges Nacho Chu, son of Chinoy businessman Warren and Twinkle Chu, with an autograph. His young fan was ecstatic.
Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr. and Mar Roxas III, standard bearers of the Liberal Party, vowed that they would not fall into the pit of corruption if they get the people’s mandate on May, saying that this early, they are telling everyone they will not seek ways to prolong their stay in power.
Senator Aquino, in an exclusive interview over lunch last Wednesday, March 3, said that all they want it to bring normalcy back into the democratic institutions that were skewed by the current dispensation, and after that, leave their offices with clean slates.
This was his answer to the question whether he can guarantee that he will not end up more corrupt than his other predecessors.
For his part, Senator Mar Roxas III, who in an interview with this same writer in 2004 said he was among the cabinet members of Mrs. Arroyo who was passionately advocating her to run in the 2004 elections, admitted he did not had inkling that she would turn out to be a disappointment.
Roxas, who said he greatly admired the President then, added that things began to change when new people replaced the old cabinet who were with her after President Estrada was ousted.
Senator Aquino, on the other hand, said that he admits his mother, the late Pres. Corazon Aquino, was among those who tossed up Arroyo as an ideal replacement for Estrada. “She seemed the best choice then”, he said. “She was a teacher, went to a good school, had the right credentials”, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Aquino who admitted that the problems of the country cannot be solved overnight, said that having an honest leader can mean a lot. Aquino is running on the campaign platform of honesty and integrity, with his slogan “Hindi ako magnanakaw” (I will not steal).
Taking for example the P280-Billion that was reportedly lost to corruption in the past years, he said that if there was an honest leader, these monies could have gone to build more buildings, to provide quality health care and programs to generate employment.
He added that if given the mandate, he would also seek judicial reforms, and hasten the delivery of justice so that the people’s trust in the system is regained. He said that current statistics have it that criminal cases average six years before it is disposed, with only an 18 percent conviction rate.
When the justice system works well, he said, people’s trust in other institutions will be regained as well because they know they can seek regress in the courts.
For his part, Mar Roxas counts the Cheaper Medicines Act as one of his laurels. However, he added that the law was “watered down” by the current administration and if given the mandate, he would want to pursue its full effects that would redound to the benefit of everybody. He said that contrary to beliefs that it would be the local drugstores that would be direly affected by the law, they are only after the pharmaceuticals and medicine manufacturers who’ve been making a huge profit off the Filipino people for decades now.
He said that compared to other countries where there are strict laws to regulate the prices of medicines, the same companies sell the same medicines for a third of the price they are selling it here.
Senator Aquino, on the other hand, also clarified his status on the controversial Reproductive Health Bill. He said that he was not an author of the bill, as portrayed by his detractors, but was merely lined up to interpolate it during a scheduled discussion of the bill because of some points he wanted to clarify. “Nagtatanong lang, naging author na”, he said.
Unfortunately, he said, his detractors “used” this against him. Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel himself was in Ormoc a few months ago, when Aquino’s name was floated as a presidential material, and alluded as much. Pimentel has turned out to be an ally of Sen. Manny Villar, Aquino’s closest rival to the top post of the land according to survey results.
Aquino said that in keeping with his religious belief, he is for responsible parenthood and believes that the matter of how many children a couple should have is a matter of conscience. He added that he would want government, however, to adopt ways to remind couples of their obligation to the children they bring to this world.
Mar Roxas, for his part, described their tandem as a boat where they want to keep the people safe and warm. “Kami mga taga-bugsay lang, mga timon and (would want to assure) that our boat is ligtas, may lugar para sa lahat at makakarating sa paroroonan”.
He also proudly endorsed his presidential candidate, saying that “Ang Filipino hindi nabibili. Tinimbang silang lahat at si Noynoy ang pinakamabigat (for them)”, taking a potshot at Senator Manny Villar who has been reported as trying to buy out other presidential bets from the race.
