Montemayor: Presidency a dream since grade school

Jose Montemayor Jr.—Joey Montemayor facebook photo

(Eighth of a series)

A doctor, lawyer, economist and a lecturer on law and economics, who has been criticized for believing fake news, Jose “Joey” Montemayor Jr. wanted to be President of the Philippines since elementary school.

He often cites his masters and postgraduate studies in economics, public administration and public health as his credentials to lead the nation. He told ANC in an interview that he acquired his degrees as part of his “preparations for the presidency.”

When he filed his certificate of candidacy on Oct. 1, 2021, Montemayor vowed to eliminate corruption, criminality and COVID-19.

“Our country is facing a very serious crisis, especially the pandemic. One who is running for president must have ample knowledge on what this virus [is], what are [its] effects, and not only the health condition of the country but also the economic side,” he said in his speech.

The 60-year-old presidential aspirant is a consultant in clinical and interventional cardiology at St. Luke’s Medical Center, the National Kidney and Transplant Institute and Philippine Heart Center.

‘Christ-centered’

He served as president and member of the board of trustees of the Philippine Society of Cardiac Catheterization and Interventions.

He also held various leadership positions in other groups, such as board member of the Asia-Pacific Society for Interventional Cardiology, assistant secretary general of the Philippine Medical Association and vice president of the Philippine Association of Government Corporate Lawyers.

Running under the Democratic Party of the Philippines, Montemayor and his running mate Rizalito David are pushing for a “Christ-centered governance,” or what they call as the “faith-based approach to glorify God.”

For this reason, Montemayor opposes same-sex unions, abortion, divorce and the death penalty under their Christ in PH 10-point agenda.

He plans to replace military personnel manning quarantine checkpoints with medical doctors and health workers as a COVID-19 measure.

Montemayor said he would support alternative medicine and advance Filipino innovations at all barangay levels.To bring down criminality, he promises to restructure the justice system to uphold law and order “to ensure public safety.”

Under his “creative and lean system” planning of government fund use, Montemayor will push for “godly digitalization and responsible innovation.”

Synergistic, transformative

He would also ensure a holistic approach to the West Philippine Sea, strengthen international diplomatic relations and restore the land through agricultural smart technology and use seeds that had not been genetically modified.

Montemayor also included on his agenda a support system for “in-depth equipping and assistance to outstanding Filipino workers,” a “synergistic” and inclusive economic planning down to the barangay level, transformative development program or negotiation with rebel groups, and a free and independent press.

“We will conduct this campaign at the grassroots level as well as all the professional organizations and born-again Christians, which accounts for 25 million,” he said in October last year.

In an interview with ABS-CBN’s “Harapan 2022,” Montemayor said he was doing a “reverse campaigning” where he goes to various places in the country “without telling the media.”

Despite his voluminous work in different fields, platforms, campaign strategies and presence in organized debates and forums, Montemayor has been at the tail end in the surveys of Pulse Asia.

He has been criticized for falling for fake news, most notable of which was his unsubstantiated claim during a debate that another presidential candidate, Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, received $15 million from American billionaire Bill Gates.

Anchor insulted

In an interview, ANC news anchor Karmina Constantino confronted Montemayor about his allegation against Domagoso and questioned what the public should believe after he changed his stance on the issue following the fact checks of his claim.

“Dr. Montemayor, you said that it was all over the papers but now, you’re telling us that now your sources have told you about this, so which one should we believe?” Constantino said.

Montemayor defended his statement and said: “If you will just research, especially you are in the media. You should have known better. Unless Isko Moreno paid the ANC and ABS-CBN.”

Constantino was visibly miffed by his remark and did not let it pass, telling the candidate that her network was not in the business of getting paid to report in a certain way.

“I am personally insulted by that insinuation. We can go on with this interview, we can leave this topic aside and move on. But let me tell you, this is not an insinuation that I will take lightly,” Constantino said.

Despite being a doctor, Montemayor is against mandatory vaccination.

“You always look for the vaccination card, when in fact vaccination will expose you to infection,” he said during the March 19 debate organized by the Commission on Elections.

Public health experts and the World Health Organization dispute such a view, which they say is one reason for vaccine hesitancy among some Filipinos, and that the shots are designed to provide immunity against the new coronavirus.

The lone medical professional in the presidential race, Dr. Jose Montemayor can talk with a measure of authority about the pandemic response and go on a lengthy discourse about moral governance. But one remark on TV, one that triggered a biting retort from a veteran journalist, left a self-inflicted wound on his campaign.

READ: Montemayor asks if wage hike hurts employers; Ka Leody says workers shouldn’t be treated as slaves