Presidential Candidate Grace Poe visits and having a hot seat interview with the Inquirer reporters and editors in PDI office. INQUIRER PHOTO / JILSON SECKLER TIU
If she is elected President, Sen. Grace Poe’s first priority will be her own “KKK.”
That does not stand for “kakampi, kaklase, kabarilan (ally, classmate, shooting buddy)” that President Aquino is accused of favoring, but for “kabuhayan, kaligtasan, karunungan (livelihood, security and education)”.
As for her first executive order as President, Poe said her first directive would put the freedom of information principle in effect.
Speaking at the Meet Inquirer Multimedia Forum yesterday, Poe said she would not wait for Congress to pass the bill to have an open and transparent government. She would direct all executive offices, through an executive order, to comply with the freedom of information principle.
“It may not be passed immediately in Congress, but I would begin with the executive. Why? Because all of these changes can come but at least you yourselves can be stakeholders and know where your money is going, how the government is being run,” she said.
As chair of the public information committee, Poe shepherded the freedom of information bill in the Senate, which approved it on third and final reading.
But the counterpart bill in the House of Representatives has been stalled.
Constitutional reforms
On livelihood, Poe said inclusive growth could not be achieved without jobs that would empower people, and jobs could not be created without the proper economic climate.
“You can’t have investors if you don’t recalibrate your tax bracket, if you don’t reconsider foreign ownership,” she said.
On education, she said the Philippines’ young population, with a median age of 23 years old, is the country’s asset. But their needs must be dealt with.
“You need to be able to empower these students with karunungan. You have a young population but if they’re not healthy and they’re not smart, it won’t be an added value for us,” she said.
The government’s scholarship program therefore must be fully funded, she said, noting that program provides opportunities for college education to all students, not just to those who are at the top of their class.
School lunch
Another key project, which she said was close to her heart, is a standard lunch program for children in public elementary school.
Children benefited by the program register a 100-percent attendance and get higher test scores, she said.
“We’re trying to shy away from subsidies but this is something that will clearly go to the stomachs of our children. We need to be able to empower our population and this is one way that we can do it,” she said.
Kaligtasan, Poe said, refers not only to security but also to health.
Regional and provincial hospitals, especially in the 20 poorest provinces, must get the proper equipment and the necessary number of doctors to attend to the medical needs of people in their areas, she said.
“It is alarming that there is just one doctor for every 8,000 Filipinos,” she added.
Illegal drugs
As for peace and order, she said she would declare illegal drugs a national security threat.
“All resources of the government will be poured in to be able to stop this menace,” she said.
Malacañang has always had an intelligence fund, and it should be put to good use in the fight against illegal drugs, she said.
Poe said she would hire private survey firms to determine which barangays have drug and crime problems and she would provide incentives to barangay officials who could handle these problems. She would keep in touch with these officials about those problems, she said.