Poe: You don’t have to be in gov’t for so long to be President

Presidential Candidate Sen. Grace Poe INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JILSON SECKLER TIU

BATAC, Ilocos Norte—A lengthy stint in government does not immediately qualify one to become the country’s leader, according to Sen. Grace Poe, a neophyte senator who is the least experienced in public service among the contenders for the post.

“You don’t have to be in government for so long to be President of the country,” Poe told students of Mariano Marcos State University, from whom she took questions.

She said that around the world, many relatively inexperienced people had made their mark as leaders of their countries.

“We need a new perspective, a leader who does not follow the old system. Some have been there for so long but our country’s problems remain the same—hunger, joblessness, crime. But what solutions have they offered,” she said.

It was time to choose a leader who has good intentions for the country, who is competent and who is trustworthy, she added.

But she was also proud to admit her inexperience when it came to thievery and corruption.

Poe is on her first term as senator and has completed three years of her six-year term. Before joining the legislature, she headed the Movie and Television Review and Classification Board.

Poe also told the students that she considered poverty and hunger the  country’s most pressing issues.

She praised one of the programs of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, the provision of nutribuns to students, to ensure that they would not be distracted from their studies because of hunger.

She said that should she become President, she would implement a free lunch program in all public schools.

The program makes sense because the country has a young population, she said.

Thus, it is necessary that the youth get the proper education and protection, as they will lead the country in the future, she added.