Ateneo Fact Check project: Where Senate bets stand

Seeking to expand voters’ knowledge, the Ateneo de Manila University has launched a program that discloses the position of senatorial candidates on issues ranging from public health, justice, access to information and the peace process.

The Ateneo School of Government’s Political Democracy and Reforms program in April launched Fact Check 2013, assembled by professors and researchers who analyze the track record of both administration and opposition candidates on critical issues.

“Elections should serve as a viable means for citizens to interact and dialogue with both their current and prospective leaders,” said Jaime Hofilena, vice president of Ateneo de Manila university’s social development department.

“Crucial in this is the veracity and quality of information made available especially by the candidates, the prospective leaders during the election period. It’s upon such information that voters and other critical stakeholders should base their decisions,” Hofileña said.

Launched barely a month before the elections, the program “studied candidates’ claims, positions and track records” on the following issues: The Reproductive Health Law, Sin Tax Law, the Bangsamoro Framework Agreement, and legal actions pursued by the Aquino administration, including the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona, prosecution of former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez and former President Gloria Arroyo.

The program has so far analyzed the position of the two main coalitions, including Ateneo alumnus President Aquino’s Team PNoy and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA), the ruling coalition’s main rival led by Vice President Jejomar Binay and deposed President Joseph Estrada, a Manila mayoral candidate.

Ateneo’s analysis found both points of unity and divergence among the two contending coalitions and their individual candidates.

For one, both coalitions favored coalition politics and the contentious Freedom of Information Bill.

Focusing on Team PNoy, Fact Check found that most candidates supported the importance of coalitions in powerplay, recognizing that “having a supportive Senate is crucial in terms of advancing the reforms they want to achieve.”

The team found that UNA candidates had “really different, varied, with no unified stand on the administration’s reform agenda and issues.”