By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL
AMID unresolved issues on her citizenship and residency, Senator Grace Poe has stepped up her campaign for votes and support in the countryside, banking on a promise of a “government with a heart” for the poor and the marginalized.
The independent presidential candidate kicked off her campaign in Manila, but has since visited Cebu, Ilocos Norte and Pangasinan, known bailiwicks of her opponents.
A record-keeper for garnering 20 million votes during her 2013 senatorial bid, the highest ever recorded in Philippine electoral history, Poe is considered a frontrunner in this year’s polls. But disqualification cases against her are still pending with the Supreme Court barely three months before the elections, making her political journey a total cliffhanger.
The Commission on Elections has ruled that Poe is disqualified from running for the top post, citing misrepresentations about her citizenship and residency in her certificate of candidacy.
Critics say among those eyeing the presidency, the senator is the most inexperienced in politics – her hotly contested bid capitalizing mainly on her late adoptive celebrity father’s name and prominence. And she plays this card to the hilt.
She launched her campaign at the historic Plaza Miranda, the same place where her father, Fernando Poe, Jr., held his kick-off rally for the 2004 presidential election.
In her speech on Tuesday, she used famous movie lines of her father, saying she owes her desire for public service to him. While addressing a crowd in Batac, Ilocos Norte on Thursday, she recalled times she accompanied her father while the actor was shooting a movie in the province.
Poe has likened her life to drama and said her being a foundling makes her the most qualified to represent the oppressed, as they share a common plight. She said she launched her campaign rally in front of the Quiapo church to dramatize her beginnings. She is believed to have been found in a church.
“Nagsimula po ang kwento ng aking buhay sa isang simbahan. Kaya minarapat ko rin na sa tapat ng simbahan ilunsad ang susunod na kabanata ng aking buhay (My life started in a church. So I decided to launch the next chapter of mylife in one),” Poe told a crowd of about 15,000 people.
She said she was ready to prove her true Filipino blood.
The senator also made promises of alleviating poverty and improving the quality of life in the country. Under her leadership, Poe said there would be food on the table, roofs over people’s heads, jobs, quality education and healthcare, safe communities, reliable mass transport system and lower taxes.
Like people who have been constantly subject to various forms of oppression, Poe said she has also been through pain and bitterness but she has managed to “rise above the odds of life and fate.”
“May mga nakapagsabi na dahil daw ako ay isang pulot lamang, ako daw ay hindi tunay na Pilipino. Na dahil daw ako ay isang babae, hindi ko daw taglay ang lakas at tapang para harapin ang problema ng ating bayan (Some say that because I am a foundling, I am not a true Filipino. That because I am a woman, I don’t possess the strength and courage to face our society’s problems),” she said.
Poe’s legislative record
In her three years at the Senate, Poe has filed 68 bills and 130 resolutions encompassing issues on social justice, child nutrition, ecological protection and graft and corruption, among others.
She chairs the public information and mass media committee and is known to have pioneered the passage of the Freedom of Information Act, which was approved on third reading by the upper chamber.
Only two bills passed into law are mentioned in her website. These include Republic Act 10649, an amendatory law of the Dangerous Drugs Act; and Republic Act 10639, which mandates telecommunication companies to send free disaster and calamity alerts to citizens.
Beyond these, Poe is known for riding the Metro Rail Transit during rush hour to gain firsthand experience in preparation for a Senate hearing on the train system that has constantly been under fire.
The senator again stressed on Tuesday the need to address Manila’s traffic problem and the sorry state of the Metro Rail Transit and Light Rail Transits, where everyday commuters are forced to endure long queues, intermittent delays and occasional breakdowns.
Education is top priority
Poe’s primary vision for the country is accessible education – a public school system with adequate books, classrooms and supplies from kindergarten to college level.
In addition, children in public schools must be given appropriate nutrition. In her Sustansya para sa Batang Pilipino bill, Poe lobbied to institutionalize free lunch feeding program for public school kids in the 2015 Budget Law to address malnutrition.
Another bill pending approval is one which seeks to provide Filipino children full protection and support through a comprehensive health care program for pregnant and lactating mothers.
During her Plaza Miranda speech, Poe received strong applause from supporters when she said she dreams of a nation that gives every child, regardless of gender, background and socioeconomic status, an equal chance at living a decent life.
“Ang bawat bata ay pwedeng mangarap maging teacher, maging artista, pulis, matagumpay na magsasaka, doctor, SC justice at maging pangulo ng Pilipinas, babae ka man, pulot o dukha (Every child can dream of becoming a teacher, an artist, a police, a successful farmer, a doctor, a Supreme Court justice, or even the president of the Philippines, even if she is a girl, a foundling, even if he or she is poor),” she said.
At her campaign sortie in Pangasinan on Friday, Poe talked about digital services, such as WIFI technology, as becoming part of what she envisions as free and accessible education for the people.
Poe also vowed to strengthen the economy to pave the way for more job opportunities, while acknowledging the need to improve lives of farmers.
Law enforcement is also on Poe’s priority list. “Ipapatupad ang batas, ipapakulong ang abusado, mayaman man o may pwesto, kaibigan man o kamag-anak (Laws would be enforced, perpetrators of abuse would be sent to jail, whether rich or powerful, friend or relative),” she said earlier.
Poe explained that the “government with a heart” which she envisions is one that will not tolerate lazy, incompetent, corrupt and dishonest public servants.
