21 Questions: Nikki Coseteng on her students, scams past & presidentiables

MANILA, Philippines - You’d think that, for somebody who attended nine schools in her lifetime and didn’t like any of them completely, running a school would be her last career option.

But former senator, former congresswoman, radio and TV host, self-described “DNF” (did not finish college) and one-time actor (Sa Kuko ng Liwanag, the anti-US bases movie she made with Erap in 1989) Anna Dominique “Nikki” Coseteng is just getting started on her 10th school.

This time, though, she’s the one running things.

Nikki is president of the Diliman Preparatory School on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City, which offers nursery, kindergarten, elementary and high school education, as well as college courses. The school was founded 40 years ago by a group of educators from UP Diliman, including Nikki’s mother Alicia M.L. Coseteng, who was the first president.

When it opened it only had a one-story building housing 10 classrooms and classes from nursery to Grade 5. Today, it sits on a 1.4-hectare campus with still enough room to expand horizontally and vertically.

“When my mom died, one of the shareholders asked me if I wanted to run the school,” says Nikki. “Initially I did not want to because I thought it would be too difficult, but they kept asking and asking. I took one good look and said, ‘Okay, I will accept it but these are the things we have to do: we are already very strong academically, the next step is to become even stronger. Second, it is a 40-year-old school and some of the facilities are as old. We have to reconstruct, reconfigure and renovate to present ourselves the way we should be today in the global context.”

Nikki ordered the renovation of toilets, the clinic, and the electricity system; she had the manual grading system computerized for the 200-plus teachers, so “they would have time to go to the museums or movies instead of having to do grades manually at home because a teacher’s job doesn’t end in school.” Nikki also had the classrooms soundproofed and air-conditioned — all of which cost a whopping P60 million.

“We’re facing Commonwealth Avenue and it’s now a nine-lane highway each way. With all the buses and jeepneys outside, we were like an orchestra here all day. Of course, everybody was close to a heart attack! They told me, ‘Para kang galit sa pera.’”

She was adamant. The school would be improved physically and academically — it would be better than all the nine schools she had attended as a student. “Lahat ng ayaw ko doon, tinanggal ko dito.”

It seems strange to be talking to Nikki Coseteng on a school campus instead of the Congress. As a politician she cut a picture of both poise and determination, always wearing a smart suit or Filipiniana, her hair in a bun and not a strand out of place. 

 For 14 years — five at the House of Representatives as part of the transitional Congress and nine in the Senate — Nikki was in the headlines as she delivered one exposé on government corruption after another, and at the same time raising her son Julian, who would later become a councilor in Quezon City, and Kimberly, who now works in Singapore.

Here, Nikki talks about those political years, the corruption exposés, her students, and the lineup of presidentiables.

1. THE PHILIPPINE STAR: Do you have regrets about your years in politics?

NIKKI COSETENG: No, I learned a lot. In fact, the way I think today is a reflection of my experience in politics. I am today what I learned, saw and felt when I was in politics.

2. What was the most disappointing thing for you about politics?

The way the judicial system is run. My exposés were very solid, like the Centennial Expo scam, the North Rail, immigration, agriculture and health department procurement scams. I remember that the Department of Agriculture then kept buying cows from abroad but they did not prepare the local conditions for those cows, which were worth hundreds of millions and then they just died.

3. Did anybody ever go to jail for these exposés?

No, but then Health Secretary Hilarion Ramiro was removed. Remember, they tried to bribe me with duffel bags full of money. The night before the hearing the Secretary came to me and asked me to give him all the original documents so the investigation wouldn’t continue because there was going to be another procurement the following week worth P400 million, and he would give me 30 percent of that kung di siya matatanggal. I told my staff to call up then Justice Secretary Teofisto Guingona to send the NBI to my office. The next morning the brother-in-law of Ramiro came into my office, but the NBI was already there. They took pictures of the money.

4. How much was it?

I don’t even know nga eh. They put it on top of the Xerox machine. Can you imagine, they did not put them in jail because I did not receive daw the money. Eh kung hinawakan ko yan and left my fingerprints baka ako pa ang makulong.

5. But he was caught red-handed.

That’s what I’m telling you. The justice system doesn’t work.

6. So they said there was no actual bribery even though the money was brought to your office because you did not receive it?

Yes. In fact, when we called up the NBI the night before they said, “Wag naman kaming papuntahin ng 6 ng umaga di pa kami handa with the marked money.” My staff said, “What marked money? We’re the ones being given the bribe.” And they said, “Ganon ba? Eh bakit kayo nagre-reklamo kayo pala ang binibigyan?” 

7. How did you deal with such frustrations?

I didn’t get frustrated because I knew that was the way it was going to go. You only get frustrated when you believe something else would happen.

8. You mean all your years in politics you didn’t believe it would change?

I knew it was like that, so I would go along with it till the end. I ended up in the Sandiganbayan and discussing all these things. All because I didn’t get pala the money.

Another exposé was the Centennial Expo scam, maliwanag yon. I showed it to all the lawyers — Rene Saguisag, Kiko Pangilinan, Frank Drilon. Sabi nila two years imprisonment, 47 counts, from President Ramos to the late Doy Laurel. I told Saguisag, ‘Kung basura lahat ng sinasabi ko, pakulong niyo ako at lahat ng papeles na yan ibebenta ko na lang por kilo. If there were truth to what I was saying, it would no longer be in my hands. The only witness was killed two days before he was set to appear before the committee.

Another scam was the traffic signal contract worth $200 million. When the hearing came I asked, “How did you arrive at that figure, where’s the plan? How come NEDA disapproved it?” The plan turned out to be based on the traffic system of Hong Kong.

My safety and security at the time was that every privilege speech I would do I would give advanced copies to the media. Every exposé was backed up by so many documents. They could insult me, call me whatever they wanted, but they couldn’t call me a liar. I was just saddened. I had a whole crew of people who were working so hard on these exposés.

9. What’s your take on the corruption charges against GMA now?

I can’t say anything because I’m not in politics, I’m not at it.

10. Of the presidentiables, who are you supporting?

I don’t know who are really running. Most of them are my friends.

11. What’s your opinion on Noynoy Aquino?

He’s going to be a different president. For sure, it is not going to be the same as before anymore — meaning GMA, Erap, FVR, Cory and Marcos.

12. Different in a good way or bad?

Well, if you’re going to be different eh di in a good way na. How bad can it get? We are already in the pits. Eto na ang pinaka-masahol. How low can you go?

13. That’s what we thought about Erap.

I didn’t think Erap was low.

14. Even with the Boracay mansion and the mistresses?

That’s petty cash compared to the Centennial Expo scam, which was P16 billion. And that’s only one. I had a whole slew of scams.

15. What do you think of presidentiable Manny Villar?

I think he has to do a lot of explaining. Karina David, wife of Randy David, was the one who fueled my exposé on the P42 billion housing scam. I was the chairman of the committee on housing and she was the housing czar of Erap.

It’s sad that people don’t know anymore the kind of leader they need. So the one that sings the loudest, dances the longest, or is always on TV, that’s who they remember. Somebody may come out still. 

16. What about Gilbert Teodoro?

I’m glad we have a good lineup of presidentiables, if you put together Villar, Teodoro, Aquino, Erap and Eddie Vilanueva… it’s a whole range.

17. Do you plan to go back to politics?

No. There are different ways of doing things now. The way I did things before was the only way I knew, and I walked almost every other barangay from Aparri to Jolo. Before, with P7 to P10 million you could be a senator; today, P500 million, di ka pa sure.

I looked at being in the Senate as a service, a job for me to do, a responsibility that had no Bundy clock. It was 25-hour-a-day work, and that’s what I did. Every single school in my district I built a minimum of two-story buildings with my CDF (countrywide development fund).

18. What kind of fulfillment do you get from running a school that you didn’t get from politics?

Seeing the lives and attitudes of our students and teachers change before my very eyes. It’s like I’m standing still and there is movement all around me. In my lifetime, the way they think should be different.

When I was in politics I felt good because people I didn’t know saw me for what I was. I was the conduit for making things possible for them. I’m an “as is, where is” person.

19. Many people think Diliman Prep School is connected to UP Diliman.

It’s like a prep school for UP. This year 40 kids passed the UPCAT. The graduating class is about 200 though not everybody takes the UPCAT. Others go to Ateneo, UST, FEU or La Salle, depending on their courses.

The grade school kids we lose a lot. They go to the science high schools — Philippine Science and Quezon City Science high schools — because they pass there. It’s a conflict: you produce such good graduates and then you lose them because the science high schools are free.

20. Isn’t that a good indication of your school’s quality because those science schools are so difficult to get into?

Oh, yes. Some students pass in the science schools but maybe they don’t get admitted because it’s limited slots.

21. What’s the profile of your studentry?

From toddlers onwards. The economic profile is that they have to be able to pay anywhere between P55,000 and P80,000 per year.