When I am asked who I will vote for in the coming presidential elections, I answer, I don’t know. The reason is that I have yet to hear from the presidentiables what they intend to accomplish if they get elected.
I know, however, that I will vote for any of them that will answer yes to all of the following questions:
1. Will you honor and implement Article 14, Section 6, of the Constitution that orders the government to “take steps to initiate and sustain the use of Filipino as a medium of official communication and as language of instruction in the educational system”?
2. Will you honor Article 3, Section 7, of the Constitution that states that “the right of the people to information on matters of public concern shall be recognized”? In particular, will you accept that everything about you and your family, including your health and your wealth, are matters of public concern?
3. Will you sign a waiver of the Bank Secrecy Law as far as your own and your family’s accounts are concerned?
4. Will you issue an Executive Order ordering everyone in the Executive Branch to give all information, no matter how sensitive or confidential, to the Legislative Branch whenever asked?
5. Will you order the Department of Justice on July 1, 2010, to start investigating the alleged crimes of Gloria, Mike, Mickey, Dato, Iggy, and the rest of the Arroyo clan? (Since everyone is presumed innocent until proven guilty, no matter how obviously guilty they may appear to the vast majority of the population, the Arroyos have to be investigated first before they are imprisoned for crimes of plunder, corruption, perjury, election fraud, money laundering, unexplained wealth, or whatever.)
6. Will you create Search Committees similar to the Judicial and Bar Council for positions such as the Commissioners of the Commission on Higher Education, the Ombudsman, and the heads of all government corporations so that you will not appoint anyone not recommended by their peers?
7. Will you stop the practice of the President sending Desire Letters to agencies that are supposed to elect their own heads (such as the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts)?
8. Will you assign, assuming that you will not amend Executive Order 632, the Secretary of the Department of Education as the concurrent Presidential Assistant for Education for the entire six years of your term, thus ensuring that the other education agencies and all other Departments with education programs will be marching to the same drummer?
9. Will you add two more years to our education cycle by inserting Grade 7 and Fifth Year into basic education or a two-year pre-university between the secondary and tertiary levels? (The latter condition is admittedly self-serving, because as head of CHED’s Technical Panel on General Education, I do not want our efforts to go to waste just because the new President is afraid of negative feedback from parents and school heads.)
10. Will you promise that you will not stay in office beyond your first and only term?
I will vote for anyone that answers all these questions affirmatively. Since no politician is perfect, however, I will be happy with any presidentiable that answers yes to most of these questions.
HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH GENIUSES: Together with Jose Carillo and Rodolfo de los Reyes, I formulated questions on English vocabulary, grammar, and syntax for the First A-Z English Proficiency Challenge, sponsored by the Department of Education, Rotary International, and A-Z Direct Marketing. The nine regional winners (out of 178 high schools that joined the contest) vied for the championship and cash prizes in the final round played on Sept. 16 at the Manila International Book Fair.
The 2009 champion was Jose Maria H. Zaldarriaga (Lourdes School of Mandaluyong). Runner-up was Juliette Michelle Aciedo (Cainta Catholic College). Third placer was Rose Anne Acedera (Maysan National High School of Valenzuela).
ENGLISH MATTERS: Although I advocate Filipino as the medium of instruction, I will not vote for a presidentiable who mangles the English language. Take Gibo Teodoro, who said last Friday in a television interview, “Let’s not talk about that anymore. It’s water behind the bridge.” (Gibo loyalists, don’t worry. Other candidates caught saying illiterate sentences will be similarly ridiculed in future columns.)
LETTER FROM A READER: “We have been monitoring the interviews of the typhoon victims and noticed that many of them are homeless, nothing to go home to in Metro Manila. Many of them are crying because they want to go back to their provinces. Why doesn’t the government pick up and help them go back to their provinces? Yes, they have lost everything and have no money to go back to the province. It will be much less in price to help these people go back to Davao, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros, etc. Arrange fares with our inter-island vessels such as Negros Navigation, Go Thong Lines, Aboitiz Shipping, etc. A particular and specific desk should be set up for them in all the evacuee centers. We must do something fast before they die, this time from depression and hunger!”
Rescue and relief were and are tough, but getting the survivors back on their feet will be tougher.