The country may have been blessed with leaders who are intelligent and are able to draw platforms of government that are ideal for the Philippines but all failed in preventing graft and corruption from thriving in their respective administrations.
PROMDI presidential candidate Sen. Manny Pacquiao made this point during the CNN Philippines Presidential Debate on Sunday, Feb. 27 even as he stressed that lack of sincerity and love for Filipinos could be the reason behind such failures.
During the debate aired in multi-media platforms, Pacquiao was the lone candidate among the nine presidential candidates present who said that the Department of Health will be on top of his list of corrupt government agencies that need to be scrutinized by the Commission on Audit.
He also wrote the Bureau of Customs and the Department of Social Welfare and Development as among those in his priority list.
His presidential rivals, except for UniTeam bet Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., wrote “BOC” as the most corrupt agency.
Just like several other presidential debates, Marcos was not present during the CNN program.
Pacquiao also repeated his vow to build a ‘megaprison” specially designed as a prison facility for corrupt officials in government.
“Ang importante talaga sa bansa natin magkaroon tayo ng leader na mayroong totoong pagmamahal at malasakit sa ating bayan, lalong-lalo na sa mga kababayan nating naghihirap. Yung nakadama sa nararamdaman ng mga nagugutom na pamilya, yung nakadama sa nararamdaman ng mga nawalan ng tahanan, mga nawalan ng trabaho. Yun po ang kailangan nating lider sa ating bansa. (What is really important in our country is to have a leader who truly love and and has concern for the country, especially to our countryment who are poor. Those who have experienced hunger in the family, those who have experienced losing homes and losing their jobs. They are the leaders that we need.)” he said.
Pacquiao said that Filipinos already have too much of empty promises and this should already serve as an eye-opener for them to choose a leader who truly cares for the nation and the people especially the poor and one who puts God at the center of his life.
He said that he does not mind losing the election as long the country’s next leader is a “godly person” and a “godly leader”. The Pambansang Kamao said he decided to run for president because he feels he needs to step in to stop the systemic corruption that is the root cause of country's poverty.
Asked what would be his first order of business if he gets elected, Pacquaio said that within the first 100 days of his presidency, he will commence the construction of a big prison facility for corrupt government officials and will immediately order a lifestyle audit of all government officials, from the national level down to the local level.
Pacquaio said that all officials who are found to have enriched themselves using taxpayers’ money and have used their power to accumulate wealth will be immediately arrested and charged accordingly.
He would also ask Congress to review the Ant-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act and other pertinent laws so that the crime of plunder is removed as a pardonable offense.