Labor leader and Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) presidential candidate Leodegario ‘Ka Leody” De Guzman’s solution to corruption in the government? Stop dynasty candidates and candidates with cases of theft and corruption from running for office.
“Kung patuloy pa rin nakakapasok ang mga political dynasty, ang mga trapo sa ating gobyerno, eh patuloy pa rin ang magnanakaw (If we continue to let political dynasties, corrupt officials into our government, there will continue to be corruption),” De Guzman explained during the Comelec presidential debates on Sunday, April 3.
This, after he was asked if corruption in public office stems from flaws in the system or flaws in people.
“Di na natin papayagan ang bayarang eleksyon, di na natin papayagan yung mga may kaso ng pagnanakaw sa ating gobyerno. yung trapo at tsaka yung dinastiya wag na isali sa eleksyon. Magnanakaw lang yan, walang intensyon paunlarin ang bayan (We will not allow paid elections, we will not allow candidates with cases of corruption in our government. Corrupt officials and dynasties shouldn’t be in elections. They’re just thieves with no intentions of developing the country),” De Guzman ranted.
In terms of legislation, De Guzman added that the Anti-Dynasty law should be enacted and strengthened.
“Lagyan natin ng enabling law, yung kasalukuyang batas ngayon tungkol sa ‘Anti-Political Dynasty’ (Let’s enact the law we have now, the ‘Anti-Political Dynasty’ ),” he said.
Currently, none of the Anti-Political Dynasty bills filed by Congress have ever been enacted into law. These include Senate Bill (SB) 2649 filed by the late Miriam Defensor-Santiago in 2013; and House Bills (HB) 172, 837, and 2911 which were all consolidated under HB 3587.
He also added that college students be recruited as poll watchers instead of those paid for by wealthy candidates.
“Huwag na nating payagan yung mga watcher na kinukuha ng kandidatong bilyonaryo, ang gamitin nalang natin ay college graduate ang ating gamiting watcher (Let’s not use poll watchers used by billionaire candidates, lets use college students as poll watchers),” De Guzman concluded.
PLM presidential bet De Guzman is running alongside PLM vice presidential bet Walden Bello in the 2022 polls.