THE first and only official debate among six vice presidential candidates put Senator Ferdinand Marcos Jr. in the hot seat, with Senator Alan Peter Cayetano leading the attacks against him based on allegations of corruption and human rights abuses during his father’s Martial Law regime.
Cayetano and Senator Antonio Trillanes IV took turns attacking Marcos, while administration candidate Camarines Sur Rep. Leni Robredo trained her guns on fellow Bicolano, Senator Francis Escudero.
Cayetano, who has been at the tail end in all election surveys, confronted Marcos about his family’s alleged $10 billion in ill-gotten wealth. He also said that if Marcos were elected, he might steal even more than the amount his father was said to have accumulated.
But Marcos insisted that Cayetano’s numbers had no basis and came from nowhere.
“I’m also wondering why he was coming out with those allegations only now when we have been together for years as party mates and senators,” Marcos, a frontrunner in the vice presidential race, said. ‘‘He didn’t mention anything about it. Why only now? He might be suspected of politicking.”
Defending himself against Cayetano’s accusations that he benefitted from the pork barrel scam, Marcos said he has already addressed the issue.
“In my 20 years in public service, I was never tainted with corruption,” Marcos said. “Not even suspicion, accusations or allegations. Now because of politics, charges have been filed against me, even if the evidence shows that I had nothing to do with PDAF (the Priority Development Assistance Fund) and [alleged pork barrel mastermind Janet Lim] Napoles herself said in her affidavit that she doesn’t know me and never met me.”
“If there is evidence against me, I know the government will use it because you must remember—I am a Marcos and the President is an Aquino,” Marcos added, taking a dig at the administration’s presidential candidate Manuel Roxas II, who offered a similar reminder to the mayor of Tacloban City, a cousin of Marcos, in the aftermath of Super Typhoon “Yolanda.”
When Cayetano said that $1 billion that a court ordered be paid to human rights claimants for abuses they suffered under Martial Law, Marcos reminded him that his family did not have anything to do with the dispute, which was between the Liberal Party-led government and the human rights claimants.
The reason human rights claimants did not yet receive their payments was not the fault of the Marcoses, he said, but of the government.
When asked by Cayetano why his statement of assets and liabilities rose from P200 million to P500 million when he worked only in government, Marcos urged Cayetano to “check his facts.”
Cayetano also questioned Marcos when he answered a question on the issue of punishing corrupt officials, saying that it was not the penalty that mattered but the certainty that offenders would be caught and punished.
“In the Philippines, if you steal pan de sal, you will surely be caught. But if one steals large amounts of money, you will be a congressman. If you steal bigger than that that, you will be a senator. If you become president, you will have accomplices in corruption,” said Cayetano, the running mate of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte.
Marcos shot back: “Is that how you become a congressman? Is that how you become a senator?”
He also dismissed the Senate investigations into corruption that Cayetano joined were not really about fighting corruption but about political gains.
Throughout the first half of the debate, Cayetano repeatedly hit Marcos while vice presidential candidate Antonio Trillanes IV kept on attacking presidential candidate Vice President Jejomar Binay.
During the start of the debate held at the University of Santo Tomas, protesters heckled Marcos, chanting “Never again, never again to Martial Law.”
Host Pinky Webb asked the hecklers to be escorted out of the venue.
When Marcos was asked if he would acknowledge the human rights abuses during his father’s Martial Law years, the senator said acknowledged that there were regrettable abuses in all administrations. Asked if he would apologize for what his father did during Martial Law, he said: “I can only apologize for myself. I cannot apologize for anyone else.”
While Marcos took most of the punches, he countered with his own jab when Cayetano defended Duterte’s vow to end crime in six months, saying that the mayor had even offered to resign if he could not fulfill this campaign promise.
“Actually, the mayor said he would pass the presidency to me if he could not do it,” Marcos said, in what observers saw as a reference by some Duterte supporters to dump Cayetano in favor of Marcos.
At the start of the debate, co-organized by CNN and Business Mirror, all the vice presidential aspirants were asked about their brand of leadership.
Cayetano, said he is a fresh choice in a field where political dynasties are rife, although he comes from a political family himself. His late father was a former senator. His wife is the mayor of Taguig while an elder brother is a congressman.
“Will it always be Marcos, Cojuangco, or Aquino? Is there nobody else? What about you?” he told the audience in the debate hall.
Escudero, one of the poll frontrunners, said he will “never steal” if elected in May.
“I will wake up early to go to work, and I will prioritize the interest of the majority. I promise not to steal; I was not raised to be a thief,” said the running mate of Senator Grace Poe.
Senator Gregorio Honasan said he will draw his leadership values as vice president from his different stints in public service.
“I will bring in to the vice presidency the courage of my convictions and the audacity and make things happen. I’ve been a soldier for 17 years, rebel for seven years, senator 18 years. I will work and continue to work for unity, peace and prosperity, and security,” he said.
Marcos extolled his service in different sectors of the government in his opening speech.
“I’ve been in public service for 20 years. I started in local [government] where I engaged directly with the people,” Marcos said.
“Aside from being a legislator, I was also experienced being in the executive who implements the programs and solves the problem,” he said, adding that the nation needs better leaders who can unite the people.
Robredo promised collaborative governance. Robredo described herself as a neophyte in politics, but said she has worked with the grassroots community as a pro bono lawyer. Robredo also emphasized the need for accountability and transparency, and people participation in governance.
Trillanes emphasized how he made a name in government all by himself.
“I have no relatives in politics who made my name. I served the country as a soldier,” Trillanes, who led two coup attempts against the previous administration, said.
“I led investigations that exposed corruption in government. I will focus on and solve our problems in peace and order and the worsening drug problem,” he said.
During the debate, Robredo acknowledged that more had to be done, including making it easier to start doing business in the Philippines.
She also said that reforms under the Aquino administration were not enough.
“We need to put in more. Because of the 4Ps, families have been removed from poverty. But this is not enough. There should be sustainability. [We need] food, jobs and housing,” she said.
Robredo also said she favored an anti-dynasty law, noting that the proliferation of political dynasties have been directly linked to poverty.
Making a pitch as the only female among the six vice presidential candidates, Robredo said: “With the six of us, may the best woman win.” With Sandy Araneta, AFP