Guigayuma, Matula, Montaño, Ong, Sahidulla talk policy in ‘Kandidato’

With the May senatorial elections just months away, GMA News TV's Investigative Documentaries: Kandidato series invited candidates Junbert Guigayuma, Sonny Matula, Allan Montaño, Willie Ong, and Princess Lady Ann Sahidulla to discuss their platforms.

Indigenous people

Coming from the Subanen tribe, Junbert Guigayuma is the Tribal Customary Councilor of the National Chief Council.

With a degree in Industrial Education, majoring in Garment Education, Guigayuma is pushing for the enhancement of the Indigenous People's Rights Act and for all indigenous people to be provided education and decent homes.

According to the born again Lumad, he already has a proposed bill on land grabbing which was signed by over 20 million indigenous people.

"Maganda naman ang [Oplan] Tokhang pero 'pag patayin mo ang drug addict, may bahay at lupa ka pa. Pero itong land grabber na oligarch, saan kami titira? Paano pagkain namin?" asked Guigayuma.

"The greatest crime for us is a land grabber, not a drug addict," he said.

Rights for laborers and farmers

Growing up in Agusan del Sur, Atty. Sonny Matula, a labor law expert, strove to be a lawyer after witnessing the human rights violations during the country's martial law period, thus making it clear that the powerless needed defending.

Aside from having been chairman of the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition and national president of the Federation of Free Workers, Matula was also a Social Security System commissioner.

Matula would like to see tougher penalties for "endo" or contractualization, and for equal salaries for workers in all the regions of the country.

Aside from his mission to legislate for comprehensive unemployment insurance, he wants agriculture independence and government control of the conversion of agricultural land into housing projects.

Farmers, tricycle drivers 

Having worked as a labor lawyer, and having been president emeritus and international secretary of the Federation of Free Workers, the South Cotabato native Atty. Allan Montaño believes that the country's poverty problem stemmed from the lack of employment.

He believes that as long as the trilateral relationship within contractualization still existed, the poor would remain poor.

Montaño also called for a magna carta for tricycle drivers since there is no uniform law that offered these workers safety, job security, and income security.

Rather than abolish the National Food Authority, Montaño urged its strengthening so that come harvest season, the government could set the buying price.

"May katapusan din ang lahat ng pang-aabuso. May katapusan din lahat ng mga kamangmangan na mga nangyari sa nakaraan. Iluklok natin itong mga bago na walang bahid ng kahit ano mang korupsiyon," he said.

National health problems

Dr. Willie Ong, an internist and cardiologist, has over 10 million followers on Facebook and more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube where he offers free health tips.

Aside from the 5,000 health articles and 1,800 health videos he created, Ong had also been a consultant for the Department of Health, was an internal medicine resident at the Manila Doctors Hospital, and was a cardiology fellow at the UP Philippine General Hospital.

Ong said that if he gets elected as senator, he will continue providing free health services and will give away his salary and allowances.

He would also seek the inclusion of free checkups and laboratory tests in health centers in the implementing rules and regulations of the Universal Health Act.

Improvements in government hospitals and the creation of an IT system for health centers were some of his other causes.

Ong would also focus on health services in prisons, given the conditions in the national penitentiary system, as well as students' health.

Peace, support for the poor

According to Princess Lady Ann Sahidulla, she was running in the May 2019 elections for the poor whose needs had not been given attention.

Before becoming the first female vice governor in Sulu back in 2004, Sahidulla served two terms as mayor of Banguingui, Sulu. She later on served in Congress representing the 2nd District of Sulu. 

In 2008, she was involved in negotiations with Abu Sayyaf gunmen who kidnapped journalists and International Committee of the Red Cross representatives.

As a senator, she said she will open a satellite office in every province and would create a website where citizens could leave messages.

Aside from educating the people with alternative livelihood strategies and lowering the price of the electricity by nationalizing power companies, she would also push for everyone to be part of the Citizen National Guard, of which she is the president.

She had also favored the Bangsamoro Organic Law.

"Iisa rin ang ating lahi, iisa rin ang ating bansa at iisa rin ang ating Panginoon. Kanya-kanya lang ng paniniwala," she said.

— Kaela Malig/DVM/KG, GMA News