VP bets lay down plans for education, internet access

Vice presidential candidates laid down Saturday their plans to make education affordable and internet accessible to the Filipino youth.

During the vice presidential debate hosted by CNN Philippines, Aksyon Demokratiko's Willie Ong said he and running mate Isko Moreno has a plan to put fiber optics for schools.

“Kaya ‘yung access sa internet, may plano kami ni Mayor Isko diyan sa fiber optic na gagawin niya,” Ong said.

He said he will also push for an increase in the budget for education, the wages of teachers, and focus on mental health.

On addressing the students’ need for accessible internet, Senate President Vicente Sotto III underscored the need to fund the government’s National Broadband Program (NBP).

According to Sotto, the Department of Information and Communications Technology needed around P18 billion for the implementation of the program for 2022.

However, the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) only allotted around P800,000 for the NBP.

“There is much to be desired sa kilos ng Executive department pagdating dito because nung tinatalakay namin ‘yung budget for the 2022, ang DICT nangangailangan ng mga P18 billion para doon sa improvement ng broadband at para maisaayos nationwide at libre para sa ating mga kababayan e ang napasa at pinayagan ng DBM P800,000 e…So iyon ang isang problema,” he said.

(There is much to be desired in the actions of the Executive department when it comes to this issue because when we deliberated the 2022 national budget, the DICT said they need P18 billion for the improvement of the broadband system so it could be expanded nationwide and we could offer it for free to all our citizens. However, the DBM only approved P800,000 for its funding. So that is one of our problems.)

He added there should be a drug abuse resistance program from Grades 5 to 7 to make the youth aware of the ill effects of illegal drugs and addition.

Meanwhile, a total of P90 billion will be allotted by the tandem of Vice President Leni Robredo and Senator Francis Pangilinan to support the education sector if elected in the May 9 polls.

Pangilinan said this would be used to provide one gadget per student and for the monthly P300 WiFi load allowance.

He also wants to address malnutrition by providing more funds for the agriculture sector. He said students need to be healthy so they could study well.

"P90 billion 'yan immediately... pero ang matinding problema din na kinakailangang tugunan ay 'yung malnutrisyon ng ating mga anak. Paano ka mag-aaral nang maayos kung kumakalam ang sikmura mo?" he said.

(We will immediately allot P90 billion for that but the bigger problem that we need to address is malnutrition among children. How can you study well if your stomach is empty.)

"Sabi nga, 95 young people are dying everyday because of malnutrition... at 'yun ang ating kinakailangang gawin (that is what we should address)," he added.

Asked how can he protect children from sexual abuse trade, vice presidential candidate Carlos Serapio said cybercrime could be prevented also through the use of technology.

"Kakailanganin ng teknolohiya para ma-monitor nang husto itong nangyayari [na sexual abuse]," he said.

On how can he crackdown cybercriminals and safeguard the people’s personal information, vice presidential candidate Rizalito David said there is a law already in place to address that, noting that it should be implemented properly.

David, currently the executive director of Pro-Life Philippines Foundation, said the government has control over the internet service providers (ISPs), however, there is a lack of “political will and desire” to help the victims.

“The law is already in place, it is just have to be implemented properly. Perhaps there’s kakulangan ng political will and ‘yung desire natin to really help out ‘yung ating kapwa para maiwasan ‘yung ganyang bagay. Wala na akong ibang maisasagot don dahil nandyan ‘yung batas, nasa executive department na lang kung papaano nila gagawin I don’t know if some of them are even involved in these things that is why nakakalusot,” he said.

(Perhaps there's a lack of political will and desire to really help the people avoid that kind of thing. I don't have anything else to say, because the law is already there and it is up to the executive department to implement it. I don't know if some of them are involved in these things, that is why they are not caught.)

“Ang dali lang naman niyan even ‘yung cybersex, kontrolado ‘yung mga ISPs, bakit hindi mino-monitor maigi ng ating gobyerno? Lahat naman dadaan sa ISPs di ba? So bakit nangyayari pa rin ito, so posibleng mayroong kuntsabahan dahil may malaking pera ang involved dyan, paminsan-minsan may naghuhulihan pero pera ang pinag-uusapan, corruption pa rin ‘yung pinupuntahan nitong question na ito,” he added.

(That is easy, even with cybersex, ISPs are controlled, why can’t the government monitor it well? Everything goes through ISPS, right? So why is this still happening, so it is possible that there is a conspiracy because there is a lot of money involved there, it all boils down to corruption.)

For his part, vice presidential candidate Manny Lopez said the real problem is technical competence in the government, saying policy makers are not keen or properly equipped on technology and management.

"I concur with the observations of the industry that we need better leadership, more technically equipped and experienced on the area of technology management," Lopez said regarding the DICT.

"Ayusin po natin 'yan, the future is in information technology," Lopez added.—Giselle Ombay, Richa Noriega, Jamil Santos, Joahna Lei Casilao, Anna Felicia Bajo, Hana Bordey/AOL, GMA News