Ten senatorial candidates squared off Sunday night on issues concerning poverty, pork barrel, employment, peace and order, and Charter change during the “Harapan: Mga Isyu ng Bayan” debate at the La Consolacion College Auditorium on Mendiola Street, Manila.

Those who joined the debate were Liberal Party (LP) bets Rep. Teofisto “TG” Guingona III, Dr. Martin Bautista, and Rep. Ruffy Biazon; Nacionalista Party (NP) candidates Susan “Toots” Ople, Ramon “Mon-Mon” Mitra III, Gwen Pimentel, and re-electionist Sen. Pia Cayetano; Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatoriables Rep. Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza and ZTE whistleblower Jose “Joey” de Venecia III; and Ang Kapatiran Party’s Manuel Valdehuesa.

Poverty
On the issue of poverty, Guingona and Cayetano both agreed that the national budget plays a vital role in solving this problem.

Cayetano bats for the shelving of the P120 billion in “unprogrammed” funds in the national budget and instead reallocate this to education, health, and poverty reduction. Guingona agreed with Cayetano’s argument, adding that micro-lending programs must be given allotment in the budget.

To enable members to enjoy the full benefits of Philhealth, Cayetano also vowed to focus on revising the law governing the medical care program to make premiums more affordable.

Responding to questions raised against their respective presidential bets, both Guingona and Cayetano came to the rescue of their standard-bearers.

Cayetano said the allegation thrown at NP presidential bet Sen. Manny Villar are all politically motivated, while Guingona said that the character of LP bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III is more important than the number of bills he passed while in Congress.

Pork barrel
On pork barrel, De Venecia and Mitra, sons and namesakes of former speakers of the House of Representatives, both underscored the importance of the special fund allocation for lawmakers to pursue development.

De Venecia, who rose to fame as one of the whistle-blowers of the National Broadband Network-ZTE deal scandal, said that to avoid abuse to the use of pork barrel, there must be transparency. He added that he will file a measure to give the Office of the Ombudsman stronger power to monitor abuses in the use of pork barrel.

For his part, Mitra wants new laws that would strengthen the Commission on Audit (CoA) to lessen the cases of corruption related to pork barrel.

Law enforcement
On law enforcement, Biazon said that death penalty for drug offenders should be implemented in order to eliminate it.

While Plaza agreed with Biazon, he said the death penalty must cover every crime, not just illegal drugs. Plaza also called on the government to wage war not only against criminals and rebels but also against poverty and other social ills to deter criminality.

Charter change
Pimentel said shifting from presidential to federal form of government will spur development in local governments as every federal state will get 80 percent of the locality’s income, while the national government gets 20 percent.

For his part, Valdehuesa said there is no need for Charter change. Instead, he pushed for the strengthening of the barangays.

Employment
Both Bautista and Ople said they will seek reforms in the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) and Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) if they are elected to the Senate.

Ople added that there must be a program for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), from the day they leave the country until the return home.