QUEZON City, Philippines (March 23) – As responsible voters, it is our duty to learn more about those who are running for candidacy in the upcoming elections.
Representative Mari Leonor Gerona Robredo is one of the six candidates who wanted to be the next vice president.
She became the focus of the public eye after the incident that caused the loss of her husband back in 2012 – the Secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government and former Naga mayor, Jesse Robredo.
She studied Bachelor of Arts in Economics at University of Philippines, Diliman in 1986. She continued her studies and earned her law degree in University of Nueva Caceres, Naga City in 1992. Leni Robredo used to be in the private practice of law. She is currently representing Camarines Sur in the Congress since July 2013 and is also a civic organization member. She is the founder of Lakas ng Kababaihan ng Naga, a past president of Naga City Council for Women and a member of Federacion International de Abogados.
As a congresswoman, she passed the following bills in her current term: National Food Security Bill of 2015, Anti-discrimination Bill of 2013, People’s Participation in Budget Deliberation Bill, People Empowerment Bill of 2014, Full Disclosure Bill and the Freedom of Information Bill..
“Why would I run? It’s really a sense of mission, because I realized I have bigger obligations than myself”
These “obligations” are: good governance, pro-poor, social welfare, infrastructure and security. Leni Robredo have chosen said items as her platforms for improvement. In good governance, she wanted to prevent political dynasties under House Bill 3587 because 75% of the lawmakers in the Philippines were related. Also, to promote good governance, she champions freedom of information. “Ang datos ng pamahalaan ay dapat kusang isinisiwalat, sa lengwaheng maiintindihan ng lahat. Hindi na kailangang magtanong pa ang mamamayan.”, Leni Robredo said. Lastly to impose good governance, she promotes people empowerment where there is a space for people to create civic organization to participate in the decision-making of the government.
Robredo’s pro-poor platform discusses anti-poverty, zero hunger and shared prosperity. The anti-poverty program that Robredo proposes aims to allocate budget for the poor to give them benefits like giving free health care, and education for the children under 4ps (Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program). Also she promotes “Bottoms-Up Budgetting” where civic organizations can participate in budgeting for the local government. Like every candidate, Leni proposes a shared prosperity that aims for development in rural infrastructures, and employment.
Under social welfare, Robredo aims to develop gender equality, labor rights and youth empowerment. In labor rights, Leni Robredo wanted justice in the case of contractual workers versus companies who avoid labor obligations. Compared to the Php 481 per day minimum wage of a regular employee, a contractual worker only receives Php 187.11 per day. This is an alarming issue because the number of short-term employees raised from 4.31 to 5.39 million in 2014.
Leni Robredo proposes to develop infrastructures. First, she wants to have a progress in the country’s internet so that internet providers can utilize these infrastructures. Second, the public transportation has to be developed. It was reported that the economic losses reach from Php 876 billion to php 1.095 trillion due to severe traffic.
Lastly, in security, Robredo proposes an adaptation for climate change, to reduce the risk for disaster and to get the youth involved in the prevention and rescuing. She also campaigns to fight for the national interest by monitoring the case in the dispute of the West Philippine Sea.
Knowing the candidates potential and your power to vote, the fate of the country does not depend on them. It depends in you.
References:
http://lenirobredo.com/about-leni/
http://www.congress.gov.ph/members/search.php?id=robredo-m
http://lenirobredo.com/issue/zero-hunger/
(written by Karen Llacuna, edited by Jay Paul Carlos, additional research by Lovely Ann Cruz)