INDEPENDENT presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe on Tuesday mocked President Benigno Aquino III’s “straight path” as being riddled with traffic as people continued to live in poverty, in a state of hunger and hopelessness.
Delivering a speech to members of the Philippine Government Employees Association-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Poe spoke out against contractualization and other labor woes and offered a laundry list of tasks for the country’s next leaders, including poverty, unemployment and unjust taxes.
The senator lamented the fact that more than 20 percent of the government’s workforce were either contractual or co-terminus, which she said was unfair and unjust.
She said there is nothing more painful for a worker, whether in the private or public sector, than waking up one day to find he no longer has a job because his contract ended, or he was removed for not being an ally of a politician.
“This should not be allowed. We need to uphold what our laws—the Constitution and the Labor Code—provide,” she said.
“They said the matuwid na daan [straight path] has achieved something. It’s straight, but there’s traffic,” said Poe, who has been vocal about the government’s failure to address public transport problems that affect millions of commuters daily.
If elected, Poe said she would push for the regularization of workers both in government and in the private sector, ensuring that their constitutional rights to full protection, equal opportunity, organization and a just and living wage are given.
“Even as we recognize the need to maintain a reasonable degree of flexibility of employers, those workers who have proven their worth within six months and whose services will remain needed by a private company or a government agency must be regularized,” she said.
Poe pointed out that “perpetual contractualization results in perpetual insecurity of tenure.”
“It contributes to poverty, is unfair and unjust. I believe that helping workers to have more long-term careers should bolster productivity,” she said.
The lawmaker also announced the impending passage of the Salary Standardization Law of 2015, which the House committee on appropriations already approved and which the Senate is set to pass before the end of the year.
The bill mandates a P226-billion compensation increase for national government personnel over a period of four years. It also provides a tax-free 14th-month pay and performance bonus for employees under Salary Grades 1 to 11, or some 606,000 state workers.
“Most of you, I know are overworked but underpaid. This is the bitter truth when you are in public service—you don’t get the benefits and privileges due you,” Poe said in Filipino.
More than a salary increase, Poe said workers needed a just tax system that will not negate any gains from a salary increase. This is why she remains firm on her stand to lower income taxes, she said.
“One of the pillars of my program of government is good governance. What does this mean? We feel it is important that a government will be able to push reforms that will bring about true change in our country,” she said.
The Aquino administration has repeatedly rejected calls for a lowering of tax rates, even though Filipino workers are among the most heavily taxed in Southeast Asia, and despite the public clamor for tax relief.
Poe vowed to build and lead a government that is centered on the people.
“We will adhere strictly to meritocracy; appointments will be based solely on a person’s qualifications and promotions will be based solely on performance,” she said.
Poe also said she would take steps to professionalize the bureaucracy and digitize government processes to do away with the long queues.
Also on Tuesday, the petitioner who lost his disqualification case against Poe before the Senate Electoral Tribunal asked the Supreme Court to reverse the decision.
In his petition, Rizalito David, a losing senatorial candidate in 2013, argued that the SET had “misinterpreted the Constitution, the laws, procedural rules and jurisprudence in giving effect to non-binding international laws” when it found Poe to be a natural-born Filipino citizen even though she was a foundling.
David said he was confident the Court would reverse the SET decision, which he said was a “political decision.”
He said the five senators who voted in favor of their colleague in the Senate—Vicente Sotto III, Loren Legarda, Pia Cayetano, Cynthia Villar and Bam Aquino—violated the Constitution and the doctrine that warns politicians in tribunals against partisan voting.
The SET dismissed David’s appeal last week, and maintained that Poe should be considered a natural-born citizen because international law recognizes foundlings to have the nationality of the state in which they were found.
Poe said Tuesday she remains a presidential candidate for next year’s election until the Supreme Curt rules with finality on all issues surrounding her candidacy.
Her statement came after the Commission on Elections 2nd Division disqualified her from running for president, saying she did not meet the residency requirements for the office, and that she had misrepresented details of her residency in her Certificate of Candidacy.
“Our fight continues,” declared Poe as she assured her supporters that she will proceed with her campaign to build a government that is accountable, transparent and dependable to help the people achieve genuine inclusive growth and global competitiveness.
“Rest assured I will adhere to your will for the 2016 elections,” said Poe.
She appealed to voters to be vigilant against attempts to subvert the will of the people to choose their own leaders.
“We strongly believe that we have a strong legal basis…. We respect at all times the law and the right process, but this should be fair and just. I am hoping for justice because I believe we have a strong case,” she said.
Her legal counsel, George Garcia, has asked the Comelec en banc to reverse the resolution of its 2nd Division that sought to cancel Poe’s CoC.
Garcia said Poe complied with the 10-year residency requirement, a fact that was completely ignored by the three-member 2nd Division despite their submission of 400 pages of documentary evidence to support this.
By the time of the elections on May 9, 2016, she will be be a resident of the Philippines for 10 years and 11 months, Poe said.
Poe’s lawyer said the resolution of the Second Division was rendered in “complete and utter disregard of the overwhelming evidence on record” and “contrary to applicable jurisprudence as to amount to a capricious and whimsical judgment.”
Despite the challenges Poe’s camp is facing in the Comelec, Garcia said they will exhaust all legal remedies, including seeking relief from the high court, to achieve justice.
At the same time, Poe said the coming election and the processes leading to this political exercise must remain untainted and free from suspicion so that the true voice of the people will be heard and their choices genuinely reflect on the results of the polls.
She noted that there should be no doubts in the election and the process should be in order and clean.
