FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT

SEC. GILBERT “GIBO” TEODORO

A compilation of commonly asked questions by various sectors and Sec. Teodoro’s answers in several dialogues.

Do your recent low survey results affect you?
I am not worried about the survey results. I have been very busy fulfilling my functions as Secretary of National Defense and have not give ample time to my political plans and presidential bid. But after I have officially joined Lakas-Kampi-CMD (on Friday, July 24, 2009), my supporters, party mates, and friends from all over the country will give me favorable exposure.

How do you erase the stigma that you will be a puppet of Pres. Arroyo?
I will be a just and truthful president. I will not be a president of hate and vengeance. I’m too young for that. I was born in a family that has political rivalry. I saw that it was unfair to the people – our constituents. There are calls for the next president to prosecute Pres. Arroyo, as it was during the previous president’s. It is not the president’s job to do such. There are appropriate agencies to do that if there are wrongdoings supported by evidence and witnesses. If a president spends time prosecuting his predecessor, he will be wasting time because there is so much more that he must do

What prompted you to offer yourself as an alternative for the 2010 presidential elections?
A lot of people whom I respect and listen to have encouraged me to offer myself as an alternative for the 2010 presidential elections. This is the major consideration with these people looking for someone to articulate their views and someone they feel can lead the country. Mostly, these are local government leaders. I feel I can lead the country by leading for change with a vision of political, economic and structural reform. To do this we must first call for a constitutional convention. Second, the country’s peace and order concerns need to be solved. And third, we have to continue to broadly manage the economic growth and the fiscal stimulus measures that the government is doing today.

What do you envision for the Philippines?
I envision the Philippines as a leader country in Asia and SEA. We are the only fully functioning democracy in this part of the world. We have a relatively free press. We have freedom to do what we want to do without government control unless we go overboard. We are generally free which is not the case in other countries. Because of this, we deserve to have a leadership role in Asia and SEA. But we cannot do that because we are not economically and militarily powerful as other countries. So, you have to build up our country, not merely to give a better future but in order to secure a leadership role.  Continued prosperity for any country needs being in a better position competitively than other countries, and that means you just cannot solve problems but build the foundation for continued growth. This is my vision in broad terms.

What are the top 3 issues or concerns of the nation that must be addressed?
The first issue that we have to address is the structural change. Per our experience this is the root of our problems. We have to have an honest to goodness political, economic and social reform. We have to re-examine the basis of our structures in our Constitution. That is the first thing the President must do to engage Congress to call for a constitutional convention where we can discuss these issues openly and freely. Second, we must pursue economic measures that will raise needed revenues and not rely on loans to enable us continue reforms. Third, work towards lasting peace. There can only be growth if there is peace and to address our peace and order problems we must employ additional resources to these efforts.

Should the government continue to fully observe the VFA considering that some of its terms are allegedly prejudicial to our country and the interest of our people?
We have entered into an agreement, fully knowing very well its consequences. And the Senate that is composed of several experts in international law ratified it. Now that we don’t like the effects of some of the terms, we will turn our back on the agreement. Let us not build a reputation where if we do not like the effects of an agreement, we will simply turn another way. Like the Military Defense Treaty (MDT), we can implement this by taking measures so that potential problems will not crop up. During the latest Balikatan exercise, we did not allow the American forces to leave their bases so we can avoid a recurrence of the (Daniel) Smith problem. If we are going discuss MDT and VFA, it is not merely custody that we should talk about. We should talk about mutual obligations and responsibilities in case of a foreign attack to the country. This is a major consideration.

How can the country secure its interests over the Spratly Islands in the event of a heated dispute with another country as we uphold our Baselines Law?
There are several claimants. What we did is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Laws of the Sea (UNCLOS). The moment a claimant does anything that is not in agreement with the accord that country will be the object of international condemnation. You can appeal to the UN for a joint enforcement action case because we have the law on our side. That is why our Baselines Law has an archipelagic treatment rather than straight baselines even in these disputed territories because we want to conform strictly to the provisions of the UNCLOS.

Is the government prepared for any mutual defense actions in the SEA region in the event that North Korea starts to disrupt international peace and order?
I think that will not be a subject of a regional defense action but a worldwide defense action. The actions of North Korea definitely violate several international conventions particularly against the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons that is a worldwide concern. For me the most important thing is it provides a test case as to the effectiveness of the UN enforcement mechanisms particularly the Big 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council against a clearly dangerous and violative action of a state that refuses to make itself accountable. While we must be calm, there must be a unified world action against the intentions of North Korea. There are several debates as to the reason why North Korea is doing this. Whatever the motive is, detonating a nuclear weapon even as a form of test is unacceptable these days. It has to be dealt with.

How far are we in achieving stability, peace and order in Mindanao?
How can we assure that neutralized rebels will not go back to extremist activities?
In order for us to ensure stability in Mindanao, we have to have adequate enforcement potentials and equipment – adequate deterrents. The only solution is disarmament of non-governmental groups. But we cannot do that on a consistent basis if we have the force size or structure that we have. The Philippines is an archipelago with several islands and inhabitants. Our population is 88 million; we have 120,000 soldiers. The immediate goal of disarmament has problems because of our meager investments in defense. It is good that there are efforts to build and maintain cultural peace. But it will only come if you have physical peace in place. If not, you can preach all you want to any person, but if one is under threat, you cannot build any culture of peace. Some say we can establish peace through development. But the bridge we build today could be bombed tomorrow. The government’s role must be arbiter and law enforcement. It must not take sides. But then again, we lack soldiers.

As Chairman of NDCC, what have you laid out to secure a sustainable and effective disaster management control in the country?
The previous Secretaries of National Defense contributed to the growing body of knowledge in national disaster risk management. They have plans like we now know which areas have the potential of being hardest hit by floods and landslides. Because under the disaster management laws, Local Government Units know their primary responsibilities. Disaster risk management is also a question of resources. If we do not expand our revenue base, we could have a problem. We must convince LGUs that they have to spend for this.

Which aspect of disaster risk management we are weakest?
It is mitigation. With preparation, we do as much as we can like we increased our warnings. But mitigation means spending money now for adequate infrastructure in order to minimize the effect. We are in competition with other infrastructure needs that is necessary like irrigation. So, the hardest is mitigation because that means spending money in competition with other necessities to reduce the effects of calamities.

Do you think federal parliamentary form of government is more efficient and effective than the system we are currently adopting?
What we would like to do is to empower Congress, in a less cumbersome way to determine when an area is ready to be given more powers rather than asking the people once again for their consensus. We would like to have more synergy in the government – not necessarily a total shift in the government because our Constitution was written in such a way that is looking backwards, not forward. So, check and balance is important so we do not repeat the Marcos practices. I cannot imagine how we can grow if the three branches of the government are at odds with each other. And as a people, we will not allow that we will not chose or elect our leader ourselves. So, I believe a presidential – unicameral system will work for us.
Also important in political reform is that we do not hold local and national elections at the same time. It is impossible to have a good campaign and good choices if we hold these together.
I also believe that we should not compel Congress to report for X number of days even they are not doing anything. A lot of our problems right now can be solved through current legislation.
On the economic side, I am for the increased ownership of foreigners for certain types of land like industrial, commercial, residential and some tourist properties. But not agricultural, mineral, forests and marine resources, these are only for Filipinos.

Do you think the amendment of certain economic provisions in the Constitution is the best way to spur economic growth?
Yes. You have to have permanence and consistency in policy decision-making for people to have a long-investment horizon. Saying they are allowed to do certain types of activities, both domestic and foreign investors, does that. Let us clarify certain concerns in our Constitution. Let us widen the base where investors can come in. The competition within the domestic market, if both locals and foreign are captured in the market, some entrepreneurs may at times sometimes produce less than quality products and services. Competition is good for the consumers.

How can values and cultural restoration be effectively integrated in our system of education?
Let us focus on cultural restoration. First, let us be clear on the kinds of culture we wish to restore. The country should be happy in its cultural diversity. It is to our advantage that we have cultural diversity. This is something that we must strengthen instead of breaking up. We must encourage languages and dialects. There must be mutual tolerance with knowledge and respect.

What sustainable program do you propose for the country to cope with search of alternative energy sources?
They are very expensive, but they should be continuously developed. First, we have to continue to promote the use of alternative fuels for those who can afford. Second, renewable source of energy. Third, we should also explore if feasible without subjective biases other sources such as nuclear energy.

How can we keep our healthcare system afloat as massive brain drain of nurses and doctors occur?
There are two ways I can think of. One is to expand universal coverage with some contributions of the public. Like Philhealth, this is a big contributor but we must have more voluntary contributions so there will be bigger reimbursements for doctors and nurses. They have to be adequately compensated also for the services they provide. Second, let us not look inwardly but outwardly. Medical tourism in the country as a site of international medical care as well as the financial services sector could be adequately explored.

How to restore public trust in law enforcement agencies after reports of alleged corrupt practices and extra-judicial killings?
Allegations of human rights violations are a big concern. We admit that those allegations of human rights violations affect us. We cannot find immediate solutions because we lack the investigative capacity in the NBI and the police. Equipment and facilities to solve crimes is very expensive. We want to solve crimes but we do not have much evidence or we cannot process evidence. This is why our focus instead is against the fight against criminality and organized criminal groups. To our credit, extra-judicial killings and disappearances went down by as much as 80%.
The solutions are first, we must make known to the men in uniform that getting involved in crime is counter-productive. Second, if there is evidence, we must litigate immediately and penalize those that are guilty. We have already put in jail a lot of these people. And third, we must invest in investigative agents and techniques so we do not investigate ourselves if there are allegations. There must be another agency.

What actions have you taken to end corruption and intensify transparency?
In Congress, all our accounts are audited and published in newspapers. In DND, the biggest source of potential corruption is in the acquisition of supplies and equipment. Even if these are negotiated bids, these must be opened to the public with representatives of the Bishops – Businessmen’s Conference.

How can you assure quality and affordable health services?
It is always the issue of greener pastures in convincing our PTs, nurses, Medtechs and other health service providers to stay. Unless you can give them a better pay here, you could not convince them to stay. So that is the major objective. Some can appeal to patriotism and quality of life issues to a certain extent. But at the end of the day, it is the comfort that they can give their families, which is but right. To convince them to stay, we have to increase the public health sector’s salaries particularly in the rural communities where they are motivated to stay because they have other sources of income and livelihood. There is only one viable way of doing that which is quite successful and which we can leverage – that is to have a true blue universal healthcare system where the beneficiaries have a freedom to choose. Maybe we can have, based on ITRs and other criteria done by the DSWD, participatory schemes of the Philhealth and not total reimbursement in certain cases. But then through that we can have some more compensation per case to those who have actually attended as a team on a healthcare patient. We can have by adequate promotion increased investments in commercial medical care wherein you can get some revenue from that and dedicate it for giving better services for the poor. And there is also a very important area that we have been relatively successful in, which is Health Emergency Medical Services, particularly in the face of pandemics. DOH has been doing a very good job in containing pandemics. But what if there is a breakout? We have to be prepared with adequate medicine, adequate deployable HMS units. We can use the revenue from increased commercial medical activity for that.

What is your stand on making ROTC mandatory again?
We must be realistic. Congress has said that it can no longer be compulsory. If we go back and make it compulsory and the quality of our training and cadets are not good, then what’s the use? We must therefore make ROTC as an attractive proposition so that a lot more people will volunteer. This is about offering better packages like scholarships and marketing.

What are you plans to upgrade our state colleges and universities?
Let us start with basic education. We must strengthen basic education and give emphasis on technical education. We must also improve our SUCs. There is a need to come up with a students loan package wherein the students will pay for the their loan when they are already working and earning. With this, we can also generate income to improve the facilities and operation of our schools.

What is you edge over other candidates?
My edge is I that have actual experience in trying to solve the hardest problem of the country – the peace and order problem. I know I cannot solve all of the problems but I also know what to ask Congress to help us with to be able to solve the other pressing problems.

How can the armed forces protect us from external threats if it cannot solve our internal problems?
Should there be a superior military threat against us, we have no recourse but to ask for help fro another country. Our military budget is US$ 1.2 Billion and that we three internal threats, the ASG, NPA and lawless MILF faction. Then this budget will be eaten up by calamities, wherein we use our aircrafts, trucks and other equipment and the military personnel who are tasked to respond.
Our neighbor Thailand, which has relatively a small internal problem, has an estimated armed forces budget of about US$ 3.4 Billion. Singapore has about US$ 13 Billion while Laos has the smallest budget at US$ 1 Million because they have no armed force. The USA has an estimated US$ 515 Billion.
We must therefore review and revise our armed forces directions to add personnel and budget.

How will you eradicate the culture of corruption in the government?
Corruption is a problem but it is not the only problem. Another problem is the lack of innovation and growth in the part of the populace. To deal with corruption we must have no tolerance for it and give less temptation to people by providing adequate compensation for public sector employees. We can address corruption by reducing the temptation and have no tolerance at the same time.

What is your definition of a perfect family?
A perfect family is one that loves each other unconditionally and supports each other in times great need. That we have strong ties with our kids and teach them the important values in life. A child idolizes his parents before anybody else. The foundation you put in there is the most important thing you can give a child. And that is where the family nucleus and solidarity as an institution lies.

How would you boost the morale of the reserve force?
We are currently reviewing the objectives and strusture of the reserve forces so that it will become an integral component of the regular forces. We have called on the AFP leadership to give us a proposed structure wherein the reservists will be part of programs and motivated. As an example, the UN has requested that we deploy peacekeeping forces at the Golan Heights. For our participation, we wish to deploy at least half reservists.

Where is peace and order in you priorities?
Peace and order is high in my priorities. I have started embarking on my own programs. But in terms of attention, matter of time that I have to devote to it, not much because I know what is happening already. I had a good jumpstart on that. But naturally, in three phases, military capability is relatively high, support of the military to national development, and enhancing our international military engagements and ties for mutual benefit to get the best for the Philippines, would be high on our foreign policy and national agenda. I know there are other priorities but I know that it is a sector that has been neglected in the public arena for quite some time.

What is your opinion on going back to manual counting of election returns?
As soon as possible, the COMELEC has to make a decision. To continue if they can guarantee credible results or discontinue. If not, it has the potential to cause failed expectations and confusion in the mind of the public.

What is the best way to upgrade the quality of education?
Teaching in English would help a lot for our literacy. Teaching in English opens a lot of avenues for greater literacy which is the stepping stone in technical fields and other fields. This is once again a resource decision. We cannot do that without adequate resources. The solution is to expand the revenue base, constitutionally and legally and through enhanced fiscal measures and with efficient tax collection.

What is you opinion on the current technical school situation?
On the contrary, I don’t think they are not good enough. Technical education has been performing very well in this country. To the credit of TESDA, it has been able to produce a lot of skillful technical workers. What needs to be change is the bias of Filipino parents and Filipino public against technical education. We have to prove that there is value in technical education, technically educated people can lead, and they can be engines of change in the community so as for the younger people to aspire to have technical education.

You were talking about changes that will happen next year. Can you give us an overview on this?
The most important thing is I can plant the seeds of change by getting Congress to agree with me on the constitutional convention where we can debate those changes.

- as of July 23, 2009 -