Grace Poe announces presidential bid

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Grace Poe officially announced her presidential candidacy Wednesday evening at a well-attended affair at the University of the Philippines Diliman.

“Ako po si Grace Poe. Anak, asawa, ina. At sa tulong ng Mahal na Diyos ay inaalay ko sa inyong lahat ang aking sarili sa mas mataas na paninilbihan bilang inyong Pangulo (I am Grace Poe. Child, wife, mother. And with the help of God I offer myself to all of you for the higher service as your President),” she said.

Poe also laid down a 20-point program of government that ranged from an intensified campaign against corruption, to increasing support for arts and culture, and standard school lunches.

She laid down her vision in a brief speech: “Walang maiiwang Pilipino at walang maiiwang lugar sa Pilipinas (No Filipino will be left behind and no place in the Philippines will be left behind).”

It was a vision, she said, inspired by the sacrifices of ordinary Filipinos — the farmers, city workers who endure traffic and long lines at the mass transit systems, call center agents working overnight, fisher folk, nurses working double shifts, among others.

“Kayong lahat ang pinaghuhugutan ko ng inspirasyon. Kayo ang nagbibigay sa akin ng lakas na i-alay ang aking sarili sa mas mataas na paninilbihan sa bansa. Naniniwala ako na sa pag-unlad  o pagyaman, sabay dapat. At kung may uunahin man, dapat ang mahihirap at mas nangangailingan (I draw my inspiration from all of you. You giveme the strength to offer myself for higher service to the country. I believe that we should all develop and grow right together),” Poe said.

Poe, a foundling, also drew inspiration from the parents who adopted her, the late movie star Fernando Poe Jr., who mounted an unsuccessful bid against then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in what many quarters consider a fraud-tainted the 2004 elections, and veteran actress Susan Roces.

She said her father’s “steadfastness, kindness and courage” were her “inspiration and guide” even as she acknowledged her mother’s advice to “never lose yourself in the din of politics.”

But for the most part, she dwelled on her vision of governance.

Aside from intensifying the drive against corruption, which she thanked President Benigno Aquino III for initiating, among the programs she highlighted were:

• Inclusive growth, global competitiveness and open government

• Education

• Improving agriculture, including land reform, irrigation and mechanization

• Improved infrastructure, including the Internet

• Government-supported industrialization to induce manufacturing and create more jobs*

• Improved transparency with the enactment of the Freedom of Information Law

• Reduced taxes and improved wages and benefits

• Lower power rates while boosting power generation with more attention on renewable energy

• Increased legal support to distressed overseas Filipino workers and reduced fees and red tape for those applying for work abroad

• Intensified campaign against crime and drugs

• Peace talks with various groups fighting the government

• Respect for human rights and the needs of vulnerable sectors, including persons with disabilities, indigenous people, the urban poor, women, children, foundings, the LGBT sector and senior citizens

• Health, including adequately staffed and equipped hospitals in every city, and strengthening the Philhealth program

• More roads and trains not only in Metro Manila but in major centers around the country and increasing infrastructure spending to seven percent of GDP.  — InterAksyon.com