The Other Candidates

I was surprised when one of my friends admitted he voted for the dictator's son in 2016 for vice president. He did because he didn't know anything about VP Leni at that time. Now he's voting for VP Leni for president after seeing all her accomplishments. The debated hosted by CNN Philippines last weekend is a good way to get to know the candidates. They invited all the candidates and most showed up. Seeing them side by side for the first time and answering the same questions was a good way to assess them. 

2016 presidential elections

It was my first time to hear the other candidates since the other networks did not include them. Here's what I thought about them:

Ernesto Abella - former presidential spokesman of President Duterte. He was eloquent, but I didn't get a good grasp of his platform. I read a bit about him and found out he has a good academic background, was a preacher, got abducted and his release was negotiated by then Mayor Duterte. That's when he started campaigning for him. His government appointments seemed to be due to a favor. 

Leody de Guzman - Ka Leody is labor leader. He's very knowledgeable when it comes to labor related issues, but lack experience in other aspects. I hope he can eventually provide inputs for government so that the lives of laborers could be improved.

Norberto Gonzales - he was secretary of national defense for a few months during GMA's time. He seemed to be a troublemaker based on Wikipedia and I didn't see any concrete contributions to government (correct me if I'm wrong, just basing it on what I've read). He was very calm during the event yesterday, but I did not get a good impression that he has enough experience to be president. 

Faisal Mangondato - he was introduced as a businessman. In answering the questions he mentioned that the hardships we are going through are due to the abuses of man that's why we are being punished by God. He didn't have a good grasp of the issues and had no solid platforms. Sorry but he struck me as a nuisance candidate.

Jose Montemayor, Jr. - a doctor supposedly with an MBA. I don't think this candidate took the questions seriously. He answered and questioned other candidates more to be noticed than to make sense. He is supposedly a cardiologist... sorry but I wouldn't want him to be my doctor nor president. 

I always go back to the post I made on how I will assess presidential candidates. It's been mentioned several times already that they are applying for the job and the 1987 Constitution provides the job description. I went back to my review of Jessica Soho's interview and my thoughts remain the same with regard to the more known candidates. I'm going to need to make time to watch the vice presidential debate of CNN also so I can get to know them better. Those always absent for debates and forums will not be considered by me. When applying for a job, one should show up for the interview noh. 

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