Sec. Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro advocates the principles of a democratic system for which OUR institutions are built as cornerstones to safeguard the basic rights of OUR men and to ensure that services are secured to an improved well-being of OUR Filipino citizenry and progress of OUR Philippine nation. He believes in the power of ballot through the capacity of our people to make informed and responsive decisions.
He pledges a return to core moral principles like stewardship, service to others, personal responsibility, shared sacrifice and a fair chance for all – values that emanate from the integrity and optimism of OUR Heroes, Founders and generations of OUR country. He commits to continue the good legacies of OUR forbearers in achieving sustainable economic and social development for OUR country, and thus, regain OUR high stature in the international community as virtually found on the values of respect and utmost confidence.
VISION FOR THE COUNTRY: Sec. Gibo Teodoro
“I firmly believe that a new forward looking political order must evolve through, and I must stress this, legitimate and Constitutional means, after a transparent and fair process – which new order must underscore synergy rather than division ; which must respect different cultures and reflect the disparate needs of our different peoples; which must create workable public institutions both local and national, instill and enforce accountability; must institutionalize individual liberties and the role of the private sector – balancing these out with provisions for regulation through disclosure and transparency retaining however the power to protect citizens against abuses, especially those committed in the marketplace; it must professionalize the government workforce, allowing a realistic approach to compensation and realize that quality of life applies to public servants too; finally it must not only preserve but must reinforce our Bill of Rights”
(DISCLOSURE: This is the UNOFFICIAL, point specific platform of Sec. Gibo Teodoro, with substantiations by Aaron Benedict De Leon and Mr. RVV)
STRUCTURAL AND CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGE
• It instituted checks and balances to the point that it completely disregards synergy.
• It is a constitution which breeds false expectations because the state guarantees a proverbial heaven on earth.
• Although we must be equally vigilant and steadfast in preserving the Bill of Rights and the independence of the Judiciary, Sec. Teodoro is in favor of a freely elected constitutional convention that will have no other mandate but to study and to consider the subject.
Sec. Teodoro believes that the first issue we have to address is structural change. We have to have an honest to goodness political, social and economic reform. We have to re-examine the basis of our structures in the constitution. The first thing he will do is call for a constitutional convention where we can discuss these issues openly and freely.• Sec. Teodoro believes in the strengthening of our Government structures through increased political autonomy and capacity building in regions.
Our local government units rely heavily on the Internal Revenue Allotment set forth by the national government towards services that it needs to provide to their locality, aside from the local revenues their generate. Usually, a municipality accounts for 90% of total revenues and cities get around 30-50%, based on land mass and population. This has resulted local government over dependence on the National Government for funding.
Teodoro’s platform thus aims at providing a capacity building mechanism at the regional level. This means that Congress would grant more autonomy to regions based on specified criteria, by giving them for example, the power to charter their own companies and get fees from that, the power to establish some type of regulated business practices based on their own norms. The correlative cost now to this is that they get a lesser share in the IRA, so that we could funnel the IRA to those regions which cannot afford, and need capacity building from national government. This capacitates local government units to be the sole providers for the needs of their own communities. This is a response to the problem of National Government’s current state of perpetually financing basic services in local government. A period of capacitating and wheeling away period will thus serve as the time framework, to give ample time for regions to make the needed adjustments and susceptible actions. This might also entail consolidation of certain LGU’s, under the assumption that some municipalities cannot provide for themselves. This system gives the power to Congress to make the determination without the gruesome process of Constitutional Amendment.
• Sec. Teodoro believes that changes in the economic provisions, particularly on foreign ownership must be revisited, because an open economy is a function of increased revenue and employment opportunities
The National Budget and Appropriation measures have always been a problem in the country, and most often than not, like this year, we fail to meet our collection targets and many of us complain that basic services are not delivered to us due to the lack of funding. Major reason is we rely on a set of legal allowable activities in the industrial, agricultural and commercial sectors, taking into consideration that we are a sovereign country- and this does not empower us to expand our revenue base. We say let’s spend more on this, more on that, and as it turns out, we just keep on plugging holes given our constraints, putting more on this and less on that, but it turns out, we’re only working on the same revenue base.
Teodoro’s platform addresses the problem of revenue by opening up the economy, and opening up our industries to competition, so that we can align our policies with that of the rest of world. Liberalization through direct foreign ownership in the industrial, commercial, residential and certain tourist destinations brings together dependent functions of employment, tourism and most importantly, additional revenue. Of course, we must keep agricultural land, marine resources, timber land, mineral land and forest land solely for Filipinos, and control should be for Filipinos, not for ours but for future generations, as responsible stewards of these resources and not owners.
EDUCATION
Sec. Teodoro believes in strengthening basic education, which should be the first step in any educational reform
• PURSUE THE BESRA
Sec. Gibo Teodoro has always maintained that there is already an installed Educational Roadmap which must be religiously followed to ensure that the medium of instruction in the country and curriculum design is aligned with that of the rest of the world, considering that reforms are needed because our educational performance now ranks with countries like Tanzania.
o The Basic Education Sector Reform Agenda (BESRA) is a package of policy reforms within 5 key reform thrusts geared towards attaining Education for All objectives by the year 2015. Specific policies include adopting competency-based standards for hiring and deployment of teachers, further developing the basic education curriculum linked to desired learning outcomes, a multi-year budget format for basic education, school based management wherein every school would come up with their specific school improvement plans with the active involvement of local stakeholders, among others.
Sec. Teodoro believes that everyone must have access to education because that is the only way we could reduce the levels of poverty in the country• STUDENT LOAN APPLICATION PROGRAM
Sec. Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro, Jr. has continuously reiterated the need to establish a student loan mechanism in the country to help poor but deserving individuals finish their college education.
The Student Loan Application Program provides our high school graduates the opportunity to study in college with the least worries of repaying its financial obligations right away. This provides them the vehicle to study with convenience, and without the burden of discontinuing studies in the middle of tertiary education because of non-compliance to shorter terms. This will allow our young people to repay their loans once they already have a job, through their SSS contributions. Students who are interested in this program must apply for an SSS number, as an assurance from our government’s part that they will be repaying their loans.
Teodoro also suggested that scholarships be given instead to important yet unpopular courses that the country needs in development, namely international relations, public policy and planning.
• CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFERS PROGRAM
Sec. Gilbert Teodoro has been very supportive and even advocates for the expansion of the 4P’s program of the DSWD, because he believes the only way students and their families can get out of poverty is through knowledge and knowledge is fortified and developed only in education.
Conditional Cash Transfers is an economic strategy which aims to provide social assistance to families that cannot sustain the education of their children, and an investment in human capital to ensure that the future workers of our nation will be fully equipped education wise to answer the challenge of the business world. The program is designed where poor families receive cash provided their children regularly goes to public school, visits the health center for regular medical checkups and treatments. Conceiving mothers also receive financial grants provided they regularly undergo medical checkups and standard pregnancy treatments. The Philippine version of this is called the 4 P’s Program (The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program).
According to Teodoro, the expansion of the “conditional cash transfer” program in poverty-stricken areas like Maguindanao will help the government implement educational and socio-economic programs for the province now gripped with political tension following the massacre incident last Nov. 23.
He noted further that many Maguindanao children drop out or not go to school at all because of lack of money for school items and "baon." At an early age, many of them were forced to work as private armies of political warlords who later gain their loyalty.
Health and Education are a basic necessity. It doesn't guarantee you will be rich but if you have education you can change your life for the better. You can't get education on an empty stomach. That's why you need a jump start towards getting it. The 4Ps program may be “pantawid gutom” but the principle behind it is a person can only think better and do better when he has basic necessities such as food and education.
Sec. Teodoro believes it is also necessary to give importance to technical and vocational education in order to improve industrial productivity. 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.
• Continue and Expand the TESDA’s Implementation of Jobs Directed Scholarship Program
Sec. Teodoro has always emphasized the need to revitalize technical education because technical jobs have a high demand, both internally and externally, and that is why he is for the further expansion of this TESDA program, most especially to regions and areas which need capacity building
The current Jobs-directed Scholarship Program is funded under the Technical Education and Skills Development Project-Asian Development Bank (TESDP-ADB). The system will allow eligible TVET providers to participate in the grant system for courses responsive to the needs of the communities in terms of job generation and employment facilitation in priority industries with high demand for labor in regional and provincial levels. The program aims to extend financial assistance thru scholarship grants to poor but deserving students to pursue TVET and equip them with skills for wage employment, self-employment and/or entrepreneurship and assist qualified TVET providers in the conduct of various TVET course offerings that respond to specific employment requirements within the area. The grant system is open to private/public schools/institutions, training centers, private companies, Non-government organizations and people's organizations that are registered with appropriate government agencies, national government agencies and local government units.
Along with that is the concurrent implementation of the TESDA of the following measures:
• Youth Profiling for Starting Careers is a multi-component career guidance program designed to help students choose intelligently on what course to pursue on college. It provides aptitude and job interest assessment, labor market information, education and training information, career profiling and career guidance and counselling. Aside from high school students as its primary target, it could also be delivered to out-of-school youth, unemployed adults and working young adults who would like to make a career change.
• Career Guidance Materials Development This program is aimed to promote job occupations in each of the priority sectors identified by the TESDA board. The materials will give emphasis to the career ladder od each sector including the basic competencies, education and training requirements.
• Apprenticeship Program is a training and employment program involving a contract between an apprentice and an employer on an approved apprenticeable occupation. Generally, it aims to provide a mechanism that will ensure availability of qualified skilled workers based on industry requirements. The period of apprenticeship covers a minimum of four months and a maximum of six months. Only companies with approved and registered apprenticeship programs under TESDA can hire apprentices.
ECONOMY
The Teodoro presidency will work to reduce poverty by working to sustain a globally competitive economy that will continue to grow.
The goal is to provide proper government investments, such as infrastructure, and policies such as transparency, to afford confidence in our economy
• To reduce, our strategy is to sustain GDP growth at 7-8 percent within the context of globalization. To do this, we have to expand foreign trade and investments
Sec. Teodoro assures us that employment opportunities will come to the people. The country is a great source of new ideas and manpower. We can harness these by providing equal opportunity for everyone and initiating programs that will generate productive employment, at the same time boost the country’s economy.• Different sectors will create job expositions, livelihood programs, cooperatives, and assistance desks to alleviate unemployment and underemployment.
• Fresh graduates will have the choice to pursue their careers. Of course, apt compensation and benefits will be given to employees of every public and private company
• Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) will continue to protect the welfare of our overseas Filipino workers. The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) have organized labor-management councils. Labor education programs are also established to properly instruct and inform the workforce.
Sec. Teodoro believes that a Solid infrastructure program must be put together to attract foreign investments and to improve the country’s productivity levels• Delay in putting up roads, highways and bridges are costing the country billions of pesos in missed opportunities.
• If you stop a logical continuation of a needed construction project given inflation and given higher costs, a project delayed today will not get any cheaper in the future but more expensive. This is the biggest block or barrier to the competitiveness in the Philippines. Experts have told us that one major block is the lack of a long-term infrastructure program
• Teodoro’s government would court the private sector in his first 100 days in office for joint ventures in upgrading public infrastructure.
• Although they will entail huge amount of budget, Teodoro said that vital infrastructures like long bridges and underwater tunnels are the country’s answer to the accident prone roll on, roll off (RO-RO) ferry system using old, dilapidated ships.
• Teodoro said we must focus and build up our domestic capability in terms of infrastructure and institutions. We should be thinking of putting up more physical infrastructures of more roads, more bridges to link islands, more flyovers and underpasses that will be sufficient to accommodate the growing population of the next 50 years
• Teodoro, also reiterated his vision for linking the islands in the Visayas through bridges and tunnels
The planning for that must be laid now for the future. We should not only be thinking for now, think not only about the traffic today, but anticipate conditions 20, 30, 40 years from now. Let us stick to our urban plans study them because it could cost lives and cost efficiencies
Sec. Teodoro would adopt the current administration's fiscal management policies, keeping the current rate of consumption taxes, and may even borrow more when needed to finance a ballooning budget deficit• He favours simplifying the tax system and lower rates to expand the tax base.
o He would certainly want some lowering of rates but it has to be well studied and well phased in because there will be revenue shortfall once you introduce it. And you'll only reap the benefits if there is additional velocity in terms of business transactions to cover that shortfall
• Teodoro’s Government may resort to more borrowings to fund its budget deficit. o The government is looking to borrow around $15 billion from local and foreign sources, up from $14 billion in 2009
o Debt is better than taxation, if there is an adequate prospect of repayment. It's really treasury management
Sec. Teodoro emphasizes the need to tap the expertise of the country’s embassy officials in strengthening economic relations with the ally nations.
• We must seek out and optimize opportunities in our existing multilateral and bilateral trade and investment regimes
FOOD SECURITYSec. Teodoro stresses the crucial need to boost food production to match the country’s population growth and elevate the farmers from a “state of permanent peasantry."
• The country’s poor agricultural system has spawned the long-running insurgency and poses a threat to food security as population grows by more than two million a year.
• Sec. Teodoro will pursue programs to make entrepreneurs of our farmers. He will further lead programs to teach them modern technology to improve their food production capability
• Sec. Teodoro ensures that the farmers will be given the opportunity to grow rich from their endeavours—and that we help farmers, through programs, to increase agricultural productivity so that we will no longer be the largest importer of rice
o The insurgency must be stopped in conflict areas, where the return of peace and stability can turn land into productive endeavours.
o Sec. Teodoro believes that if we invest the required amount in the Central Mindanao basin project, hundreds of thousands of very fertile land can be put to good use
HEALTHCARESec. Teodoro promotes a universal participative health care system- that should be established, whether local or national government, public or private institutions.
• Like the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), this is a big contributor, but we must have more voluntary contributions to pool.
o Everyone will benefit from this, in terms of cheaper medicines, health plans, and affordable hospital services.
Sec. Teodoro believes that our doctors and nurses have to be adequately compensated for the services they provide which is needed so they won’t need to seek greener pastures in other countries and cause brain drain phenomenon• It is also high-time to explore the potential of medical tourism as an official industry in the country.
Sec. Teodoro vows to strengthen the Barangay health programs by providing improved training for health workers and upgrade their resources for a more efficient community health care.
• Sec. Teodoro will look into the possibility of giving them more cash and other material benefits. They deserve such reward for their exemplary service to the public
• Sec. Teodoro mentions also that it would be ideal if we would allocate sufficient resources to these provinces to enable them to construct more hospitals and medical facilities to treat the poor
• Sec. Teodoro advocates that funds for modern health facilities can be obtained with the assistance of the pork-barrel funds of local congressional representatives.
GRAFT AND CORRUPTIONSec. Teodoro believes that a balanced, stick and carrot approach must be implemented in solving the approach where you have to improve the standard of living of government officials, because they too are deserving of sustainable living, while enforcing more transparency and accountability measures through a systemic attack of the problem
• We all must acknowledge that the problem of graft and corruption has a great deal to do with the system, the system and the system. It is the system that encouraged wayward behavior because few are ever caught and convicted. It is the system that provided the environment for corruption, sustained apathy among the influential few who can act, and created distrust, resentment, and cynicism among the many
• We must rework the Bank Secrecy Law and remove confidentiality of tax returns, enact the Freedom of Information Act, and computerize land registration
• Teodoro’s administration shall seek to institute community governance groups and multi-sectoral watchdogs over each agency, district, province and city to directly provide me information on how well or how badly government projects are implemented
• Government processes should be more transparent and should have strict timelines that are client-oriented.
PEACE AND ORDER
Sec. Teodoro mentions that he will set two conditions with regards to peace and order, and that is 1) that the primacy of the Philippine constitution and the Philippine government must be upheld at all times. 2.) There must always be government presence in this conflict areas not only to protect but as a deterrent. This is achieved through a combination of various things like presence of the following:• Police and military personnel in the area for an effective length of time,
o 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
• Infrastructure development,
• Capacity building of LGUs, • Livelihood opportunities;
• Education and such other empowerment measures.
But the underlying factor is the disarmament of non-state armed groups.
TRADE LIBERALIZATION
Sec. Teodoro believes that we must not fear competition, and instead government institutions, and our increased partnership with the private sector, must prepare and improve our capabilities so we can then compete with the rest of the world.
• International trade is an inexorable feature of today’s inter-connected world. Trade is essential to our survival as an economy and people.
• The liberalization of trade is a necessary condition if we must provide the most economic prices to consumers.
• Our membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and in regional blocs like the ASEAN, APEC, and AFTA implies certain responsibilities towards enhancing the opportunities for more trade with member countries.
FOREIGN RELATIONSSec. Teodoro believes our relationship with the United States is a cornerstone of our policy, as our relationships with ASEAN, the OIC, and other regional and multilateral groups, and our bilateral relationships as well.
• We should leverage this relationship as we should our relationship with other countries, identifying mutually advantageous and mutually beneficial points of cooperation, after a transparent and arms-length realization of each country’s conditions
• It is a paradox that one of the most effective deterrents against conflict between states is close interaction between their armed forces—soldiers do not make wars, politicians do. The VFA is such a mechanism.
o We have seen it at work in the non-traditional military sense, in what we call HADR—humanitarian assistance and disaster response. In typhoon Frank last year and in Ondoy, Pepeng etc. this year US troops immediately came to our assistance. Thus the VFA should be judged from a broader perspective than just criminal jurisdiction.
o The VFA is merely an implementing treaty of Mutual Defense Treaty which embodies both countries’ bilateral military obligations
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH BILL
Sec. Teodoro agrees with the Church position, and says that the government should be “neutral” but should support the “moral choice” of every individual with resources. The Church, for its part, should take it upon itself to shape the “moral choice” by acknowledging the problem of a growing population
• He mentions that he’d rather have resources to support a moral choice rather than fight over a bill.”
• There was a need to come to a “mutual and common understanding” on addressing population “whereby the government respects the moral choice and provides resources toward supporting that moral choice.”
o If they use the rhythm method, we can have some resources to support that by a conditional cash transfer if they do not a have birth within a year or so for the poorest of the poor.
• Sec. Teodoro proposes that since the government is not the right moral guardian, and that the moral guardians themselves should be accountable, but if at some point, it is shown that the "experiment" is not succeeding, then the government should step in.
o He further stresses that the government must not influence a choice, but must support a choice
TERRITORIAL BORDERS
Sec. Teodoro will continue to bat for greater security agreements with member-countries in the Brunei Darussalam-Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines East Asia Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA), saying that our weakness in this area can be compensated for by our allies.• He pointed out that security agreements with the BIMP-EAGA nations will greatly help in bringing peace and stability to the region, because the joint border patrols could be used in curbing high-seas smuggling of narcotics and weapons, and even cross-border terrorism.
• The BIMP-EAGA promotes trade and investments in the sub-region through facilitating access to information by the private sector, helping it identify and take advantage of business opportunities in the area.
o The BIMP-EAGA has more than 20 million trade- and investment-related statistics and documents covering the four-member countries. Its content and design reflect feedback from wide-ranging stakeholder consultations held in each country and the contributions of 12 national government agencies and various local government units.
o It also allows policy makers to identify and address issues affecting the investment climate.
CLIMATE CHANGE
Sec. Teodoro advocates for a common plan for a “sustainable anti-climate change infrastructure” to prepare the country’s regions amid forecast of harsher storms due to global warming
• Planning for anti-climate change infrastructure must be conducive to the needs of the communities where they will be installed
• Sec. Teodoro emphasizes the need to build infrastructures in urban areas, and adequately equip rural areas, based on available information in a geo hazard sort of way. According to the DENR, 85% of the country has already been geo hazard mapped, and only 15% of the country is left. On those areas not urbanized, we have to already have laid down land use plans, and those should be followed
Sec. Teodoro also supports the implementation of a comprehensive judicial reform program that emphasizes the development of systems, institutions, and resources—particularly steps undertaken by the Supreme Court—to address delays in the resolution of environment cases, lack of information, stringent requirements in litigation, lack of environmental (“green”) courts, and other barriers to environmental justice• The SC, in January 2008, designated 117 green courts the tasked to try and decide violations of environmental laws which include, but are not limited to, the Revised Forestry Code (PD 705), Marine Pollution (PD 979), Toxic Substances and Hazardous Waste Act (RA 6969), People’s Small-Scale Mining Act (RA 7076), National Integrated Protected Areas System Act (RA 7586), Philippine Mining Act (RA 7942), Indigenous People’s Rights Act (RA 8371), Philippine Fisheries Code (RA 8550); Clean Air Act (RA 8749), Ecological Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003), National Caves & Cave Resources Management Act (RA 9072), Wildlife Conservation & Protection Act (RA 9147), Chainsaw Act (RA 9175), and Clean Water Act (RA 9275).
Sec. Teodoro shall set aside at the least P 5 billion every year for community supported reforestation projects that will provide regular income support for families and forestry cooperatives.
• We shall leverage these projects against the carbon funds to be able to provide better community services to the beneficiaries.
• We shall encourage urban informal settlers to be trained and be part of reforestation program because this could give them a better alternative to improving their families’ futures. We will provide them with strong monitoring and guidance.
TOURISM
Sec. Teodoro believes that tourism is one sector that we can build on because of its productive strength in our economy this day.
• Tourism is one of the more productive industries we have as of present time. Given the vividness of our culture, we have provided the best sights and scenery for tourists coming in and paying a visit.
• However, much has our tourism has fostered, many cities seem to have devised a dysfunctional strategy, not being to maximize the potential of their investment, given that it is using a similar formula to attract tourists based on what works for the other tourist destinations in the country. What happens now is that we have a multitude of beaches for example, that not a lot of tourists go to, considering some of the characteristics of some beaches do not fit in accordance with its natural beauty. We are only replicating the same formula, and often, visitors will only get tired of seeing beaches in each and every corner of the country.
• Teodoro’s platform addresses this issue by devising a tourism strategy for each locality, based on its ethnic cultural strengths- eco-tourism with a cultural backbone.
o This makes each area of the Philippines distinct from each other, based on culture, not for us, but for those who want to pay a visit. A wide range of choices then makes our country susceptible to the promise of increased tourists.
o This provides great opportunity for tourists to have a diversity of choices, and a differentiated perspective for many of their vacation needs. It also re-enforces the strength of each culture.
AGRARIAN REFORM
Sec. Teodoro emphasizes that there should be stability in ownership of land. He's satisfied with Agrarian Reform, but we must stop it once implemented, because it is no longer reform if it continues, but it becomes a sort of government funded peasantry program. He further stressed that we must continuously aid those who have already been beneficiaries of land, and provide avenues for them to be more productive
• As president, he will fully implement CARPER as an instrument of social justice and as a pillar of rural development in a society where poverty is 78% in the countryside.
• But to ensure that this would be its final phase, first he will refocus support systems in improving farm productivity, such as trainings on better farm technology, improving access to credit, more post harvest facilities and support for farm marketing that to ensure that the gains of farming will be most concentrated on the farmers.
• Second, it shall be a policy of his administration to condone the P42bn agrarian reform liabilities so that farmers will have a clean and full title to their asset, thereby giving them collateral to access formal capital. It would also free up the rural property market.
• Third, this also implies that CARPER land distribution shall be non-repayable by its beneficiaries.
EXTRA JUDICIAL KILLINGS
Sec. Teodoro believes we must build an effective deterrence infrastructure, one which begins by establishing organized micro and macro policing strategies to safeguard areas of peace, and invest and improve the investigative capacity of the police so that we can have much evidence and process it with adequate technology.• To the administration’s credit, extra-judicial killings and disappearances went down by as much as 80%
PROTECTION OF MIGRANT WORKERS
Sec. Teodoro stresses the need for a balanced approach, one is that there should be a more active network of support systems to monitor the conditions of each and every Filipino worker abroad have, and second is to provide adequate opportunities in the country, to prevent the influx of migrant workers, resulting in brain drain.• Government must help establish a system of mutual assistance in every country where Filipino communities are present, to help them cope with emergency problems such as illness, legal issues and repatriation support
• The protection of our migrant workers actually begins with protecting them at the point of recruitment. We must install more safeguards so that recruiters can provide more assurances of safety for our OFW’s.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Sec. Teodoro advocates that there must be more income opportunities for the countryside if we are to raise economic growth on a more inclusive and equitable basis• This means that we must improve the government’s support for higher agricultural productivity and for creating more off-farm employment.
• Under his administration, he shall pour more resources to programs and projects that will increase farm yields, enhance the shelf life of farm produce, improve marketing capabilities and provide the needed livelihood funding support to our farmers and fisher folks.
• He further mentions that we must utilize the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) and Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Funds (ACEF) to create maximum benefits to our small struggling farmers in the countryside.
HOUSING
• It is, therefore, the duty of the government to subsidize access to housing for the lowest 30%. Thus, mass housing should be a mandatory item in the BOI IPP list to ensure automatic access of socialized and low-cost mass housing to fiscal incentives.
• The government will enable civic volunteerism mobilized by NGO’s. The Community Mortgage Program, National Housing Authority, and PAG-IBIG funds have already shown that home-ownership can still be affordable.
• We must also encourage the growth of rental and lease-to-own housing projects by providing them adequate credit flows and incentives.
GUN CONTROL
Sec. Teodoro maintains that ownership of firearms is a right that should be enjoyed by responsible citizens – but not the criminal elements and persons with psychological conditions.• The country has strict gun control laws but we need to greatly enhance its implementation. We have over one million loose firearms.
• Without reducing the right of citizens to own guns for protection or as a hobby, we must strictly regulate the possession of guns and provide a bounty for the discovery and seizure of loose high powered firearms, and increasing criminal penalties for the use of unregistered guns
