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Source:10Q with Pia Cayetano.
SEN. Pia Cayetano, fresh from her reelection, made a quick trip to New York last week for some much-needed rest after a grueling 90-day campaign period.
In between bonding times with her family, Cayetano dropped by the Philippine Center and sat with theAsian Journal for a casual interview, where she talked about the election, social networking and her thoughts on the next six years.
Asian Journal: Congratulations on your win. How would you describe the campaign process?
Sen. Pia Cayetano: Thank you. The campaign was both physically and mentally taxing. We had to go all over the country. It was a physical campaign for me because I had to bike all over the country, where I send the message that young girls can dream and be physically active. I believe that people should have a visual symbolism of what you are fighting for. It appears that the election was fairly peaceful, not a hundred percent though.
AJ: What can you say about the automation process?
PC: There are some areas that can be improved. In fairness, like any new technology, there will always be glitches. Think about the iPhone or the iPad, they always say that the first edition will always have glitches.
AJ: How is your party, the Nacionalista Party, regrouping after the elections?
PC: We haven’t met as a group yet but I look forward to building a strong network where we are going to support Sen. Aquino’s presidency and continue to be oppositionists in terms of fiscalizing to be sure that everything is transparent. My frustration is that our party had a very strong women-empowered group. In this senatorial election, only two women were elected – Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago and myself – and we are both reelectionists. What our country needs now is stability, that’s why I have full respect for our standard-bearer, Sen. Manny Villar because he conceded immediately. That’s a first in Philippine politics.
AJ: Do you think the Filipino voter has matured?
PC: I’d like to believe that we are moving forward pero marami pa ring improvements na kailangan. Popularity is still the primary reason why people vote for candidates. A lot of the senatorial candidates were incumbent senators, who to me, should be judged on the merit of the work they have done. Pag baguhan naman, dapat tingnan ng voters kung ano ang nagawa niya as a private citizen. Frustrated ako pagdating diyan kasi ang daming magagaling na hindi napansin and maraming issues na hindi na-dissect.
AJ: What is your stand on the seat that is going to be vacated by Sen. Noynoy Aquino?
PC: Alam mo, hindi pa ako nakabuo ng 24. In 2004, pagpasok ko, 23 lang kami. Sen. Noli De Castro won as Vice President and that vacancy was not filled. In 2007, Sen. Alfredo Lim ran for mayor and won. Hindi rin na-fill yung position niya. Sayang yung position that is vacant. I am game for special elections although the cost would be high. We have to look into that.
AJ: What projects are you going to push for the next six years of your term?
PC: I’m very excited. There was a number of projects that were put on hold when the coup in the Senate happened 2 or 3 years ago. I have revisions to the health bill. I followed closely the health reform act of President Obama. In the Philippines, we need reforms on PhilHealth, the national health insurance.Maraming dapat baguhin. I also plan to oversee the implementation of the laws I passed like the cheaper medicine law.
AJ: What are your projects for the overseas Filipinos?
PC: We have between eight to ten million migrant workers. We have so many nurses, doctors, physical therapists – I plan to work with health human resources to iron out a system and make sure that every migrant worker that goes out, meron ding balik for the communities and the institutions that prepared these nurses and doctors for a future outside the country. You want to have a choice. You don’t want to have to leave kasi wala kang kinabukasan sa bansa natin. I want to institutionalize that. Hindi tayo brain drain, brain gain na din dapat. I’m not one to say na itigil ang migration because that will never happen.
AJ: You are one of the few candidates who totally embraced technology – from your blog to Facebook to Twitter. How did that help in your campaign?
PC: The funny thing is I am probably the candidate who embraced this technology but I didn’t do it on a professional level. I didn’t really pay for ads on Facebook, it was more of a personal level for me. I send my tweets myself although I don’t get to personally respond to everyone. Then, there’s my blog where I discuss a lot of stuff and I think it helps people understand na tao lang ako. I’m a mother, and I ask my readers to spend more time with their kids; I talk about being an athlete and being fit because that’s not just my advocacy, it’s my passion.
AJ: And haters?
PC: Meron din (laughs). That’s the thing about technology - people can send their messages to you directly. Someone once sent me, "Sen. Pia, wala kang ibang ginawa kundi magpa-cute," so siyempre, defensive naman ako. "Excuse me, puntahan mo naman yung official website ko and you’ll see lahat ng nagawa ko na." Huwag mo naming sabihin na wala akong nagawa. Sabihin mo na hindi mo type ang mukha ko, choice mo na yun, pero hindi naman siguro yung wala akong ginawa.
AJ: What was the biggest lesson you learned from the recent elections?
PC: Never take anything for granted. Never assume that you are a sure win. That may not really be a personal experience but I say in the sense that in some surveys, I was number two before the elections and I ended up sixth. Thankfully, I still got the mandate of our people. n
( Published June 2, 2010 in Asian Journal Los Angeles p. A1 )
