NY Consulate Holds ‘Know your Candidates’ Forum
Monette Rivera, ABS-CBN North America News Bureau
Posted at 04/05/16 1:33 PM
NEW YORK CITY – Before overseas voting (OV) begins for the Philippine presidential elections on April 9, about 200 Filipinos gathered recently for a “Know Your Candidates” forum at the Philippine Consulate in Manhattan.
The standing room only event allowed voters to get to know the candidates through their supporters, video presentations, and a question and answer portion.
Philanthropist Loida Nicolas-Lewis spoke for Mar Roxas; Alpha Phi Omega fraternity brother of Jejomar Binay, Jesse Arteche stood up for the Vice President; NY coordinator of Go Duterte USA Sani Guillena, represented Rodrigo Duterte ; and Art Garcia, as one of the lead convenors of the Grace Poe for President Movement.
No one stepped up for candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago.
Graft and corruption, international relations, extrajudicial killings, economy, healthcare, and governance were among the issues discussed.
Arteche said, “The 26 million poor Filipinos, 12 of them living in extreme poverty needs your help. Filipinos who’ll die for lack of medical care needs your help. Help them. I ask you to vote for the most qualified. The choice is Binay.”
Garcia said, “Grace Poe on her campaign, she promised the number one thing when she becomes the president is she will pass the Freedom of Information Act and this will be a great instrument in getting rid of graft and corruption.”
“Mr. Mar Roxas is the only believable candidate of all of them,” meanwhile said Nicolas-Lewis.
Guillena said, “Duterte has the balls and the guts because he has proven that a lot of times. I know Duterte, the crusade, the courage that he has.”
The Filipino American Press Club of New York partnered with the Consulate General of New York for the Kapihan Forum.
“Really exciting, exceeds expectations. I think that shows that the Filipino community here in the US northeast is very excited about the 2016 presidential and national elections,” said Ambassador Mario Lopez de Leon Jr.
Nicolas-Lewis added, “I think it’s good to have a bird’s eye view aside from the debate, they see from us what kind of person we are supporting as a president of the Philippines.”
(Source: ABS-CBN.com)