Opposition senatorial candidate Sonia Roco arrived in her native province of Bohol yesterday for a two-day campaign, as she reaffirmed her election platform of making education accessible to many Filipinos.
In an interview with DYRD in Tagbilaran, the provincial capital, Roco took up the problem of high tuition fees. "Wherever I go, that question is asked frequently, and that really shows it's a major concern," she said. "I say education is important, but if it's not within reach, how can people get educated? Yet we like to be educated. If elected, the Filipino people can be assured that education will be a high priority in my legislative agenda."
Roco noted the low priority being given to education as well as public health. "Panglaban sa kahirapan at sa corruption ang mga ito," she said. "If you look at Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, there was a lot of investment in those areas [of education and health] so that eventually poverty and corruption were greatly reduced. And that's the way to global competitiveness--a healthy mind and a healthy body."
In addition, Roco said, she would continue the policies that her husband, the late Raul Roco, carried out as senator and education secretary. Among them, free public education as mandated by the Constitution, funding teachers' cooperatives, providing financial support to schools lacking in certain facilities, and financing and monitoring the Study Now, Pay Later Plan.
