MANILA, Philippines -- This is one survey where she appears to be leading the pack. By articulating clearly her position on a wide range of environmental issues, Sonia Roco is a "pleasant surprise'' to green groups conducting an informal survey of senatorial candidates and their ecological agenda.
"Sonia Roco, for example, is a neophyte candidate, but we were pleasantly surprised by the quality and depth of her responses,'' Greenpeace campaigns director Von Hernandez said in an interview.
It was a sign, he added, that the Genuine Opposition candidate and her team had "put some serious thinking'' to the issues.
Greenpeace, the EcoWaste Coalition, and other green groups had put forward questions on climate change, energy, water, solid waste, toxic waste trade, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), among others, to the senatorial candidates. They also asked the candidates to present their agenda.
They call this the Green Environment Initiative.
All four women candidates -- Roco and former Senators Nikki Coseteng, Loren Legarda and Tessie Aquino-Oreta -- responded. Unfortunately, they were only among the 18 out of the 37 candidates who did so.
The groups are still evaluating the candidates' views, positions and track record on environmental protection, and will announce the "green candidates'' on Friday next week in time for the following Sunday's celebration of Earth Day.
EcoWaste secretary Manny Calonzo said that Roco was among the few candidates who clearly elucidated her opposition to the controversial Japan-Philippines Economic Partnership Agreement (JPEPA).
"She thinks that it's a lopsided agreement that will only benefit Japan. Second, the agreement raises legal and constitutional questions, and third, it's anti-environment,'' he said, quoting her views.
"She's very clear with her position. I think that's very much appreciated by environmental groups who are opposed to this agreement.''
JPEPA, which was submitted to the Senate for ratification, last year raised a howl of protest and met stiff opposition from environmentalists because it provided zero tariff for toxic wastes.
Hernandez said that Roco's clear position on climate change and GMO, among other issues, reminded them of her husband, the late Senator Raul Roco, who emerged No. 1 in the environmental survey among presidential aspirants in 2004.
"Her positions on GMOs, waste issue, climate change remind us of the positions similarly articulated by the late senator Roco,'' he said.
The groups said Roco has the "potential of becoming a people's environmental champion'' in the upper chamber. They, however, stressed that this was merely their initial assessment of the candidates' responses to the survey.
