I was lucky enough to be invited for a wonderful discussion with Mr. Bayani Fernando.  He invited a hand selected group to meet with him to be some of the first to discuss his ideas for the Presidential race and there were even a few question directed towards him as Chairman of the MMDA.  Here is a little tidbit of information I would like to share before I begin: Bayani Fernando is the candidate with the most online exposure.  Bayani is active in at least 12 online sites right now in order to remain accessible, and transparent.

First off, please forgive the quality of the pictures, my camera charger has been lost, so I had to use my phone.  Our meeting was held at the beautiful Astoria Plaza in Ortigas.  There was a brief introduction of each of the participants to BF, and I was surprised that he arrived right on time!

Bayani prepares for the Discussion

After a short prep period we proceeded to have a delightful brunch consisting of BBQ Pork, French fries, Siomai, and Tiny Tuna Sandwiches, joined with coffee and tea.

Following our brunch, Bayani took questions from the participants of the discussion in order to show where he stands on the issues at hand.

One of the first questions asked was: Do you think you’ll get rid of the pink?  Bayani’s response was no, because pink stands for health and MetroGwapo is here to support a healthy community. It is a reminder to stay healthy and with the lack of flowers, it ads a little color to the city.  Bayani went on to tell, “Pink is not my favorite color, it is actually baby blue, but that doesn’t show up as well or have a significant meaning.”

Listening to Mr. Fernando on this day made my support for him grow even more, for every item that was discussed, Bayani had a reason why things were being done the way they are, he never said just because we want it that way.  There is some sort of significance to each project that he has put his heart into.

When asked what has been his biggest hurdle as MMDA Chairman, BF responded by explaining the toughest problem to deal with is the social behavior of the people.

“Everything I do should be to improve social behavior.”

The projects that Bayani has planned, completed, and that are in progress are there to promote social behavior and build the foundation for a better way of life.

Bayani says:
”I will not build anything to destroy or erode social behavior, everything I do has a place and a reason.”

It really does to, if people take the time to listen to Bayani, he is more than happy to explain the reason behind his projects, on one can quickly see that it is for the betterment of the people of the Philippines.  Bayani is looking at the big picture and laying a foundation for the betterment of the Philippines as a whole, not trying to tackle just a handful of small projects like some of his political opposition. He has a reason that sometime people fail to see until it is explained to them.

One example is someone asked about the traffic and how he planned  to fix the problem if ever.  Bayani gave a slight chuckle and said, “Look around, I am already doing it.”  He explained that this country is different then a lot of countries, for example, Japan has a horrible traffic problem, but it is produced by too many cars on the road.  Part of the traffic problem here in the Philippines is from the commuters, they have no where to wait for a ride and they are crossing busy streets causing hazard to themselves and others.  When the infrastructure of the country was built this was not taken into account.  The solution to help alleviate this problem came in the form of widening streets and providing ‘Stops’ where the people could wait in safety for the next Jeepney, taxi, tricycle or bus.  The foot bridges were not built to waist money or to be an eyesore, they were built to allow the people to cross the streets safely and to keep from hindering the flow of traffic.  These bridges are crossed by more than 1.7 million people every day!

I will end here for this part as I have quite a lot more to say.  One thing I would like to end with is a personal view after having the privilege of joining today’s meeting:

If the people of the Philippines do not unite and elect Bayani Fernando as the next President of the Philippines, they are making the biggest mistake of their lives, without a doubt!

(to be cont…)