Senatorial candidate Francis Escudero on Thursday said he wants to expand the projects they carried out in Sorsogon to the whole Philippines if elected in the May elections.
"Ang nais kong gawin sa buong bansa ang nagawa namin bagaman hindi ganong kayamanan ang probinsya ng Sorsogon," Escudero, who is also governor of the province, told DZRH in an interview.
(I want to do to the Philippines the thing that we’ve done even if Sorsogon is not that rich.)
This includes the implementation of Universal Health Care (UHC) across every province in the Philippines.
"Dumaan kami sa butas ng karayom para ito'y magawa at kami ang nangunguna sa pagpapatupad ng UHC sa buong bansa," said Escudero. "Kami ang may pinaka-advance healthcare network system sa mga probinsya sa bansa."
(We went through a needly hole to do this, and now we are leading in implementing the UHC across the Philippines. We have the most advanced network system among the provinces in the Philippines.)
He said he also wants to establish an "interface cemetery" to ensure that remains of the dead will have a place to go amid crowding public cemeteries and expensive private ones in the country.
"Kapag may pumanaw man na mahal sa buhay ang sinomang Sorsoganon, ano man ang relihiyon niya, meron pong pagdadalhan ang kanilang pumanaw na mahal sa buhay nang hindi kailangang mag-aalala," he said.
(If a Sorsoganon loses a loved one, whatever their religion is, they have a place to go without having to worry about anything.)
The senatorial candidate added that he wants to put up a shelter for animals to rescue stray animals, some of which could be trained for future operations.
"Ang pagtayo ng shelter for animals dahil importante maiwasan ang aksidente at sa gayon ay makapag-training din kami ng dog sniffers para self-sustaining 'yung aming animal shelter," he said.
(The establishment of the animal shelter is important to avoid accidents and so we can also train dog sniffers to make the animal shelter self-sustaining.)
The candidate also bared plans for the LGBT+ community, including providing homeless individuals with shelter and opening gender-neutral restrooms.
"Pagkakaroon ng home for homeless gays na ginawa rin po namin dito," said Escudero.
(We also established a home for homeless gays here.)
"Lahat ng public restroom dito sa buong probinsya na minandato namin sa ordinansa, tatlo ang nirerequire, isang male, isang female, at isang gender neutral."
(All of the public restrooms across the province are mandated, through an ordinance, to be in threes, one for male, one for female, and one gender-neutral.)
"Kasama na rin ang sa handicap, para sa gayon hindi lang pagbigay kilala sa katotohanang nakikita natin sa paligid natin," he added.
(This also includes the handicap, so we do not just recognize the reality that we see around us.)
Escudero, who is running under the Nationalist People's Coalition, is aiming for a Senate comeback after serving one term as Sorsogon governor starting in 2019.
On leaving the province too early, Escudero said that he is not the only candidate capable of leading Sorsogon and implementing the projects that he did.
"Hindi lang naman ang pamilya namin, o ako, ang bida, magaling, at kayang gawin ang mga bagay na ito," said the governor. "May mga ibang apelyido rin ang mga pamilyang kayang gawin ang mga ito, baka nga mas magaling pa."
(It is not just me, my family, who are the good ones and are capable here. There are other last names from other families who can do what I did, maybe even better.)
