Six of Zamboanga City’s eight mayorables signified their bravery and valiance to share their platforms with the local electorate in the VALIENTE: Mayor Candidates’ Forum. Among them is Cesar Climaco, Jr., the son of the historic Cesar Climaco who was a renowned city mayor during the regime of Ferdinand Marcos.
Climaco’s aspirations to become mayor stem from the prevalence of corruption in the government, which he aims to address should he be elected. He also seeks to solve the many problems of the city, citing that there are many existing solutions for them in other countries that could be adapted to the city. The main obstacle to this, he says, is corruption which he wants to eradicate if he were given a term in office.
When asked about pushing industry 4.0 in Zamboanga City, Climaco intends to boost employment opportunities in the city by attracting foreign investors with tax breaks. Through this, Climaco envisions Zamboanga to be an “ecozone” or economic zone of all industries and corporations and establish the city as a commercial hub with a thriving computer industry, which he hopes the internet in the city is going to be strong enough to support.
Among his notable statements, everything he discussed during the forum was his thoughts on improving labor conditions and increasing the minimum wage in the city where he implied that he was against the very concept of a minimum wage by stating that it is an “economic issue, it’s not a political issue.” Climaco was against the idea of a minimum wage that he thought was worse for the nation, stating that determining the minimum wage is “mostly guesswork” and that the government should “be out of the computation of wages and employment.”
He also disparaged the Department of Migrant Workers in Zamboanga City, expressing his sentiment that it is a waste of funds for “a lot of workers who may not be doing anything,” adding that the government should “get out of the business of interfering with the people who want to work.”
What raised the most eyebrows, however, was his refusal to acknowledge the existence of the COVID-19 pandemic and making vaccines out to be ineffective and a waste of funds. His segment of the forum ultimately ended with a strong striking of the gavel as if to signal the audience’s distaste for what he said.
When questioned about his position on key issues of the city, Cimaco expressed his support for the resumption of on-site classes and the establishment of night markets to reinvigorate the city’s nightlife. However, he was against the increase in water prices and the conversion of other barangays into municipalities because of concerns about the addition of new bureaucratic systems for each municipality and the funds needed to allocate for their establishment.
While his platforms and perspectives on the most pressing issues of the city might be too radical for some people, his attendance in the forum shows his desire and bravery to lead Zamboanga toward a better future.
This Forum Review is part of The BEACON’s series on local elections. The VALIENTE: Mayoral Candidatess Forum was held last April 9, 2022 at the Faustino W Saavedra Multi-Purpose Hall in the Ateneo de Zamboanga University Salvador Campus.