NO ROOM FOR 'CORRUPT, INCOMPETENT' IN MIRIAM ADMIN

Presidential candidate Miriam Defensor Santiago on Friday vowed to restore meritocracy in government service by appointing individuals with solid track records in administrative positions and by pushing for an anti-political recommendations law.

"I will recruit the best, the most competent, the most experienced, the most honest men and women to assist me run my administration," Santiago said, as netizens continue to criticize certain members of the Aquino Cabinet for alleged incompetence.

Santiago won the Ramon Magsaysay Award, dubbed the Asian equivalent of the Nobel Prize, as Immigration commissioner in 1988. She was cited for "bold and moral leadership in cleaning up a graft-ridden government agency."

"Political parasites, incompetents, and unproductive workers will have no place in my administration," the senator said. She also promised to streamline the bureaucracy to eliminate redundant agencies and positions.

"I will start by conducting a swift review of all programs and projects of government. There will be a task force for each major department as soon as I assume office," Santiago said.

In August 2013, Santiago filed the Anti-Political Recommendations Bill (Senate Bill No. 1198). The bill remained pending at the committee level, however, and is not likely to move until the close of the 16th Congress in June.

The bill, if approved, will penalize the acts of making and soliciting political recommendations, thus limiting to agencies the discretion to appoint, promote, assign or transfer designation, interim or otherwise.

"Many public officials use their powers to influence the appointment of persons to government posts through recommendations. Those who solicit political recommendations are not always the most competent public servants," Santiago said.

An anti-political recommendations law will cover even the Armed Forces and the Philippine National Police, which Santiago said have extensively been eroded by the so-called "padrino system."

Besides the anti-political recommendations law, Santiago's anti-corruption agenda includes the swift passage of the freedom of information bill, the anti-epal bill, the anti-premature campaigning bill, and the anti-political dynasty bill.