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Lunch with CAMILO SABIO
By Georgia

Having lunch with the family of independent senatorial candidate Camilo Sabio was a break from the campaign circus happening all over the country. While sitting at the table with Mr. Sabio, his wife, and his daughter, May, along with two other students working on their thesis, I noticed that Mr. Sabio was awfully mild-mannered and his family genuinely accommodating. At one point in the interview, Mr. Sabio requested that I stop my recorder while he went to his car to get a copy of the Philippine Constitution just to make sure that his facts were straight.
"This is where he and I had our first date," his wife said referring to Hizon's Café at Ermita where we were lunching. "That was back when she was still my girlfriend," Mr. Sabio adds.
Hizon's Café has been a favorite spot for Mr. Sabio from back when he was still a law student until now his first try to run for the Senate. After lunch, I was able to talk to him about his campaign, how he spent his first 20 years after college, and some of the most important lessons he's learned through the years as a lawyer and public servant.

Why do you find it important to raise the issues in you platform?Read his platform
With respect to the first one, there are many good provisions in the 1987 Constitution for the benefit of the marginalized sectors-the poor--, but they have never been made effective through legislation. Since I have decided to devote my life to the poor and the marginalized sectors. I would like to have these provisions implemented through legislation.

Why did you decide to run for the Senate?
The mandate of the Senate is implementing the provisions of the Constitution. Many provisions of the Constitution have not been implemented. I have served in sensitive positions in the three branches of the government already. (See Sabio's profile) For three consecutive terms I was elected unanimously as Secretary General of the House of Representatives. So I'm all set to become a senator.

With all this experience in the government, what important lessons have you learned that you will be able to apply if you're elected senator?
I have a good grasp of the government, to me that's the most important thing. On that thesis, I could be a very good senator. Our people are missing the likes of Jose P. Laurel, Claro Recto, Lorenzo Tanada, and Benjamin Diokno in the Senate. If I am elected senator, I hope to follow in their footsteps in the Senate.
The Senate is a very important branch in our government. Qualifications for the Senate are very different from, let's say, mayor, governor, and even President. These three need expertise in management-executive expertise. In the Senate, it's different. The Senate is a deliberative body. The qualifications are different. The Senate reviews the pieces of legislation coming from the House of Representatives. The Senate is also, in charge, principally together with the President, on foreign policies.

Being an independent candidate, is your campaign harder than you expected?
It's harder because I do not have the resources other candidates have. At the age of 21, on my eve of my graduation from Ateneo de Cagayan, I decided to forget about making money. I was graduating valedictorian, heading many organizations and getting most of the medals, I decided to devote my life to the poor, the oppressed, and the marginalized sectors. Shortly after I graduated from the Ateneo Law School, I decided to make good by joining the Federation of Farmers and Workers, and that was my life for 20 years. I had no salary, just allowance from the FFW, and a little from the Federation of Farmers. I did that until I was invited to join the government.
Now that I'm running for the Senate after serving the government honestly, I've found out that honesty could be a disqualification. I do not have the resources for nice posters like the other candidates. Maybe, if I had been corrupt in the government, I would be able to make billions!(laughs) But I have been honest, and so, I have no money. That's my situation, but I receive support from the peasants and workers both from the militant groups such as the Kilusang Manbubukid ng Pilipinas, the moderate special sector, the Buklod ng Malalayang Mambubukid, and the FFW.
Because of the support I'm getting, regardless of the surveys, I am confident I'll be ok when election day comes.

If you are elected for the Senate, who would you like to work with?
I am prepared to work with anyone. In the Senate, if you want to be effective, you have to work with everyone. For me, that's no problem, because when I was in the House of Representatives, I was unanimously elected Secretary General for three terms, despite the fact that there were various political parties there. I serve professionally, honestly, and with integrity, so everybody likes me. They did not want me to leave the House.

And he hopes the electorate realizes why that was so on election day.

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