ASPIRANTS. Partido Reporma standard bearer Sen. Panfilo Lacson and running mate Senate President Vicente Sotto III (4th and 5th from left), are joined by senatorial bets (from left) Guillermo Eleazar, Monsour Del Rosario, Dr. Minguita Padilla, JV Ejercito, and Manny Piñol in a campaign rally at Quezon City Memorial Circle on Feb. 9, 2022. Sixty-four candidates will contest 12 Senate seats on May 9. (PNA photo by Joey O. Razon)
MANILA – Dr. Minguita Padilla, an ophthalmologist running under the ticket of Senators Panfilo Lacson-Vicente Sotto III, said she would support environmental, women, and children’s causes if she makes it to the Senate.
Padilla said she would create measures to mitigate the impact of climate change in the country, including the normalization of work-from-home schemes that could help reduce air pollution, especially in Metro Manila.
In a series of recent interviews accessible on video streaming platform Youtube, she encouraged the government to consider a possible shift to alternative energy sources, particularly the development of more solar power plants, as well as making industries more climate-resilient.
Padilla likewise prefers a status quo on the minimum age of responsibility (15 years) and wants parents held accountable, too, for the crimes of their children.
“Kasi kung ibabalik mo sa magulang ‘yan, same environment, gagawa at gagawa rin ng krimen ‘yan. Kung recidivist (na) siya, you should also find a way to also hold ‘yung magulang accountable or ‘yung humahawak sa bata. Sila ang dapat talagang parusahan (If the children return to the same environment, they might commit the same crimes again. The parents should be held accountable as well or whoever is taking care of the children. They should be punished),” Padilla said.
She is against criminalizing abortion and sympathizes with women who might have been forced by circumstances to terminate their pregnancy.
“We have to find a middle ground. But we cannot make it so easy that it’s just taken for granted,” she explained.
Padilla will vie for one of 12 Senate seats on May 9, along with fellow Partido Reporma aspirants Guillermo Eleazar and Monsour Del Rosario and Nationalist People’s Coalition’s JV Ejercito and Manny Piñol. (PNA)
