Press Release
March 3, 2009

Competence, integrity and reliability, not money,
make a good leader--Gordon

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today said that competence, integrity and reliability are the important qualities of the next leaders of the country, stressing that money should never be a qualification in vying for a position in the government.

Gordon said that although political candidates need money to run an election campaign, it should not be considered a requirement because what the country needs is someone with a proven track record of competence, integrity and reliability.

"The people should choose a leader that has the right qualifications, an unsullied track record of performance, a national vision, and someone who is least tainted by corruption or by the influence of the powerful," he said.

Gordon said interested political candidates should not be saying that a person need not bother to run if he/she cannot even raise one billion pesos.

He explained that such statement is anti-poor and tends to discourage those who do not have huge amount of money from running for public office even if they have the necessary qualifications to lead the country.

The senator said that more than having the money and the political party's machinery, a presidential candidate, or any candidate for national or local post, should possess the right qualities of a strong leader to improve the country and the citizenry.

"We should not be talking about political party and money. These are things that we should not even debate on," Gordon said.

"Our country needs a leader and not just a political figure. We need a leader who knows not only what the country needs, but also what should be prioritized among those needs and how each necessity should be addressed," he added.

He explained that the Filipino voters should now be smarter in choosing the country's next leaders by looking deeper into the track record of the candidates and see what they have consistently done in their communities that has made a real difference in the lives of ordinary people that they serve.

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