Negrense senatorial bet and former Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Rafael Alunan III yesterday promised to “fix the country” if elected in the 2019 midterm elections.

In a press conference yesterday, he said there is “so much to fix in the country” and that government has suffered from so much “negligence, incompetence, and irresponsibility.”

The former cabinet official said society remains divided and poverty is getting worse because “those who have the means to bring up the nation are still greedy.”

The senatorial hopeful also said he plans on introducing reforms to the country’s criminal justice system before reintroducing the death penalty.

Alunan explained, capital punishment should only be used against those who commit “crimes against humanity,” which he described as terrorist acts that cause mass casualties among innocent civilians, plunder and economic sabotage, illegal drugs, kidnapping involving murder or rape, ecological destruction, and human trafficking.

“Bad things should happen to bad people swiftly so the law will be feared and respected,” he added.

Despite the country’s defense system improving due to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Modernization Act, Alunan said he plans on reforming the country’s defense sector by improving the Navy and Air Force, pointing out, “We are still too far from our Southeast Asian neighbors.”

Alunan cited Singapore, explaining, even though the city-state is roughly the same size as Guimaras, the country shares the same military capabilities with first world countries.

He also said the current insurgency problems can be solved if social injustice is addressed.

Meanwhile, the senatorial aspirant backed the development of ecotourism, calling it the number one driver in the country’s economy.

In addition, he also said “the only answer” to the dwindling number of farmers is to mechanize the agricultural industry./DGB, WDJ