MANILA, Philippines – Florin “Pilo” Hilbay began his morning on Thursday, May 2, meeting a volunteer who has gotten quite popular among the Otso Diretso campaign team – 38-year-old Omar Hernandez, an ex-seminarian battling leukemia.

Omar said he looked up to the former solicitor general, and was very excited to meet him.

“Si Pilo kasi, laki sa hirap, ganoon din ako. ‘Yung na experience niya noong bata siya na nag-ulam ng toyo, naranasan ko rin (Pilo grew up poor, and so did I. His experience of eating a meal of rice with soy sauce, I experienced that too),” Omar said.

Hilbay grew up poor in Tondo. His mother was a helper, his father was a messenger; neither finished their education. Pilo went on to finish Economics at the University of Santo Tomas (UST) and law at the University of the Philippines (UP.) He topped the Bar.

He also became the youngest solicitor general, to date.

Hilbay made a name for himself as Noynoy Aquino’s last solicitor general. He faced oral arguments at the Supreme Court for the administration, and once faced the Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) for a justice position at the High Court.

In the political sphere, Hilbay is the lawyer, the ex-solgen.

In the 2019 elections, he transitioned from that image to a man for the poor of sorts. His main platform is a magna carta for the poor or the insitutionalization of the conditional cash transfer program.

His Tondo background aligned with that messaging that got supporters like Omar hooked.

“Of course (there’s difficulty), because my training is a lawyer, my training is in making purely legal arguments, and then you transition into someone who’s running for the Senate; you have to appeal to a wider base,” Hilbay told Rappler after his visit to the Balintawak market on Thursday.

He added: “Ako naisip ko ‘yung kasaysayan ko as galing sa Tondo, as a success story will be the political base of my campaign. Dahil alam naman natin na hindi lahat ay interesado sa mga kaso, hindi lahat ay interesado sa teorya ng batas. That’s a transition – it’s been a very difficult transition – but I think it’s a necessary transition.”

(I thought that my history in Tondo, as a success story, will be the political base of my campaign. Because we all know that not everybody is interested in cases, not everybody is interested in the theories of the law.  That’s a transition – it’s been a very difficult transition – but I think it’s a necessary transition.) 

WATCH: Campaign volunteer Omar Hernandez why he’s making the efforts for Otso Diretso and Pilo Hilbay pic.twitter.com/ofnaBcJD0p

— Lian Buan (@lianbuan) May 2, 2019

4Ps

In the 8-point platform of Otso Diretso, Pilo is assigned to poverty alleviation.

His proposed law is a “consultative and comprehensive Magna Carta for the Poor.” He said he would prioritize the 4Ps or Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program law, but he wants to turn “pantawid”  into “pag-angat” – or from merely giving financial aid to improving the overall quality of life of people.

The Senate and the House of Representatives both passed their versions of the bill institutionalizing 4Ps. The Senate version was sponsored and authored by detained Senator Leila de Lima, a fierce Duterte critic, while it was sponsored on the floor by another staunch administration critic, Senator Antonio Trillanes IV.

Senate Bill (SB) No. 2117,  in its current form still defines beneficiaries as those coming from the poorest of the poor. Hilbay wants to expand the beneficiaries covered by the measure.

“Baka ako pa lang ‘yung nagpropose noong sinasabing unemployment compensation…para doon sa mga natanggalan ng trabaho. I think it’s a very good investment para maka-transfer sa bagong trabaho ‘yung mamamayan,” he said.

(So far, maybe I’m the only one proposing the so-called unemployment compensation… for those who lost their jobs. I think it’s a very good investment so a person can transfer to a new job.) 

The conditional cash transfer (CCT) program of every government all grappled with controversies of corruption. Down the lower level, the beneficiaries list gets rigged so families connected to local leaders – not necessarily the program’s target beneficiaries – get the aid.

In 2017, the Commission on Audit (COA) said that over P1.42 billion worth of cash grants were not availed of by beneficiaries, “a condition [which] manifests that some 4Ps beneficiaries were not actually in need of financial assistance,” auditors noted.

“Dapat maging malinaw ‘yung beneficiaries. Marami tayong naririnig na napupulitika ‘yung beneficiaries, so kung meron kang batas na mae-expand ‘yung 4Ps, at least mas madaling tutukan ng Kongreso ‘yung bureaucracy,” Pilo said.

(The beneficiaries have to be clear. We’ve been hearing issues about how it is politicized, so if there’s a law that would expand 4Ps, Congress would have an easier time focusing on the bureaucracy.) 

‘We need a Hail Mary’

Voters’ awareness of Hilbay as a senatorial candidate had improved, but not enough to land him at least in the top 30 or Page 1 of the list of candidates in the April survey of Pulse Asia Research, Incorporated. He was the only Otso Diretso bet who didn’t get in the top 30. (READ: Wiped out opposition? Latest survey fuels fear of return to pre-Martial Law)

Rappler looked at the numbers of the previous 2016 elections and found that the 12 winners of the senatorial polls spent an average of P107 million. 

It’s evident that Hilbay had nowhere near P107 million – he couldn’t even afford a single TV ad.

At the market, vendors asked him for a t-shirt or “pampalamig man lang (refreshments at least)” but Hilbay would just smile and hand them a cardboard fan that contained his life story and his platform.

“Talagang dehado naman sa umpisa pa lang ‘yung Otso Diretso (Otso Diretso has been at a disadvantage fom the start). We hope for some Hail Mary, for some miracle to happen, and that miracle will be based on the level of commitment ng mga kandidato, lalo na ng mga (of the candidates, especially the) volunteers,” Pilo said.

Despite the heat and fatigue on the campaign trail, Omar said at least he  could  tell himself he had done something for his country.

“Anytime puwedeng may mangyari sa ‘kin, pero may ginawa ako. Mamamatay ako na may dignidad. ‘Yung sakit ko, traydor. Kaysa ako ‘yung traydor, ‘yung sakit ko na lang, kaysa ako ‘yung traydor sa bayan,” he said.

(Something can happen to me anytime, but at least I’m able to do something now. I will die with dignity. My disease is a traitor, and it should be the only traitor, not me. I don’t want to be a traitor to the country.) – Rappler.com