After the success of the four-part series “Negosyo Talks: Meet the Presidentiables,” featuring Vice President Jejomar Binay, former Secretary Mar Roxas, Senator Grace Poe, and Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, Go Negosyo hosted the “Negosyo Talks: Meet the Vice Presidentiables” forum. This forum was again co-presented by the RFM Corporation, Sta. Elena Construction and Development Corporation, PLDT-Smart SME Nation, and exclusively covered by TV5.

Sen. Chiz Escudero, Sen. Bongbong Marcos, Rep. Leni Robredo, and Sen. Antonio Trillanes accepted our invitation to talk before the Go Negosyo community.

First and foremost, we asked them about their plans for entrepreneurship development. All are in full support of MSMEs.

Marcos stressed the need for business infrastructure and training programs. Robredo mentioned three important “M”s needed by MSMEs: money, market linkage, and mentorship. Trillanes highlighted the issue of access to capital and ease of doing business. Escudero mentioned initiatives to promote competitiveness and ease of registration, such as allowing “one-person” corporations, tax reforms and other measures.

Aside from topics on MSMEs, education, agriculture, and their platforms, the panelists also asked them about controversial issues. When Marcos was asked if martial law is justifiable, he answered, “Nung itatag ang martial law noon, tayo ay lumalaban sa dalawang gera, sa secessionist movement sa Mindanao, at isa sa communist insurgent (When martial law was imposed before, we were fighting two wars: against the secessionist movement in Mindanao, and against the communist insurgents).”

But for those who have experienced martial law like Robredo, who has been very vocal about her disapproval of martial law, this was not the answer she wanted to hear. She retorted, “Bakit nagkaroon ng maraming extrajudicial killings? Just because iba ang kanilang paniniwala? (Then why were there many extrajudicial killings? Just because they had different beliefs?) I am just fighting for the victims of martial law,” she said.

It was an informative discussion with four vice presidentiables. They were able to prove their points, answer issues hurled at them, and conveyed their plans and platforms well.