Press Release
October 3, 2018

Sen. JV Ejercito Opening Statement
PCOO Budget Hearing

Good morning everyone! I thank all of you for coming in today for your Senate budget hearing. These past months, the PCOO has been at the center of controversies. This we cannot deny. I know that it has been very difficult for most of you, especially for our secretary, our undersecretaries and assistant secretaries. And of course, most especially with Asec Mocha. Amid all the public clamour for resignations, behind all the blaming and shaming, sometimes we end up turning against each other instead of helping one another rise from their mistakes and build a spirit of cooperation while others, sadly, just simply give up.

However, let me emphasize that actions of government officials should be held to a higher standard because of the power that you wield, in the case of Asec. Mocha, both as a social media blogger and as a public official. The words that we say, the acts that we perform are held to a higher standard.

Today, aside from tackling your proposed budget for 2019, we also expect that you could shed light to the controversies and issues. We want that at the end of this hearing, we can assure our people that the mandate of the PCOO is fulfilled and that your budget is efficiently utilized. We should uphold what our Constitution mandates -- that PUBLIC OFFICE IS PUBLIC TRUST. This should be our guidance to be always mindful of our actions as public officials.

With that being said, let us get down to work and make sure that what you plan to deliver to the Filipino people in 2019 is funded.

Thank you.

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