Press Release
May 6, 2019

Partial Transcript of Senate President Vicente Sotto III's Press Conference in Calamba City, Laguna

Senate President Vicente Sotto: Levity aside, congratulations to Luntian for this undertaking. Allow me to thank muna of course Cong. Jun Chipeco, the leadership of Calamba headed by Mayor Timmy Chipeco, kung merong mga nagawang magandang hangin at magandang mga tanim dito sa Calamba, ang original, excuse me Mayor Timmy, si Jun. Sya ang original nagtatanim nyan. We're trying to hit two birds with one stone. Nung malaman ko na merong 10 million trees challenge ang Luntian for Laguna particularly, it's actually for the entire Laguna province. We invited the senatorial candidates, mostly re-electionist senators who I know are also environmentalists and definitely supporting the cause of Luntian. At ito namang mga inimbita namin ay yung aking mga ini-endorse na kandidato. Itong mga kandidatong ito, kung mamarapatin po ninyo at ako'y lilihis ng konti sa usapan at didirecho ako dun sa kung bakit meron ditong presscon, inimbitahan natin sila at gusto natin silang ipakilala sa Calamba at sa buong Pilipinas. Sapagkat ako po'y 27 taon ng senador eh kung tutuusin, 1992 pa ako nahalal. I have been with the best and the brightest. One thing that I can assure you, the line-up of re-electionists in the Senate today is the reason why the Philippine Senate has reached the highest ever trust and approval rating the country has ever had from 1987 to the present and it is because of the diligence, the hard work, the transparency of the work of the Senate and the sincerity of the members of the Senate and that is the reason that precisely I am endorsing the seven re-electionists in this 2019 elections.

Ngayon, hindi ako confined doon sa 7 lang na yan sapagkat, if I can call them one by one - Nancy Binay, Bam Aquino, Koko Pimentel, Grace Poe, Cynthia Villar, JV Ejercito, Sonny Angara - look at their work in the Senate. And I should know, I was majority leader and I was Senate president and I have seen their work, they come from different political parties. It's only JV who is my party mate. We all come from different political parties and we'd like to include also the two other "re-reelectionists" - Pia Cayetano and Lito Lapid. Kaya yun yung casting namin. But then again I'm not confining it to reelectionists. Kung tayo meron tayong gustong tulungan na alam natin na tutulong sa pagka-preserve ng mga puno para meron pang mga punong aakyatan ang mga bata, kung gusto nating i preserve ang mga ilog na para meron pang malalanguyan ang ating mga kabataang Pilipino, ay alam ko na isa sa mga talagang tumutulong dito at kailangan natin ay si SAP Bong Go. Kaya si Bong Go po ay kasama namin kahit na sabihin mo eh hindi pa reelectionist yan ah. Well as far as I'm concerned, siguro reelectionista sapagkat matagal ko na syang kakilala at matagal ko na ring nakasama. Noon pa man, mga 1998, matagal na kaming magkakilala eh. Alam ko yung tubo nyan, alam ko yung hubog nyan, ang alam ko dito sa 9 na sinasabi ko lalo na sa 7 reelectionists sa Senado ngayon, it doesn't matter if he's associated with the present administration. We will always remain independent in the Senate and that is what we have shown and perhaps that's the reason that we have a high approval of the Senate because we have shown our independence, our sincerity and transparency not only in this 2019 budget but also in the previous budgets sapagkat isa sa mga pinakamahalaga sa amin ika nga eh ang pagtitiwala ng ating mga kababayan. If I have one request, that is to re-elect all the re-electionist senators including the two other re-electionists and SAP Bong Go. Ito po ang hihilingin ko sa buong Laguna at kung maari sa buong Pilipinas.

Q: some worry on your part? Hindi lahat ng re-electionists faring well in the survey...

SP Sotto: Well yes perhaps that's true but if you will really study the surveys, not only 1 but 2 surveys at least, do not base it on just 1 type rating. Tingnan nyo yung nakaraan. Tingnan nyo yung 2 or 3 surveys ago. Makikita mo roon na yung maaring binibilang natin dito merong nasa No. 12, 13, 14. To us who read the surveys, yun ang tinatawag na striking distance. I'm not pessimistic about it. I feel, I think that the other 2 re-electionists or 3 or 1 who has not been rating well in the previous survey, still in what you call striking distance. And it has always happened in the past, ilang beses na yan makikita mo naman, from 1 to 15 or 1 to 16 nagkakatalo yan pagdating sa local kung minsan eh, especially when the local parties come in or the local officials kick in, malaking bagay yun. And then there are the so-called command votes. Siguro hindi lahat ng political parties kaya nilang pabotohin lahat yung mga ano nila and that is the reason that NPC has decided not to declare an entire Senate slate anymore because ang napag-usapan namin, bigyan mo ng konting elbow room yung mga local officials namin dahil meron din silang kani-kanilang tinitingnan at mga kaibigan.

Q: Kanina lumabas na si Bikoy at sabi nya humihingi sya ng tulong sa Senado...

SP Sotto: Lahat ng lumalapit sa Senado pinagbibigyan namin. Pero ang mahalaga muna ay iniimbestigahan din muna namin. There was a particular person, you can verify this, I think I still have some the records. There was a person that approached me, sent word to me when he was still in the National Bilibid Prisons concerning some of the names that were mentioned in the revelations or whatever expose you would want to call it. So nung unang nakarating sa akin yan a few years ago, before the 2016 elections, he was particularly pointing to some officials - Bicol region, Vice Pres. Binay, Pres. Noynoy Aquino - medyo masyadong malalim yung narrating na information sa akin. Ang family name nya pareho rin nung family name nitong si Bikoy eh. Kung noong araw tiningnan namin, pinatulan namin , pinaimbestigahan ko, pinakausap ko. as a matter a fact nagpunta yung isang staff ko dun sa NBP para kausapin eh. He practically sounds the same as this one. But it never materialized because the bank accounts that were given, mga ganito pina imbestigahan namin, pina check namin, kinaila nung bangko sa abroad because hindi raw yun ang number nila eh. Yun daw number na nakasulat 9 ata eh sila raw 7 lang ang number nila sa bank account nila. It never materialized. So now, ito, parang kaunog eh. It sounds the same right? Whatever. If he would want the Senate to investigate, give us the proof. Give us the documents. Submit to us the documents, we can have it investigated and then we will see if kung nararapat tumawag kami ng hearing o hindi.

Q: Ipapacheck nyo sa staff nyo kung same person...

SP Sotto: He's not here right now. But I can talk to him later. I'm talking about Hutch. Kilala nyo naman si Hutch di ba? Sya yung pinapunta ko dun. Drugs saka mga accounts daw. Same ang family name, hindi ko lang alam kung sya talaga ito eh, same person. I'm not sure. Nadagdagan lang ngayon. Nadagdag sila Bong. Si Bong Go saka si....

Sen. Bam Aquino: Nung una kami tapos naging si Bong.

SP Sotto: Nung una ang mga naimplicate sina VP Binay, Pres. Noynoy Aquino, some officials in Bicol. Baka may mga hindi pa ako ma-recall. Kung hindi 2014, 2015.

Q: Yung mga documents nasa inyo pa...

SP Sotto: Oo palagay ko meron pa. I'll look at it later on. I'll check with my office. Marami kaming tinabi. I'm sure marami kaming tinabi. Walang affidavit eh. Puro ganun ang pinadala. So nung pinapunta ko dala-dala yung dokumento, ininterview sya, medyo ligaw ligaw yung sinasabi, pagbalik sa akin ng staff ko, sabi sa akin, 'sir imbestigahan muna natin yung mga account na sinasabi' dahil nalilito ako sa kwento. No, I never met him. Hutch met him. Same surname eh. I'm not sure about the first name. So I don't know if it's the same person. So what I'm saying, iimbestigahan namin kung merong value yung dapat imbestigahan. Kung may dokumento na sinasabin tama o kung may proof. Kasi kung hindi, hindi naman pwedeng ang Senado basta basta na lang pumapatol dahil lumabas si ganito, si ganyan. Kanina lang kababasa ko nakulong daw si Pacquiao sabi sa Facebook. Nakita nyo bay yun? Eh papano iimbestigahan ba natin si Manny Pacquiao dahil nakulong?

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