Press Release
November 4, 2019

Transcript of Interview of Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III

On the proposed budget for 2020.

Q: ...Naglagay ng pondo sa isang item na walang description, hindi itemized?

SP Sotto: Pwede yun kung nanggagaling pa lang sa Executive, papunta sa amin, pero once na iaapprove na namin, kailangan malinaw na yun. Itemized na yun. So kung ano ang sabihin sa amin, yun ang ilalagay namin. Pag tinanong namin saan ito, bakit ganyan-ganyan, o ilagay natin.

Q: In the final version na pag GAA na, wala na dapat na ganun?

SP Sotto: Oo, wala na dapat. That will conform with the Supreme Court ruling re the national budget.

Q: Nangyari din po kasi ito nung nakaraan, panahon pa ni GMA as Speaker, although mas malaki yan, mga P93 billion...

SP Sotto: Oo, kaya nga, hindi naman maeksplika, kaya ang ginawa natin doon, naeksplika man, it was done after the ratification of both Houses, therefor it is not legal. So, we would rather not be part of anything illegal, and the President saw our concern, kaya ang ginawa ng Presidente, vineto niya. Niline veto niya yung mga yun nung pinoint out namin.

Q: With Speaker Cayetano now as the Speaker of the House, sa tingin ninyo mas madali ang magiging (unclear) ng budget?

SP Sotto: Palagay ko. Mas madaling magkaka-explanation, magkakausap-usap.

Q: (Unclear) sa bicam nilagay lahat yung institutional amendments?

SP Sotto: Then we will have to, before we ratify, we will have to scrutinize, ganun lang yun before we ratify. It's never a done deal until it's ratified on the floor of both Houses.

Q: Yung sinasabi na iaadopt na lang yung House version?

SP Sotto: It's an idea. It's an idea of Senator Lacson. Yes, that's possible, why not? The thing is, we have to ask the members of the Senate to agree. The majority to agree.

Q: Bakit iaadopt po? To do away with the bicam?

SP Sotto: Hindi naman, oo, kung maganda ang pagkakasubmit? Kung maayos lahat ng nandoon? O kung kumpleto na yung budget? Ano pa ang kakalikutin namin? (Unclear) iadopt namin.

Q: Kung may mga suspicions na this early?

SP Sotto: Hindi siguro (unclear) yun.

Q: Hindi maiiwasan yung individual amendments?

SP Sotto: The individual amendments come in the plenary or in the (unclear) both Houses. When it is done in the bicam, it must be agreed upon by both Houses, hindi pwedeng basta insertion lang, and if ever, kung napag-agreehan man sila, nung mga bicam conference members, it has to be ratified by both Houses pa rin.

Q: How likely na papayag yung mga senators na iadopt yung House version?

SP Sotto: I have no idea at this point. I know of the idea, I have no idea of the sentiments of the members of the Senate. (Unclear) kung payag sila. We will take it up later, we plan to have a caucus after the resolution on Senator Nene Pimentel, we will call for an all-Senator caucus. The topic is the budget.

Q: Open close lang po kayo?

SP Sotto: Not really, meron kaming third reading tapos ipapasa namin yung resolution ni Nene and then we go into caucus.

Q: Kasi iaadopt daw yung proposal ni Senator Ping para hindi na magawa yung bicam?

SP Sotto: That is one way of looking at it. That's one perspective. The other perspective is that kung maganda na yung budget na binigay sa amin, at wala namang problema sa Executive department, pwede naming iagree at ipass na. Pag inadopt namin yun, wala ng bicam. What you are saying is that it's another perspective that hindi naman pwedeng magpasko ng ganito, (unclear), that is the perspective of other people, but the main perspective really is that if it's good, let's adopt it. Yun yung idea ni Senator Lacson.

Q: May apprehension ba kayo na baka may sinister plan na doon lahat sa bicam ipasok yung individual amendments?

SP Sotto: I have no idea.

Q: Sir yung department of disaster resilience, paano siya ipaprioridad? Isisingit ba siya?

SP Sotto: Hindi naman kailangang isingit, it should be brought to the floor, it should be discussed on the floor and if possible, during the lulls while we are taking up the budget, we pass such measures aside from the department of disaster resilience, the other important measures that we have, particularly the committee reports of the Blue Ribbon and the Justice Committee. Yung mga ganun. Pwede namang hindi singit talaga yan, kung di when there is a lull, and there will be lulls during the budget and right after the deliberations of the budget, we will take it up.

Q: So you are saying na yung report ng GCTA rin will be taken up?

SP Sotto: Yes, precisely.

Q: Confident kayo na kayang maipasa yung department of disaster resilience before the Christmas break?

SP Sotto: Oo. Hindi siya masyadong problema katulad ng ibang departamentong pinaplano na nagsasalungat doon sa right-sizing bill. Or the idea of right-sizing government (unclear) kasi yung iba, pag nag-riright-sizing ka, tapos nagke-create ka naman ng ibang departamento, na non-existent, you are bloating again the bureaucracy. But in the case of the department of disaster resilience, there is already an NDRRMC therefor, it's an absorption of existing agencies. This time it is institutionalized and it is 24 hours a day, at hindi na lang on-call pag may disaster at saka sila nagkukumahog, ito ay talagang maliwanag na, pati ang budget nila ay maliwanag na, and even the mandate will be very clear and will be authorized on many issues regarding not only preparedness but also resiliency.

Q: Pang ano siya, energized, institutionalized, with a renamed agency?

SP Sotto: Parang ganun.

Q: Ididisolve yung NDRRMC and then ililipat lahat?

SP Sotto: Maaabsorb, oo. Sila ang magiging department of disaster resilience.

Q: Sa 2020 budget (unclear)

SP Sotto: Hopefully. Yes, I think so, at saka meron namang present budget para doon. As a matter of fact, it is mandated that 5 percent of all budgets of all local government units will be allotted for calamity. It is called the calamity fund.

Q: Under your bill?

SP Sotto: No, it is already a law. It is even part of the local government code. Five percent of all budgets of all local government units must be allotted as calamity fund and therefor it cannot be touched unless there is a state of calamity in your area. And it should be declared by the council of the (unclear).

Q: It is being observed?

SP Sotto: Oo, hindi naman sa pagyayabang, ako yung author nung RA 8185 which is allowing the local government units to declare a state of calamity in their areas. Kasi nung araw, kapag may state of calamity, hindi mo pa rin pwedeng gamitin yung 5 percent mo kung hindi idedeclare ng Presidente ng Pilipinas na may state of calamity sa lugar ninyo. Paano kung taga Sultan Kudarat ka? Hindi alam sa Malacañang na may state of calamity? And it happened to us in Quezon City. When I was vice mayor, pumutok yung Pinatubo, we wanted to help, we had so many people from Pampanga and the Ilocos region, we needed to buy banig, sabon, tubig, bigas, we needed that, but when I was asking the Commission on Audit, the city treasurer to allow me to use the 5 percent of Quezon City during that time, we were not allowed. (Unclear), it has to be the President who should declare a state of calamity. So we asked President Cory to declare a state of calamity, ang sagot sa akin nung office of the secretary nung panahon na yun, bakit, kayo ba yung naputukan? Pampanga, hindi naman Quezon City. In 1992, when I became Senator, that was one of my first bills. Pinadeclare ko na ang magdedeklara ay city or municipality.

Q: What will happen to that 5 percent pag naging department?

SP Sotto: Magagamit nila ngayon, that's what I mean, kaya ako napunta doon sa kwento ng state of calamity. Magagamit nila yung 5 percent na yun, ng mga local government units, because there will be four level so information. The level of municipality, the city, the province, and then the department of disaster resilience itself. So from their area, meron na kaagad. But of course, that is different from the funding that the national government will be allotting. Bukod pa yun, that is why I am optimistic (unclear).

Q: Ano yung kaibahan sa NDRRC itong department na ito?

SP Sotto: Institutionalized ito. They will have full powers and authority. They can even take over, in my proposal, they can take over areas, private areas in case of emergency. That includes radio stations, mga ganun, pwede silang makialam. Mga properties, mga gym, mga ganun, pwede sila, authorized na sila.

Q: Tapos may direct coordination sila doon sa mga response? Rescue agencies like DND?

SP Sotto: Oo, they will all be represented under the department.

Q: Sa sinasabi ni Senator Lacson na (unclear)

SP Sotto: We simply just have to ask the DBM and perhaps the people concerned kung saan departamento nakaabang o nakalagay yun, kung saan gagamitin yun. If they spell it out, then we will place it in the budget. (Unclear)natin, ilalahad natin kung para saan yun.

Q: Personally, pabor kayo sa iaadopt na lang yung House version?

SP Sotto: Okay. Kung maganda yung sinampa sa amin ng House version, na magandang budget at maliwanag yung budget, yes, payag ako. Payag akong iadopt.

Q: Ano ang report ni Senator Lacson doon sa P20 billion?

SP Sotto: Wala pa, hindi pa kami nagkakausap tungkol doon sa P20 billion, alam ko lang kung maganda yung House version, iadopt namin. Just like the regular law, if we pass a bill na maganda, gusto namin, iadopt na lang ng House, nangyayari naman yun.

Q: You also agree na mas behaved ang Congress ngayon with respect to the budget?

SP Sotto: Palagay ko. I think so.

Q: Pag re-enacted yung budget, re-enacted din yung (unclear)?

SP Sotto: Iba naman yung re-enacted, yung issue ni Butch. Ano yan, kung baga theoretical, a re-enacted budget re-enacts everything in that budget, as simple as that.

Q: You have the same reservation na mas behaved yung House ngayon?

SP Sotto: Palagay ko naman.

Q: Nasorpresa ba kayo?

SP Sotto: Hindi naman. Why will I be surprised, I have a pretty good idea of how Speaker Alan Cayetano runs his office so I suppose he will be very careful as far as the budget of the national budget is concerned.

Q: In comparison to the passing of the 2019 budget, sa scheduling, sa tingin ninyo mas smooth sailing?

SP Sotto: Yes I think so. As a matter of fact, pag inadopt namin yun, eh di bukas tapos na. Palagay ko first week of December siguro meron na, first week of December, baka bicam na yun.

Q: Yung pag-adopt, idea pa lang yun?

SP Sotto: Idea pa lang. We can talk about it.

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