OPENING STATEMENT OF SENATOR RISA HONTIVEROS
Senate Minority Press Conference
September 13, 2022

Magandang hapon po sa lahat.

Kami po sa minority, kami ni Sen. Koko, ay gumawa ng hiwalay na report ukol dito sa krisis sa asukal dahil... sa madaling salita... hindi kami sang-ayon sa report na ipinasa ng majority.

We believe the Committee Report fell short of making sense of this fiasco.

Nakakapagtakang may nagaganap pang bolahan, takipan, sisihan, bintangan, at laglagan.

Kaya sa gitna ng lahat ng yan, ang layon ng aming minority report ay bigyang linaw ang ilang mga tanong.

UNA: MAY SHORTAGE BA? Yes, MERON! Demand is greater than supply kahit saan mo tingnan.

Habang humahaba ang usapan, napilitan nang magsuspinde ng ilang planta ang malalaking kompanya tulad ng Coca-Cola, to the point na yung mga manggagawa nila ay naka-forced leave without pay. At maging ang maliliit nating bakeries, turon, at palamig vendors, ay umaaray.

The sugar shortage actually has very dangerous and very real consequences for Filipino workers and Filipino consumers. It has to be addressed as soon as possible.

IKALAWA: DAPAT BANG KASUHAN SINA USEC SEBASTIAN ET AL? Sa tingin namin sa minority, HINDI. Walang basehan at hindi makatarungan kung kakasuhan pa sila. Wag namang pagdiskitahan ang mga empleyado ng gobyerno na ginagawa lang naman ang trabaho nila.

If the president disagrees with a particular action, tulad nitong Sugar Order No. 4, the solution simply would be to void it. Not to penalize civil servants who acted in good faith. Hindi na dapat umabot sa ganyan.

AT IKATLO: ANO ANG PAPEL NI ES RODRIGUEZ SA LAHAT NG ITO? Base sa isinagawang mga hearing, simpleng miscommunication ito. ES Rodriguez admitted he purposely did not answer an important text message, SEEN lang si USec. Sebastian, which sent this disruptive snowball rolling down a hill.

For us, the Committee Report failed, or purposely refrained, to discuss the part which Executive Secretary Rodriguez played in this unfortunate debacle.

The Committee Report failed to give importance to the good faith of government officials at the SRA.

The Committee Report, in the end, failed to answer the questions that will help address the sugar fiasco.

And for that, we respectfully submit this minority report.