Ambush interview of Senate President Juan Miguel "Migz" F. Zubiri

SENATOR JUAN MIGUEL "MIGZ" F. ZUBIRI: ...nadouble check ng Secretariat ang ganitong mga errors. It has nothing to do with the meat of the bill. Wala po ito sa essence of the measure. Nagkamali lang sila na naglagay sila ng dalawang magkaparehong provision. Sa totoo lang, tinignan naming ulit yung tinatawag natin na transcript of records sa Senado at iisa lang ang binanggit doon, which is 10 years prescription period for the penalties and the laws on the implementation on the penalties. So yun lang yun. May 10 at 20 doon sa draft version. Sabi namin hindi iyon ang tama. Ang tama ay yung inaccept naming sa plenaryo. The transcripts are in the record of the Senate, on Facebook. Pumayag lang po si Senator Mark Villar on 10 years. So therefore, there should not be a 20 years, so subject to style dapat sinilip yun. Nagkamali lang sila dahil siyempre alas-tres na kami ng umaga natapos. Alas diyes ng umaga lumabas yung draft... Hindi po nila na-cross check, and therefore, nagkamali. But, in fairness, the Legislative process is still ongoing, and we looked back at the Transcript of Records and put what is truly reflected under the Transcript of Records which was the provision now in the Maharlika Bill.

Dati kasi, Section 50 and 51. Tinanggal na yung 51 kasi hindi naman tama yun. Hindi namin in-approve iyon sa plenaryo. So, meron lang isang Section 50, or the Prescription Period of Penalties. Siyempre, noong nakita ng tao yan, nagkaroon ng intriga. But, it really means nothing to the bill, it is just really a mistake. An honest mistake, done by our boys in the secretariat which is of course corrected by a letter of the author, Sen. Mark Villar, na hindi po tama yung reflection na yun and we should reflect what is truly in the Transcript of Records. So, okay napo yan, so, no controversy whatsoever. I explained it to the Minority Leader naintindihan naman po niya ang situation. Ginagawa po natin yan sa budget. Di ba ganun kakapal yung budget? Pag inapprove namin ng third reading, inaayos pa ng secretariat yan for the next two weeks hanggang malinis talaga ang kalalabasan ng budget before it is actually ratified. So, okay lang po yun no problem. So all's well that ends well. And I am happy that na napirmahan na ng ating Pangulong Marcos ang ating MIF and we are hopefully waiting for its proper and efficient and effective implementation.

Q: Do you expect the president to include this in his SONA?

SP ZUBIRI: Yes. I asked the President kanina. Sabi ko Mr. President maganda siguro banggitin ninyo sa SONA yung mga priority programs na paglalagayan ng pondo ny MIF. Priority projects like for example kung may magagandang mga flagship projects pwede na niyang banggitin para makita ng tao na maganda pala itong bill na ito. Maganda pala itong fund na ito, makakatulong talaga sa pag-unlad ng ating bansa na hindi po natin kailangan na mang-hiram pa. Kase kung kailangan natin ng malaking infrastructure obviously we have to fund it through either borrowings or income from taxes which could be utilized for the ongoing programs of the government so, maganda po ito.

Q: Are there any other projects on top of your mind na dapat pag tuuanan ng Maharlika?

SP Zubiri: My humble suggestion, iyong ating Cavite-Bataan bridge, 'yong toll bridge, maganda po 'yan dahil alam mo, maka-cut off 'yong travel time from three or four hours na dadaan ka pa ng NLEX, all the way to Bulacan, going to Bataan -- marami tayong export processing zone sa Subic, you will cut it down to only 45 minutes kung dadaan ka ng Cavitex. So napakaganda, napakaraming mga, of course, industriya na talagang aasenso, mas madali nang magdeliver ng goods from the export processing zones there to the ports of Manila. Magkakaroon ng traffic decongestion sa NLEX dahil doon na po sila dadaan, hindi na po dadaan ang mga 40-foot containers sa NLEX, doon na po sila sa bagong tulay sa toll road na 'yan. So I think that is a big game changer, that's one example that I can think of, and many others to come. But we'll let the President announce.

Q: Sir, gaano kayo ka-confident sa mga legal hurdles...(inaudible)...sa Supreme Court?

SP ZUBIRI: Definitely, halos lahat na yata ng bills na pinasa ng Congress at Senado may umaakyat sa Supreme Court asking for its legality, so we don't want to preempt what the Supreme Court will say, but we believe that it is constitutionally sound. The version of the Maharlika Investment Fund is constitutionally sound.

Q: Salamat po, Sir.

SP ZUBIRI: Thank you, thank you.