Press Release
March 25, 2009

Transcript of Interview of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile

Q: On meeting this morning with the Spanish Ambassador?

SP: The gentleman who visited me was not only the Spanish Ambassador; he was the foreign minister of Spain. Anong pangalan niya? Tagawin mo nga si ano para makuha natin yung pangalan. Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Morratinos. He was accompanied by Spanish Ambassador Luis Arrias and Geogenio Rich, assistant secretary for Asia and Pacific Affairs; Rafael Conde, Assistant Secretary for International Economic relations and Energy; Julio Aldi, Assistant Secretary for Media and Communications; Carmen Moreno, Assistant Secretary for Cooperation in Africa, Asia and Eastern Europe; Jesus Sanz, Director General of Casia Asia; Alvero Trejo, Deputy Head of Mission Embassy of Spain; Alvior Alvarez, Economic and Commercial Councilor; and Tada Rastida, Technical Assistant Cabinet Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Antonio Perez Hernandez, Media and Communication Office. Those were the people who saw me this morning. They were accompanied by the protocol official of the Senate and Sen. Angara of the Sierra Madre and Baler. They discussed about our historical ties, cultural ties, political ties, economic relationship with Spain; our desire to foster closer relation with them; and possible area of cooperation like renewable energy and education; possible exchange of scholars and so forth and so on.

Q: Kay Tony Blair?

SP: We did not discuss it. That was another topic.

Q: Yung sa Cha-Cha?

SP: Marunong ba kayong magsayaw ng Cha-Cha? Meron pa bay an? Wala na tayong panahon for Cha-Cha. Palagay ko mahirap nay un. Hindi pa natin naiintindihan kung paano gagawin yun. Nag-aaway pa sila sa Houseif it will be treated like an ordinary bill or it will separately done. Pag yun ang pinag-uusapan, matagal mong madesisyunan kung ano ang gagawin.

Q: Sir, 20 Congressmen na lang daw ang kulang?

SP: Kung kulang nga ng isa, hindi pa rin yun mangyayari. 20? More so. Maski na makuha nila yang 20 sa kanila, dadating dito, mahihirapan na pumasa yun e. If they will disregard the Senate, it will have to go to the Supreme Court. They have to remember that we're a icameral Congress. The House of Representative is not the Congress of the Philippines, neither is the Senate. The Congress of the Philippines is composed of two Houses - the Senate and the House of Representatives. One without the other is not the Congress of the Philippines. Maliwanag diba? And we operate separately with separate officials; in their case, they have a Speaker, Deputy Speakers, Sergeant-at-Arms, and 241 members. In the Senate, we have Senate President, President Pro-tempore, and the Secretary General, Sergeant-at-Arms, and 24 senators. With one vacancy. The 24 senators would equal in terms of weight of decision making with the 241 members of the House. What they do there is not law, not a resolution, not a congressional decision, unless approved by the majority of the required quorum in Senate. Vice versa, what we do here is not law, not a resolution, not a congressional decision, unless approved by a majority of the required quorum in the House. It becomes a legal issue and has to be decided by the Supreme Court, and my guess as a lawyer, in a case of 10. They will lose if they will do it alone.

Q: You believe that the Supreme Court will strike down?

SP: The Supreme Court cannot skirt the issue. Once you are appointed as a member of the Supreme Court, you are only beholden to your conscience, to God and to history.

Q: 10, Sir?

SP: They will lose.

Q: Why are they taking chances to push Cha-Cha?

SP: I don't know. I cannot read their minds. Only God knows.

Q: For GMA to stay in power kaya may Cha-Cha?

SP: I wan t to be fair. I understand that the proposal of Speaker Nograles that to amend the economic provisions. I don't think they're going to touch the political provisions of the Constitution especially the structure of the government. But even the economic provision at this time is difficult to pass. They require a lot of studies, a lot of discussions, on these issues. For instance, on land ownership, which is the basic economic provision on the Constitution, Constitution says all lands of public domain must be preserve for Filipinos. Only Filipinos can own lands and only corporations, which are 6O% Filipino owned, can own lands in the country whether private or public lands. For public lands, private corporation cannot own. Now in the case of private lands, a private corporation can own lands in the Philippines if it is 100% owned by Filipinos or at the very least 60% owned by Filipinos. That's the law in mining, in fisheries, in public utilites. Now in case of advertising, those are prohibition. In case of newspapering, I am not sure. There are Chinese papers in the Philippines.

Q: Majority of Senators are not inclined to support Cha-Cha?

SP: I don't think we can say that they are all against. But my reading of the Senate is that you cannot guess 18 senators to vote in favor of any amendment. You need 18 senators even to remove a comma or period from the Constitution. E minus one na. Then you have only 23. If there are six who will vote against the removal of the period or the comma, tepok ka na e. Diba? You need 3/4 votes which is 18.

Q: The minute the House proceeds and vote yung sila lang ...

SP: They can vote there. But that will not be an amendment that you will present to the people on a plebiscite. In the first place, how will they fund the plebiscite? They have to appropriate money. They will need the support of the Senate to approve that appropriation.

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