Transcript of Interview of Senate President Vicente "Tito" Sotto III

SPVS: My office, the Office of the Senate President through the Committee will issue a subpoena deuces tecum to secure his transcript within the day.

Q: Until when do you need Comelec's answer?

SPVS: I will have to consult the chairmen, Senator Koko Pimentel III and Congressman Isidro Ungab to more or less find out kung anong deadline ang kailangan ng committee, ng Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) as soon as possible. It has been lingering for a long time already, we are about to enter the period for the 2019 election and malabo pa rin. Ganun pa rin, nag-aabogado ang Commission on Elections (Comelec) para sa Smartmatic.

Q: Unclear

SPVS: Procedures ang problema. With our without the machine embroiled in the procedures and the safeguards that they should have in place, like magandang point yung pagbilang ng mga boto, pagbilang ng mga balotang ginagami, bakit inalis nung 2016? So yung mga procedures ang questionable at this point. Kung sasabihin natin na hindi, nabili na, nandiyan na, nakahanda na sila, may mga sistemang mali.

Q: (Unclear).

SPVS: Isusubpoena na nga natin. Within the day we will issue a subpoena deuces tecum. Lalo na 2016 hanggang ngayon hindi pa binabanggit.

Q: Yung sinasabing bentahan sa voters' data base? May Malaking impact po ba yun?

SPVS: Nangyayari talaga yan, merong ilang beses nang hindi lang si Attorney Glenn Chong nagbanggit sa akin niyan, may mga nagbanggit na sa akin niyan, mga taga Nueva Ecija, merong taga Iloilo, na inaalok ng kung anu-anong mga sistema na dapat iniimbestigahan talaga ng Comelec yan. I am glad that the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) had been established and kahit paano, ngayon, merong mag-ooversee ng ginagawa na computerization program natin ng elections.

Q: Kung may bentahan, ano ang mnagiging effect noon?

SPVS: Sari-sari yan. Pwedeng yung mga botante ililipat ng presinto, yung mga alam nilang mga kalaban nung kandidato, yung kandidatong bumabayad, ililipat ng presinto, pag-dating ng election-day hindi niya makita ang presinto niya kung saan siya napunta, madalas gawin yun. Ilang daan-daan yan kung gawin.

Q: Paano malalaman kung (unclear).

SPVS: Sa local kasi ganun ang labanan. I am not sure if some of us are not familiar with it pero sa local kasi, ang technique ng mga kandidato, kailangan meron silang kopya ng voters list. For every barangay, every street yung mga leaders nila alam kung sino ang boboto sa kanila at hindi. So kung identified nila yung mga hindi boboto sa kanila, at meron kang connection katulad niyan, na may mga rogue na tao na taga Comelec, or meron namang ika nga ay dealer lang for Comelec personnel, magagawa nila yun. Maaidentify nila kung sino yung boboto at hindi sa kandidato nila.

Q: Yung tingin nila hindi boboto sa kanila ipapalipat nila ng presinto?

SPVS: Oo.

Q: (Unclear)

SPVS: Hindi naman natin pwede sabihin generally na hindi credible, but there are incredible things that have happened.

On Mocha Uson

SPVS: Whether it is for or not for federalism, the point is something as serious as this issue should not be theatrical in approach. Hindi pwede ang hindi pwede. I suggest that the PCOO, if they are really interested in a full information dissemination drive, they should get personalities who are academic. They would know how to explain what federalism is all about because in my case, I have been spending many hours reading the consultative committee report and also the PDP-Laban submissions to our party, the NPC, nirereview ko yan. Ang sagot ko lang agad pag tinatanong nila ako, malapit ko ng maintindihan. Hindi ganun kadaling pag-aralan, hindi rin ganun kadaling i-eksplika na kaya mong i-eksplika ito in one or two minutes. Hindi ganun, that is not the way to do it.

Q: Do you have a personality in mind?

SPVS: We leave it to the PCOO and also the political parties who are espousing federalism.

Q: (Unclear).

SPVS: Yun ang problema sa internet, ikaw pwede ka maglagay ng kahit ano so the important thing is that the PCOO says that hindi yun ang mga official na personalities at hindi rin yun ang official na method na gusto nila for information dissemination. Dapat siguro they should practice respect. Medyo pagka ganitong mga issue, dapat yan medyo nagtitimpla ka ng kaunti na hindi ka nakaka-offend or hindi ka makakadagdag sa gulo. Sabi ko nga itong mga ganitong klaseng issue, you cannot be theatrical.

Q: (Unclear).

SPVS: Hindi maganda because it downplays the seriousness of the matter.