Cayetano vs Rival Bloc: Senate Blue Ribbon Feud Erupts Over Billion-Peso Flood Scandal

[0:00] storms a year, we have volcanoes that are active, then earthquakes or linugs are organic if I can [0:13] use that word to our area in the world. So we really have to do better in not only the response [0:22] and relief but in the rehabilitation. I'd like to let you know where we are today. [0:28] So all sides were saying na sana hindi maipit yung Senado. So early this morning or late [0:37] last night, I sent a letter to our legitimate Secretary of the Senate. Legitimate because [0:44] if you follow the rules, hindi siya pwedeng tanggalin kung walang trese at hindi pwedeng [0:50] palitan kung wala rin trese. So I'll make that clear. Senate President Pro Temp, Senate [0:57] President, Secretary of the Senate, OSA, kailangan niyan trese ang botong ilagay, trese [1:04] ang boto pag tinanggal. Hindi nila sinunod yan. So meaning, hindi legitimate si [1:10] Atty. Bantug. So having said that, ayaw namin maipit yung mga empleyado. So I sent him a [1:19] letter to talk with Tony Bantug and nag-offer kami kung gusto ni Sen. Winn, pareho na lang [1:26] kami pipirma kahit walang designation. So I think the letter was delivered mga 8am, [1:35] a little bit past 8. Ang sagot nila nung 12 o'clock is that hindi na siya Secretary at [1:41] mag-turnover na lang. So I really want to avoid sa dami ng problema ng ating bansa that [1:46] we have to write land bank, maipit yung sweldo ng mga empleyado and everything. And [1:51] I'll never bend the law, nor will I bend the Constitution, but I will bend backward for [1:58] our employees para hindi sila maipit sa gulo for as long as it doesn't bend the law. [2:07] Diba? So kung internal rules or regulation that is not attached to law or it is not morally [2:13] wrong. That's why I thought of the, my staff thought of the idea na pagpareho nakapirma [2:20] para eventually pag nagkaroon ng decision, walang legal infirmity. And it will also prevent [2:27] yung magfailan yung dalawang kampo ng usurpation. Diba? Kasi of course, as far as I'm concerned, [2:35] nag-usurp ng authority si Sen. Winn because he's not really the acting president pababa. [2:42] Pero maraming ang problema ng ating bansa. Why don't we focus on that? [2:48] So apparently, because ayaw nila pumayag, dalawa Senado natin ngayon. You have the [2:53] Senate of the Philippines and you have the Senate of Malacanang. So yung Senate of [2:58] Malacanang had a hearing kanina and you have two Blue Ribbons Committee. Yung isa ay [3:04] Committee de Absuelto na ang kanyang main work is paano i-absuelto yung mga high [3:10] officials ng ating bansa at yung isa naman na seeking the truth. So am I saying [3:16] lahat ng sabihin ng labing walong ex-marines ay completely true? No. What I'm saying is [3:21] nga, give them a chance. I heard they have other evidence including videos. I heard [3:27] that if they come out and there's a full support na nararamdaman, may iba pang [3:33] mga witnesses na may mga dokumento, may mga ebidensya na lalabas din. So as a nation, [3:39] we have to decide whether the Senate will be under the thumb of Malacanang and [3:45] now that it is very clear to us that the biggest ever corruption scandal is the [3:54] flood control scandal, if it's acceptable to us that we witnessed this morning the [4:00] biggest cover-up committee hearing of our generation. Diba? So ganun lang kasimple [4:07] yun. So in the same manner na nag-propose kami na parehong pipirma, I have not [4:14] talked to Senator Marcoleta so hindi ko alam kung papayag siyang dalawa silang [4:18] chairman or whatever but we have to find a solution that yung mga witnesses ay [4:24] makakapunta ng malaya na protectado ng batas at independent yung Senate. Having said [4:31] that, mahaba panahon, as I said kanina, let's focus on Mindanao and on the relief and [4:39] rehabilitation especially kung may mga lives that are at stake now because dun sa mga [4:46] buildings. I don't think all of us fully know the extent so far. Nakikita lang natin yung [4:52] mga videos. So hanggang dun long muna, we will continue with our meetings. We will focus [4:58] muna on Mindanao. I am not sure when the next hearing ng Blue Ribbon led by the [5:06] subcommittee by Senator Marcoleta is I'm expecting to know soon but definitely [5:14] knowing what's happening in Mindanao will will have an impact on our decision kasi [5:19] priority yun. Sir, good afternoon po. Dalawa lang sir, yung comment nyo sa resign call [5:31] sa inyo and sabi po ng Malacanang kanina open si BBM na mag patawag na special session [5:39] ng congress lalo na po nabanggit nyo na rin yung nangyari sa Mindanao kanina and paano [5:46] po yun kung magkakaroon ng special session? Unahin ko yung special session okay? Yes po. So I had two [5:50] communications with them sa Malacanang and both cases sinabi nila sa akin hindi [5:56] pa handa yung mga bills na gusto nilang ipapasa para dun sa uplift. So biglang nung [6:03] nagpalit ang majority biglang kailangan ng special session dahil may bills na. Actually [6:09] kung may official silang bills dapat na i-file na yun para na-refer na sa committee [6:14] di ba? So sabi nila inaayos pa nila. But having said that kung bigla nilang naayos from [6:20] the time I had discussions with them, may LEDAC, pinostpone nila the day before, tinawagan [6:28] ako ng sekretary na head and then sabi niya, sir pwede ba tuloy bukas? Sabi ko, kayo [6:34] nagpostpone, ready ako. Tapos hindi rin naman nila tinuloy. Yung sinasabing magtrabaho [6:39] tayo, nagtatrabaho kami. Ready kami magtrabaho. Sila nag walk out kaya nagkaroon din kami [6:46] ng parliamentary tool na ginamit. Sinasabi ni Sen. Lacson pa ulit-ulit, and I [6:53] feel bad for the generals and I apologize in behalf of the whole Senate, both the [6:58] majority and minority. But nakita nyo naman, after nila kinonvene illegally ang [7:05] session, ano bang ginawa nila? Nag-adjourn sila si Nedir. Ang calendar natin pwede pa [7:11] hanggang Friday. Hindi naman nila tinuloy yung session ng Thursday, Friday. [7:15] Sasabi nila mga gusto nilang ipase. So ang problema natin sa kabila ay double [7:19] standard. Iba ang sinasabi, iba ang ginagawa. So doon naman sa nananawagan na [7:24] mag-resign, as I said, pag-usapan na lang natin na few days after yung focus [7:29] tayo sa Mindanao, but especially yung mga former presidents, yung mga nagkampi-kampi [7:34] na mga Marcos na rin, papasalamat ako sa inyo sa call nyo na mag-resign ako [7:41] bilang Senate President. Kasi ibig sabihin, nire-recognize nyo pa rin ako as [7:45] Senate President. Kasi kung hindi nyo na ako nire-recognize as Senate [7:48] President, ba't kayo nananawagan na mag-resign ako as Senate President? [7:53] Di ba? [7:59] Any special session that will redound to the good of the Filipino people [8:04] is welcome. The special session is in the Constitution. [8:09] Yung ginawa namin nung bago matapos yung bago mag-cine-dee is [8:15] precisely because aagawin nila yung committees at kailangan matuloy yung [8:21] hearing tungkol sa Blue Ribbon. Having said that, Mindanao is now. [8:27] Di ba? They need the attention now. So if there's needed legislation, good. [8:32] We will meet right away. If not, then tulong-tulong tayo. But aside from [8:37] that, let's remember that the committees can continue to work. Nung [8:43] uwi ni Senator Wynne, nung Thursday, yung mga empleyado, may Senate hearing pa si [8:50] Senator Pia. So hindi totoo na hindi nagtatrabaho. Wala tayong dapat conflict [8:55] kung may kailangan yung ating bansa. Whether it's legislation, whether it's a [8:59] meeting na LEDAC. Dapat tanggalin ng politika pagdating na ng, you know, I say politika [9:06] but it's an issue of graph and corruption. But what I meant is that it's a [9:09] political issue vis-a-vis a more urgent. They're both important but what's [9:14] more urgent? You can postpone a hearing. You cannot postpone a rescue mission. [9:19] You cannot postpone yung paghahatid ng mga relief. Di ba? And then, yun nga, hindi [9:26] natin nararamdaman pa ng gusto. Pero the economic crisis is here. And every month [9:32] until the end of the year, it'll get much worse before it gets better. Because [9:36] nga, tuloy-tuloy ang problema sa Middle East. Di ba? So maraming tinatamaan dyan. [9:41] Supply chain, presyo ng dollar sa peso, presyo ng diesel at ng gasolina, kakulangan [9:48] ng fertilizer, taas ng presyo ng fertilizer, decision ng Vietnam at saka [9:56] ng, decision muna ng India kung bibigyan tayo ng magbebenta ng fertilizer, [10:02] decision ng India at saka ng Vietnam kung magbebenta ng bigas o hindi, [10:07] decision ng Indonesia whether mag-e-export sila ng coal o hindi. All of [10:12] these are, kumbaga sa relo, are moving parts na walang makakahula o [10:19] makakapredict. So in that sense, kailangan magtulong-tulong talaga yung [10:23] ating bansa. Kaya naman, nandun pa rin on the plate yung graph and [10:27] corruption kasi kahit anong plano natin sa economic crisis, kung [10:31] ninanakaw pa rin yung pera, then may hirapan pa rin tayo lahat. [10:35] Sir? Yes. Sino po ang tatayong presiding officer sa impeachment [10:44] trial? At may update po ba kayo sa... As soon as they have 13, walang [10:48] problema sila na. Okay? So I have to assert because may pinaglalaban tayo. [10:54] Pinaglalaban ko hindi yung si Alang Kaitano ang Senate President. Ang [10:57] pinaglalaban natin, ang Senado hindi pwedeng rubber stamp ng Malacanang. [11:03] Hindi pwede-pwede na hindi independent yung Senate. Hindi pwedeng may hearing [11:07] kakatulad kanina, yung bibig na bumubukas ay Senador pero yung lumalabas [11:12] na salita galing sa Malacanang. [11:14] Ano pong rules sa pagpili ng presiding officer sa impeachment trials? [11:18] They illegally amended the rules. They illegally had a session. [11:23] So in due time, there'll have to be something that will decide. [11:30] But in the same manner na ina-assert ni Sen. Nguyen na he's the acting [11:35] Senate President kahit na walang legal basis whatsoever, I have to [11:42] assert. Not for myself, but for the truth and for the Constitution. [11:46] But it's still one month eh. Diba? At hindi kami nakikipag-agawan sa [11:51] silya doon. So for example, yung Senate Secretary, dapat siya yung ngayon [11:57] nag-aayos para dyan sa pre-trial. But nag-takeover sila Atty. Bantog. [12:03] So we're doing it very patiently. Because nga, we don't want the whole [12:09] Senate to be affected. [12:11] Paano po yun? Kanina si House Secretary General Charlotte Garafil, [12:14] nagpasa siya ng manifestation ng House Prosecution Team kay Secretary Bantog, [12:18] pero hindi niyo po siya kinikilalang Sec. Gen. [12:20] Yes. [12:21] Pero ang House Prosecution Team, si Sec. Gen. Bantog daw'y kinikilalang. [12:24] That's going to be a problem for at least a few days, maybe a few weeks, [12:27] because we don't expect naman the Supreme Court to rule right away. [12:32] But what's the best proof that Malacanang's hand is in this? [12:36] First, yung pananakot nila sa mga membro namin na lumipat, yung offer na wala [12:42] ng kaso pag lumipat. [12:44] O, second, as soon as nila ginawa, naglabas sila na ang House at ang Malacanang [12:50] ay dun pumapabor. O, diba? Pwede naman mag-neutral ang Malacanang eh. [12:54] Pwede naman sabihin ang Malacanang, settle it among yourself. [12:58] Ganon din sa House Prosecution. Hindi naman nila gusto ng fair na impeachment. [13:02] Gusto nila yung may pinipili na silang grupo. [13:06] That's why sabi ko sa inyo, if I'm wrong, they blame me. [13:10] Eh kung tama ako na from 24 gagawin 22, eventually 18 ang senador, [13:17] tapos sasabihin nila 12 convicted na, will that be a fair impeachment process? [13:22] What will happen to the country if that happens? [13:24] Then ang kasunod naman is con us. [13:26] So, give me a few days, pag-usapan natin yan, but let's focus lang dun sa nangyayari. [13:32] But just to answer your question, it will be up in the air. [13:35] That will be a legal question and we are in the right side. [13:43] Sir, may we be clarified, yung arrangement na inaalok niyo po kay Sen. Winn, [13:49] na dalawa kayong pipirma, ano po ang response ni Sen. Winn? [13:52] As sulat around 12 o'clock na sinasabi kay Attorney, sa ating Senate Secretary Jose Luis Montales, [14:03] that you are no longer Secretary and that Attorney Bantug and then that basically sinasabi na sila na. [14:13] Ayun din ang sinabi sa usaha, but hindi first-hand knowledge, sabi chain of command. [14:19] But wala nga sila sa chain of command eh. [14:21] Kahit anong tingin mo sa rules, hindi nangyayari yun. [14:26] So, yung pagwawala nila at pag-walk out nila kasi hindi pwedeng amendahan daw yung rule na ganon-ganon, [14:32] binaboy nila yung rules on June 3. [14:37] So, it's going to be a lingering question. [14:39] How do you treat that? Hindi po mayag si Sen. Winn sa arrangement na dalawa kayong pipirma sa documents? [14:46] And paano po yung swell nun? [14:47] You know, it's just like the civil rights movement sa US, diba? [14:51] From the civil war until pinasay yung mga civil rights laws, etc. [14:57] Yung may batas ka, alam mo yung tama. [15:00] Pero yung inaapi pa rin, yung mga minority, yun yung de facto. [15:05] Diba? So, alam naman natin lahat kung ano tama at sinong tama. [15:08] Pero ang kapangyarihan kasi nasa kanila eh. [15:11] Sa kanila ang polis, nasa kanila ang NBI, nasa kanila ang Malacanang. [15:15] Kaya sabi ko, lahat ng kapangyarihan nasa kanila. [15:17] Pero katotohan na nasa amin. [15:18] So, hindi ko pwedeng bitawan yun. [15:20] Kailangan lumaban tayo dun. [15:21] Kasi kung hindi, after this, all you have to do is to get one senator plus Malacanang. [15:28] Hindi na 13 ang kailangan maboto, one plus one lang. [15:31] One plus Malacanang. [15:33] Sir, so you will still sign? [15:35] That is a practical question na hindi mangyayari. [15:43] Because nga, from the bottom, paakit dun sa office. [15:48] Diba? Never naman nila sinurender yung SP office. [15:51] Hindi ko namang trinatreten yung mga empleyado. [15:55] Diba? [15:55] But sila, inaano nila yung mga empleyado. [15:58] So, yung ginawa ni Senator Irwin, tapos nag-sorry, bad cap, good cap yun. [16:05] Sadya yun. [16:06] Ishock mo na yung mga empleyado. [16:08] Nakakasuhang ka. [16:09] Tawagin mo ko ano-ano. [16:10] Tapos si Senator Irwin naman yung mabait. [16:13] So, kahit na nag-sorry siya, natanim na yun sa puso ng mga empleyado. [16:17] Diba? [16:17] Kaya nga sa akin, sa mga empleyado, it's a matter of conscience. [16:21] Sir, so you'll give up the signing? [16:25] No, I'm not giving it up. [16:26] I'm just saying, malamang hindi dumating sa opisina ko yung pipirman. [16:30] But I'm not giving it up. [16:31] Kailangan ko i-assert yun. [16:33] Sir, sorry, ano po ba yung extent nung arrangement na pinapropose po ninyo? [16:37] Hanggang doon lang sa lalawa kayong magsasinig? [16:39] No, it was a first step lang kasi sinabi nila open sila. [16:42] Eh, hindi naman pala sila open. [16:45] Diba? Kasi sabi nila, ayaw nila ng guloy. [16:47] Diba? [16:47] Sabi nila, eventually, kailangan magsama yung dalawang grupo, one senate tayo. [16:52] Diba? [16:52] But mukha nga ang utos ng Malacanang, hindi, kayo lang. [16:56] Kasi nga, alam nila na even if we go to the Supreme Court ASAP, it will take time. [17:01] So in the meantime, they're buying time until they either get one more member or whatever. [17:09] Basta, in any way I can. [17:12] And it's just like yung example na binigay ko sa'yo. [17:15] Whether it's apartheid, whether it's civil rights. [17:18] Diba? [17:19] Doon tayo sa tama. [17:21] Okay? Thank you guys. [17:23] Last, one last. [17:24] Sandra? [17:25] Kasi kanina yung Supreme Court. [17:27] So are you referring to the one filed by the school teacher, Tayam, or meron po kanya? [17:32] It's always an option for everyone. [17:35] It's an option for the other side, for us, for other. [17:37] The employees can also file. [17:39] So let's see. [17:40] Kasi nauna na si Senator Wynne, nag-meeting na yesterday ata sa mga taga-usaha. [17:46] And yung kanilang in-appoint na sekretary at osaha, bagamat iligal, umikot na in every... [17:54] As I told you, as a practical matter, ang matagal na naging Senate President si Senator Drilon. [18:01] Tapos si Senator Soto, matagal din, more than five years. [18:05] Si Senator Coco, Senator Miggs, Senator Cheese, magkakasama sila ngayon. [18:09] Ako naman, isang empleyado, wala pa akong na-appoint. [18:12] So as a practical matter din, sila ang mga kaklose. [18:15] So syempre, sila ang napakinggan. [18:17] But I have faith in the Senate staff that they should listen to all sides. [18:22] But I don't want to disturb... [18:25] Hindi civil war ang gusto namin. [18:27] Ang gusto namin, manaig sa Senate kung ano tama, tama. [18:30] Ako ano, male, male. [18:32] Thank you guys, thank you.