Press Release
June 26, 2014

Transcript of Kapihan sa Senado with Senator Bongbong Marcos

Sen. Bongbong Marcos: As far as the procedures, na maliwanag naman lahat ang dapat nilang puwedeng gawin, so, it's exactly of what they expected. It's not exactly a surprise that all this happened. The three senators knew also that this is going to happen and handa naman sila. Now siguro aabangan natin is the actual trial.

On the detained collegues

Marcos Well, it is unfortunate. Hindi naman natin akalain na mangyayari iyan sa mga senador. But again, iyan ang batas. I think they are just going thru the usual procedures of non bailable offense. Sa nakikita ko sa telebisyon, I cannot imagine how their families are feeling. For whatever your opinion is about the cases and the individuals itself, kahit papaano mahirap sa mga asawa, sa mga anak. That was struck me while watching the news.

On the case of Juan Ponce Enrile

Marcos I think so. Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile is in need of constant medical attention. He is 90 year old. As long as that can be provided for him, that's ok. I don't think he is flight risk at this point in time. I am sure, I hope the court does consider it. Ang ugali naman ng Pilipino is always to show compassion. Maybe this is another opportunity for us to express our culture in that way.

On the "VIP treatment"

Marcos I wouldn't know. I have not seen the rooms or cells that they have been kept. Nakakakita ako ng mga preso sa ibang lugar. Pero iyong sa kanilang kondisyon ay hindi ko nakikita. Nakikita ko lang iyong sa television and sa mga dyaryo. It looks like the regular cell. Siguro baka pininturahan lang ng konti. I don't think that they are any special privileges being given them. Siguro naman lahat ng tao ay nakabantay. I don't think that the PNP, aside from the usual procedures, is doing anything 'special' or 'VIP' treatment para sa kanila.

On the opinions of others that they should be put in the regular jails

Marcos They are being detained. They have pending trials. Hindi pa din naman sila na convict na dadalhin talaga sa kulungan.That is why, they are in the facility that they are in now. There is a difference. But again, I haven't seen the actual physical condition of where there are so hindi ko masasabi na mas maganda ito kumpara sa iba. Sa nabasa ko, kompleto ito sa daga't ipis, so, I guess that is part of the course.

On the live coverage of the trial

Marcos Well, I suppose, ganun din naman ang mangyayari. Kasi everything that will happen in court will be reported almost instantly. However, I am not a lawyer. So, I don't know what are the criterias for the court whether to allow or not to allow the live tv coverage. I suppose the court will have to decide. The suggestion, is because, everyone is very interested, to see what will happen and to see what actually the prosecution and the defense will present in court, and everyone is curious about it, I'm sure that will be taken into consideration by the court for a live tv coverage. But, I think iba ang criteria ng judge, I don't think that because it is of great public interest, I don't know if it is good enough reason for the court for a live tv coverage. Either way, kahit walang tv coverage, as I said, instantaneous ang reporting niyan because people will be in court watching, listening, twitting, texting and emailing it. We will have a constant stream of reports on it. People will be very interested on the proceedings and will go to some extent to see the actual proceedings.

On the resumption of the session in July without the three senators

Marcos Yes, maaapektuhan. Kasi tignan mo naman kami, al of us, we have at least two or three committee chairmanships. Somebody has to take the place of the senators that are absent. Si Sen. Jinggoy, he did a specific thing, ipinasa niya ang kanyang mga functions sa ibang senador. I suppose we could take the slots. But, inevitably, imbes 24 ang nagtatrabaho, tapos 21 na lang ang magtatrabaho, the load on all of us will be a little bit greater. Siguro naman, I am sure we will continue to function and do our jobs efficiently in a timely fashion as they say. Mararamdaman siguro namin iyon. I don't see that we can't make up of their absence. I suppose holding more hearing ands conducting more consultancies, mararamdaman din naming, but I am sure we will be able to adjust.

On the effect of the balance of the minority and majority levels

Marcos I suppose so. Sa senado naman, although merong majority and minority, wala namang issue sa party lines. I think that you all seen, kapag may issue naman, wala namang issue ng party lines. It will still follow everyone's own opinions. As it always has.

'Yun na naman balik na naman tayo sa suspicion na politically motivated itong pangyayari. If you believe that's the case then maybe that's part of it but siguro naman that's a little bit too vague, hindi naman siguro masasabi na threat. You know pag may nagsabi tatakbo na ka, that doesn't mean that they need to immediately attack them kasi ang layo pa naman ang 2016. Hindi naman natin kung tuloy 'yun or usapan lang. Maybe some people felt threatened but I don't think that there was a specific threat, as a reaction nangyari ito. Again, if everyone has an opinion whether this is politically motivated or not...if you agree that it is, then tama si Sen. Bong, if you don't, then perhaps he is looking at the wrong place. Hindi naman natin alam, hindi naman tayo privy sa mga nagdedesisyon tungkol d'yan.

On the rumor of Bongbong-Bong

Marcos Siya naman 'yan nagumpisa 'yan, it started in Ilocos. If you remember, dumating ako sa Ilocos minsan, 'yun ang sinabi, "Sir, galing dito si Sen. Bong Revilla ang sinabi niya Bong-Bong Bong sa 2016 bahala na kayong kung sino ang president. 'Yun ang pabiro n'ya. So, that was the extend of it. Tagal na 'yon. That was over a year ago.

On running for a higher position

Marcos Again, paulit-ulit naman sasabihin ko sa inyo, pareho pareho lang naman ang reaction ko d'yan sa mga tanong na 'yan. Hindi pa panahon para pagisipan mga ganyan, there's two years left in this term, there's still so much to be done, siguro saka na 'yan kasi that's an individual, personal thing. Saka na 'yan mga tungkol sa mga sarili namin. Tapusin na muna namin 'yung mga kailangan gagawin. There's a lot that needs to be done for the remainder of the year. So, there's no time or there's no space in our working lives to be discussing that or to be planning that or to be campaigning. The time will come, of course when 2016 will come, I will be a candidate. The obvious thing to do is for me to run for reelection.

Hindi naman siguro kailangan magkakampanya ka ng dalawang taon (for higher office). Again, if the time comes, I will make the decision. But much close to 2016 elections. That's my opinion, obviously others feel differently.

On whether other politicians are already campaigning

Marcos The vice president has declared his position. Matagal na n'ya 'yan sinabi. Sen. Alan also admitted that he is already preparing to run for president. Oo, may (inaudible) commercial na siya. He has already started but ganoon ang kanilang planning but sa planning ko hindi naman ganyan. Hindi pa panahon, it's just too far away.

Marcos When you file your COC, you have to put what you are running for. So, at the very latest, June. Kailangan ilalagay mo na kung tatakbo ka sa ibang position. So, that will be the absolute deadline for everybody, not just for me.

On NP's declaration that it will announce its presidential candidate by the end of the year

Marcos Ang pagkaintindi ko hindi kami mag-dedecide sa last quarter kundi we will start talking about it because we will have to start what the NP's involvement will be in the national elections of 2016. It's more of a party thing. Anong gagawin ng partido, what's the NP going to do. Anong positioning naming? What will be the alliances, will we be still in coalition with the LP? Will we be in a different place. Who are going the candidates and for what positions? 'Yong ang pagkaindindi ko sa usapan naming, we will have to start looking around. Hindi lang naman presidente pinaguusapan dito. Some of our members are governors, congressmen, so kailangan tignan din namin kung ano ang situation nila. Siguro pag nag-assess namin, ano ba talagang nangyayari, ano ba talagang takbo ng panahon, then we will have a better idea what role to play in 2016. What was decision was that the NP will definitely be involved in the 2016 elections. Hindi dahil si Sen. Manny ay hindi na kandidato, does not mean that the NP will stop functioning as a political party. The NP will still continue to function as a political party but how we will do that, that has to be decided by the party and you cannot do that instantaneously. Kailangan, kausapin namin mga miyembro naming, ano nila iniisip and assess the political situation for all our candidates. As for the presidency, I don't know kung mag de-decide that early.

On when he would deem it the right time to announce his candidacy

Marcos I don't think there is a moment, either you have to decide by this time. I don't know. I always go back to the example of Aug. 2009. Sen. Aquino was not even a candidate. May of 2010, he was the President. So, masyadong mabilis. Magde-decide ka on the basis of what is happening today, halimbawa in June of 2014, ang daming mangyayari. Baka maging mali 'yong decision mo because circumstances have changed. The absolute deadline is when you file your COC. Whether or not there is a proper or correct way to decide, I don't know if there is such a thing. I've always been advised to keep my options open so I always try to keep my options open for as long as possible.

How LP candidates decide what positions to run for. Is it through surveys?

Marcos Kung may ambisyon sila, mapapasurvey sila. So, siguro lalapit sila sa partido at sabihin nila, "akong malakas, tulungan niyo ako." That's probably how the process will be and the rest of us will assess the political situation. Part of that will look at surveys, the other part is going to these places and seeing kung ano ba ang takbo dito, sino ba ang malakas, sino bang makasama. Each place is different. Just so a survey says something, you have to go deeper because the party will have to know what to do. Halimbawa, if we have two members in one constituency, mamimili ka. Or if you want to ask somebody to run because may mag-gagraduate or may mag-reretire... the surveys are part of it but they are not the be all and end all. It's just one element or one facet of that process.

'Yung kay Sen. Sonny, I heard he announced that he intends to run for the vice-presidency but he also said in his announcement that he will defer to the decision of the party. Again, that will come from an assessment for each individual, an assessment of the political circumstances at that time, the political context and what the party wants to do.

The party has to decide what role we will play in the 2016 elections and you can only assess that once we know what's going on. What may be going on now, may not be going on in a year. It's not a static analysis, it's a moving target. That's why it's so complicated.

On reviving KBL

Marcos The KBL is still functioning as a party. In Ilocos Norte when I was governor, my ticket was KBL, my mother ran under KBL in the last election. So, it's still there. We don't know though kung ano maging status ng KBL by the time May 2016 comes. If KBL is still seen as a viable national party. If it is still considered by Comelec as a national party, because it is a party galing sa ama ko 'yon, then how will it work together with the NP? We have to decide what can the KBL do, what part it will play. But right now as far as I know, the KBL is in the midst of a reorganization. KBL is in a flux. So, let us see where it ends up after all these changes have been made.

On leaving NP

Marcos I doubt it very much. Bat naman ako iiwanan 'yung Nacionalista Party? Of course, I hope na kung may kaya pa 'yong KBL as a national party in 2016, tutulong sila kung anong magiging decision naming between my mother, myself, what we think the KBL should do. For all you know, anything can happen. We might coalesce the KBL with the NP as another party working together, we might have common candidates. It really depends on the capability of the KBL. Kung ano ang magiging kaya nila. Kung ano ang magiging kaya ng partido in 2016. If they have a lot to contribune, I am sure marami ang lalapit sa kanila na tutulong and myself included.

On the re-organization of KBL

Marcos Hindi naman nawala e. They are just re-organizing. The KBL is not the same profile compare to the time of my father, hindi naman nawala ito as a political party. May mga watchers pa rin ngayon ang mga KBL noong last election. They are still allowed to have watchers.. If they maintained its status, then it also depends on who will be the candidate for KBL will be. Right now, the KBL has to be re-styled and reinvent KBL stands for Kilusang Bagong Lipunan. It started out as a movement. But then took on all its attribute as a party, the Supreme Court decided to recognize as a party. So, that movement, no longer exist. The KBL has to re-style itself also if they want to be involved in a national or local politics. Iba na ang panahon, iba na ang magiging role ng KBL. Hindi kagaya dati, that was why it was a movement so as to involve other political parties.

On the upcoming SONA of President Aquino

Marcos Every SONA naman, the administration points out all their achievements. I'm sure ganoon pa rin. The SONA is never a bad news. It is always good news. As a matter of tradition, they will point out all the good things that had happened. Perhaps a little bit of it iyong mga problema na dapat nilang ayusin. But for the most part, the SONA is the explaining what are the achievements, what has been done, and what is the way forward, what is the plan, etc. etc. That is what we have been hearing for the last four years, so siguro ganoon pa rin iyon. I think for the most part, if they follow the traditions fors the last four years, it will be a lists of the achievements that the administration is particularly proud of.

Pagdating duon sa fight against corruption, dapat bang isama duon ang pagkakaso at pagkakadetain sa ilang senador?

Marcos I'm always a little bit nonplussed by the assumption that they are guilty. Let's see what the trial will bring. We do not exactly the elements of the case. Ako I am one of the senators, and even I do not know what evidence will be presented. I do not know in fact if this is an achievement or not. That will be dependent on the result of the trials. Baka by the end of 2016, may resulta na. That's when we will know whether this is for the good or this is not. We will have to wait because the judgment is yet to be made as to what happened. We have heard many accusations, andaming lumabas na kung sino-sino, coming out of the woodwork, about one list, this list the other list. We have lots of that. But that is not the trial. We have to wait until we see the evidence.

Balikan ko lang po yung sinabi niyo na unfortunate yung pagkakakulong ng mga kasama ninyo. Do you think it helped in some way in restoring the integrity of the institution?

Marcos It depends on what the result of the trial will be. If they are all acquitted, they will be saying, "Bat pa natin ginawa ito?" If they are all convicted, they we can say na, "Those who committed wrongdoings are punished." I am very curious to see the result of the trial. I do not want to make any judgments, one way or the other. Until we see the evidence as presented, we hear the arguments from both sides, and what are these cases based on. Ang alam lang natin bits and pieces. Ang nakakita siguro sa buo are the prosecutors who can see how the case is going to be. The defense, right now, hindi pa. It's hard to judge on a small item when there is a huge volume of evidence. I really like to see everything first, to see where the cases were legally based on. I guess that's what the judges are going to do. I know some people have already made up their minds. I cannot make my mind up one way or the other.

Hindi pa pwedeng ituring na trophy itong pagpapakulong sa tatlong senador ng President sa SONA niya?

Marcos I suppose you can say that this is part of the process. But hindi natin alam kung ano ang nasa loob ng kaso. Biut the President can say that this is the effect of our anti-corruption drive. You can say that this is validating the anti-corruption principles of this administration.

Relieved ka na ba na sa third batch ng kakasuhan sa pork barrel scam ay mukhang hindi naman kasama ang pangalan mo?

Marcos It's not important what I think. What is important is what is the Filipino public thinking. I think the public wants closure on this issue. They want to know the score. If they are guilty, punish them. If they are not, set them free. The surveys that I see, parang ganun ang sagot sa tanong. I see what you see. Nakikita ko lang yung sinusulat niyo. Pare-pareho lang tayo. I cannot make any partial judgments.

Do you have any plans to visit Sen. Bong or Sen. Jinggoy?

Marcos I haven't thought about it. Di ko pa naiisip. If they will ask to see me, I will go see them. I haven't made plans one way or another.

Sa tatlo ba kanino kayo pinakaclose? Kay JPE?

Marcos Well siyempre, si JPE ang pinakamatagal kong kilala. Si Sen. Jinggoy at Sen. Bong, matagal ko rin naman nang kilala. I have worked with Sen. Enrile when we were congressmen. He was a Cabinet Secretary during my father's time. Yun ang aming relationship. Iba iba ang relasyon namin, because we have different exposures. But of course you cannot work in the same place for four years without having some kind of relationship. Like all the other senators, you have done things together. You watch each other in the Senate. Of course, we have a relationship. I hope I can call them friends, because good relationships are important - para maayos ang patakbo dito sa Senado. You try to promote that, and I think I have done that with all three.

With Sen. Enrile though, very different ang pagkakakilala ko sa kanya. He was a minister in my father's government. I know Sen. Bong for a long time but a senator, only this past four years. Si Sen. Jinggoy, I knew him since he was a mayor. Matagal ko nang kilala lahat sila. I have been in politics for a long time already. I couldn't say that one is closer to me than the other. Iba iba naman ang pinagdaanan namin with each other. Kung sakaling isasama ng Pangulo sa SONA yung pagpapakulong sa tatlo, pwede ba siyang tawaging irresponsible duon?

Marcos Hindi. Ang sinabi ko is that pwede niyang sabihin na ito ay pagpatuloy ng kanyang anti-corruption drive kasi doon siya hinalal, yun ang kanyang unang prinsipyo na sinabi sa publiko. It could be said that this validates that this administration is serious about anti-corruption.

If President Aquino uses his SONA to say that the three Senators are guilty.

Marcos Let us not speculate kasi we don't know what he is going to say. Maybe after the SONA, sagutin ko yung tanong mo, but I don't know what he is going to say. If mag-speculate tayo kung sabihin niya ito, tama ba, kung sabihin ba niya ito, mali. You cannot say, tingnan natin. I am also curious like you what the SONA will contain, what he will talk about, what he will stress on, kung ano ang bibigyan niya ng importansiya, ano yung hindi niya isasama. I am very curious to know. Bakit, may advance copy nab a kayo? Parang alam nyo na yata yung lalabas? Pakita nyo naman sa akin. Hindi naman talaga madali yan, because he was criticized for speaking for an hour and a half, so inevitably, sasabihin mo, kailangan magtanggal tayo, an hour and a half is the limit. In an hour and a half you cannot talk about everything, so kailangan talagang mamili. There is so much going on in an administration, in government, hindi mo naman mapapag-usapan lahat sa isang oras at kalahati so mahirap talaga yung pagsulat ng SONA.

On Senator Guingona being silent on the PDAF scam.

Marcos It is being tried already in the courts. If we say in aid of legislation, if there are still facts that can help us change the system so that the alleged abuses cannot take place again, then that would still be a function but I think there is already all the information, what is already presented by Secretary De Lima has already been forwarded to the Ombudsman, so I do not know what new facts a continuation of the Blue Ribbon hearing will get. Ano pa ang makukuha nila? Kasi all the relevant facts as to these cases have already been investigated, have already been compiled, and forwarded to the Ombudsman.

On why Sen. Guingona still asked for the lists.

Marcos I do not know what he has in mind. Pero yan ang function ng hearing, di ba? To gain information in aid of legislation. So, who do we talk to, to get new information, new facts? I think lahat ng dapat tawagin natawag na, nagsalita na, nagtestify na. Maybe they can explain the lists again, but the problem is the list became so confusing dahil iba iba. Some are lists that are not lists, some are affidavits, some, ewan ko kung saan nanggaling. So, maybe to clear up that confusion, I don't know, but that is now what the court is going to have to do. It is not the function of the Blue Ribbon Committee to make a judgment. It is mainly to take in information and to use that information to craft legislation that will improve the system. Again, if there is still something that we can get from any of the witnesses, or any documentary evidence, then, fair enough, we should get it but I don't know kung saan pa pupunta ang Blue Ribbon sa ngayon.

On whether PNoy's statement saying JPE deserves humanitarian consideration will affect the Sandiganbayan's ruling.

Marcos Mali yung tinatanungan mo, you have to ask the court how they will handle that. The President is always perfectly free to express his opinion. Whether or not the President's opinion is going to be a factor in the decision of the court as to how they will handle the detention of Senator Enrile, again, I am not a lawyer, I do not know what the criteria are for a court to decide one way or the other.

On the garlic situation.

Marcos Talaga namang nabawasan. May mga technical factors na nangyayari. I think 70% of the garlic comes from Ilocos Norte up to now, so the garlic growers have been facing very big problems for a long time now, the biggest is smuggling. Maraming pinapasok na garlic na illegally imported, so that has had an effect on the price of garlic. That has had an effect on the market for garlic. I think the problem if there is a shortage is because hindi natin naagapan ng mabuti yung garlic industry, the garlic growers. As a matter of fact, I think about six months ago, I was in Ilocos Norte with Secretary Alcala, with Senator Cynthia, with Governor Imee, and we were trying to put together a plan kung paano nga akuin yung garlic industry dahil paliit na ng paliit yung garlic naming.

Kulang sa support in that sense, but siguro walang motivation to do that because there is so much garlic on the market. Hindi naman kailangan sabihin na kung mawala yan sa Ilocos Norte, eh di so what, meron namang pumapasok. Maybe that is why, but you know, ang tawag namin sa Ilocos diyan is white gold dahil ang daming yumaman sa garlic noon. But, since the advent of the smuggling coming in, that has changed. Yung presyo ng garlic has gone down. Now, if there is a shortage, that probably means that nag-clamp down sa smuggling kaya nabawasan sa supply. Maybe, it will now give a reason especially sa Department of Agriculture, na talagang pag-isipan na ng mabuti kung ano ba ang dapat gawin para mas maayos yung takbo para sa mga garlic farmers. I know that yung anis a amin, paliit ng paliit. It has been shrinking for quite a long time. Not only for the technical reasons that I say, but the varieties, difficult to process, etc., but also, maraming umalis sa garlic dahil sa importation, illegal and legal, bumaba ng bumaba ng husto yung presyo ng garlic so hindi na kumikita so sow some of them are planting other things now. High value crops na sila, they are already talking about vegetables, usually Baguio vegetables. Naging substitute yan, kaya many of the Baguio vegetables that you are buying do not come from Baguio, they come from Ilocos already.

Marcos If we'll make a big effort, kaya. Kaya pang ayusin 'yan. One of the things that I did when I was still a governor was we did not sell it as garlic. We sold it as Ilocos garlic dahil iba naman talaga 'yung amoy ng aming garlic kaysa mga pumapasok. So, that's one of the things we were able to do. But in the end, as I said, there are technical reasons. The genetic pool of the garlic we are using is too small. Kailangan natin makahanap ng ibang variety. Hybridize it para mas maganda 'yung magiging produkto.

Pumunta nga kami ni Senator Cynthia sa palengke sa Batad at ang liliit na. This has been happening for a very long time already. Yes, the garlic farmers could use additional support and R&D specially. I think ang tinitingnan ngayon ni Governor Imee is Mexican garlic. 'Yun ata ang pinakamalapit sa variety natin. So, if we widen the gene pool para mas matibay 'yung garlic natin then that would at least be a first step. It requires a lot of support. I don't know if the province can do it by itself. It needs the support of the DA and all the agencies under the DA para matulungan. If the DA commissions a study sa UPLB, let's say, then it will be very useful for the garlic farmers in Ilocos.

On the Bangsamoro Basic Law

Marcos I saw Secretary Deles during the state dinner of President Obama and we spoke about it. I said, "when are you going to said it to me?" Very tight na 'yung time table, 'yung schedule. Kung bakit tight is because the plebiscite has to be conducted. That's going to be part of the implementation of the Law. Comelec has explained that there is a deadline beyond which they cannot or it will be very difficult to hold a plebiscite dahil naghahanda na sila for the 2016 elections. In fact, we have the same situation sa SK. That's why we gave a limit of October to February kasi sabi ng Comelec dapat matapos 'yang election ng SK ng February kasi pagdating ng Marso, April, naghahanda na kami para sa national elections. So, it's the same factors sa Bangsamoro. I'm quite confident that when we come back, that there would already be a basic law, an organic law. In the meantime, we have already started in the committee, studying the annexes because that's all we have. So, at least, pagdating ng basic law sa amin, we'll hit the ground running. Hopefully, matatapos in the time before the deadline of Comelec para naman hindi magulo pati 'yung plebiscite. Namomroblema na rin kami sa SK kasi dati SK lang October to February, ngayon dalawa na. There may be an SK election and a plebiscite pa. Mas dumami, mas malaking pressure sa Comelec. Then, there's also a question of funding for the plebiscites and the election. The Comelec has a lot of worry towards the end of this year and the beginning of next year.

Kung wala namang oppositor, mabilis. Pero kung maraming oppositor, we have to hear everybody. So, that will take more time. It's very hard to say. It's not going to be a simple thing because so many issues have already been raised sa annexes pa lang. Sa palagay ko, kaya pa rin. More or less the timetable for the Bangsamoro organic law is end of this year till beginning of next year. Hindi naman mamadaliin pero we'll put in extra hours to ensure that we will do it in the time Comelec has given us.

Nakita ko rin 'yung report that there was a suggestion that the peace agreement should be incorporated with the Bangsamoro, the Tripoli agreement also. For all you know, they are doing it already. Pero hindi natin alam.

Dahil pupunta sa Local Government, nag-aantay lang ako. Whenever I talk to anyone who is involved, I just ask na medyo humihigpit na ang panahon. So, hopefully we can start on it as soon as possible. Siguro naman, by the time we come back, kapag nag-session na ulit ang Senado at House, siguro the Bangsamoro Basic Law will already be there. I think it will not be as contentious in the Senate as it is already in the House kasi siyempre may parochial concerns ang mga congressmen.

On the EDCA

Marcos I'm not against the EDCA. All I was doing in the hearing was trying to clarify what it really meant. What is going to happen? It has been a long standing relationship between the Philippines and the United States. It should continue. My chairman in Foreign Relations has questioned vehemently the constitutionality without the ratification in the Senate. Beyond that, it is something I did not touch on. I just want to clarify what it does really mean. What are they allowed to do? What are they not allowed to do? Noon, kapag dinadala dito ang equipment, iniiwan na lang sa AFP. Mayroon ba tayong agreement na ganoon? That's what I wanted to know. I know the interpretation that was given was that I was opposing it. During my questioning, I did not intend to imply to anyone that I was opposing it. I just really wanted it to be clarified. Hanggang ngayon, marami pa rin kaming tanong because there are some things that are so general kung babasahin niyo 'yung actual agreement. Siguro when we come back, pag-uusapan ulit 'yan.

I don't see how EDCA can be a factor in the conflicting claims between China and the Philippines. That's strictly between China and the Philippines. The only parties who can solve that problem or resolve that situation are China and the Philippines. Everyone else is welcome to make suggestions, give their views, give their insights, but at the end of the day it will be an agreement between China and the Philippines that will resolve this issue.

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