Press Release
March 21, 2018

Transcript of interview with Sen. Zubiri

SJMZ: Technically by passed. May isa lang member ng committee who wants to have more information at humihingi lang dagdag papeles, so postpone lang yung hearing sa third week of May.

Q: Anong pinaka-clincher?

A: Actually majority naman ng mga members ay para sa kanya. Halos walang nagboto na except for one individual nanghingi ng dagdag na document para sa confirmation niya. For me, it's a postponement. Technically it's a bypass. But, for me it's a postponement. May hinihintay lang silang dagdeag na document. After they submit it ay wala na pong problema. It's just a matter of time , hinihingi lang ng isang kasamahan namin.

Q: The senate will hear the divorce bill soon, mayroon ng kayong stand?

Im against divorce. I really believe that you make the right decision from the beginning. so you may take it out kung may problema , para rin sa anak ninyo iyonn. And, eventually, if they cannot work it out there are other avenues to go to. Pero kung gagawin natin yung pitio-pito style na hiwalay , Las Vegas style na divorce, hindi rin ako papayag.

Wala nagfile dito so, definitely has not been taken up. So far, no Senator has filed a bill similar to the divorce bill of the House.

Q: Confident sa pagsagot ni DAR...

A: Yes, yes absolutely, ngayon ay kailangan natin ay isang abogado, dahil napakaraming kaso ang hinaharap ng DAR, both from the agrarian reform beneficiaries and also the landowners. So, may pruweba talaga na kumuha tayo ng isang abogado katulad ni Secretary na makakasagot sa mga kasong ito.

As far as the delay is concerned, there has been a postponement. One of the members of the CA requested for documentation. Pag naibigay na po yang documentation yan, we will vote on the matter. yun lang wala naman pong violent negative reaction sa committee. Its nothing to worry about.

Yung bill na filed ko is more on accepting Church annulment. Kasi, ang nangyayari nagkakaroon tayo ng double procedure. Pag na- annul na po kayo ng Simbahan, ditto sa mga huwes, sa mga courts kailangan mo pang magfile ulit. Maghahanap ka na naman ng abogado. Aabutin kas na naman ng hundred of thousands of pesos para ma-annull din kayo civilly, under the courts. So under the bill that I filed, its basically, if youre annulled already by the Church, that has to be recognized by the government , then mas madali na yung acceptance ng inyong annulment by the Courts.

Parang automatic na siya, we have to file for the sake of filing for the court approval, immediate court approval. Pero sa ganoon , annulled na kayo sa simbahan. Kaiio long expensive process doon sa simbahan.

Dito rough sailing ang divorc e bill. Ayaw ng mga senators yung Las Vegas style, US style ng divorce - na susubukan lang natin, magpakasal lang tayo, then after 6 months or five years na mayroon na kayong mga anak -oh divorce na tayo, I like somebody else or gusto ko ng humiwalay sa iyo dahil yun ang trip ko lang- Hindi naman pwede. Hindi pwede yon . Ayaw naman nating mangyari yon dito sa ating Pilipinas.

We have to study it but so far nobody has filed a bill yet.

Q: Sinabi ni Alvarez na dissolution of marriage, not US style

A: I have to see it first. I cannot comment, but, as far as I'm concerned, I'm ipersonally against divorce. Ayaw ko iwanan ang asawa ko. Ay naku, baka iwanan ako ng asawa ko. Baka baliktad. Oh nonono. I like to protect the sanctity of the family as much as possible. Kasi, yun nga , ayaw natin yung hastily getting married without really having thought about it - - yan ang vegas style of wedding and divorce na ayaw kong mangyari dito sa atin sa pilipinas.

Q: Timeframe sa bbl

A: Hinihintay ata ng ibang senador ang output ng concom ni CJ Puno as the base information to be debated upon. So yan ang hinihintay. So. kasi kung tatanungin mo kami isa isa, kanya- kanya kami ng mga ideas eh when it comes to charter change and federalism and amendments to the constitution. So karamihan ng aming kasamahan, hihintayin ang concom , tapos yun ang pag-dedebatehan namin.

Q: Recommendation of Sen. Pangilinan

A: Definitely idi-discuss namin yan. Magco-ConCon ba or mag ConAss? Theres also a school of thought na there minimum amendments lang for example: Senators elected by island groups. Pinag-uusa[pan naming yan - if they want more representation, let us elect senators by island groups, 12 senators for Luzon, 6 for Visayas, 6 for Mindanao. Para ganoon ay more representative of the area. Tapos yung mga economic provisions ay amendahan na. Tapos sa IRA, let's make it clear in the Constitution na mas malaki yung share ng mga local governments - - which is also devolution, it's also a form of federalism. Yan ang isang school of thought dito sa Senado. No need to totally overhaul the Constitution. What we could do is a simple Con Ass amendment to the Constitution

Q: CA

A: Majority of the members are supportive of him. May isa lang myembro natin, nirerespeto natin, kasi ayaw din po natin ma-section 20. Kasi kung may hinihintay pa siya na document tapot biglang i-section 20 ng member sa plenaryo, nakakahiya naman. More statistics on the beneficiaries. Technically, first bypass. Under our rules, we can bypass him only three times, then we have to vote. But we had results kanina, we had a straw vote, he had a majority of the members. It's just a matter of time.

Q: Nagbanta?

A: It could crop up , kasi sabi ni Maj. Floor Leader Albano that there might be a situation, na because hindi pa maibigay yung documento, baka mag-section 20 pa sa plenaryo. Which is technically a veto. Vetoing the whole process, so ayaw nating mangyari iyon kasi mapapahiya pa yung Secretary . Kaya ang ginawa na lang namin ay hayaan na lang natin, pagbalik na maghearing.

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