Transcript of Kapihan sa Annabel's Restaurant with Senate President Vicente C. Sotto III as guest, hosted by Sen. Kit Tatad/ Sept. 28, 2019

Q: on pork in the 2020 budget, meron po ba o wala?

SP Sotto: I can only say yes or no after we scrutinized the budget na makakarating sa amin. I think ito pong linggo na ito, kung hindi ako nagkakamali, baka itong linggo na ito isabmit sa amin yung GAB. When it was submitted by Pres. Duterte they call it the NEP which is the national expenditure program. Pagdating sa House ang tawag na dun GAB, GAB 1, general appropriations bill dahil nasa kanila. Pagdating sa amin nyan ang tawag na sa amin nyan GAB 2, which is the general appropriations 2. Sa lahat na yun na naririnig natin, yun munang kwento pa lang at report at sinasabi na meron daw, sabi wala, sabi meron tig 100, meron tig 700. Lahat yan kwento pa lang. The only time I will be able to say yes there is or no there is none, is when we receive it and we scrutinize it already. We have the chairman of the finance and for the first time there are more than 8 vice chairs in the Senate, may kanya kanya silang concerns at advocacies, so mas dumami ang vice chairmen ngayon, medyo dumali yung trabaho ni Sen. Angara and with that we will always be on the lookout for some, yung mga budget na kung tawagin namin eh sticking out or nakabuhol. Minsan yan eh may malalaking pangangailangan ang isang probinsya, minsan din naman ay hindi. The Senate is always tasked to scrutinize the budget. Sa ngayon, I will not be able to say yes or no.

Q: isa sa napapansin yung malaking intel fund ng Pangulo ng Pilipinas, ito po ba ay maaring suriin ng Senado...

SP SOTTO: Meron tayong power to scrutinize it kung pano ginastos last year yung intelligence fund. Kung ang tingin namin ay nararapat lang, the Congress will allow it. Pag sa tingin ay sobra, pwedeng yun ang mga isa sa mga pinagbabawasan o kina cut para ilagay dun sa mga tingin namin ay may merong malaking pangangailangan. Basta maliwanag ang pagkakagamit nung nakaraang taon, usually, kung hindi rin lang naman malaki ang dagdag o walang dagdag ay hindi na ginagalaw yan. Unless sila mismo nagbawas dahil may tendency itong bagong DBM secretary na magbawas eh, marami na department na kin-cut eh. Siguro yun ang tingin nila ay yung mga hindi naman nagamit last year or hindi pa rin nagagamit up to now o yung records in 2017-2018 show na may mga hindi naman nagamit so ka-cut-in yun. So as far as the intelligence funds is concerned, all the other agencies also, you can rest assured that we will scrutinize it also.

Q: on GCTA mess...

SP SOTTO: Sponsoran namin ni Sen. Gordon at nag co-sponsor ako doon sa creation of the regionalized penal institutions. Yung kasalukuyang na nakasiksik lahat sa Muntinlupa, oo meron konti sa Davao, meron sa Iwahig pero mainly Muntinlupa eh. Ang problema dito at nakikita sa pag-aaral noon pa man, kapag ang isang PDL ay hindi na dinadalaw ng kanyang mga kamag-anak, nag-uumpisa ng magloko. The studies show that doon na sumasama sa mga gang, sumasama sa mga kalokohan. Eh papano kung ang preso ay taga Sultan Kudarat o taga Negros, yung pamilya ay hindi naman maykaya? Hindi sya madadalaw baka once a year eh hindi madalaw eh. Dun na nag-uumpisa na magloko. So ang nakita namin namin dun sa regionalization, aside from the fact na pwede natin paghiwa-hiwalayin yan at mas madali ang control, yun ang isa sa makakabuti dyan. Gagawin temporarily, at the start it will have to be Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao muna. Luzon would probably be in Nueva Ecija where there is a prepared area for it. Visayas, they're targeting Capiz and Mindanao will be Davao, the Davao penal colony can be expanded eh. At pwede na in all these 3 areas, kumbaga sa ano eh state of the art na ang mga gamit. Nakita natin ang mga problema eh para maresolve ito. But there is also a bill that I filed creating a separate or establishing a separate penal institution for high-level drug traffickers only. It's practically a solution that I found that will be able to solve the problem of the reimposition of the death penalty. Marami may ayaw ng death penalty, ako naman eh kahit papano kahit from 1992 to the present, Sen. Kit Tatad and I, we ad lengthy debates on the matter, he was against it and I was the sponsor for the death penalty for drug trafficking, we had a very good series of debates about it and I had to admit it that in the last so many years, I'm starting to be convinced that they are right. Ang nakita ko rito, pinipilit ko pa rin sana ma re-impose yung death penalty for high level drug traffickers. Why? The crime of drug trafficking the most complex crime of all and the problem is if you have a murderer, nahuli mo nakulong mo, tapos nay un. If you have a rapist, nahuli mo, nakulong mo, tapos nay un baka sya pa ma rape sa loob. Pero yung high level drug trafficker, yung drug lord, nakakulong na nag-o-operate pa. So we really have to inhibit those persons from committing the same crime again so I thought it best that the re-imposition of death penalty be possible for them. But then, kung mahihirapan kami sa Senado because sa tingin ko sa ngayon may mga talagang 50-50 ang labanan, I propose a different penal institution for high level drug traffickers. Isang island, kung pwede nga sa may West Philippine Sea. Isang islang na inkomunikado, walang cell site. Walang communication, except sila lang doon. Ganun klase eh. As a matter of fact Gov. Pepito Alvarez was backing me up in this and he said that of the a thousand island in Palawan, meron daw syang 2 or 3 kayang i identify na pwedeng mag establish doon ng penal institutions for high level drug traffickers na talagang hindi makakatakas at hindi na rin makakapag operate pa. Pwede ng solution yun as I found it. Slightly going back to the GCTA issue, the law when it was sponsored by Sen. Escudero and Sen. Miram Santiago, kumbinsido kami maganda ang intention. Talaga na maliwanag doon sa amin na ang heinous crimes hindi kasama. Ang nagtataka kami kung bakit ginalaw yung Section 3 sa IRR at ang interpretasyon ay pwede lahat. And then, coupled with a very bad execution of the law, yan ang resulta. But then, itong mga sumusurrender na ito, ang tingin natin dito, dapat naman eh the marching orders of the DOJ is that, kung qualified talaga, ibalik na ulit palabasin pero lahat ng heinous crimes hindi pwede dahil yun ang tamang interpretation ng batas eh so I hope I was very clear about the issue.

Q: [inaudible]

SP SOTTO: Isa sa masasabi natin na pinakamagandang mangyayari dito is if the new IRR resolves it. The DOJ and the DILG are now in the process of submitting to us a different IRR which was different from the DOJ, DILG IRR during the past administration. So yung pagsubmit sa amin nito, makikita natin if it resolves the problem of the interpretation at yung sabi mo nga ay nabahiran ay mabubura yung dumi na nabahid doon. Kung hindi, then we will have to step back and file a different law on the GCTA. Baka blessing in disguise na rin kung tutuusin because yung Muntinlupa talagang, 378 hectares. If government leases that to say, making it into a university belt kesa yung ganun. siguradong mag li lease dyan yung ibat ibang mga unibersidad eh. At napakalaking pondo na magagamit ng gobyerno to establish the 3 penal institutions - Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao - and the supermax for high level drug traffickers for heinous criminals. Sobra sobra ang pondo ng gobyerno to establish that. Kahit i lease lang yung 378 hectares dun sa prime area in Muntinlupa.

Q: Wala bang interested parties kasi sa ngayon mukhang tingin nila ay university for crime...

SP SOTTO: Oo it has become a bureau of corruption hindi bureau of correction. Sabi nga eh tinawag na nga itong country club eh.

Q: ano pet bills sa mga proposals nyo

SP SOTTO: Nakapasa na po ito. Isa po ito sa mga priorities ko nitong 17th Congress, nakapasa na yung amendments to the Sotto Law dahil originally ang talagang kasama lang dun, sila Kit, yung print media na journalists. Ngayon sinama ko yung broadcast - radio, TV - and then yung online, legitimate online reports. Yun ang in-expand natin ang coverage. Sinama pati mga editors basta't part of the legitimate group of media. Kung ang nagsusulat ay connected to a legitimate or accredited internet website, kasama sya run, ok sya run. Kaya lang, para ipaliwanag lang ng mabuti, the real intent of the original Sotto Law was not to force a journalist or a media practitioner to reveal his or her source. Kasi nung panahon nung lolo ko, 3 beses nakulong - kinulong mga Kastila at Amerikano - kaya galit sa mga Amerikano yun, eh yung mga sulat at mga reports na nilabas nya dun sa 3 newspapers na in-establish nya noong araw pati sa Cebu dun sya nagtayo, eh lagi syang pinipilit na i divulge kung sino source nya. Nung maging senador yung lolo ko na national na nung 1946, that was one the first bills filed. It was Senate Bill No. 6 in 1946 and it became Republic Act 53. Ganun kaaga yung batas na yun. Sa akin, balik doon sa tanong ninyo na priorities, meron akong pinu push na free medical scholarship for any Filipino. Kasi sa ngayon yung aming pinasang tertiary education na libre na in all SUCs, hanggang pre-med or pre-law pero hindi kasama ang medicine proper. In fact meron akong nailagay sa last time na budget para dun sa allowance lang for the medicine proper students. But the bill that I filed is to make medicine free, talagang complete ang medical scholarship program for all Filipinos. Sapagkat ang napansin namin kokonti, kulang ang doctor natin. There should really be a doctor in every barrio and aside from the fact that there are only few of them, isa sa dahilan ay mahal. So kung ililibre mo, ang tingin ko maraming Pilipino ang kukuha ng medicine at maraming magdodoktor. Meron lang kaming mga conditions na ilalagay. Ang condition kailangan 5 years dito ka lang magsisibli ka sa Pilipinas. Hindi pupwedeng pagka graduate mo pupunta ka kagad sa (inaudible). Meron dun na colatilla, kung gusto mong umalis, ibalik mo yung ginastos ng gobyerno sa yo for 5 years na scholarship mo. Isa sa priorities yun and then yung fake news and tax exemption ng mga teachers. France, Germany, Singapore... there are 5 countries that have passed this bill already, this law. Even in the Philippines, 79% of the surveys show that internet users really despise fake news. So it's about time that we correct it.

Q: on SOGIE bill

SP SOTTO: ...in the House of Representatives, but the way I size up the leadership, they're not too keen about it anyway. Pero in the Senate, it really stands a very poor chance of being passed. Perhaps if they convert it into an anti-discrimination bill na anti-discrimination lang talaga about being indigenous person or kulay mo or pagkapapasok ka sa trabaho dahil buntis ka, ganun. Pero once we talk about SOGIE, once we talk LGBT rights, you transgress on women's rights, other people's rights so malabo yun. Basta yung totally anti-discrimination lang talaga as we understand it, pwedeng lumusot kung ganun. Wag na tayong magbabanggit ng classes of people. But the way it stands, mahirap. Sen. Angara filed a comprehensive anti-discrimination bill which does not cover issues on LGBT. Yun baka mapagdebatehan namin ng mabuti buti sa floor yun.

Q: SOGIE bill hindi ba discriminatory din kasi yung mga bakla ayaw nilang kilalanin silang bakla gusto nila babae sila...

SP SOTTO: I just have to agree with you, correct. Yun ang nakikita ko at saka nakikita ko yung reaction on internet and newspapers at napakadaming mga magagandang puntos nila na sinasabi nila. Ang even in the US na maraming liberal-minded doon, they're starting to go back to basics eh, even yung mga SC decisions nila where all the cases were filed sa mga ganito. They favor the ano eh, yung dinemandang funeral parlor owner dahil finire nya yung kanyang emplyeyado dahil nga nag co crossdressing, ayaw nya, nanalo eh...nakarating ng SC. SAC said hindi, the employer has every right.

Q: nababalita galing sa US Senate, may isang US senator may proposal na yung may kinalaman sa detention ni Sen. De Lima ay wag papayagang makapasok sa US...

SP SOTTO: Sa dyaryo pa lang namin nalaman. Ano kaya ang pakiramdam ng senador na yun kung may mag file ng resolution dito na sabihin na huwag papasukin sa Pilipinas lahat ng magi impeach kay Trump? Ano kaya sabihin nun? Pakialamero eh! I'm not saying, I'm not for or against Sen. De Lima. As I've said she is innocent until proven guilty. But you cannot have a US senator judge the case. Hindi ba? ang layo ah. Baka akala naman nya commonwealth pa tayo. Kung minsan din medyo kulang din sa pag-iisip yung iba eh.

Q: on sin tax bill....

Actually may pananaw na ganun. Meron ganun na pananaw akong narinig sa committee hearing nila. Dapat daw i commensurate dun sa, kung hindi naman gaano nakakasama bakit mo ita tax masyado. So research is really necessary. I'm sure Sen. Pia Cayetano will come up with a research on the matter and a formula on how we will be able to find a middle ground.

Q: inaudible

SP SOTTO: Yan ang pinaglalabanan dyan. I was in a briefing in the London South Bank University and they have a different outlook as far as e-cigarettes are concerned, vaping and heated tobacco. As a matter of fact they grade a cigarette on a scale of 1 to 10, pag e-cigarettes daw 2 or 1. Makikita natin, pinag-aaralan rin naming mabuti yung mga research materials.

Q: may deadline yung passage ng sin tax bill

SP SOTTO: Wala eh. Ang may deadline kami yung barangay elections. Kasi yun mangyayari na. Ito talagang freewheeling pa debates nito.

Q: inaudible

SP SOTTO: Usually they attend the hearings, they present their positions. Hindi madaling mag lobby sa Senate eh. Masyadong maraming republika dun.

Q: inaudible

SP SOTTO: Salamat tinanong mo sa akin yan kasi sasabihin ko sana kay Sen. Dela Rosa na mag conduct uli ng hearing na makaka attend ako para ma eksplika ko sa kanilang mabuti. Apparently, hindi nila nakuha yung intention ng batas. Apparently, hindi nila binasang mabuti sapagkat yung presidential drug enforcement authority na gusto kong ma create, lalo silang lalakas at wala na silang iba ng boss. Sa ngayon, kung tutuusin, hindi naman na nila ginagawa eh pero ang boss nila yung DDB, yung Dangerous Drugs Board. Kitang kita dun sa batas eh creating it. I'm the principal author of RA 9165 that's the creation of the Presidential Drug Enforcement Authority (PDEA) and DDB upgrading which makes the PDEA the enforcement arm of the DDB and they should meet at least once a week. Tanungin mo ang DDB ilang beses sila nag board meeting nung nakaraang taon? Pag naka 3 sila, swerte na sa loob ng 1 taon. So maraming, galing ako dun eh. I became DDB chair, pinilit kong magkaroon ng meeting once a month. Hirap na hirap sa quorum because of the oversight namin nung ginagawa namin yung batas na 17 ang members ng DDB na mga secretaries ng different departments. Walang uma attend. Kaya hindi sila makatawag eh. We're practically upgrading them, updating the fight against illegal drugs. They should not....sabi ko nga eh hindi nila naiintindihan, what we want to do, let's go back muna, how do you fight the war on drugs? There are 4 or 5 major concerns - enforcement, prosecution, prevention, rehabilitation and then perhaps alternative development. Out of these 5, sa ngayon, enforcement PDEA, PNP hindi pa nag cocoordinate. Hindi ba? Tama ba ako? Prosecution, DOJ magkasundo ba sila? Di ba nagkaroon pa nga ng mga proble-problema noong araw hanggang ngayon, pati sa mga kasuhan eh. 85% in the past few years of the cases filed dismissed. Sisisihin ng PDEA and PNP ang prosecutor. Sisihin ng prosecutor ng ano, sasabihin senator yung mga agents mo saka pulis mo hindi marunong mag file ng kaso. Pag sinita mo yung mga agents saka mga pulis, hindi naman mag file ng kaso, sasagutin ako, senator nasusuhulan mga prosecutor mo. So disconnected na kagad yung prosecution and enforcement. Sino ngayon ang prevention? DepEd. May connection ba ang PDEA and DOJ sa DepEd? Wala. Dapat yan grade 6, grade 7 meron kang drug enforcement, drug abuse resistance education program. Meron ba sila? Wala. May 2-3 cities na gumagawa nyan pero that's about it. Now rehabilitation, DOH. Who's in charge of rehabilitation? Ano connection sa kanila? Ni hindi nga uma-attend ng board meeting. So the PDEA puts all of these in one umbrella, under the Office of the President. lahat sila coordinated and they form the board. Hindi na yung umaasa ang DDB na hindi naman nila sinusunod. Umaangal sa akin, galing sa akin yung 2 members ng DDB just a few weeks ago at kino complain yung sistema ng PDEA na hindi daw nag co coordinate sa kanila. They're just trying to understand muna. This is upgrading them and the fight will be better on illegal drugs because prevention and rehabilitation is a must. Hindi pwedeng puro enforcement. Puro EJK na ang bintang tuloy eh hindi ba? pero kung mabigat ang prevention mo, malaganap ang prevention program mo in the entire country, you prevent the 13 years old from trying illegal drugs sapagkat alam nya natuto na sya eh. Alam nya na hindi mabuti ito kaya hindi na sya maloloko. Kaya importante ang prevention. And then yung rehabilitation, kung ikaw ay drug dependent na, we take you off the streets and we rehabilitate you. Then what happens is the day we stopped buying is the day they stopped selling. Pag walang bumibili, walang magbebenta. Nagtataka sila bakit daw pasok ng pasok ang shabu eh may bumibili eh. May humahanap eh. Kaya importante yung programa na yan. Pag wala yung mga program nay an, pag wala yung mga program nay an, puro kayo enforcement, walang nangyayari sa atin. Patayin mo lahat ng pusher, bukas may bagong pusher dahil may bibili. That's why I suggest that the PDEA and the DDB study muna the proposal before they say they're not in favor. It makes them stronger because in the enforcement of the PDEA that I'm pushing all the narcotic enforcement officers and all anti-narcotics will be under them - PNP, NBI, AFP. Ayaw nila roon? Eh dun na tayo sa dati nila sige. Ano success rate nila dib a? I suggest they study it first bago sila kumontra.

Q: on info on executive session to be divulged...

SP SOTTO: Mahirap masabi because ang incident na dinivulge dun sa executive session, linawin ko munang mabuti kasi parang masyadong naka center lang doon eh. The issue was, ang mga tao sa NBP ang mga drug lord doon involved sa mga drug trafficking sa labas, nag ta transaction. As a matter of fact, there was one transaction that happened, eto salita ni Mayor Benjie Magalong, there was one transaction that happened when I was CIDG chief sabi nya that involved the NBB at napakalaking halaga. Ano yan sabi namin and may I be allowed an executive session para ma divulge, sabi nya. Pagdating doon, sabi doon, hapyaw lang ito hindi ito talaga, I will not be violating the executive session rules but nasa dyaryo naman ito noong araw eh, there was a buy bust or drug bust amounting to 137 kilos, hindi ko na kabisado ngayon sapagkat lumalabas 237 yun sa records eh pero ang pagkakaalam ko yung mga oras nay un 137 kilos. Ang nireport nung grupo na tinatanong mo ang ranggo ay 37 kilos lang ang nahuli. Yung 100 ay ni recycle. Nung mga panahon nay un bumagsak ang presyo ng shabu dahil may mga ni recycle. Sino nag recycle? Involved yung ano, dun nagtawag sa drug lord sa NBP. Kaya konektado doon sa hearing yun. Yun ang nangyari dun. Ngayon ang sinasabi nya ay merong team. Hindi ko alam ang mga ranggo ng mga team. I just have to explain to you how we came about knowing about it. but i could not name the ranks of the persons involved. The names of the persons involved are in the case filed Sen. Lacson submitted to the blue ribbon committee. the BRC and DOJ already submitted it to the President. We leave it to the President to divulge kung gusto nya.

Q: pwede nyong sabihin kung babae o lalaki

SP SOTTO: Lalaki

Q: nagkaroon ba ng shortfall ng revenue collections...

SP SOTTO: Tingin ko hindi eh. As a matter of fact nagkaroon tayo ng underspending pa rin eh. Mas maliit nga lang ang underspending ngayon kesa noong mga nakaraang taon eh. So I wouldn't worry about it.

Q: will the GAB na gagawin ng Senado ay mirror image din nun NEP? Anything different is an insertion...

SP SOTTO: Eh kung cut? Hindi mo na tatawaging insertion di ba? I cannot agree or disagree with what you're saying right now or the outlook or the perspective because if it's a mirror image of the NEP, why is the passage delayed papunta sa amin and yung report, and I dont know if this is true or not ay nagsa submit pa sila ng amendments. Yun ang sabi eh. Meron daw mga amendments eh. Pano naging mirror image yung mga amendments.

Q: insertion yun

SP SOTTO: Well depende. Hindi ko pwedeng sabihing insertion kung institutional amendments eh.

Q: hindi ba any additional is an insertion?

SP SOTTO: Kung mau kin-cut ka at nilipat mo dito at ito'y alam ng buong body, institutional amendments ang tawag dun. Like for example, last year kin-cut yung P45B na hindi maintindihan ng DPWH kung saan daw galing hindi daw nila yun kung pano napasok sa kanila, na 95B yung total eh, pero yung 45 kin-cut ng Senado inilagy sa AFP modernization program pambili ng mga attack helicopters, yung mga ganun. Yun institutional amendments yun kasi sinabi on the floor, ina approve ng body. Yun yun. Hindi yun pinasa sa yo ng papel na ilagay mo nga yan 200M doon sa district ko. Iba yun. Makikita naman namin dahil kitang kita naman yan dyan kung may bubukol o wala eh.