Press Release
July 30, 2020

Transcript of Senator Nancy Binay's interview
on The Source (hosted by Pinky Webb)

Pinky Webb (Q): What were your thoughts/assessment on SONA?

Sen Nancy Binay-Angeles (SNBA): Medyo nakulangan tayo. Kaya nga siguro, if I were to grade the SONA of the president, I would say it's "Incomplete (INC)". I expected more pagdating doon sa kung papaano natin bibigyang solusyon pagdating dito sa problema natin sa COVID. Medyo kulang pagdating doon sa detalye, doon sa roadmap, more or less, sana doon nag-focus ang ating presidente.

Q: Was there anything clear to you on what the president said on how to address the pandemic?

SNBA: Kasi masyadong general when he mentioned it, eh. I think at this point what we need are the details, 'di ba? Kunwari, sa aming legislators, ano ba iyong specific na gusto niyang gawin namin, na ipasa namin, na makakatulong sa pagbibigay solusyon doon sa problema natin sa COVID. And then, doon sa ating kababayan, ano iyong gusto ni presidente na gawin nila. I think the mere fact na na-mention siguro niya, napaalala niya sa ating mga kababayan, na maghugas kayo ng kamay, magsuot ng mask, would already start the campaign on how we can fight this virus.

Q: Reaction on VP Leni Robredo's address

SNBA: Pinky, I wasn't able to watch it kasi may session kami yesterday. Hindi ko pa rin masyadong nababasa iyong full statement ni Vice President Leni. But siguro idadagdag ko lang sa SONA ni presidente, sana din nagbigay siya ng detalye. Alam naman natin na marami ngayong pondo na nakuha ang DOF pagdating dito sa laban sa COVID. Sana nabanggit din niya kung ilang PPE ba ang balak i-procure ng pamahalaan, what will be the goal for testing, what will be the policy for tracing, and siyempre pagdating doon sa treating, which hindi niya masyadong napaliwanag during his SONA.

Q: Are you alarmed at the number of cases?

SNBA: Yes. Feeling ko nga ngayon, Pinky, mas grabe pa sitwasyon natin compared a few months back, maybe during March. Ang weird lang, iyong mga kapitbahay natin, for example Hong Kong, nagkaroon sila ng 100 cases, ang naging policy ng government is to slowly--hindi naman lockdown--pero may mga restrictions na silang ginagawa ngayon. When they opened up, when Hong Kong was able to flatten their curve, they allowed 50 people sa mga gatherings. But since nagkaroon ng spike sa kanila, ngayon dalawa na lang. Eh sa atin, baliktad. Kung kailan pataas nang pataas iyong bilang, pabukas naman tayo nang pabukas sa ating ekonomiya. I heard DTI, by August 1, would allow more businesses to open, like, pwede na raw ang mga computer shops, gyms. But the numbers keep on increasing, and at the moment maraming mga hospital na ang hindi kayang i-accommodate itong mga pasyente na may COVID. Hanggang hindi natin nafi-fill ang gap pagdating sa healthcare when it comes to COVID, baka kailangan pag-aralan din natin iyong pag-balanse natin sa ekonomiya compared dito sa pag-address natin sa problema natin sa COVID.

Q: You do not agree with DTI plan to allow more businesses to operate?

SNBA: Siguro, to add, like Vietnam. Ang Vietnam, I think 100 days na yata silang walang nag-positive sa COVID. But the other day doon sa Danang, that town, iyong very popular tourist site, I think 30 lang ang nag-positive, but anong ginawa nila? They closed it down. Ang naging policy nila, 10,000 tourists, nilipad nila out of that place. So, kumbaga, very proactive ang approach nila. Eh tayo, parang walang ganoong sense of urgency. From the very beginning, I'm sorry to say, noong nag-hearing kami last February, hanggang ngayon, parang you don't see that sense of urgency, you don't feel that need to do something on how we can fight this problem,

Q: How do you think government is faring on COVID?

SNBA: Iyon na nga, eh. Well, I understand naman the situation. Ang hirap, kasi alam natin na kailangan mag-hanapbuhay ng ating mga kababayan, but at the same time mayroon tayong health issue na kailangan din natin i-address. But our neighbors have done it. For example, Thailand, na-solve nila iyong problem nila with COVID, and at the same time nakabalik na sa trabaho iyong mga taga-Thailand. Kaya nga sabi ko, tingnan natin kung ano iyong ginagawang best practices ng ating mga ASEAN neighbors like Thailand, Vietnam, because hindi rin naman tayo pwedeng naka-lockdown forever. I think that is not also the policy that government should always go to, 'di ba? Because at some point we need to learn, we need to live with the virus. Ang kailangan lang siguro, feeling ko kulang lang sa information dissemination eh. I think we assume too much that the people would know how to practice what needs to be done to avoid the virus. Baka may ganoong assumption na alam na nila, dapat ganito ang distansiya pagdating sa safe distancing, kailangan mag-mask ka, kailangan maghugas ng kamay. Baka hindi lahat ng ating kababayan alam iyong dapat nilang gawin.

Q: Before the break pinaguusapan po natin yung Danag sa Vietnam.

SNBA: Yun din sasabihin ko Pinky. Sa kanila kasi ang bilis ng contact tracing nila. I think may nagpositive sa Hanoi na-trace kaagad nila na it came from Danang. So isa pa yun sa kelangan natin ayusin. Alam naman natin na ang dami pang backlog sa resulta ng test and for me, everyday na nalalaate ang release ng resulta that's one step behind in fighting the virus. So isa yun sa kailangan nating ayusin. Siguro share ko lang din Pinky, nabanggit ko na kulang sa information dissemination sa baba. Mayroon akong kakilala nagshow sya ng symptoms so on their own they paid for their test, nagpositive sila ng anak niya. Tapos pagdating doon di na nila alam ang gagawin nila to quarantine themselves. And this happened a few days before nagkaroon ng policy ang PNP na magdodoor to door daw sila at hahanapin nila yung mga asymptomatic at mild. So this person, sinabihan na nila yung barangay na positive kami umabot ng 24 hours, I had to make calls kasi wala na daw quarantine facility na pwede nilang puntahan kasi puno na daw sa lugar na iyon ang puwede for mild symptoms or asymptomatic. So may ganoong problema tayo sa baba. Hindi alam yung protocol. And katulad nito, halos naubos na ang pera nila for testing kasi hindi naman covered ng PhilHealth ang initial swabbing mo. I think ang icocover lang nila is yung initial swabbing mo after you tested positive. Swabbing is not cheap. Pinakamura na yata is yung P4,000, it can go as high as P9,500 di ba? Saan naman kukuha ang mga kababayan natin ng pambayad pagdating sa swabbing?

Q: It's good you brought that up because in temrs of swabbing, may sinabi po si Spox Harry Roque in our interview with him. Ang sabi niya, because the president may announce new protocols today, meron ding major changes na mangyayari and when I pressed ano iyon, ang sabi niya it is really in terms of testing, tracing, and treating. One area na sinabi niya, yung PCR, yung swab tests mangyayri daw po iyan, kung nagaaverage daw po tayo ng 30,000 a day mata-times 10 daw po iyan dahil mangyayari yung tinatawag na pool testing. The long and short of that senator is that somebody who needs to do this would just need to pay P300 and I want to get your reaction to that and tinanong natin kung kailan ito mangyayari and sinabi niya very soon.

SNBA: Well I am not an expert and it is something new. Hindi ko alam kung may track record na ba iyan pagdating sa reliability of test. Tulad ngayon pinayagan natin itong rapid test pero lately based on my personal experience, negative sa rapid pero pagdating sa PCR positive pala. And this is a common story. So with this new technology, hindi ko alam kung tried and tested na ba iyan.

Q: Senator palagay niyo po ba ang NCR dapat manatili sa GCQ or tingin niyo kailangan muna tayong maghigpit?

SNBA: Ako at the moment feeling ko kailangan muna tayong maghigpit. Hanggang hindi lumuluwag iyong healthcare facilities natin baka we need to scale down a little bit. Di ko naman sinabi na magsara tayo totally like what we did in March, pero baka we need to scale down para maayos natin yung protocol kasi parang may pagkukulang pagdating doon. Kasi nakita naman natin yung problema natin sa LSIs kung saan hindi na nasusunod yung social distancing. So kailangan nating pag-aralan at i-assess kung saan tayo nagkakamali kung bakit pataas ng pataas ang nagpo-positive.

Q: Senator yung Bayanihan-2 already passed on 3rd and final reading. We are looking at P140 billion. You have colleagues saying sana mas mataas--tila kulang ito. Do you think it is enough for now?

SNBA: No it's not. Definitely it's not enough kaso lang kasi when we passed this, sinabihan kami ng DOF na if you want more, papa-veto na lang namin yan so ang naging dilemma din is nothing or P140 billion? Siyempre kami kahit papaano yung P140 billion na iyon makakatulong kahit konti. Yung konti is better than nothing so we ended up with that amount yung P140 billion. But we wanted more and I think mini-stimulus pa lang ito on our part.

Q: I wanted to talk about the Senate resolution asking COA to make a special audit on how funds were spent doon sa Bayanihan-1. I saw six (6) senators who signed but I did not see your name. Why is that?

SNBA: I think dapat naman talaga siyang i-audit kaya lang yung resolution may colatilla yan na kailangang gawin iyan before we discuss the budget. I'm just being realistic na I don't think kakayanin ng COA na ma-audit itong Bayanihan-1 funds before we start deliberating on the budget. But I support and there is a need. Alam naman natin na maraming alegasyon sa pagdisperse ng Bayanihan-1 and dapat naman talaga ma-audit sya whether special or regular audit.

Q: You were one of the senators to ask Sec. Duque to resign way back. Sa ngayon, after seeing everything, is this still your stand right now senator?

SNBA: Yes. Things are not getting better. Yung problema ng mga health workers natin, in fact ang dami ko nanaman nadidinig na nai-intubate at nasa ICU na health workers. Yung problema natin noong February hindi naman nawala eh. At the moment maybe Sec. Duque is not the best person to do it--to find solutions pagdating sa problema natin sa COVID.

Q: Death penalty: What is your stand on this?

SNBA: I am against the death penalty. Unless maayos natin yung justice system natin, kawawa yung mga mahihirap. They can't afford the best lawyers. There is always that, hindi magiging patas ang hustisya hangga't hindi naaayos ito. At yung timing din. Everyday there are reports na 20 yung namatay today, the next day 30, 40... We need to talk about paano tayo mabubuhay and by discussing death penalty, kamatayan pa rin ba yung kailangan pag-uusapan? The conversation will shift towards death again when there's so much death already happening around us. Para akin, at the moment, mag-focus muna tayo kung paano tayo mabubuhay, at kung paano natin bubuhayin ang ating mga kababayan.

Q: Lastly, talks about Cha-Cha senator?

SNBA: Yung Cha-Cha mukhang mahihirapan. In fact, during the previous congress, we had 15 hearings 'ata and at that time parang nasa ICU na sya at naghihingalo na sya. I reiterate, tulad ng death penalty this is not a priority and dapat lahat tayo on board with how we can solve this problem we are facing now. Nakakatakot, Pinky, the figures of unemployment ang projection nila is 10 million... Isipin mo that is 10 million people na magugutom. So kami sa pamahalaan we should start talking on how we can make them survive. Ano na nga lang ngayon e, survival na nga lang ang dapat naming bigyan ng solusyon at the moment di ba? So, dapat doon kami naka-focus ngayon on how we can soften yung problemang dinulot ng COVID sa atin.

Q: I hope both houses of congress will be able to pass measures para matulungan ang ating mga kababayaan...

SNBA: And that is my call I guess with the executive department kasi pag nakita natin yung policy nila, parang isa sila sa mga nagdadagdag sa unemployment. Yung policy towards ABS-CBN, yung policy towards our jeepney drivers, parang imbes na hindi na tayo makadagdag sa unemployment rate, parang nagkakaroon sila ng policy na sila mismo yung nagdadagdag sa kawalan ng trabaho. So, baka it is a policy that should also be reviewed by the president.

Pinky Webb: Senator Nancy Binay maraming salamat po sa inyong oras and take care.

SNBA: Thank you Pinky and stay safe.

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