Sen. Bam on Cha-Cha, SONA, inflation and other national issues
(Transcript of ANC interview)

Q: This is what they expect this afternoon. The President will push for Charter change and endorse the consultative committee's draft federal constitution. Let's talk about the fate or the possible fate of that proposal in the Senate?

Sen. Bam: Unang-una, nagkaroon na rin ng consensus ang mga senador na we will not go for a no-el scenario. I think the term that we're using is go-el, go-elections kami in 2019. Simple lang naman, kapag willing kaming i-postpone ang elections, na isang haligi ng ating demokrasya. Pag binuwag iyon, baka gumuho na ang buong bayan natin. We want to make sure that the elections will push through. This is again a very important part of our democracy so hindi kami sasang-ayon sa isang no-el scenario, which means basically na hindi kami papayag na mamadaliin ang proseso. I think ito napakahalaga, if you look at the surveys, marami sa mga kababayan natin hindi naman talaga, in their own assessment, ang nilalaman nitong posibleng mga pagbabago. Kailangan natin itong bigyan ng tamang oras, ng tamang pagpapahalaga at ang pagmamadali nito at pag-cancel ng election, isa yang paraan na tinatanggal ang pagpapahalaga sa isang Charter.

Q: There's also this concern raised by certain sectors that the House leaders might use the joint session of Congress this afternoon as an opportunity to call for con-ass...

Sen. Bam: Unang-una, the resolution that they will pass this morning at 10 a.m. is a resolution to listen to the President for the SONA. If ever may isisingit na agenda, it will happen at 10 a.m. in our respective Houses. Hindi rin yan mangyayari nang basta-basta. I think the Senate leadership has already spoken na walang mangyayaring ganyang klaseng pagmamadali. I think if that happens, the Senate will simply walk out. We won't allow it to happen and that will happen cross party. Napag-usapan din namin iyan in the past. If ever the Charter change will have any chance in the Senate, it would go through the proper process. Meron committee hearings, magkaroon ng committee hearing ulit sa Wednesday and this is scheduled by Sen. Pangilinan. Magkakaroon ng botohan kung matutuloy na ang Cha-cha o hindi. We will be able to make a stand on whatever side you are. Pagkatapos iyon, mag-decide ba o con-con o con-ass. One thing we've agreed on, kailangang matuloy ang eleksiyon, hindi ito puwedeng madaliin. At the end of the day, hindi kami magpapa-pressure kaninuman. We will do jobs and really make sure na ang proseso maayos.

Q: What impact do you think the President's endorsement this afternoon will (inaudible) senators?

Sen. Bam: It will have an impact definitely, especially kung magtatawag sila talaga. In a previous caucus we have, cross party, we decided to make a stand on certain issues, especially on voting jointly. In the Constitution, nakalagay doon Congress, but what they refer to according to experts is both Houses. In the previous hearing that we had last Tuesday, kahit iyong framers ng con-com, sina Chief Justice Puno, nagsabi na iyong opinyon nila, pag sinabing Kongreso, both Houses acting separately, hindi jointly.

Q: So far, what sense are you getting as far as your colleagues is concerned, are they against federalism shift per se or Charter change per se?

Sen. Bam: Right now, the question is a more basic one. Dapat bang ibukas ito o hindi?

Q: Do we need Charter change?

Sen. Bam: Do we need it at all? In fact, Nabanggit ko na rin ito publicly na ang gusto kong marinig mamaya at palagay ko na gusto ring marinig ng taumbayan mamaya, mas economic talaga ang hinahanap ng taumbayan. Paano natin maiibsan iyong pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin. Inflation has gone up again, and this is a DOF forecast. It will go up by 5.3 again this July, from 5.2. Previously, ang pangako niyan nang pinasa ang TRAIN Law, hindi iyan lalampas ng 3.9. Malayong malayo na tayo from the promise of not breaching four percent. We're already at 5.3 percent. At ito ang concerns ng taumbayan, ito ang pangunahing issue ng taumbayan ngayon. Iyong kanyang kakayahan na tustusan ang pangangailangan ng kanilang pamilya, iyong pagkain, iyong bigas. Ito ang concerns ng tao. Sana ito ang marinig natin mamaya sa SONA.

Q: What specifically do you want to hear from the President in terms of addressing these very basic concerns?

Sen. Bam: Simpleng-simple lang, rollback, suspend the TRAIN. Specifically, and we talked about this before, iyong panukala natin na pag-suspend at pag-rollback ng mga buwis sa petroleum products as we've identified that this is a lever which, kumbaga, natulak nito ang presyo pataas. Isa itong malinaw na direksiyon na ibigay ng Presidente na itong TRAIN Law, na nagdagdag sa presyo ng bilihin sa ating bansa, panahon nang i-suspend at i-rollback. Iyong panukala natin ay based on inflation, meaning kapag bumaba ang inflation, puwede itong ibalik ulit. But now that our inflation is continously going up and prices are continously going up, hindi ba panahon nang i-reassess natin itong ginawa ng administrasyon noong Enero.

Q: Knowing the President and the people around him, do you think he could make an honest assessment in his SONA under his watch?

Sen. Bam: Depende na iyan kung talagang nakaugat siya sa pangangailangan ng tao. If they're able to really capture the pulse of the people, makikita niya na ito ang pangunahing isyu ng taumbayan. Come January, in five months, we will have another increase because of the TRAIN Law. People forget, o hindi nila alam, na ang TRAIN Law tatlong tranches iyan, iyong pagtaas sa ating petroleum products. January 2018, January 2019, January 2020. Papayag pa ba tayo na tataas ulit iyan sa January 2019 considering nalulunod na ang mga tao sa presyo ng bilihin. I'm there at the SONA later to listen to the President's assessment of the previous year, to propose solutions to these problems. Pero like many Filipinos, ang pangunahing hinihintay natin diyan, ang mai-address itong pagtaas ng presyo ng bilihin.

Q: Not Charter change?

Sen. Bam: Iyong Charter change, kung titingnan mo ang list of issues ng mga tao, wala man ata siya sa top five, o top 10 pa nga siguro.

This is the issue that I raised also in our hearing last Tuesday. Iyong objectives ng con-com, the constitutional committee of Chief Justice Puno, their objectives are all economic. They're talking about equality, social justice, support for the poor, why are some areas in the country so poor. Puro ganyan ang objectives nila pero karamihan ng solutions nila, political ang gustong baguhin.

So ang tanong ko nga noong Tuesday, masisigurado ba natin na kapag binago-bago mo ang terms, pag binago-bago mo ang coverage ng isang pinuno o ng isang elected official, na magdudulot iyan ng economic benefit. Parang hindi lumalanding iyong solusyon doon sa problema. I agree with them, a lot of the objectives that we raised why they want to change the Charter, magaganda naman at tama naman ang hangarin, pero itong solusyon na binibigay nila, I would say, the majority of the changes in the Charter are all political. Baka nga up to 80 percent of changes, tungkol sa political structure natin, hindi sa economic structures.

Q: To be fair, there are also a lot of provisions that would allow Congress to relax the foreign equity restrictions in the present Constitution....

Sen. Bam: Yes, but again, if you leave it to Congress, parang wala ka ring na-achieve. Some businessmen were talking to me na baka kulang pa nga ang economic provisions or changes in that draft. The draft will undergo a lot of debate, undergo of changes. For example, iyong anti-dynasty provision doon sa con-com provision, mayroon ngang anti-political dynasty, di maganda, e ano naman ang ginawa nila. May anti-political dynasty nga pero may exemption sa presidente at vice president. It's an anti-political dynasty provision for everybody except the president and the vice president.

Q: I think the proposal is one candidate per family for local and national.

Sen. Bam: Yes, but their definition of national is the president and the vice president because the senators are now regional. Kumbaga, lahat bawal pero ang presidente may free pass siya. Tinanong ko pa si professor Teehankee kung bakit kayo nagbigay ng puwang sa presidente at vice president, dapat nilahat niyo na lang. He said something like, I wanted a blanked anti-political dynasty provision pero maraming i guess nag-lobby o na-out-vote siya and in the end, iyong naibigay na provision, medyo hilaw.

Q: This is just a proposal by the con-com, although this is the president's draft.

Sen. Bam: Exactly. Ibig kong sabihin niyan, ang draft ng presidente, naka-exempt ang presidente. Which again just goes to the point, kailangang pag-usapan pa ito, pagdebatehan pa ito, kailangang i-improve ang ibang provision, kailangang i-retain ang ibang probisyon at kailangang baguhin ang ibang probisyon. This needs the proper time. Hindi ito puwedeng i-railroad. Kung mayroon mang moves, and I doubt it, but kung mayroon mang moves na ipasa iyan in one week, ipasa iyan in two weeks, we're doing a disservice to the Filipino people. Binabastos mo na ang taumbayan kung iyan ang gagawin mo. Kailangan nating pagdaanan ang tamang proseso.

Q: Looking at the big picture, how would you assess the past year of President Duterte?

Sen. Bam: For the past 6 months, since the Train Law was passed, we've really been focusing on paano natin maiibsan yung inflation. Kung tutuusin, 5.2-5.3 na yung inflation this year. Last year we had 2.6 inflation. Ibig sabihin niyan, unprecedented increase in the past year of our inflation.

Q. But they say that the impact of Train Law when it comes to inflation was not that high as people claim.

Sen. Bam: It's definitely an impact. Di nila pwedeng sabihin na hindi. Pero mas mataas pa rin yung impact ng peso-dollar exchange rate. As I've said before, yung exchange rate natin sa peso at dolyar, yung pagtaas ng krudo sa mundo, wala tayong magagawa dyan. These are things which are happening to us. Pero yung Train Law, yung gobyerno mismo yung tumulak niyan. So we act on the things that we can act on. The things that we cannot act on, yung mga di natin magagawan ng paraan, maghanap tayo ng solusyon upang maibsan yan. Clearly the Train Law, has an impact to our inflation. Bakit natin pinapataas ang isang bagay na patuloy na tumataas? Kailangan natin itong bawiin upang mareverse natin yung trend na pataas na ng pataas. It's a very simple logic there. In a years time, dumoble ang inflation natin - ito ramdam na ramdam ng mga tao. They feel this. Ang comparison nila, "o nung panahon ng martial law, napakamura ng coca-cola." e hindi ganun e. Ang reference nila is last year. Alam yun ng gobyerno na ang baba ng presyo ng XYZ. Ito yung pang araw-araw na concern ng taong bayan. Ang binabanggit ng gobyerno: "E wag sila mag-alala, meron namang programa dyan. Merong solution mitigating measures dyan." But if you look at the implementation, when they passed the law in January, they admitted na di naman nila kaya itong iimplement kaagad. That's why some of us voted "no" on this law. Dahil di naman talagang kaya patuparin itong mga programang ito. And now, hinahabol nila na nung una gagawin nila March, tapos umusog ng June, July, ngayon September na yang tinatrget nila. When we had a hearing a few months ago, ang binganggit ng DSWD, yung September roll-out ng tulong sa mga mahihirap, optimistic pa yun. So hindi pa yun realistic. Baka umabot pa ng isang taon yan bago mabigay ang tulong sa mahihirap nating mga kababayan.

Q. To be fair, what about the achievements that were accomplished by this administration over the past year? Because there are a lot of significant pieces of legislation that were signed into law by the President. To be fair to the present, you have the BBL - The Bangsamoro Organic Law that is set to be signed today. Of course the Train Law, that is debatable from the perspective of the opposition, The Ease of Doing Business Act, and of course your bill that is Universal Access to Quality Tertiary Education.

Sen. Bam: Let me talk about the BBL, The Ease of Doing Business, and Free Tuition. Lahat ng mga panukalang yan, yung mga panukala na nagkaisa yung senado. Nagkaisa ang administrasyon at opposition, nagkaisa ang majority at minority. Senator Migz led the Ease of Doing Business Bill, and we all supported him there because it's a good law. Yung Universal Access to Tertiary Education, colleagues supported me there when we pushed for it and I was the Principal Sponsor of that Law. And sa BBL, again, cross-party yung support. So you can see that a lot of the legislation na napasa na talagang magaganda, ito yung mga nagkaisa kami. And I've always said na kapag nagkakaisa yung senado sa isang bagay, usually maganda yung dulot nito. Kapag yung administrasyon nagsasarili at tinutulak yung kanilang sariling agenda, na hindi nakikinig sa alternative voices, dun nagkakaroon ng problema. There are a number of achievements like the Universal Acess to Quality Tertiary Education Act. The issue there is really making sure the implementation is done properly. Kasi may mga nariirnig kaming mga ekwelahan na nagchacharge pa rin sa mga estudyante. Clearly, in the law, dapat wala na pong kinukuhang pera sa ating mga estudyante.

Q: So it's a problem of implementation.

Sen. Bam: Yes

Q. How about the other aspects, for example, they say the crime rate is down because of the president's strong stand against criminality. The other expect of governance, in this case, peace and order.

Sen. Bam: Ang tanong kasi dyan, e pag tinanong mo ang taong bayan: "Do you feel safer now?" I guess some will say yes but some will also say no. Nung pumunta kami sa Quezon City, sa Novaliches nung binisita ko yung burol ni Genesis Argoncillo, yung mga kapitbahay nya dun, do not feel safe at all. Sabi nila natatakot na silang lumabas sa gabi kasi baka pick-upin sila ng pulis. Again, you cannot just say na blanket "we are safer now" because there are a number of areas in the Philippines, especially here in Metro Manila na yung mga kabbayan natin, do not feel safe at all. Look at the murders that happened in the country, yung so-called 20,000 deaths. May pusyento dyan, police operations na about 3,000 and about 16,000 or more deaths are still under investigation na supposedly connected to the drug war done by vigilanties, done by masked individuals. Nareresolve ba yung mga murders na yan? Yung 16,000 deaths na ginawa ng mga masked vigilanties na binabalutan yung mga mukha ng mga kababayan natin ng duck tape, masking tape, packaging tape, may mga placard . Until now, after 2 years, death under investigation pa rin yan. So kapag ganun na karami yung mga namamatay sa ating bansa, paano mo masasabi na mas peaceful and orderly tayo ngayon? Q: Would you like the president to cease something very concrete Do you want to conduct an investigation?

Sen. Bam: Matagal na namin sinasabi yan, even the first year. yung pag resolve sa mga patay, kailangan gawin upang mabigyang saysay itong

Q: President's long-time aide Bong Go, issued a challenge to critics, I think that includes you, critics in general. I think the exact words were "ano ba ang nagawa niyo, ano ba ang naitulong niyo sa kapwa Pilipino. Sagutin niyo naman po. Puro lang kayo dada". How do you respond to that?

Sen. Bam: I don't think he was referring to anyone in particular. I guess iyon talaga rason kung bakit magkaka-eleksiyon. Magkaalaman na. Ano ba talaga iyong ginawa mo para sa bayan. Ano ba ang track record mo. Ano ba ang plano mo para sa tao. I'm hoping that the 2019 elections, hindi lang ito popularity contest, o paramihan ng tarpaulin o paramihan ng giveaway. Sana isa itong eleksiyon kung saan kailangan mo talagang i-assess iyong bawat kandidato, ano ba ang naibigay nito sa taumbayan, ano ba ang pinaglalaban niya, ano ba iyong tahimik siya. Maybe if we have an elections na ganun ang focus natin, baka makapili pa tayo ng mga tao na talagang makatutulong sa bayan.