Transcript of Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago's Interview

9 September 2009

On her letter to the Ombudsman regarding the infomercials of cabinet officials 

Nang natapos namin ang aming public hearing tungkol sa mga infomercials ng mga cabinet member na ang gamit pala nila ay pondo ng gobyerno, kaagad nagbigay ako ng kopya ng aking committee report sa Ombudsman. Sumagot naman siya agad na iimbestigahan niya. That is what we call a preliminary investigation. You’ll remember that I gave the cabinet members until the end of August to pull out their commercials in case the contract has already covered that period. 

Pero September na ngayon, at meron pa ring naiiwan according to my staff. Meron pang apat pa (VP Noli de Castro, Sec.. Ronaldo Puno, Pagcor Chair Efraim Genuino, MMDA Chair Bayani Fernando). Yung iba, pinull-out na nila. Kaya ginampanan ko ang sinabi kong gagawin. Pinapaalala ko lang sa Ombudsman na kung maari magfile na ng kaso sa Sandiganbayan. Itong mga ito, dahil ang kasong kriminal diyan ay malversation of public funds, hindi nila ginamit ng maayos ang pera ng gobyerno, o inaamin na nila sa pamamagitan ng linya sa kanilang infomercials na “Paid for by friends of _____”. Kung paid for nga ba talaga ng kanilang friends, ibig sabihin tumanggap sila ng napakalaking pera sa kanilang mga kaibigan, at iyan ay bawal ayon sa Anti-Graft Act. Kung hindi man friends nila ang nagbayad kundi sila mismo at pinalitaw lamang nila na friends nila ang nagbayad, iyon ay kasalanan pa rin sa batas dahil ibig sabihin meron siyang unexplained wealth. Kaya kahit anong sabihin nila, wala silang depensa. Kaya tayo nagbigay ng palugit, baka hindi lang nila nalalaman. Huwag naman sana sila magmatigas nang ganoon dahil nakakahiya sa presidente at maiisip ng publiko na ang ating presidente ay sumasangayon sa mga cabinet members na ito. Hindi sila nagdudulot ng karangalan sa ating presidente kundi nagbibigay pa ng perwisyo.

On its implication of FVR’s group leaving the administration coalition

Naturally it makes the coalition of the administration weaker. To what extent it is weakened is the question. It is not really a question of parting from the administration coalition because all the time those two people have been working against the administration—they have said so in public. So it was completely expected, something that you can foresee. The question there is how weak the administration coalition now be because of the separation of these two. I can say that it has virtually zero effect on the full strength of the administration because the allies of the administration depend on the administration to put the force of its moral authority and the equity of its incumbency to help them during the campaign. During a campaign, it is not the personalities who are involved to determine where the candidate will affiliate himself, it is how much resources and how much more votes the party or coalition will be able to give to the candidate.

Laos na ba sina FVR?

Yes. In effect they are bargaining because they were bargaining and they have actually fulfilled their threat, but we shall see whether anyone will go with them or they are all alone crossing the sea and wandering around the desert. I think that that will happen. It will be biblical in proportion.

Is this a loss for President Arroyo?

Hindi naman, dahil noon pa they were taking potshots at her already. And when she caught them with their hands in the cookie jar, she gave their wrists a slap, and they pretend to be offended.. But the thing is, they were caught in the act. So I think that this is so much better because it clears the air.

On FVR supporting Sen. Aquino’s bid for the presidency

I don’t know if he has forgiven Tita Cory Aquino for marching in the streets against him when he tried to amend the Constitution so he could extend his stay in power. I was together with my ninang, Pres. Aquino, when she did that because I was also against charter change at that time, and I won the case in the Supreme Court which I myself argued. So I don’t know if he can get over that.

On Sen. Aquino’s decision to run as president

That is a foreseeable event. The question now is what will the surveys show. There are people willing to say hallelujahs every time there is a new leader in the horizon, hoping that they could get something out of it. The hallelujah chorus is always present in any presidential camp. But the issue will be how will Sen. Aquino fare in the next presidential elections. He has now confirmed that he is a presidentiable.. We shall now see, since the person he replaced placed only about number four in the recent surveys, whether he can exceed that number, and then we would see if it was right for Sen. Roxas to give way for Sen. Aquino. But if not, then the LP will be having a tough time in the presidential campaign.

On her advice to Sen. Noynoy Aquino 

Obviously everybody does know that surveys have already taken the place of party conventions. You’ll notice that political parties no longer hold conventions to determine who will be their candidate. People just go by survey. We tried to legislate or regulate these survey companies but we were unsuccessful here in the senate. 

On the word war between former President Estrada and Sen. Lacson, with Sen. Lacson to deliver a privilege speech next week

You can bet that Sen. Jinggoy Estrada will certainly rise also on a question of privilege maybe the next day so that he will have enough time to rebut all the points. But I don’t know whether all of these are related to our basic function of legislation.

MIRIAM WANTS MMDA BUDGET SLASHED; SUSPECTS MMDA FUNDS TO BE USED FOR FERNANDO’S CAMPAIGN

Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago today asked Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile to reduce the budget of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) by P13 million.

In a letter to Enrile, Santiago said she suspects that MMDA funds will be used to support MMDA chair Bayani Fernando’s announced presidential bid. She cited as evidence Fernando’s “giant posters” around and outside Metro Manila.

“Mr. Fernando is engaged in an unlawful premature campaign, and it is highly likely that he might use the funds of the MMDA,” Santiago said.

Santiago also said that Malacañang’s version of the MMDA budget for Maintenance, Operating and Other Expenses (MOOE) was only P1..539 billion, but the House version raised it to P1.552 billion.

“I am not convinced that there are valid reasons for the increase by the House. If the MOOE increase is really necessary, the Office of the President would have included it,” the feisty senator explained.

Santiago is unimpressed with the performance of the MMDA under Fernando’s helm.

“The MMDA is not easing traffic in Metro Manila. Instead, it is merely transferring chokepoints from one place to another. It is not beautifying Metro Manila. Instead, it is merely painting conspicuous roadside houses with the colors pink and blue, which are Mr. Bayani Fernando’s signature colors,” she said.

TRANSCRIPT OF SENATE MEDIA INTERVIEW WITH SEN. MIRIAM DEFENSOR SANTIAGO

26 November 2007

On the conflict of interest in the Transco sale

The crux here is that the president of the government agency which is in charge of selling the National Transmission Corporation (Transco), a billion-peso company, is suffering from a prohibited conflict of interest, in the sense that he is an officer of several corporations owned by one of the part owners of a bidder for the government agency. But we must put this charge in context. That is the reason why I, as chair of the Senate panel, and Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, as chair of the House panel, of the Joint Congressional Power Commission, which has the power of
control and supervision over the sale of these electric power assets of the government, are first
asking these government officials to explain if they have violated the law. There is a violation of law when the person who is supposed to sign or approve the contract is himself, or through a board, group, or a panel of the government, might have a financial, material, or pecuniary interest [in the contract]. In this case, the allegation is that the president of PSALM, a government agency, was a former member of the board of directors of several companies owned by Mr. Enrique Razon, who is part owner of a company which is one of the qualified bidders. So there is a defense on the part of Mr. Ibazeta if he can show that pursuant to law he divested himself of any interest in the Razon corporations, then there is no violation of law. The fact that he used to be an officer of any of those corporations does not make it illegal if after his appointment he resigned from the position or he sold his shares of stock within the period provided by law, 30 days for resignation and 60 days for divestment of interest.

Furthermore, we have to put it into context that the complaint is being filed by disgruntled bidders who did not make it in the cut. When there’s a public bidding, there is a prequalification process. You weed out those who are qualified and those who are not. And these two objectors, who belong to the failed bidders, are not exactly strangers to the power game in Manila. One is the brother of a congressman, Mr. Zamora. The other one, Mr. Ocampo, used to be a public official. Although there is no presumption of innocence in this case because the law expressly provides that there is a presumption of prohibited interest, the person is given a chance to prove that there is no such conflict because he either resigned or he divested himself. We have to wait for his reply in the name of fairness and justice before we make any serious charges. Senators Pimentel and Madrigal are expressing concern over the alleged conflict of interest. This is what has prompted the JCPC, of which I am co-chair, to require the written explanation from Mr. Ibazeta.

On the schedule of the JCPC hearing on the Transco sale

Now we are entering budget week. Under Senate rules, we cannot hold committee or any other hearing when Session is in order. Since we have sessions morning and afternoon, we are prohibited from holding public hearings this week. The budget hearings may even be extended next week. I have to go from December 1 to 7 to Europe as part of the delegation for the President’s state visit there. The earliest we can set the hearing [on the Transco sale] is on December 13. We shall then be anticipating the presence of two public officials who are now in the hot seat. The first one is Finance Secretary Teves, as chair of the privatization council which approved the sale of the Energy Development Corporation without notice to the JCPC. The Epira law provides that to privatize our government corporation in this particular case, we should sell the generating plants packaged to the steam sales agreement. That this methodology prescribed by the law. Now we hear that the privatization council has approved of the sale by a means other than that provided by law. We had asked Secretary Teves to make an urgent appearance and give an explanation. The second one is Mr. Ibazeta because of the charge of conflict of interest. There are two hot officials who will have to come to the Senate on December 13.

The bidding is on December 12. It will not necessarily be the declared a failure just because there might be conflict of interest on the part of the president of PSALM. Assuming for the sake of argument that that is the case, the bidding will not necessarily result to a failed bid. Remember that we in the JCPC are very anxious that this bidding procedure should now be concluded because in the past we spent a lot of time going over three bidding processes, all of which were declared failures, mostly for the reason that there was only one successful pre-qualified bidder. Pursuant to the philosophy of Epira, which is to sell all assets concerning the power industry to private owners, we want to sell at a good market price the Transco. But we want to make sure that the sale is pursuant to the Epira.

On Sen. Mar Roxas’ election as president of the Liberal Party

It is no secret that Sen. Roxas was elected president of the Liberal Party today in anticipation of his presidential candidacy as official standard-bearer of LP for 2010. By Wednesday, his major rival in the presidency as of the moment, Senate President Manny Villar, is also holding his own show of power, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Nacionalista Party, which is the oldest political party in our country, also in anticipation of his own presidential candidacy. For a while there it looks like a Villar-Roxas race. But now, former President Estrada tour within Metro Manila, where he is reportedly getting crowds of the masses, has prompted media titillation with his public entertainment of the possibility that he might run for president. Then it might become a three-cornered fight. In that case, all bets will be off. It will be three multibillionaires fighting each other and all the rest will have the capacity of ants in the presence of three elephants.

On Sen. Loren Legarda and Vice President Noli de Castro running for President in 2010

They are ants. (Laughter.) When the elephants sneeze, the ants will catch pneumonia. Because it is now a given that you cannot run for president unless you have at least P1 billion, and your chances increase in multiples of tens of billions. The surveys will not count for very much apart from the usual cynicism among the public about the accuracy of those surveys.

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