‘Don’t always blame the President’—Sotto

SENATE President Vicente Sotto III reminded the public to not always blame Pres. Duterte each time a calamity hit the country as he sought for a comprehensive review of the country’s environmental laws, existing protocols and the roles of local government during a state of emergency.

“I have always made it clear that we now have to review the protocols and our laws on the environment, not only at the national but also, at the local levels,” Sotto said.

The Senate leader was reacting to the proposal for the Senate to conduct an inquiry over the massive flooding that hit Metro Manila, Region 2 and other parts of the country after successive typhoons hit the country two weeks ago.

“Our people,” Sotto stressed, “should realize that the first line of defense (during emergencies) are the village officials, the mayor and the governor. They should be the ones to be the first to make the necessary preparation.”

“It should not be that when help has not yet arrived, you would immediately blame the national government, the President.

“Asan yung mayor mo? Asan yung governor mo, di ba?”

“’Yun ang sinasabi sa bureaucracy.

“Huwag mo munang sisisihin ang Presidente, dahil ibig sabihin noon, hindi mo alam ang bureaucracy ng gobyerno.

Should the inquiry push thru, Sotto said that rather on delving on who should be blamed for the widespread flood, the hearing should also focus on the “inventory” of environmental laws, especially those that needs to be updated, strengthened and made more relevant to the present situation.

“Madali kasi magbintang, madaling manisi. Pero ang tanong doon, tama ba yung binibintang natin,” he asked.

In the case of the flooding that his Cagayan Valley, Sotto noted that the province’s upland areas were nearly stripped of trees and vegetation that environmentalists said was behind the perennial flooding.

In the same interview held last November 21, 2020, Sotto said they envisioned to pass the P4.5 trillion national budget for 2021 by December 8, at the latest.

The NEB (national expenditure bill) shall then be forwarded to Pres. Duterte for his signature.

Sotto said the only glitch in the process is should there be a major disagreement among the lawmakers during the bicameral conference committee meetings.

The “bicam” is where both chambers of Congress resolved the differences in their respective proposals on any particular piece of legislation.