Transcript of CNN The Source Interview with Senator Risa Hontiveros by Ria Tanjuatco-Trillo
September 19, 2023
Transcript of CNN The Source Interview with Senator Risa Hontiveros by Ria Tanjuatco-Trillo
September 19, 2023
Q: The foreign affairs department, they're expressing serious concern over reports of massive coral destruction in Rozul Reef in the West Philippine Sea. We just like to get your reaction upon the discovery of this destructive activity.
Senator Risa Hontiveros (SRH): Well, again I'd like to thank the Armed Forces of the Philippines for alerting all of us citizens and government about this latest abuse by China of our West Philippine Sea and our exclusive economic zone.
Hindi rin ito unang pagkakataon, Ria. You will recall that there was a time that I actually made a call for China to pay us a certain amount in damages because one of their vessels in the West Philippine Sea had crashed into a reef ecosystem. And there's really a way of computing the monetary value of such damaged or destroyed ecosystems. Eh nakaka-shock, ano, itong nakikita nating video courtesy as you say of the Philippine Coast Guard, na ubos yung marine life diyan, the reef system itself and apparently the other marine species that make their home diyan sa ating bahura.
So place this on top of the recent incidents in the past several years of water cannoning our Philippine Coast Guard, of unveiling a naval gun on one of their ships facing a Philippine Coast Guard vessel on its way to Ayungin Shoal, that was in 2022. And then just this year, another incident of water cannoning and training their military grade laser against Philippine Coast Guard vessels, temporarily blinding our personnel. At itong huli, kayo mismong media people, yung mga colleagues niyo sa media, nakasaksi with their own eyes, yung pagahaharang ng Chinese maritime militia at coast guard nile being watched by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, pagharang sa resupply mission ng ating Philippine Navy at Coast Guard sa Philippine Marines stationed sa BRP Sierra Madre at Ayungin Shoal. So tuloy-tuloy na pang-aabuso na ginagawa ng Tsina sa Pilipinas. And this environmental damage is just the latest. 'Wag nating kalimutan, China has dredged up our seabed to put up their artificial islands.
Q: Senator, speaking of environmental damage po, you mentioned earlier that there's a way to actually compute how much this damage, you know, has caused the Philippines. How much has all these different incidents of damaging the natural resources in the area cost the Philippines so far?
SRH: We'll have to sum that up. But I'll return to my notes about how much yung pagsingil natin sa Tsina or one of their vessels crashing into reefs. Similarly, in an earlier year, mayroon din tayong pagsingil sa United States dahil isa sa mga vessels niya ay bumangga sa reefs, mismong sa Tubbataha Reef.
There's a pending bill now here at the Senate, the PENCAS bill sponsored by Senator Loren that will put into law the equation that is used by marine scientific institutes around the world published, I remember at least one French marine scientific journal. Mayroon talagang paraan na isuma yan. So on top of what China owes the BIR, for example in taxes on the POGOs -- and that's just on land -- dito naman sa karagatan ay medyo humahaba ng listahan ng utang ng Tsina sa atin in terms of damaging or destroying or illegally harvesting, for example, giant clams in other parts of the West Philippine Sea ang pagkakautang ng Tsina sa atin.
Q: Now, senator, the Philippine Coast Guard and the Armed Forces are not directly accusing China of this massive coral harvesting. But they noted that this is the area where the Chinese militia vessels were spotted. You've said that the time may be ripe for an investigation. What type of investigation would that be and when might that take place?
SRH: Well, as soon as the committee to which a resolution might be referred will schedule such a hearing. Again, that will be just the latest of the investigations na kinailangan namin sa Senado na gawin kaugnay ng mga aksyon ng Tsina laban sa atin sa sarili nating exclusive economic zone at yun na nga, sa West Philippine Sea.
We will recall, I recently delivered a privilege speech on that incident of the Chinese marine vessels playing cat-and-mouse or playing chicken with our vessels in the West Philippine Sea during a recent resupply and even rotation missions at Ayungin Shoal for the BRP Sierra Madre. Talagang nakatawag ito ng pansin ng hindi lang ng Senado, ng buong bansa. It's a greatly unifying issue among all Filipinos. At nagbunsod yan ng panawagan na i-reinforce natin ang BRP Sierra Madre sa Ayungin Shoal to make it a more humanely habitable structure for the Philippine Navy Marines personnel there. Para maging mas secure din siyang lugar para sa ating mangingisda who have also bore the brunt of Chinese harassment over the past several years.
So tayong mga Pilipino, in the face of these incidents of harassments and threats and actual dangerous maneuvers at sea, hindi tayo umaatras. Lalo tayong nagkakaisa. Ang not only among ourselves, not only among us Filipinos, but a growing number of neighbors with the ASEAN and even beyond among other naval powers -- EU member countries, dumadami sa joint exercises natin.
Q: It's not just an issue of national security, senator. It's also an issue of food security because you had maritime expert Jay Batongbacal warning that if this coral harvesting isn't stopped, you know, if it's not prevented, it could lead to the collapse of the country's fishing sector and threaten our food security. I think he said it was 27% to 30% of our fish catch comes from this general area. Your thoughts on that?
SRH: Professor Jay is exactly right. As much as one-third of our fish catch, napakahalagang source ng iodine sa ating bansa comes from this very area. And this very area is part of the Sulu Sulawesi Triangle, the center of the center of marine biodiversity in the world. Yung mga mangingisda natin na inaagawan ng hanapbuhay ng mga Tsino, they are among the first lagi na nagsusumbong sa ating Philippine Coast Guard, Philippine Navy, yung Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources dahil nakikita nila kung paanong di makatarungang inaani ng Tsina ang mga likas na yaman nating mga Pilipino.
In addition to our food security, our energy security is also threatened by these aggressive actions of China. Dahil kung saan sila nagsa-swarm, kung saan nasaksihan ng Philippine Navy at Philippine Coast Guard yung ganitong environmental destruction - na probably ang Tsina din ang gumawa dahil diyan sila nagsa-swarm - diyan din yung malalaking deposits, ng oil and natural gas na dapat ang Pilipinas ang may ekslusibo o pangunahing karapatang pakinabangan yun. So there's really a lot at stake in these sovereign markers, as I'd like to call the BRP Sierra Madre, and such parts of the West Philippine Sea. It is a matter not of national pride but of survival.
Q: Senator, what else can we do in the short term? What else can we do in the short term aside from the diplomatic protest and aside from conducting a probe, what can be done to stem these activities?
SRH: The diplomatic protests remain an important part of our diplomatic and political arsenal to project and defend our national interests. Yung aming mga imbestigasyon sa Senado at yung recent na unanimously adopted Senate resolution expressing the sense of the Senate strongly condemning such actions of China in our territory and calling on government to take on even more and varied diplomatic and political actions at the UN General Assembly and in any and all international fora. Napakahalaga din noon.
In addition to that, I think joint naval exercises are already shaping up more and more between the Philippines and bilaterally, a growing longer list of countries na kumakampi sa atin sa ating arbitral ruling, sa Hague, kumakampi sa atin para sa freedom of navigation at rule of law at sea, sangayon doon sa inuutos ng UNCLOS. So we are harvesting not just more of our marine and energy resources in this area, but we are harvesting a wider and wider coalition. We always say a bigger coalition is a better coalition. Hindi tayo nata-trap sa pagpili ng isang bansa lang o sa kabilang bansa. Hindi. We are at the center of a growing coalition of countries who want a rule-based solution and a peaceful and diplomatic solution sa mga tensyon dito sa ating karagatan.
Q: A petition was filed before the Supreme Court to declare the Maharlika Investment Fund Act as unconstitutional. But already, the Land Bank has remitted P50 billion, while the DBP remitted P25 billion as their contribution to the Maharlika fund. Dapat ba maghinay-hinay muna tayo on touching these funds pending the SC decision?
SRH: Dapat talaga. Dapat naghinay-hinay sa pagpasa nung batas na iyan at lalo ngayon dapat maghinay-hinay sa paglipat ng ganyang kalalaking pondo from government banks, from government financial institutions that have different mandates from this new creation of the Maharlika. Yung Land Bank nga, hindi pa nga resolved yung mga natitirang isyu organizationally and financially from its prior merger with Cocobank, ito na naman naglipat na ng napakalaking pondo sa Maharlika.
The same goes for the Development Bank of the Philippines. Kung yung Land Bank ay ang mandate niya ay para sa mga magsasaka at iba pang rural sector para sa rural development, eh yung DBP ang mandate din niya ay mga national development programs tulad halimbawa ng infrastructure. And these two long standing banks ay mga safeguards para sa pondo ng kanilang mga depositors, ng kanilang mga stakeholders.
Ibang-iba itong sa Maharlika, which was first designed as a sovereign wealth fund despite the fact na wala naman tayong necessary requirements para magtayo ng sovereign wealth fund. Sa huli, ginawa na lang nilang investment fund. But still, kulang at mahihina pa ang safeguards laban sa graft and corruption o laban sa plunder. Hindi pa nga nila nabubo at nare-recruit ang kanilang senior staff, eh ito na, nagtransfer na ng malalaking pondo.
Q: Following your colorful exchanges with Vice President Sara Duterte, do you still stand firm that her office should explain the P125 million confidential funds it spent in December 2022?
SRH: Indeed, her office should explain, because it is about her office. It's about the accountability of her office, not just to Congress, but most of all to the people. It's not about her alone, the way she is behaving. Dapat talagang ipaliwanag, paano nailipat yang P125 million na iyan from the Office of the President papunta sa OVP, at saan-saan ginastos.
Kasi kahit yung 2015 memorandum circular that she herself cited in the Senate budget hearings, kahit ayon doon there is only a specific limited menu of items on which such confidential funds could have been spent, and could be spent moving forward kasi mas malaki pa ang hinihingi niya ngayon, P500 million for OVP and P125 million for the DepEd.
Ang sa akin, intelligence is such a specialized, even niche, profession na dapat iwan natin sa mga eksperto. So moving forward, in the budget debates, hindi ko talaga bibitawan ito. And I am counting of course, primarily on my Senate Minority Leader, Sen. Koko, but also a slowly growing number of colleagues in the majority na bigyang daan muli yung gagawin naming mga proposed amendments - to move the confidential funds of these civilian agencies na wala namang totoong intelligence mandate or national security mandate, and to move some of these sa line item budgets ng kanilang mga opisina o department, and to move the major part of these confidential funds doon sa mga totoong intelligence agencies, national security agencies.
Tulad ng Coast Guard, na my gosh, P10 million pa rin lang a year ang intelligence fund, in spite of what we just discussed, the clear and present danger they are facing in the West Philippine Sea. Ilipat yung mga confidential fund ng mga civilian agencies tulad ng OVP, sa Department of National Defense. Can you believe na yung confidential funds na hinihingi ng OVP ay mas malaki pa sa confidential funds ng DND? Oh ilipat yung ganyang confidential fund sa intel funds ng NSC or ng NICA, 'yong mga may totoong pangunahing trabaho na mag generate ng intel para sa buong gobyerno natin.
Q: On the part of Marikina Representative Stella Quimbo, she's saying that fund transfer is perfectly legal, saying that the transfer is consistent with the chapter of the contingent fund and OVPM budget under the National Expenditure Program. What is your reaction to that?
SRH: Unfortunately, dyan nagkakabuhol-buhol yung mga paliwanag nila. Noong una, sinabi na confidential funds ito, nilipat mula sa OP papunta sa OVP. When we cried foul dahil wala namang dineklarang savings para dito ang OP at wala namang iau-augment na line item budget sa OVP, they tried to say na yung category ng line item budget na iyon ang "line item budget." But it is not so. Iba ang kategorya o titulo ng isang section sa line item budget sa section na iyan. At doon sa line item budget ng confidential funds ng OVP for that year 2022, ang amount ay zero. Sa budgeting process hindi ka pwede mag-augment ng isang zero line item budget.
So nag-iba yung tono nila, galing daw sa contingent funds ng Office of the President. Pero kahit sa contingent funds, iinit ang mata ng Kongreso diyan and we will really be pushing for more stringent transparency and accountability mechanisms over the contingent fund. Kasi you cannot play fast and free sa mga budgeting rules or budgeting laws, lalo na ang perang iyan ay ina-appropriate ng gobyerno at higit diyan ang perang iyan lahat ay galing sa buwis na binabayad ng mamamayan.
So ano ba talaga kuya at ate? Iyan ba ay confidential funds na tinaransfer mula savings to augment o iyan ba ay contingent funds na nirelease? Even their technical terms have to be specific, at kaya paiba iba din yung technical terms na ginagamit nila sa nangyari. Kung straightforward 'yan at kung aboveboard 'yang nangyaring iyan, the explanation should have been straightforward, easy and simple. Hindi yung parang ganitong namamaluktot sila para sa balu-baluktot na paliwanag.
Q: I do want to ask you about the Socorro cult, you filed a resolution to investigate the cult in Surigao del Norte. What is the most urgent concern? kasi mala-pelikula ang pinagdadaanan ng community dyan. Tell us also paano nakarating sa inyo ang sitwasyon na ito?
SRH: Well actually simpleng nagreach out sa office ko ang mayor ng Socorro, Surigao del Norte si Mayor Riza Timcang, she had formed a task force together with her municipal DSWD to do the most urgent thing, simply to rescue these kids.
Walo sa kanila ang nakatakas doon sa kanilang sitwasyon na they were being forced to marry, these are minors, they were being forced to marry adults, nirerape kinukulong sa mga kwarto, together with their adults in the community on kapihan mountain, they were being forced to render forced labor under pain of physical punishment. Itong walong batang nakatakas, kinasuhan ng habeas corpus ng mga magulang nila na nasa kamay pa ng kultong ito. and one of the kids has already been recovered.
So yung pito, these are ongoing habeas corpus cases, yung pito talagang three of them gave their testimony on video, pinakita ko sa privilege speech ko kahapon. They are calling on their kababata who are still with the cult to also escape dahil wala na raw silang kinabukasan doon. Hindi na sila makapag-aral and they are also begging us, the public, to rescue them. 'Yun ang pinaka- kung isa lang ang magagawa natin - iyan iyon, iligtas ang mga bata.
Q: Senator, how many kids are there that still need to be rescued?
SRH: There are more than a thousand children still in the hands of this Socorro Bayanihan Services Inc., a cult on Kapihan mountain in Socorro, Surigao del Norte, out of a community of 3,000 people na pinasunod nitong si Jey Rence who styles himself as the reincarnation of the Messiah, Jesus, Sto Nino, he calls himself Senyor Aguila.
So more than 3,000 people, of that number, more than a thousand children, lahat hindi pinapayagang mag-aral, at sina-subject sa ganitong pag-aabuso which are in violation of our Expanded Anti-Trafficking in Person Act, in violation of our Anti- Child Marriage Law, in violation of our Raising the Age of Consent Law. So terrible, these are continuing crimes at kailangan nating iligtas ang mga bata sa ganitong kapahamakan.
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