Senate Pres. Tito Sotto Responds To Sen. Bato dela Rosa’s Statement
TITO SOTTO – The Senate President cried foul over the ‘noontime show’ remarks of Minority Senator Bato dela Rosa.
The Senate did a revamp amid the flood control mess in the Philippines. The shakeup came after some senators were linked to the anomalous flood control projects in the country and the then sitting Senate President admitted receiving a multi-million campaign donation from one of the contractors flagged by Pres. Bongbong Marcos.
Then-Senate Pres. Chiz Escudero admitted to receiving P30-million campaign donation in 2022 from one of the contractors flagged by Marcos Jr. The contractor claimed that his donation was his personal money and did not come from the construction firm cited by the President.
Escudero is replaced by then-Senate Minority Leader Tito Sotto in the Senate presidency. The Majority bloc is composed of 15 senators while the Minority bloc got 9 members under the lead of Sotto.
Senate President Pro Tempore Jinggoy Estrada is replaced with Sen. Ping Lacson after former Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) engineer Brice Hernandez accused Estrada and Sen. Joel Villanueva of allegedly receiving kickbacks from the flood control projects. Both senators denied the claim of Hernandez.
During a flood probe in the House of Representatives, Hernandez asked the congressmen not to allow his return to the Senate as he fears for his safety. The dismissed DPWH Engineer was brought to Pasay City Jail but was recently transferred back to the Senate.
However, the issue over the detention of Hernandez has elicited different sides among the senators. Sen. Bato dela Rosa hit back at Senate Pres. Tito Sotto’s statement that the concerns over Hernandez’s detention is allegedly a “gimmick” of the minority bloc.
Sen. Bato dela Rosa told Senate Pres. Tito Sotto during a plenary session that the Senate is not a noontime TV show. He also stressed that they are raising legitimate issues in the chamber.
The statement of Sen. Bato dela Rosa also did not sit well with Senate Pres. Tito Sotto. Based on a report on ABS-CBN News, while the huddle was generally uneventful and calm, the Senate President could be heard crying foul over Dela Rosa’s remarks.
Senate Pres. Tito Sotto stressed that the reference towards a noontime show is hurtful towards him. Based on the report, the Senate Chief who is a long-time host of the noontime show Eat Bulaga also emphasized that the TV show has helped more Filipinos.
“Masakit din ang sinasabi niyo. Bakit binabanggit mo ‘its no noontime show,’ di pareho ng Senado ‘yan eh. Alam mo di ko na lang pinatulan dahil ano eh ‘wag gano’n. Ang totoo noon mas maraming natulungan ang noontime show eh,” the Senate President was overheard saying.
After the suspension of the session, the Senate decided to sustain the move to transfer the custody of Hernandez to the chamber. Senate Majority Floor Leader Migz Zubiri stressed that they just need “better coordination”.
Amid the accusations against them, senators Jinggoy Estrada and Joel Villanueva claimed that they are willing to open their bank accounts.