“I will not allow RH to be put aside”



Transcript of ambush interview with Sen. Pia S. Cayetano
Senate session hall

Q: Mam reaction po doon sa sinabi ni Senate President Enrile na isasantabi o ‘second priority’ muna ang RH bill (to give way to Sin Tax and Budget bills)…

SPSC: Bakit kaya ganun ano? Favorite bill na ‘isantabi’ ang RH bill ano? Tsaka honestly, we only need a few minutes because during the caucus before we went on break, ang alam kong mag-aamend si Senator Recto na lang at si Senator Senrile. Hindi naman mahaba yun eh. Yung pinakamabusisi na nga na amendment inabot lang kami ng mga 30 minutes, tapos isasantabi? Naku naman.

Tapos sinabi kahapon, ang session namin hanggang 8:00 pm. Eh alas singko pa lang naman ngayon kaya nga ako nandito. Ready naman ako eh, although hindi naman naka-schedule yan (RH bill) today. But I had it scheduled for next week, nagpasabi na ako sa office ng Majority Floor Leader para ma-schedule na yan.

Honestly, I’m a little bit disappointed with all the drama. Because bakit kailangan isantabi? Pwede naman i-take up? Masisipag naman kami. Hindi naman nagkukulang sa kasipagan ang mga kasamahan ko. Wala naman yata dito na pwedeng sabihin na ayaw magtrabaho. It’s just a matter of ‘kung ayaw, ayaw.’ Di ba?

So hindi pwedeng sabihin na may ibang mas importante kasi maraming panahon. Yung sin tax nga ngayon, ilang minutes lang na-takeup yun? Inabot ba ng isang oras? Wala. Ano’ng oras ngayon, alas singko, marami pang panahon. Huwag na tayong mag-drama na isantabi no. Ano yan eh, mga ‘pa-effect’ yan to give people the impression that the bill is no longer active; that it’s no longer pending. It [RH bill] is very active and I will not allow it to be put aside.

Q: So ano yun Mam? Hindi totoong walang oras for that dahil lang sa sin tax at budget?

SPSC: Not at all. Look at the time now, it’s 5:00 [pm]. O ano’ng oras ba nag-adjourn kahapon? Mga 7:00? So drama yun, hindi po totoo yun.

Note: This interview was conducted shortly after the adjournment of Wednesday’s session at around 5:00 pm. Sen. Cayetano went straight to the Senate from the airport after attending the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Conference on Gender and Politics at the House of Parliament in London where she delivered a speech.

Photo: Sen. Pia Cayetano being interviewed after the adjournment of Wednesday’s session at past five o’clock in the afternoon.
-- 
MINA TENORIO
mina@likhaan.org

Likhaan Center for Women's Health, Inc.
88 Times Street, West Triangle Homes,
Quezon City  1104 Philippines
Tel: (63 2) 926-6230
Fax: (63 2) 411-3151
Email: office@likhaan.org

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

POPCOM, gagamit ng ‘digital platforms’ para pagtibayin ang mga ugnayang pampamilya

Mas pinalalawig ng Komisyon sa Populasyon at Pagpapaunlad (POPCOM) ang adhikain nitong pagpapalaganap at pagpapabuti ng pakikipag-ugnayan ng mga nakakatandang Pilipino sa kanilang mga anak na nagdadalaga at nagbibinata. Nitong Setyembre 21, ang POPCOM ay nagsagawa ng isang “parent-teen talk webinar” gamit ang Zoom, kung saan ang isang “interactive program” ang nagbigay ng naaayon na kaalaman at kasanayan sa mga magulang, habang tumulong ito sa mga anak na teenager na maabot ang kanilang buong potensyal. Hinikayat din nito ang mga nanay at tatay na sumali sa malayang usapan, lalo na sa mga usapin ukol sa sex at sekswalidad, na nakikitang makakatulong upang bumaba ang mga bilang ng mga pagbubuntis sa hanay ng mga kabataan. Maaaring mapanood ang webinar sa https://youtu.be/lZ9jrJCjYas. Ayon kay Ikalawang Kalihim (Undersecretary) Juan Antonio A. Perez III, MD, MPH, “ang webinar ay naging isang tagapag-simula at ‘padaluyan’ ng pag-uu
Read more

In Cairo, senior Hamas officials discuss hostage deal with Egyptian intelligence chief ---By TOI STAFF, AGENCIES and LAZAR BERMAN

Delegation said led by terror group’s Qatar-based political leader Ismail Haniyeh; Wall Street Journal reports Hamas demanding 150 security prisoners for each female soldier A delegation of senior Hamas officials arrived in Cairo on Thursday for talks with Egyptian officials on a possible deal that would see the release of hostages held by terrorists in Gaza. The delegation was led by Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who lives in Qatar, and included senior members Mousa Abu Marzook and Khalil al-Hayya, the Qatar-based Al-Araby news outlet reported, citing an unnamed Egyptian source. The Hamas officials met with the head of Egyptian intelligence, Major General Abbas Kamel, to discuss the details of a hostage deal proposal that was presented to the Gaza terror group earlier this week by Qatari and Egyptian mediators. The outline of the deal was drawn up during a meeting in Paris last week in the presence of Israeli and US officials, as well as Qatari and Egyptian negotiators, a
Read more

Biden said set to make push for demilitarized Palestinian state as part of new doctrine ---By LAZAR BERMAN

New York Times’ Thomas Friedman, who’s close to the US administration, says emerging doctrine would include Saudi-Israeli normalization, 2-state solution, and campaign against Iran US President Joe Biden’s administration is homing in on a new doctrine involving an unprecedented push to immediately advance the creation of a demilitarized but viable Palestinian state, The New York Times’ Thomas Friedman reported on Thursday. The plan, Friedman wrote, “would involve some form of US recognition of a demilitarized Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip that would come into being only once Palestinians had developed a set of defined, credible institutions and security capabilities to ensure that this state was viable and that it could never threaten Israel.” White House officials “have been consulting experts inside and outside the US government about different forms this recognition of Palestinian statehood might take,” revealed Friedman. What he termed the new “Biden Doctrin
Read more