Bagong Pilipinas Serbisyo Fair, nakarating na sa 18 lugar ng bansa;
Rep: Suarez, dismayado sa naging pagdinig ng Senado hinggil sa 'PDEA leaks'
Rep: Suarez, dismayado sa naging pagdinig ng Senado hinggil sa 'PDEA leaks'
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00:00Pidea leaks that are being heard in the Senate and the substitute bill regarding the rice tariffication law.
00:06We will discuss this with House Deputy Speaker J.J. Suarez.
00:11Congressman Suarez, good afternoon.
00:15Good afternoon, Nina and Aseg Weng.
00:18To everyone listening and following the program, good afternoon to all of you.
00:25Congressman, 18 places have received and received services from the government of the new Philippine Service Fair.
00:34Where will this service caravan go next and what services will our countrymen expect?
00:44You know, your question is very good because the program of the new Philippine Service Fair is very good.
00:52Through the new Philippine Service Fair, I will bring the government to all the residents of the area,
01:02the services, programs, and assistance that our countrymen should receive.
01:09In the new Philippine Service Fair or BPSF, I was able to go to the one in Sultan Kudarat,
01:19I was able to attend the one in Benguet, I was able to attend the one in Agusan.
01:25This coming Friday, we will go to Zamboanga.
01:29In every province that we visit, I was able to verify that the national government will not lower the amount of P1 billion to 100,000 beneficiaries.
01:43All of these come in different forms of programs, services, such as SIBOL.
01:50This is what our government is helping young entrepreneurs, those who are starting to earn a living and start a business.
01:59We are giving them capital.
02:02I also saw ESIP. This is the scholarship grant that we are giving to our youth so that they can finish their studies.
02:14There is also the CARD program where it is a combination of cash and rice assistance to our indigent families.
02:23They receive 50 kilos of rice with cash, not to mention the CARD program.
02:31I'm really happy because there are a lot of innovations, a lot of programs, a lot of projects.
02:38The excitement of the people in every province that I visited, I can see that they are really happy and they are happy with the program that the government is doing.
02:50Congressman, in other talks, when is the target to strengthen the substitute bill for the amendment of the rice tariffication law?
02:59That's a good question. This was certified urgent by the President.
03:06The reason why the President certified this urgent is so that Congress can work fast.
03:13We are about to have a synergy break and our President is seeing that one of the main challenges that our countrymen are facing
03:25is the continuous increase in the price of goods.
03:28As the President, he doesn't want the Filipinos to have a hard time in their daily lives.
03:35So he asked the Department of Agriculture to come up with a draft for the Rice Tarification Law Act
03:44coming out with amendments on how we can improve the supply, trading, farming, and the whole aspect of the rice industry here in the country.
04:02So we've already completed the Committee on Agriculture hearings and the Committee on Appropriations hearings.
04:14So we're expected to have plenary debates on the RTL amendments next week, Monday.
04:23Okay. Congressman, what can you say about the Senate's hearing regarding the Umanoy-Pidea leak?
04:32But before I want to talk about the Pidea leak, can I just emphasize one point, Nina, about the RTL law?
04:40Why is it so important?
04:43Okay. Yes, sure. Congressman, go ahead.
04:46Yes. Because in the RTL law, if we pass this, we will lower the price of rice per kilo to P15.
05:00So that's why it's very important that we pass this law because if the price of rice is P56, P55 minus P15,
05:14it's a big deal for the Filipino families because we will gradually lower the price of rice.
05:27So we're very much excited about this and I do hope that our counterparts in the Senate will understand the urgency of the law
05:35and will be quick when it comes to drafting the necessary legislation to make the counterpart measure of the RTL amendments.
05:46Sir on another topic, what can you say about the credibility of the former Pidea agent, Jonathan Morales?
05:56Actually, it's funny because I have several interviews about the Pidea leak. Personally, as a Filipino, I am saddened
06:08because of the many problems that we face as young people, as law-abiding officials.
06:17Why are we paying attention to things that are not true? They also said that there is no evidence that will legitimize the accusation made by Morales.
06:35Also, the credibility of this Morales is truly questionable. There is no corroborating evidence to show that what he's saying is true.
06:49Furthermore, there are no supporting statements that will also strengthen his position.
06:56So for me, as an elected official, if this is the basis of a hearing, the time and effort should not be wasted, not unless of course,
07:09they have another objective and there's another motive behind holding such hearings.
07:16So personally, I am saddened by the fact that we've wasted so much government resources, taxpayers' money in the conduct of these hearings.
07:27And I hope that we can focus on more issues that are more important to the Filipino people.
07:34Cong. Mea, our media partner, Red Mendoza of the Manila Times, is asking a question.
07:41What can you say in a recent survey of OCTA Research that says that more Filipinos prefer military action in the West Philippine Sea than diplomacy?
07:55For me, I think the best course of action for us right now is diplomacy.
08:03No one wants to go to war or any kind of chaos.
08:09This is also the reason why the trip of our beloved President to Washington is very important,
08:18where I was part of and where I witnessed the historic trilateral agreement between the USA, between Japan and between the Philippines,
08:28where we are securing security, peace, and economic activity in the Indo-Pacific region.
08:41So I do understand where the anger of many of our countrymen comes from.
08:49Maybe they can't stand what China is doing against the Philippines.
08:57But for me, we need to address this issue diplomatically.
09:06Because if we were to confront them militarily, it will have no benefit to anybody and it will just further escalate the situation.
09:17So I'm sure the President is exercising the right foreign policy in addressing the issues in the West Philippine Sea.
09:26Sir, next question. What are the expected legislative amendments that will be passed or that you will recommend before the upcoming Senate D.A. Adjournment of the Congress?
09:38There are many committee hearings that will be held under the leadership of Speaker Martin Romualdez.
09:48First is the rice tariffication law that we already talked about.
09:53The countrymen can expect that we will pass this in the Congress.
09:59Our hearings in the West Philippine Sea and the continuous disinformation that is happening in our country,
10:09this is part of our ongoing investigation on cyberattacks.
10:15I think there's a real need for us to strengthen cyber security in our institutions, in our government agencies, in government facilities in the country.
10:29That is also part of the priorities of our Speaker.
10:35Number three, we're also going to be investigating the issue in the four-piece program.
10:44There is a report that for two years, the four-piece fund was reduced.
10:51Because of the reduction of the four-piece fund, millions of Filipinos did not receive their monthly allowance coming from the four-piece program.
11:02So we need to find out what happened to this program.
11:05We need to find out why the funds were deducted, who deducted it, and what are we going to do to those families and to those individuals
11:19who did not benefit the program but yet part of the four-piece program.
11:24So we have two weeks left before we go on Sine Diye Break and the Congress will conduct a lot of hearings and investigations.
11:34Thank you very much for your time and for your participation House Deputy Speaker J.J. Suarez.