NITONG Oktubre 1, 2024, nagkaroon ng panayam si Senator Joel Villanueva tungkol sa isyu ng Al Jazeera video ni dating mayor Alice Guo, pinabagong Pulse Asia Survey at State Universities and Colleges (SUCs) offering para sa School of Medicine.
Q: On the Al Jazeera video?
Senator Joel Villanueva (SJV): Well, una pwede nating tingnan yan ngunit hindi yan yung magiging basehan ng ating committee report. Kaming mga senador alam na namin yan lalo na yung medyo matatagal na rito no? Hindi tayo nag-iimbestiga just to get someone else’s report or conclusion. Dapat may sarili tayo dito gaya ng patuloy at kayo yung saksi na lagi nating sinasabi doon sa mga govt agencies whether NBI, Paocc, DoJ, BI, na sila mismo ipakita nila sa atin kung ano yung information gathering nila, how they appraise this information, what kind of protocols they are applying di ba? Every hearing na lang ipinaalala ko yan na isubmit nila nang sa gayon ma-assess natin at malaman paano ba yung thought process nila, paano nila nasusundan yung pangyayari, paano nila inaayos yung verification ng kanilang information because until now wala tayong concrete report as to how they were able to leave the country. So yun lang importante ito hindi tayo dapat umasa at hindi dapat natin paniwalaan en toto yung mga sinasabi whether this is an international news outlet, ito ay galing sa ibang bansa na mga intel reports, etc. Dapat may sarili tayo, may sarili tayong bansa eh. Pakita natin na kaya nating gampanan yung ating tungkulin. So again this is I don’t want to use the word slap in our faces dun sa nangyari ulit na pag alis ni Alice at kung sino man sya. Dapat meron tayong sarili na ginagawa at kayang suportahan ng ating mga information most especially our conclusion na ito talaga yung nangyari. Kayang suportahan because we know what we are doing.
Q: Hindi pa off the table na posibleng spy nga si Alice?
SJV: Hindi naman natin sinasabing hindi siya spy but we are just saying we cannot make that conclusion right away. We just wanted to make sure that we did our own investigation and make sure our investigation, out information gathering actually works.
Q: Kung sakaling tatakbo si Alice for reelection, anong reaksyon nyo?
SJV: That’s absurd, because number 1, yung birth certificate niya proven na peke. Number 2 proven sa kanyang fingerprints and all other things na nakita ng NBI na iisa si Guo Hua Ping at si Alice Guo. So paano mo naman, yung ebidensya masyadong matibay, far far more than what she is claiming na kung sinuman siya.
Q: On Pulse Asia survey?
SJV: Well yung surveys. Ganyan talaga yung surveys, tumataas, bumababa. I think it shows a small window where you can look at how Filipinos perceive our leaders and our institution. Kung nakikita nating ganyan, sweeping, halos lahat, it goes to show that our people expect more from our leaders, from our government, lahat kami kasama dapat dyan. We should not be complacent, comfortable from where we are right now. We need to step up our game. We need to show our people that we are sensitive to their needs. I think that’s the bottomline of all these surveys.
Q: May pagbaba sa paniniwala ng tao sa mga opisyales natin?
SJV: Ang taumbayan talagang binabase nila yung decisions sa mga ganyan doon sa mga nakikita, nararamdaman at talagang kung ano yung feel nila sa ating mga institusyon, sa ating pamahalaan. So I think for me again it’s a wake up call for everyone, for all public officials to step up their game, including myself, hindi ko ineexclude yung sarili ko dyan na dapat kung kailangan magpuyat pa, kung kailangang we should walk the extra mile na ipakita natin lalo na ngayon mag-eeleksyon, unfortunately marami gumagawa ng magagandang bagay and would walk the extra mile pagka eleksyon lang. So again, we take this opportunity also for our people to be more mas kilatisin nila yung ating mga kandidato sapagkat at the end of the day yung leaders na pinipili natin will dictate the future of our nation, the future of our next generation.
Q: On possible effect ng issue kay PBBM and VP Sara
SJV: Hindi natin maitatanggi na yung political bickerings, left and right baka sinasabi ng taumbayan na it’s about time to put your acts together. Hindi rin maganda na walang disagreement dahil kapag pare pareho na tayo mag isip, may problema na po tayo. Pero dapat healthy, constructive, dapat at the end of the day isinasang-alang, what is the best for our country and for our people. Siguro yun yung isa sa mga dahilan dahil kung nakikita ng taumbayan na kulang yung serbisyo, kulang yung nararamdaman nilang pagkalinga ng ating pamahalaan, and then they will look at their leaders, yung kapaligiran, yung political dynamics, puro banat dito, banat doon, hindi nakikita yung resibo. Siguro wake up call din sa ating public officials especially for us as legislators, hanapin natin yung resibo. Hindi pwedeng banat ka lang ng banat pero wala ka namang solusyon, wala kang nagawa, wala kang batas na naipasa, wala kang resibo na maipakita sa taumbayan. At the end of the day yang surveys na yan it’s about receipts, resibo na nagagawa ng officials at higit sa lahat ng ating pamahalaan.
Q: On SUCs offering School of Medicine
SJV: I think this is the fourth. And I am very happy to report na nagsimula tayo pitong SUCs lang, ngayon 22 na, may 6 na pending, so that’s about 27 or 28. Natutuwa po tayo kasi dati 7 regions lang ang meron na public school na offering school of medicine ngayon lahat na. Nakakataba po ng puso dahil unti unti nating nakikita nabubuo ang pangarap natin para sa ating bansa. Hindi lang po dumami ang mga doktor para sa bayan, kundi dumami rin po ang state colleges and universities na nag-offer quality school of medicine para sa ating mga kababayan.
