Full Video Transcript:
USEC. IGNACIO: Question from Jam Punzalan ng ABS-CBN: Some typhoon survivors themselves are saying they did not know what was happening in their area before and after Ulysses. Vice President Robredo also said Bicolanos lost one of their info sources with the shutdown of ABS-CBN regional station in their area. How do you plan to address information gap in these areas?
SEC. ROQUE: Ay, pagdating po dito maninindigan po ako, walang information gap. Linggo, Biyernes kahit ho anong araw, kahit anong oras nagpi-press briefing po kami at importante nga po na gawin namin ito kahit anong araw pa iyan dahil importante na makarating ang impormasyon sa taumbayan.
So I’m sorry but I beg to disagree with the Vice President yet again. Wala pong information gap dahil kami po, Sabado, Linggo, Biyernes, kahit anong araw kung kinakailangan ng impormasyon ay iniimbitahan po namin lahat ng mga miyembro ng Gabinete na dapat may kasagutan at magbibigay ng tulong para po magkaroon ng emergency and special press briefings.
TRICIAH TERADA/CNN PHILIPPINES: Hi! Good afternoon, Secretary. Sir, before I go to my calamity-related questions, ito lang po muna. Si Senator Richard Gordon is saying that he’s beginning to doubt the sincerity of the government to fight corruption. He’s actually pointing out iyong dilly-dallying on prosecuting people tagged in several Senate investigations. He said that he is left doubting whenever the President speaks out against corruption. I’ll quote part of his statement: “I wonder if this is just a slogan or is it a reward or is it real.” He also talks about iyong government in action doon po sa Senate recommendations to prosecute itong mga officials na implicated particulary doon po sa PhilHealth. Your reaction—
SEC. ROQUE: Well, unang-una po, personal na opinyon iyan ni Senator Gordon ‘no. He’s entitled to have that opinion. Pero tingin ko po ang track record ni Presidente malinaw po ‘no, sa simula’t simula pa iyong pinakamalapit niyang mga supporters noong kampanya – eh isang department secretary, isang administrator eh sila pa iyong unang nasibak ni Presidente ‘no. At ngayon po sa kaniyang Talk to the People eh regular feature na po iyong pagbabasa ng mga pangalan na nasususpinde o ‘di naman kaya eh tuluyan nang nasisisante ng Ombudsman ‘no at kasama na rin iyong mga listahan ng mga nakakasuhan ng kaso.
Pagdating po sa PhilHealth eh talaga naman pong nakasuhan iyong mga tinatawag na miyembro ng mafia. Siguro hindi ito iyong mga indibidwal na sinabi ni Senator Gordon na dapat kasuhan pero sinunod naman po ng Ombudsman iyong naging rekomendasyon ng Senate as a whole ‘no kung sino talaga iyong mga mafia at ito po iyong mga nasuspinde. Iba lang siguro iyong gustong masuspinde ni Senator Gordon na hindi naman sinang-ayunan ng Ombudsman at ng mga kasama niya sa Senado.
TRICIAH TERADA/CNN PHIL: Secretary, ito pong recent calamity as attributed to so many things, among the major contributors na pino-point out po is [unclear], iyong climate change. Looking at what really happened, kung sinasabi po ng pamahalaan that there wasn’t a lapse in terms of responding and rescue sa part ng NDRRMC and, you know, awareness campaign, there could be a lapse somewhere and that could be pointed out to DENR. Like kung ano po iyong mga nagawa nila. Is it high time, sir, to review the performance ng agency, iyong maybe projects, kasi ito pong mga nababanggit ngayon na, katulad ding nabanggit na reforestation, that’s coming up. Hindi po ba masyadong late na ito? And it is just too reactive na mas maganda sana kung nauna po itong ginawa? And do you think na iyong priorities medyo mali po na inuna iyong mga beautification projects over measures or policies to stop illegal activities na nagko-contribute sa pananakit sa kalikasan na ito nga po iyong tinuturo ngayon? Even the President pointed it out na there’s illegal logging, there is mining, there is quarrying na puwedeng dahilan nitong mga tragedies and walang nagawa about it? Si former Secretary Gina Lopez also flagged these events before, pero it looks like – ano po ang nangyari dito, ano po ang nagawa dito?
SEC. ROQUE: Alam mo talaga, ang problema ay itong climate change. Kaya nga paulit-ulit si Presidente sa mga international forums na talagang humingi ng tulong sa iba’t ibang bansa ng daigdig lalung-lalo na iyong mga developed industrial countries na siyang sanhi ng climate change na gumalaw at sundin iyong kanilang mga obligasyon sang-ayon po sa tratado para babaan iyong kanilang mga carbon emissions. Ang Pilipinas po, top 5 in the world as most susceptible to climate change and that’s a fact. So kung hindi po gagalaw ang buong daigdigan – kaya po tayo specially affected ng climate change – posible pong mawala ang ating mga land territories, maging permanently under water kung hindi po natin mari-reverse ang climate change. Kaya nga po ang unang kasagutan ko sa iyo Trish, kahit gaano kagaling ang DENR, kahit gaano kagaling ang NDRRMC, habang hindi natin nasusolusyunan itong climate change, eh baka mabura pa ang ating teritoryo, and we are in the top 5 of the most susceptible countries to climate change.
Ibig sabihin po noon, mawawala ang ating land territory mapapasailalim tayo ng tubig as a result of climate change. So iyan po ang una nating kasagutan. Ang solusyon dito, it has to be a worldwide effort para ipababa ang carbon emissions dahil that is the only proven scientific manner by which we can reverse climate change. Of course, we always strived to have better response performance lalung-lalo na pagdating sa kalamidad. Pero ang sinasabi po natin, dito sa nangyari sa Cagayan, eh talagang we prepared for it, pero we did not expect the gravity of the amount of water that descended on the low lands.
Ito naman po ay hindi dahil lamang sa isang bagay, mayroon na pong siyensiya, scientist, Dr. Siringan ng UP na nagkaroon na ng pag-aaral diyan. Ang sabi niya maraming factors po diyan, kasama na diyan ang climate change, kasama na diyan ang deforestation, kasama na diyan iyong illegal mining, pero kasama na rin po diyan iyong anyo mismo ng Cagayan River na mayroong nagkakaroon ng choke point. At ito po ang dahilan kung bakit ang municipality ng Alcala, isa sa hardest hit, dahil doon nag-o-overflow iyong choke point na iyan. At mayroon na pong JICA study na nagsasabi nga na dapat lakihan iyong mouth ng river na iyan.
So marami pong factors diyan, we anticipated. But as the Governor himself said, they did not actually expect this much water discharge into Cagayan Valley. So, we will strive to do better, pero sa tingin ko po, wala naman pong pagkukulang, but we will always strive to be better.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Okay. Sir, iyon pong sinabi ni Secretary Año, why did he point out that the situation na kailangan siguro ang mga [unclear] ay NDRRMC?
SEC. ROQUE: I haven’t really talked to him ‘no. Pero kapag NDRRMC, masisiguro talaga natin iyong publication ng notice na magpapalabas sila ng tubig. Now, I got a timeline and nagbigay naman po ng notice ang NIA, twice, na magpapalabas sila ng tubig. Ang problema, wala pong nag-carry except PNA (Philippine News Agency). Wala po sa mainstream media na nag-carry. It was just a notice pero hindi yata nabigyan ng utmost publicity.
Pero nonetheless, alam po ng provincial government, so they anticipated it kasi binigyan naman ng kopya ng notice ang provincial government. Pero kung NDRRMC ito, eh siguro naman dahil nakabase na iyan sa Aguinaldo at mayroong Defense press corps, eh siguro naman ay lalabas na iyong balita na magpapalabas ng tubig. So that’s one of the reasons, too.
Another po is siyempre [garbled] para sigurado na iyong proseso ng desisyon ‘no that will lead to a decision will consider all aspects ‘no including effect on the community which I’m not saying hindi naman po kinunsidera ng NIA ‘no. Pero siyempre po mas malawak iyong pagtingin ng NDRRMC kasi nga po iba’t ibang ahensiya ng gobyerno iyang bumubuo ng council ng NDRRMC.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: Sir, I would like to challenge your assertion na the other media networks did not carry – no, that is not true; that’s false. In fact, on November 12, we had a story quoting PAGASA na may ganoong mga warnings. So that is not true, the allegation of the NDRRMC, sir. But anyway, sir—
SEC. ROQUE: Well, from—excuse me, but from the timeline given to me, nagkaroon po sila ng warning ng November 9 which was not carried by mainstream media ‘no. Iyon po iyong problema rin ‘no, siguro kapag NDRRMC nandito sa Aguinaldo—hindi ko naman po pinupulaan ang media. Ang sinasabi ko lang, NIA iyon eh, eh wala namang press corps na na-attach sa NIA lalo na siguro provincial NIA office lang iyong nag-release doon, eh wala naman talagang magki-carry noon ‘no, sila-sila lang iyon ‘no. Pero kapag nasa NDRRMC po iyan, siguro naman dahil nandiyan iyong Defense corps ay magagawan ng story iyan.
But you’re correct ‘no, your story was 12 but the notice was given as early as the 9th.
JOSEPH MORONG/GMA7: No, even before, I just cited one specific instance. But there’s the PCOO I think for NDRRMC, NIA to—
SEC. ROQUE: We carried it. We have—in fact, from our documentation, the only story that came out on the notice na magpapalabas was PNA which is local. So anyway, I’m not faulting the media. I’m just saying, we need better coordination and that’s why we recognize the media as partners ‘no in matters such as avoiding or mitigating casualties.
Siguro isa sa dahilan nga po na ipamigay iyan sa NDRRMC ay para mas malaki iyong dissemination compared to if it were to be done alone by NIA.
USEC. IGNACIO: From Miguel Aguana ng GMA News Desk: Infrawatch criticized the absence of a single government authority managing multi-dam discharges during heavy rainfall. He said this is nothing but criminal incompetence and failure of leadership by the national government. The impact of Typhoon Ulysses could have been mitigated with forward planned multi-dam discharges under a single authority.
SEC. ROQUE: Uulitin ko po – ang ating problema ay climate change. If at all contributory po ang pagbubukas ng mga dams pero ano naman pong gagawin kung hindi tayo magpapalabas ng tubig, sasabog po iyang mga dams na iyan – ‘pag sumabog, mas maraming maaapektuhan. Okay? So sama-sama po tayo, kapit-bisig tayo para ipaglaban po ang tinatawag na climate change justice ‘no at kaya naman aktibong-aktibo ang ating Presidente pagdating sa usaping climate change.