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- Robredo earlier said that Congress should focus on matters that could help with the Philippines’ battle against COVID-19.
- The House Speaker then said that not everything they do is televised.
House Speaker Alan Peter Cayetano called out Vice President Leni Robredo and said that she is “clueless” with the government’s plans for COVID-19.
This is after she remarked about the priorities of the Congress regarding the pandemic.
In Cayetano’s closing speech during the House joint panel hearings on the then-pending ABS-CBN franchise Cayetano said that even if the Congress is allotting time to deliberate on the issues thrown against the network, it does not mean that they are abandoning their duties to pass measures that would help the government to respond to the current public health crisis.
“Nung hindi namin tine-take up ang issue ng ABS-CBN, sabi ng pangalawang pangulo, i-take up niyo agad. Ngayong tine-take up natin marami raw mas importante,” he said.
Cayetano also claimed that they actually tackled the matter silently even before the network’s shutdown and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Yes, as required of us and despite valued reservation, we have tackled the contentious matter of the franchise application of ABS-CBN. But away from public limelight and media scrutiny, we have also prioritized the needs of our citizens in response to our current crisis.”
This was after Robredo stated that frontliners should have more medical benefits in the country so that they won’t have to fly abroad to find better job compensations.
“Yung number one talaga, suweldo. Yunng number one talaga iyong benefits na binibigay sa frontliners. Kasi kaya lang naman sila lumuluwas kasi mas mabuti yung opportunities sa labas—opportunities sa suweldo, sa benefits.”
She then stated that the Congress is currently discussing matters that won’t be beneficial in the country’s fight against the pandemic.
“So sana, halimbawa sa Congress, sana imbes na pinag-uusapan yung mga bagay na hindi naman nakakatulong, sana ito na iyong ginagawa, ‘di ba?”
The House Speaker said that there are 10 pending bills and resolutions aimed to help the frontliners.
“Hindi natutulog sa pansitan ang Kongreso. I say this for the benefit of the vice president, who despite appearing to be clueless as to the real work of this Congress, has nonetheless felt it’s her duty to instruct this House on how it should conduct its business. Ginagawa namin ang trabaho namin, hindi lang nala-live sa TV lahat ng aming hearing.”
