Senate President Vicente Sotto III. (PRIB Photo)
MANILA, Philippines — Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said he is torn between the side of Filipino athletes and government on the establishment of the controversial P55-million worth of cauldron for the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.
“Ako, I’m torn between the two perspectives eh, kasi athlete ako nung araw, ano eh parang ‘pag tinignan mo on the side of government as long as hindi mawawaldas at makukurakot at isasagana ng imahe ng Pilipinas,” Sotto said in an interview with DWIZ.
(Me, I am torn between the two perspectives because I am an athlete before, and if I look into the side of the government, as long as it won’t waste money or become a product of corruption and that it would improve the image of the Philippines]
“Not only in the Southeast Asia but also in the world eh, kung gumastos tayo dito talagang okay ‘yan [If we spent a lot of money for that cauldron then it’s okay],” he added.
Sotto also maintained that what matters most is how President Rodrigo Duterte called for the purchasing of the expensive cauldron.
“Talagang ako I am torn pero siguro mamamayani diyan who calls the shots, ang mamamayani diyan, eh ang boss gusto bilhin e,” he said.
(Of course I am torn but what prevails would be the one who calls the shots, that is the boss [Duterte], he wanted to buy it.)
Sotto also noted that if Filipinos fail to purchase the cauldron, other countries might criticize how the Philippines hosted the SEA Games.
“Baka [kapag] hindi naman ganyan ginawa natin baka puro pintas ng ibang bansa marinig natin: ‘Talagang Pilipinas napakabulok, napaka-small time.’ Ayaw naman natin marinig yun,” he said.
(If we did not do that, we might hear criticisms from other countries like “the Philippines is too small time.’ We don’t want to hear that.)
Duterte previously defended the controversial cauldron, saying there will be no corruption behind it.