Senate did not cave in on PSG controversy, says Sotto

MANILA, Philippines— Senate President  Vicente “Tito” Sotto is strongly protesting insinuations that the Senate has caved in on the issue of the unauthorized COVID-19 vaccination of some members of the Presidential Security Group (PSG).

“Kelan kami nagpatawag ng PSG? At kailan kami tumiklop?” Sotto told reporters on Thursday.

(When did we call the PSG? And when did we cave in?)

“Pakialam namin dun? Hindi yun ang issue namin. Ang isyu namin is the COVID-19 vaccination roadmap, malinaw yun eh…” he said, “Yun ang topic namin e bakit sinasali kami dyan sa problema ng PSG.”

(That’s not our issue.  Our issue is the COVID-19 vaccination roadmap, that’s clear…That’s our topic, why drag us into the PSG problem?)

“Kina clarify ko lang para maliwanag. Parang kung i-report  kami para bang ang Senado e  napapatiklop e. Wala naman kaming pakialam dun, hindi namin tinalakay  yun, we never mentioned it,” Sotto also said.

(I’m just clarifying this to make it clear.  Because we are being reported as if the Senate is caving in.  We have nothing to do with it, we did not tackle it, we never mentioned it)

Sotto reiterated that the issue was never part of the January 11 hearing of the Senate on the government’s vaccination rollout.

The Senate has constituted itself into the Committee of the Whole to look into the government’s vaccination plan. The inquiry was initiated by opposition Senator Francis Pangilinan.

/MUF