FILE PHOTO: Actor Robin Padilla. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Senator-elect Robin Padilla has no reservations in expressing his desire to be part of the powerful Commission on Appointments.
Padilla, as he learned in jail, said he could tell those people’s character just by taking a look at them.
“Ako kasi mas siguro maraming abogado ang pwede diyan. Pwede tayong mag-miyembro kung gusto nila, kung i-o-offer nila sa atin pero para mag-apply ako diyan, doon na lang ako sa Commission on Appointments,” he responded when asked in an interview on Tuesday if he is planning to join the Senate blue ribbon committee.
(I think many lawyers are fit there. We can be a member if they want, if they will offer it to us but to apply for it, I prefer the Commission on Appointments.)
“Kung mag-a-apply ako doon ko gusto. ‘Yan ang natutunan ko sa bilibid: kumilatis ng tao. Tingin pa lang sa tao alam ko na,” he added.
(If I apply, I want to be there. That is what I learned in jail: to assess a person. I know just by looking at him/her.)
Padilla was put behind bars after being convicted for illegally possessing firearms in 1994. He was sentenced to up to eight years in jail but was released after four years following a conditional pardon given by former President Fidel Ramos.
READ: Robin Padilla: I already paid for my sins in jail
The incoming senator promised to assess every candidate, regardless of whether or not they have been nominated by President-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.
“Syempre, maiintindihan naman po ng mahal na pangulo, ng paparating na ating pangulo kung ano ang trabaho ko kung ako ay mapapasama po diyan sa Commission on Appointments,” he said.
(Our incoming president will understand my job if I am a part of the Commission on Appointments.)
If the appointee is not fit for the position, Padilla said he would not hesitate to reject him or her.
“Sorry po talaga. Hindi naman po ako bastos, sasabihin ko naman po kung bakit sa palagay ko hindi po nababagay sa kanya ang posisyon na ‘yun. Hindi naman po ako mang-iisnab o hindi dadating mga ganun. Diretso ko pong sasabihin,” he stressed.
(Sorry. I’m not rude, I will say why I think you are not fit for the position. I will not be a snob. I will say it directly.)
Padilla won the senatorial race, garnering 26 million votes.