Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines— Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Friday dared senators who are seeking re-election in May to return first the P2 million that they had allegedly received each from the Senate last December as additional maintenance and other operating expenses (MOOE).
“Yung mga senador na tumanggap ng P2 million, uy ibalik nyo yan bago kayo magpaboto sa taumbayan,” Santiago told reporters after attending the annual convention of the Association of Nursing Service Administrators Philippines held at the Manila Hotel.
(To all senators who received P2 million, return first the money before you ask the electorate for reelection.)
“Bakit ang tahi-tahimik nyo? Magsalita naman kayo. Tama ba ako o mali ako? E di pruweba nyo sa rally,” she said.
(Why clam up? Say something. Am I right or wrong? Prove it at your rally.)
Five senators are seeking re-election in May, namely Senators Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Loren Legarda, Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, Francis “Chiz” Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano.
Of the five, only two — Trillanes and Cayetano– did not allegedly get the P1.6 million additional MOOE given each to 18 senators last December.
The other two senators who did not get the same allocation were Santiago and Senator Pia Cayetano.
The four reportedly got, however, the P250,000 Christmas bonus that Senate President Juan Ponce-Enrile gave to each senator also last December.
It was only Santiago who returned the amount to Enrile. And she wondered why until now, no one has returned the money to the Senate.
“Tingnan mo, ibinalik ko yung binigay sa akin dahil hindi yata makatarungan ayon sa batas. Walang ni isang nagbalik ng pera nila. Yan ang gustong maging kasapi ng Senado hanggang ngayon. Hindi na sila nahiya,” Santiago said in her speech during the event.
(Look, I returned the money given to me because I don’t think it’s within the law. None from my colleagues has done the same. Shameless.)
“Pag nakinig kayo (sa rally nila) sabihin nyo, akin na yung dalawang milyon ko,” she said.
(When you attend their rally ask, them where’s my two million?)
Instead of promising people free food and education to win votes, Santiago also dared candidates to talk about corruption in their campaign sorties as well as the controversy on misused funds of the Senate.
“Let me emphasize that a candidate who has never made a political enemy in our culture of corruption marked by fraud of the people’s money, illegal gambling, illegal smuggling and character assassination is not a leader but merely a mediocre survivor of dirty politics,” she said.
“Kasi lahat sila pag nagra-rally ngayon, mag sasawa ka wala ng ginawa kung hindi mangako ng libre. Libreng pakain, libreng paeskwela, libre lahat. Saan nila kukunin yang libre na yan? E di sa pera ng taumbayan. At pag dumaan sa kanila, may naiwan sa kamay nila,” she said.
(In rallies they are promising everything free. Free meals, free education, everything free. Where will they get the money? Naturally from the people. When they get their hands on the public funds, an amount will line their pockets.)
Santiago lamented that corruption remains a major scourge in the Philippines.
“There’s no other problem in the Philippines except the problem of corruption by the top leaders of this very same country. That’s the main problem,” she added.