With respect to the reported swift approval of the proposed 2020 budget of the Office of the President (OP) proper, I wish to clarify that my unopposed motion was only to terminate the briefing, subject to manifestations and interpellations during the plenary deliberations.
At the briefing stage of the budget process, the respective proposed appropriations for the various departments and agencies, including that of OP, is not set or ripe for approval.
The release of convicts who were imprisoned for heinous crimes and disqualified from reduction of sentence under the Good Conduct Time Allowance (GCTA) Act is nothing short of a massive jailbreak with the consent and conspiracy of prison authorities.
Since their improvident release is errant and illegal, they must be reincarcerated as virtual fugitives to serve their full sentences.
The return to prison of these prematurely released convicts will not offend the Constitution.
Neophyte Senator Bong Go, instead of defining his legislative agenda, which is usually the subject of a maiden privilege speech, squandered his chance of citing the causes he will promote and defend during his term by personally attacking me for being critical of the Malasakit Centers even as he refused to be interpellated.
Go’s ballistic reaction was unprovoked because I did not even mention his name when I asked the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) during its budget briefing to provide the legal basis for its funding the Malasakit Centers and for PCSO to investigate their effectiveness.
Contrary to the impression given to the public, the Malasakit Centers are neither medical care facilities nor one-stop shops for financial assistance to indigent patients.
The Malasakit Centers are post-confinement referral outlets for patients whose hospital and medical bills are not adequately covered by senior citizens discount, persons with disability discount and PhilHealth coverage.
These patients with unpaid balances go the Malasakit Centers for eventual referral to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Department of Health (DOH), and the President’s Social Fund.
It is small consolation that Sen. Leila de Lima is in the company of other authentic heroes across the globe like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Ninoy Aquino, and Pepe Diokno, among many others, who celebrated birthdays inside prison.
While good company assuages the tragedy of arbitrary political incarceration, it does not diminish the blatant derogation of human rights and the utter denial of freedom and due process.
The continuing imprisonment of Leila, which is going on to its third year, is an indubitable indictment against the Duterte administration where gross injustice and repression pervade.
