Senate President Migz Zubiri | The Source
Pinky Webb speaks with Senate President Migz Zubiri.
• Senators are calling for the suspension of the revised departure rules meant to fight human trafficking
• Lawmakers want an investigation into the viral road rage incident in Quezon City involving a dismissed police officer
• Following the signing into law, when can Filipinos expect more specialty centers in hospitals in the regions?
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines
• Senators are calling for the suspension of the revised departure rules meant to fight human trafficking
• Lawmakers want an investigation into the viral road rage incident in Quezon City involving a dismissed police officer
• Following the signing into law, when can Filipinos expect more specialty centers in hospitals in the regions?
Visit our website for more #NewsYouCanTrust: https://www.cnnphilippines.com/
Follow our social media pages:
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CNNPhilippines
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cnnphilippines/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cnnphilippines
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Welcome to The Source where we combine the headlines with in-depth conversations with the newsmakers themselves.
00:07 I'm Pinky Web. Today on the program, senators are calling for the suspension of the revised departure rules meant to fight human trafficking.
00:16 Lawmakers want an investigation into the viral road rage incident in Quezon City involving a dismissed police officer.
00:24 And following the signing into law, when can Filipinos expect more specialty centers in hospitals in the regions?
00:34 The Senate has unanimously approved a resolution calling for a stop to the government's revised and stricter rules for Filipinos traveling abroad.
00:52 The chamber also approved a separate resolution allowing the Senate president to file a petition with the Supreme Court to seek a temporary restraining order if needed.
01:02 The revised guidelines of the Interagency Council Against Trafficking drew flack as it requires travelers to present financial documents if an immigration officer sees any suspicious behavior.
01:16 Let's go straight to the source of the story. We have Senate President Mig Zibidi-Espi. Good to see you again. Thank you again for your time, sir.
01:24 Yes, good morning. Good morning, Pinky. Good morning to all your viewers today.
01:30 Let's talk about the IACTA guidelines. As mentioned a while ago, the Senate approved a resolution calling for the suspension of the guidelines for outbound travelers.
01:40 Tell us the value of this, Senate President, and what would be the next steps?
01:48 You know, Pinky, there were a lot of alarms the other day when the news came out, all news stations, including yours, that there will be a new set of guidelines for those traveling outside the Philippines.
02:03 You know, this is alarming, Pinky, because it really hampers our constitutional right to travel.
02:11 That's why I delivered a privileged speech yesterday because on September 3, these guidelines are going to be implemented.
02:17 Let me just put this in proper perspective.
02:20 Article 3, Section 6 of our Constitution, and I quote, if I may be able to read this, "The liberty of abode and changing of the same within the limits prescribed by law shall not be impaired except upon lawful order of the court.
02:35 Neither shall the right to travel be impaired except in the interest of national security, public safety, or public health, unless otherwise provided for by law."
02:47 So, Pinky, that's our constitutional right.
02:51 The Constitution is not recommendatory.
02:54 It is mandatory.
02:56 It must be followed.
02:57 It must be followed to the hilt.
03:00 It's not subject to interpretation as far as the legal minds are concerned.
03:05 That's why yesterday, when we gave a privileged speech to the Senate, all the Senate lawyers, starting with our minority floor leaders, Senator Coco Pimentel, Senator Chisa Escudero, Senator Sean Iangara, Senator Tol Tolentino, and our other legal minds like Senator Alan Cayetano, said that it is a curtailment of a constitutional right.
03:28 Now, if it's not in the Constitution, we can debate about it.
03:33 But the truth be told, it is in the Constitution.
03:37 So it is the right of every Filipino to travel, unless it's in the interest of national security, public health, or public safety.
03:48 In this case, this is very strict, Pinky.
03:52 The guidelines are very strict.
03:54 It will really curtail the right of Filipinos to travel.
03:57 That's our point.
03:58 Understandable, sir.
04:00 But the question is, this is supposed to be implemented on September 3, that Sunday.
04:07 I think it's September 3 or September 4.
04:10 But anyway, it's supposed to be implemented in a matter of days.
04:14 What would the value of this Senate resolution have?
04:18 Are there plans for you or some senators to speak to officials of the IACAT under the DOJ?
04:27 Yes.
04:28 Well, we're going to submit to them formally whether today or tomorrow the resolution that we passed.
04:33 It was an unnumbered resolution that we passed yesterday, moto propio, because of the urgency of the matter.
04:40 It's appealing to the IACAT to suspend their guidelines, implementation of their guidelines until we can study this further.
04:53 When I say study this further, we're going to ask them to go to the Senate and explain to the senators and to the Filipino people why this should be done.
05:05 I understand, I'm sure DOJ and IACAT are watching this.
05:11 They want to curtail or curb what you call human trafficking.
05:18 That's right. But there are ways to do it without undue and unnecessary requirements that are really burdensome to our people.
05:27 It's very difficult to meet the requirements of the PIG.
05:31 If I told you the requirements, it's this thick. It's several pages thick of requirements.
05:38 These requirements are very burdensome and costly and may lead to discrimination and corruption.
05:46 It's open to interpretation and corruption.
05:50 There's secondary screening. If you didn't pass the primary screening, there's secondary screening.
06:02 They will bring you to a room so you can show them everything and you won't have to go through immigration line.
06:03 They will put you in a separate room. They will ask for separate documents.
06:08 These are a lot of documents. They're asking for...
06:11 Imagine, you travel and you will be brought a graduation picture, yearbook, affidavit of...
06:22 Affidavit of support.
06:25 Affidavit that is duly authenticated by the Philippine embassy and consulate that you will be going to.
06:35 You will get that. If you're a first-time traveler, you will go to Japan and get affidavit from the Philippine embassy in Japan
06:45 that you're sponsored, you will do this, someone will agree with you.
06:51 That's ridiculous, Pinky. I think it's only North Korea. It will become just us and North Korea.
06:58 All these type of guidelines. You know North Korea, they don't want to let you leave.
07:01 They will say if you watch Crash Landing, we own you. They don't let their citizens leave North Korea.
07:07 That's ridiculous. You have to bring your original birth certificate?
07:12 How can you bring your original birth certificate?
07:14 My birth certificate is 54 years old, for crying out loud.
07:18 How can I bring an original birth certificate? That's ridiculous, Pinky.
07:22 That's perverted.
07:24 Again, you know Pinky, I'll tell you. Last year alone, last year, 32,400 Filipinos were offloaded.
07:34 Offloaded. They were not allowed to board their airplanes and travel.
07:43 Only 1.4 percent of the total number offloaded were actual cases of human trafficking.
07:49 1.4 percent out of 32,000. That's my question, Pinky. Who will pay for their tickets?
07:56 Obviously, if you paid, especially if you used budget carriers, there's no refund for that.
08:02 Second, who will pay for their hotel?
08:07 We know that when you go to the airport, they will ask for your hotel details.
08:11 That means you already paid for it. That's an advance payment.
08:16 Who will pay for their hotel?
08:18 That's why Senator Escudero said yesterday, he had a very novel idea,
08:22 that under the Budget Deliberations and Budget General Appropriations Act that we will pass,
08:28 we will put a provision that if you're offloaded, it's refundable under the Bureau of Immigration's budget.
08:36 Because apparently, they're collecting a fee.
08:39 They have money that they're collecting and income that they're collecting whenever they travel,
08:46 whenever there are different income generation in the Bureau of Immigration.
08:52 They will get it from their budget. So they will be very careful in offloading you because their budget will be reduced.
08:59 That's a very good idea.
09:00 Sir, let me also say this. If that is so, if Senator Cheese is saying that the ticket should not be proven that they were wrong
09:10 because of the permission of the person in the hotel, in filing the leave, etc., all that is affected.
09:18 But again, I'm with you in the quest to fight human trafficking.
09:24 But as you mentioned, sir, as you said, there should be other ways.
09:27 However, in parts of the requirements, I don't think really indicated that you need to bring your yearbook.
09:36 But there is what you said, affidavit of support, if you are sponsored, etc.,
09:42 and the birth certificate should be from the Philippine Statistics Authority.
09:48 But they've asked that before, Pia.
09:49 Yes.
09:50 They've asked that request for yearbook pictures.
09:53 Yes, yes. I know. That's why you got it back.
09:56 But they have to call their homes in the provinces to bring their documents and pictures to the paper.
10:04 So, SP, the question now is, this must be implemented in a matter of days.
10:11 So, maybe to the passengers listening to us now, the question is, what will happen?
10:18 When will we find out if the IACAT will suspend this for the meantime, pending this resolution or appeal by the senators?
10:27 Well, I hope they come up with an order soon.
10:31 We're appealing to the president. We're sending the document also to the president's office.
10:35 We're sending the resolution.
10:37 And in the meeting with the private sector interest groups, advisory council, Pinky,
10:44 the president said we should not do that, that it's that strict.
10:49 The advisory council will meet once again with the DOJ, which is the IACAT, to discuss why the guidelines are so strict.
10:58 You know Pinky, as you said, you and I, we are in favor of the suspension of these human trafficking syndicates.
11:11 There are many ways of doing it. We can go after the illegal recruiters, number one.
11:15 Number two, obviously if you have fake documents, when you arrive at the airport, you will be arrested.
11:19 We can arrest you. This is the 1.4 percent, out of the 32,000 Filipinos that were offloaded.
11:26 And of course, you know if you go to Japan, Pinky, and other countries that need visa, that have visa requirements,
11:34 you already screened by the embassy. The embassy is very strict when they ask for documents for their visas.
11:41 So rule of thumb, if you have a visa in a visa-required country, we should not make it difficult.
11:50 The travel is already continuous. For example, you have a visa to go to America.
11:54 Why are you asking for so many requirements, such thick requirements for our passengers.
12:03 Again, as I said, the issues are, it is burdensome, costly, and may lead to discrimination and corruption.
12:11 Because what's happening here, Pinky, it is, in some countries, there's what you call racial profiling.
12:17 This is not racial profiling, it is economic profiling.
12:20 Will they look at you and say you're wearing flip-flops, you're not good at English.
12:24 You said you're not good at English, you're a baroque English speaker.
12:28 Immediately, for secondary screening, they will say you don't have the capacity to speak English.
12:34 I just want to put on record, Pinky, if we can improve our economy,
12:42 especially what our president wants by 2028, we will be a middle-income country.
12:48 Middle-income countries and our families will be more middle-income rather than below the, or right by the poverty level.
12:57 We call it a bigger spending power. Our countrymen will save more to travel if they want to travel.
13:07 It's their first time to go to Hong Kong, they want to go to Singapore. Why should we stop them?
13:16 Not everyone who wants to travel wants to go to TNT.
13:19 They know that when they go to their countries, they will be deported, they will be arrested, they will be deported, especially in Singapore.
13:27 In Japan, it's very strict.
13:29 Sir let me interject.
13:31 It's very important that we know what their position is in IACAT.
13:42 Why is their position so high when it comes to travelers outside the country?
13:49 Quick, I want to interject this, sir. You were saying, it was a point that was raised many times, even on social media.
13:57 If you have visas already, for example, Schengen from the United States,
14:02 very strict on what you need to submit. There's a lot of documents that need to be submitted.
14:07 This is just my quick question, sir. How about in countries where visa is not required?
14:12 Do you suggest that maybe IACAT can be more strict in countries that don't need visas, where we don't have to submit all these documents?
14:23 Would that be a possible solution?
14:26 Well, it's still unfair, Pinky, because we have several countries, like for example Israel.
14:34 I know Hong Kong, for example, the ASEAN nations, all the ASEAN nations, you don't need to have a visa.
14:44 Now, obviously, if you're a first-time visitor, you want to visit areas that don't have visas because there's no hassle.
14:52 It's less of a hassle.
14:53 It's easier to go.
14:56 But like I said, it is the call of the nation when they enter there. It's the call of the nation.
15:05 When you arrive in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong immigration officer should ask if you have a hotel.
15:11 What is your itinerary for the five days that you will visit our country.
15:20 So that's the call of the immigration officer there. It's not the call of our immigration officer here.
15:25 All right. I get your point.
15:28 Unless there's a law that we passed, and I know we don't have a law that passed that.
15:33 I'll give you the right to travel, again, as I said, is in Article 3, Section 6 of our Constitution.
15:40 It is also in the Universal Human Rights Declaration.
15:44 It says here that the right to travel shall be impaired.
15:50 Neither shall the right to travel be impaired. And everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, to return to his country.
15:57 It's a Universal Human Rights Declaration.
16:00 And the Supreme Court has ruled many times that police power is not absolute.
16:07 Police power, the Supreme Court has ruled that it must be in the interest of the general public,
16:12 and means employed has to be reasonably necessary to accomplish the purpose and not unduly oppressive to individuals.
16:19 All right.
16:20 Actually, what gave me interest in this issue is when they interviewed a lawyer at the airport.
16:28 The lawyer said, "No, it's a constitutional right of every Filipino to travel.
16:33 They should not be unduly, unnecessarily impaired from this right."
16:41 So that's where we are anchored, Pinky.
16:50 And I think our colleagues in the Senate, we all spoke as one.
16:55 We are united, all crossing party lines, that our requirements for travelers should not be so tight, especially for first-time travelers, Pinky.
17:06 I said earlier, when the country becomes rich, our fellow citizens will become middle-income families, they can travel.
17:14 That's millions of first-time travelers.
17:16 I don't think we should be giving them such a hard time on their constitutional right to travel.
17:23 Still a number of issues that need to be discussed, the road rage incident in Quezon City, specialty hospitals, that's very important.
17:30 And this recent news on China's 10-dash line, but we need to take a short break.
17:36 This is The Source on CNN Philippines.
17:37 Please stay tuned.
17:38 You're watching The Source on CNN Philippines.
17:46 I'm Pinky Webb.
17:47 Our source today, Senate President Mig Zubidi.
17:50 We want to discuss with you that road rage incident in Quezon City.
17:55 I know you filed a resolution together with Senator Pia Caritano.
17:58 Resolution number 763 to look into this.
18:01 When is the hearing going to happen and who do you plan to call as resource persons?
18:07 Again, Pinky, when we saw this in the news the other day, we were all shocked by what this man, Mr. Gonzales, did.
18:18 We were all shocked with that incident and it just opens our eyes that we need to make a step so this won't happen again to cyclists, motorcycle riders, motorcyclists, as well as the general riding public.
18:37 I can see many violations here.
18:40 Number one, the abuse of authority.
18:42 Number two, the grave threats.
18:46 Number three, the firing of a gun.
18:49 Even if you're a licensed firearm holder, I'm a shooter, Pinky.
18:55 I show it even in my Facebook page.
18:58 I do a lot of drills.
19:00 I do the range and everything.
19:01 But we're proud to be responsible shooters.
19:04 We don't just fire a gun and if there's a problem, we fire it right away and hit the person with the gun.
19:12 Those are violations under the law, which is the guide that we use for licensed firearms.
19:20 We have a law for that.
19:22 Number one, one of them is never to remove your firearm unless there is a grave threat on your person, when absolutely necessary.
19:31 Even with that, as we can see in this video, he really harassed the poor cyclist and he was shouting, insulting and hitting him.
19:44 That should not be right.
19:46 We don't want that to happen. The other day, we saw news that there's an alarm.
19:55 A policeman is off duty and he accosted another motorcycle rider who also has a gun.
20:02 Of course, on face value, when you see the video, it's alarming.
20:10 He's a policeman but he's not wearing a uniform.
20:12 He's in civilian clothes. He's wearing a white T-shirt and he's carrying a gun.
20:17 Obviously, it causes alarm to the civilian population.
20:22 That's why I said we should listen to the various agencies.
20:27 For example, the PNP. What cases can we file against these road rage violators?
20:34 Aside from the loss of their license, can we also make sure that the firearms law is imposed on them,
20:41 meaning all their firearms must be confiscated, their right to carry firearms outside the homes should be canceled permanently.
20:48 That's a good incentive to remove all of that.
20:51 Second, the LTO. That's not just a show-cause order. The license should be canceled.
21:00 In the United States, I know the DMV, if you make a mistake, you have violations of, for example, your over speeding and all.
21:10 They cancel your license. It is canceled. You can no longer drive.
21:14 I know it's important that this Mr. Gonzalez should be charged with a violation of a license.
21:22 He's afraid of his life. He's scared for his life.
21:25 I'm sure he's scared for his life and for his family's life.
21:30 I'm sure he's not afraid. He might not be charged with a violation of a license.
21:36 Nevertheless, you can see that there are several violations of the penal code that have transpired here
21:43 and violations of other agencies such as the LTO and the driver's license and the firearms law.
21:50 So definitely, we need to make guidelines, new guidelines, if this will happen,
21:59 automatic cancellation of licenses to possess and to carry outside the homes.
22:05 Second, the driver's license should be suspended immediately and if need be, permanently revoked so he can't drive.
22:15 He should ride a bus and a taxi so there will be no road rage.
22:20 We can see that he's mentally incapable to be driving and keeping the streets safe.
22:26 Me and Senator Pie Cayetano, together with Senator Rafi Tulfo, we passed a resolution so we can have automatic penalties for this kind of road rage.
22:43 We don't want to see someone getting shot or being beaten every day because of these traffic altercations.
22:51 That's one of the reasons we passed this resolution.
22:54 We need to take another short break. We will be right back.
22:56 Our stars today, Senate President Mig Zubidi, 10-line SP.
23:06 China came out with this new map, their 2023 version of the map that already takes over the whole South China Sea,
23:15 including the EEZ of the Philippines. What's your reaction to this, sir?
23:20 Well, the more the merrier. I'm saying we have a lot of miserable people here in what China is doing.
23:28 If you notice, even India yesterday, in international news, I'm watching CNN International, India is very angry.
23:36 They are with the BRICS, they are with the BRICS.
23:40 So they protested fervently in their new map. The entire Southeast Asia is now under China's control.
23:49 I expect more opposition from more countries. Misery loves company. That means we'll have more petitions from other countries.
23:58 So we're not alone in this fight, Ma'am Pinky. There are a lot of people who are petitioning and getting angry with China for what they did.
24:06 Sir, just give us a sense of this. I know the Regional Specialty Centers Act, you're very happy with this.
24:12 What's important is that in regions there will be such lung center, heart center.
24:18 There's no need to go to Manila, there's already some in the regions.
24:21 The question is, maybe the most important, sir, do we have the budget for this?
24:26 Would Congress allot the budget for this? Because this is not going to be cheap.
24:31 No. Yes. First of all, I'm thankful to our President because he signed this.
24:37 That's what I'm saying, Pinky. That's what I've been saying in all my rallies in all the provinces during the campaign.
24:45 That we need to have regional centers instead of traveling to Metro Manila to go to the heart center, lung center, etc.
24:52 We will have regional areas, regional hospitals. We will have specialty centers.
24:57 So we started this two years ago, 2021 and 2022.
25:02 We put a fund through Senator Angala's initiative and my initiative on these specialty wings in several regions.
25:12 So this law, it already, how do you say this, as a law, it makes it a regular part of the budget of the General Appropriations Act.
25:23 We have a fund there and our countrymen will be happy because cancer centers, heart centers, kidney and lung centers will be found in other regional hospitals.
25:35 Initially, we wanted to make it standalone, but the funding was too much.
25:39 So we will do it together with the regional hospitals.
25:42 With the DOH.
25:43 Heart wing. Regional centers will have their regional hospitals.
25:50 Thank you.
25:51 That's a big boost for our people.
25:53 Let's discuss that again, sir. I know that's very important and a lot of people will be looking forward to this.
26:00 Thank you very much, Senate President Migzubidi. Thank you, sir.
26:03 Thank you so much, Pinky. Long live our country. Long live.
26:06 Thank you for joining us here on The Source. I'm Pinky Webb. You're watching CNN Philippines.
26:10 [MUSIC]