Surigao del Sur 2nd Dist. Rep. Johnny Pimentel | The Source - video Dailymotion

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A shakeup in key positions in the House of Representatives as hundreds of lawmakers rally behind Speaker Martin Romualdez.  Surigao del Sur 2nd District Representative Johnny Pimentel tells us more in the program.  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

Transcript

00:00 You're watching the Source on CNN Philippines. I'm Pinky Webb. The House of Representatives

00:05 removes former President and Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Davao City Congressman

00:11 Isidro Ungab. As Deputy Speakers, House Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe says they were the

00:16 only Deputy Speakers who did not sign the resolution expressing support for Speaker

00:21 Martin Romualdez in the wake of former President Rodrigo Duterte's criticisms. In a statement,

00:26 Macapagal-Arroyo explains she was abroad when the resolution was passed. She says she's

00:30 always supported Romualdez and she's never taken or supported any action to remove him

00:35 as Speaker. Let's go straight to the source of the story. We have Surigao del Sur Second

00:39 District Representative Johnny Pimentel. Congressman, good to see you again. Welcome to the Source.

00:43 Thank you so much for your time. Yes. Good morning, Pinky. Good morning to your

00:47 televiewers. So, dunako ako pupunta. Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was saying

00:53 she didn't sign it because she was abroad. But still, she was ousted as Deputy Speaker.

00:59 Previously, in fact, she was Senior Deputy Speaker. Why still take her out, sir, if she

01:07 says she wasn't here anyway to sign it? What were the options or alternatives?

01:12 You know, Pinky, before this resolution was presented at the plenary session, it was already

01:19 presented to the House leadership, to party leaders. When you talk about House leadership,

01:26 that means the Deputy Speakers, the Chairman, the Deputy Majority Leaders, and all other

01:35 members of Congress who are occupying positions in Congress. So, this was presented beforehand.

01:44 And you know, Congress is a collegial body. Everything that has any issues that must be

01:53 decided is decided by the majority. Now, the Deputy Speaker position is very high in the

02:03 hierarchy of positions in Congress. It is the second highest position in Congress after

02:10 the Deputy Speaker. So, therefore, if you are part of the leadership, you must be aligned

02:17 with the direction of the leadership. Now, if you are not attuned with the vision of

02:24 the leadership, then you are not part of the leadership. Now, in this case, I believe that

02:30 the resolution was presented to the two Deputy Speakers and unfortunately, they didn't sign.

02:39 In fact, all the other Deputy Speakers, as you can see from the resolution, were authors

02:46 and the party leaders, including me, were authors of the resolution. This was presented

02:51 to everyone, but the two Deputy Speakers did not sign it. So, the leadership decided that

03:00 we believe that their ideals or their direction is not aligned with the leadership.

03:08 But Congressman?

03:09 They decided to replace them with members who are more attuned with the direction of

03:16 the leadership.

03:17 But Congressman, was it presented? Because if the argument here of, I'll stick to Congresswoman

03:24 Arroyo first, former President GMA, if she says she wasn't here, that's why she didn't

03:30 sign it, was she here when it was presented to her? Was she in the Philippines when it

03:36 was presented to her?

03:37 I really don't know because I didn't even know that she was out of the country, but

03:42 I'm sure that her staff received the draft resolution. As I've said, again, this was

03:53 presented to all those who wanted to vote on this matter. In fact, more specifically,

04:01 before it was presented to other members, it was presented to the leadership members

04:09 and party leaders.

04:12 And here's the question, sir.

04:13 In fact, we were even asked if we wanted to be authors, and I wanted to be an author.

04:19 Can one actually sign this resolution if one is abroad?

04:25 Well, you can signify through a message.

04:35 You know, each congressman has a chief of staff, and all the information that needs

04:48 to be communicated to each congressman is being delivered to the chief of staff.

04:54 Each congressman has his own office. I'm sure that former Jimmy was aware of the draft

05:02 resolution.

05:03 Yes. And again, the chief of staff can sign on behalf of the representative.

05:09 No.

05:10 You cannot? Okay.

05:11 But the member can signify through the chief of staff that he or she approves of this issue,

05:20 of this resolution, of this bill.

05:23 Yes.

05:24 Okay. So that was possible. So if, because the former president, and now Congresswoman

05:31 Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was saying that, number one, she just found out that she was stripped

05:37 off deputy speaker because she did not sign, number one, sir. Number two, she said that

05:42 from the time that she found out that President Bongbong Marcos' preference for speaker was

05:48 Congressman Martin Romualdo, she already took the position to support him.

05:50 I guess the question really, Congressman Gianni, is do you not believe former president, and

05:58 now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, that she is throwing her full support to Speaker

06:04 Martin Romualdo?

06:06 Well, officially, she has been consistent with their statements during the opening of

06:15 Congress. We know very well that she was also interested in becoming speaker. But then when

06:25 the majority of Congress threw their support to speaker, the next day, former president

06:32 Arroyo also issued a statement that she's in full support of the speakership of Speaker

06:40 Martin Romualdo. Then when she was demoted, well, quote unquote demoted to deputy speaker

06:47 from senior deputy speaker, she also released a statement that she still supports Speaker

06:54 Martin. And now, yesterday, right after she was replaced as deputy speaker, again she

07:03 issued that she supports Speaker Martin Romualdo. So let's take it at face value with regard

07:10 to her official statement.

07:13 But if you want to take it at face value, and she's been consistent with saying that

07:17 she supports Speaker Martin Romualdo, then was it necessary to take her out as deputy

07:23 speaker? I guess it goes back to that. The point, I guess, really, Cong. Gianni, is,

07:28 "Naniniwala hung ba kayo?" that she really supports the speaker. Or do the other...

07:34 I cannot say to you that I don't know what's on her mind. But as I've said, we'll have

07:43 to take it at face value, leave it at that. She said it officially. I really don't know

07:50 what's really on her heart. Silang makakapagsabi niyan.

07:55 Okay. Congressman, I just need to take a very short break. We'll be right back.

07:59 We are showing you live pictures of President Bungo Marcos leading the commemoration of

08:11 the 10th year of a super typhoon, Yolanda, in Tacloban City. The super typhoon took the

08:18 lives of more than 6,000 people and caused damage worth over 95 billion pesos. Yolanda,

08:25 internationally called Hayan, is one of the world's strongest typhoons in recorded history

08:32 with sustained winds of 315 kilometers per hour. The president is going to deliver a

08:40 speech in a while, and we will take that live as soon as it happens.

08:45 Let's go back to our source today, Surigao Del Sur, the 2nd District Representative,

08:50 Connie Pimentel. Congressman, I want to talk about the exchange between Congressman Don

08:57 Puno, sorry, Don Gonzales rather, and Congressman Edsel Lagman. Noon nagkaroon po ng pagtatanong

09:06 si Congressman Lagman. Tinatanong po niya si Congressman Don Gonzales.

09:10 Actually, Congressman Lagman was just laying the predicate, going into direction so that

09:22 it would be said in public who maligned Congress. So he was just trying to lay the predicate.

09:29 Now, it would be, it was so hard, it was so difficult for Senior Deputy Speaker Don Gonzales

09:40 to say the name because our chairman of PDP-Laban is former President Duterte, and the treasurer

09:52 of PDP-Laban is Senior Deputy Speaker Gonzales. So before he could name it, before he could

10:00 name the person who maligned Congress, so he deemed it prudent to resign first so that

10:09 siyempre, for delicadesa, you're a member of PDP and then you will be naming the accuser

10:18 or whoever that's the question of Congressman Lagman. So he resigned first at PDP-Laban

10:25 before he named the person.

10:27 And I did hear that, sir, and I did watch it. Because before he named the former president,

10:34 he said he's resigning from PDP-Laban. Are you still with PDP-Laban, sir, or do you plan

10:40 to follow suit as well?

10:41 Yes, I am still with PDP-Laban and I'm really thinking on what options I have. So depending

10:52 on the next, if ever it will be more ikanang mas mainit, then I have to decide on my option.

11:04 Yeah. Pero umalis na hung si Kong Dong Gonzales. I know, dahil nga doon sa pag-uusap nila or

11:13 Congressman Lagman laying the delicate in Congress during the session, sir.

11:18 Well, I think it's to be factual about it. When Congress opened, there were 65 members

11:26 of PDP-Laban. As of now, there are only 27 members.

11:33 And you're still part of it. So you're considering, sir, is it safe to say that you're already

11:37 considering resigning as well?

11:39 Well, I'm thinking of my options yet. I'm not saying that I'm resigning because I am

11:48 the party leader of PDP-Laban. Any issues and concerns that the leadership would like

11:54 to communicate with our party, it is disseminated to me and I communicate it with our members.

12:03 So I really have to think about it first.

12:07 Right. But I guess just coming from what we talked about with regards to Congressman Dong

12:13 Gonzales, it was hard to actually say the name of the former president as the one who

12:18 called Congress a most rotten, I think, institution. And then you laying down the predicate, basically,

12:29 you were saying, of course. So the name of the former president was mentioned. And you're

12:33 still, I guess, with the party where your chairman called Congress a most rotten institution.

12:41 In fact, I manifested my support in behalf of PDP. If you recall, after the interpellation,

12:48 several party leaders representing several political parties manifested their support.

12:56 So I think the first one was LACAS, NUP, PCNP, and then PDP also manifested our support as

13:07 far as Congress is concerned, as far as members of Congress are concerned. And it was I who

13:14 delivered the manifesto support for PDP.

13:17 Right. All right, sir. So any surprises today?

13:25 Maybe later. Well, in Congress, there are switching of political parties. Congress has

13:37 a peculiar political dynamics as a political institution. We always draw the line with

13:47 regards to the direction of the leadership. Since it's a collegial body, we should be

13:53 aligned also with the majority. So I'm sure that in the coming weeks, there will be more,

14:02 I would say, shifting of political alignments.

14:08 Right. I guess just to end it, basically, to be direct about it, sir, what people will

14:17 be moving to LACAS, I guess?

14:21 Right now, LACAS is the biggest party in Congress. I believe they now have 75 members from three

14:31 or maybe from when we opened Congress, I think more than 20. Now it's already 75, I think.

14:39 Is that a likely party that you would move to, if ever?

14:44 I cannot discuss it with you. I think that is my personal decision. I will inform you

14:52 once I reach a decision.

14:55 Okay. Thank you. Surigao del Sur 2nd District Representative Johnny Pimentel, sir. Thank

15:00 you for your time.

15:02 Thank you very much.

15:03 And thank you for joining us here on The Source. I'm Pinky Webb. You're watching CNN Philippines.

15:08 [Music]

15:14 (explosion)

Surigao del Sur 2nd Dist. Rep. Johnny Pimentel | The Source

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