• 2 months ago
Saksi is GMA Network's late-night newscast hosted by Arnold Clavio and Pia Arcangel. It airs Mondays to Fridays at 10:50 PM (PHL Time) on GMA-7. For more videos from Saksi, visit http://www.gmanews.tv/saksi.

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Transcript
00:00We will all be together in Saksi!
00:13In Saksi, the 6.352 trillion pesos national budget for 2025 has been approved.
00:22285 congressmen voted in favor of the bill while 3 voted against it.
00:30The budget of the Office of the Vice President is included in the approval,
00:33which is more than half of the original budget requested for them.
00:39Saksi! This is Mackie Pulido.
00:44The Office of the Vice President is asking for more than 2 billion pesos.
00:49But just a while ago in the plenary of the House of Representatives,
00:51it was only 733 million pesos based on the recommendation of the Committee on Appropriations.
00:57The budget was removed from some of the programs of the OVP,
01:00which are duplication or are being done by other agencies.
01:03It is still high if it will be implemented because ACT-Teachers party list representative,
01:08Franz Castro, lowered the budget to 529 million pesos.
01:12It is enough for the budget of the OVP to not be affected.
01:16Because none of us know where to use the funds.
01:23That's why, Mr. Speaker, my proposal, the budget I am proposing to the Office of the Vice President is 529,593,700.
01:37These are just mere manifestations and the body can exercise its plenary powers
01:44to either accept or to reject any possible proposals,
01:49especially if it's an individual amendment.
01:52Because Vice President Sara Duterte is still no-show,
01:55or even if she was laughed at by her staff,
01:57no one asked.
01:58As for the people who want to know,
02:01where did the 70 million pesos of confidential funds
02:05that were spent in just 11 days of 2022,
02:09which was passed again by the Commission on Audit?
02:12Why didn't the OVP show up?
02:15Is she abandoning her duty as Vice President?
02:20The answer to the question of budget deliberation is duty
02:25because the money of the people is being discussed here.
02:30This is not a choice that can be foregone.
02:34VP Sara said that she will only attend the Senate hearing on the 2025 budget of the OVP.
02:41But she doesn't expect to get back more than half of the money
02:45that the committee allocated to the camera in their budget.
02:47The congressmen are just looking for information
02:50to support the impeachment case against her.
02:53They made another track, the resignation.
02:57They will say, we impeached you for wrongdoing, whatever.
03:02And then this group, leave because if you don't leave, you will be beaten.
03:08If the Vice President is still in office, she will not resign.
03:11I will not leave because I put people here believing that I will work for the country.
03:21And that is what we did, we worked.
03:23I will not answer to the young guns because I need to answer to the 32 million who voted for me.
03:36Last night, President Bongbong Marcos certified the passage of the National Budget for 2025.
03:42If it is approved by the camera, the Senate will vote on it
03:46before unifying the versions of both cases in the Bicameral Conference Committee.
03:51After that, it will be passed to the President for it to become a law.
03:55As of now, the hearings in the Senate Committee are on schedule.
03:59And we hope that it will be approved when there is enough time for the President to read and review it.
04:06For GMA Integrated News, I am Mackie Pulido, your witness.
04:11Israel's airstrikes in Lebanon were even more intense
04:14in the middle of its continuation in the group Hezbollah.
04:17Hezbollah, on the other hand, retained the headquarters of the Israeli spy agency.
04:22Our witness.
04:29A fireball hit the area of a seaside town in Lebanon following the Israeli airstrike.
04:35According to the Lebanese Health Minister, the number of infected people is less than 569
04:39and there are almost 2,000 wounded since the Israeli airstrikes started on Monday.
04:46Israel expanded the areas it is bombing.
04:49In this airstrike, the missile launcher directed at Tel Aviv was the target.
04:54Away from Israel, the Israelis were able to return.
04:56They escaped from the northern part of Israel due to tensions at the border
05:00for almost a year since Hezbollah announced its support to the Palestinians in the war in Gaza.
05:08Hezbollah also continued the exchange of rockets.
05:14A dashcam captured a vehicle of a rocket strike on a highway in Israel.
05:20According to the Israeli Army, 40 rockets were fired at a town in northern Israel.
05:27Hezbollah said that they targeted the headquarters of the Mossad spy agency in Tel Aviv
05:32where they used to spy on the explosions of their group's pagers.
05:38It was not confirmed or denied by Israel.
05:40A warning siren went off in Tel Aviv but there was no sign of it.
05:45A missile that was aimed at the town was intercepted.
05:50Pope Francis joined the call to ease tensions.
05:54He said that the situation is not acceptable and that the international community should do everything to stop it.
06:01According to the DFA, the preparation for any need of a mass repatriation is still ongoing.
06:06According to the DFA, the preparation for any need of a mass repatriation is still ongoing.
06:12We are happy because there is still no, thank God,
06:17there is still no Filipino injured in the successive wave of the attack of Hezbollah in Lebanon,
06:25including this one neighborhood in southern Beirut that is called Hezbollah enclave.
06:33For GMA Integrated News, Joseph Morong is your witness.
06:37There is still no answer as to how the so-called congressmen can vote for the residents of the so-called EMBO barangay.
06:45The discussion about that in the Senate was brought back to the answer of the two senators in the session.
06:51Witness, Mav Gonzales.
06:57The Senators and Senate Sergeants at Arms intervened,
06:59but Senator Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Miguel Zubiri did not hold back when they burst into the Senate session last night.
07:20The defeat of Cayetano's request to discuss the Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 23 began.
07:27It stated that there is still no law that establishes where the Congressional District is counted as the Enlisted Men's Barrio or EMBO,
07:35barangays that were once part of Makati City but were transferred to Taguig based on the decision of the Supreme Court in 2022.
07:42Therefore, in the election of 2025, according to Komelec,
07:45no other vote was allowed in Congress for more than 200,000 registered voters in EMBO.
07:51The resolution stated that the District will include each EMBO barangay because the situation is urgent and the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy is near,
08:00but Zubiri questioned its discussion.
08:20I can state for the record, Mr. President, it has nothing to do with Makati anymore.
08:24Because all of these barangays are now under Taguig, being administered by Taguig, and the problem is they will not be able to vote for any…
08:35Just a one-minute suspension. Just a one-minute suspension.
08:39This is where the two shouted.
08:41After the session, they calmed down.
08:43It didn't have to go that way.
08:45And I apologize if I raised my voice.
08:47If it will help you, maybe we can pass this, we can take it up tomorrow.
08:52We did give due courtesy to Senator Nancy even if this involves barangays that are no longer part of Makati.
08:59But because the chair thought it used to belong to Makati, we cleared it with her.
09:04The response was, she can confirm or deny the same tomorrow.
09:09It has nothing to do with Makati because it has everything to do with Taguig.
09:15I was with Senate President Zubiri since 1998.
09:18So maybe we're entitled to one heated argument, which is tonight.
09:22In the end, the two senators shook hands and hugged each other.
09:25The Senate also adopted a resolution that is not a law, but only expresses the sentiments of the senators.
09:32Earlier, Zubiri made fun of Senator Nancy Pinay.
09:39Zubiri said, this is just a miscommunication.
09:41It would have been avoided if there was a consultation with the senators.
09:44Zubiri explained, it's just a mere request of Congress, then okay.
09:48We already agreed what happened.
09:50We already agreed that I think we shouldn't let our emotions run wild.
09:57Kaya Tanong refused to comment on the issue.
09:59The sentiment of some residents of Embu is that the issue of voting for their representation in the House of Representatives would have been avoided.
10:07It's ugly.
10:09What's ugly?
10:10We can't vote for the congressman.
10:17We're used to having a congressman in every vote.
10:23It's our first time in Embu that there's no congressman.
10:26The Congress will wait for the result of the Congress.
10:30For GMA Integrated News, I'm Mav Gonzalez.
10:35A crucial personality was signed in the Executive Session of Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo,
10:41who was involved in the illegal operation of Pogo.
10:44The former PNP Chief Benamin Acorda Jr. is ready to face the Senate.
10:48Witness, June Veneracion.
10:54There was already a few-minute Executive Session yesterday of the Senators to Dismissed Bamban Mayor Alice Guo.
11:05You know, I'm not at liberty to share with you.
11:08I don't want to judge everyone, but if she is the least guilty,
11:17if she lied before, there is a reason.
11:20This is an important icebreaker.
11:22I think it's important to put Alice first.
11:26I think there are masterminds behind this big operation.
11:31It's important for her to say who.
11:34But the Chairperson of the Committee on Women and Children, Senator Risa Ontiveros,
11:38is not very satisfied.
11:40But...
11:41There was one crucial personality confirmed by Moe Joaquin.
11:46This corroborates a theory that the committee shared a month ago.
11:50Because the session was confidential,
11:52the Senator did not detail what story this is or who signed the personality.
11:58The Executive Session will continue next week.
12:01We invite the next speaker to the Senate,
12:04the former PNP Chief, Benjamin Acorda Jr.,
12:07and a former PNP official,
12:09to share their story with some of the personalities in Pogo.
12:13We deem it important to give them a platform to respond in the interest of fairness.
12:19General Acorda gave us assurance.
12:24In the universe of the Council of Chiefs,
12:26he did not do anything wrong.
12:29And he is not the PNP Chief that we are talking about.
12:33Because he was the one who created the source of information, right?
12:37General Benjamin Acorda.
12:38No invitation has been received from the Senate from Acorda,
12:41but he is ready to face this.
12:43He admitted that he was hurt by the false image.
12:46It really hurts.
12:47Because for 37 years, I tried to keep my records clean.
12:51But just for one picture or many pictures,
12:55and with so many inventions, it was destroyed immediately.
13:00But it was included in the service.
13:03Acorda admitted that he was never involved in the illegal operations of Pogo,
13:07let alone the illegal transactions.
13:09On the same day, he ordered Pogo to be raided in Bambantarlac in March.
13:13I never tolerated or transacted illegal activities with my friends.
13:19Even if they come to me for help,
13:21for their pay, and if there are things that need to be discussed,
13:26I am just legal.
13:27I never transacted illegally.
13:29Retired Brigadier General Raul Villanueva's PACOR official
13:33said this on September 17
13:35that there is an unverified intel report that an ex-PNP Chief
13:38helped Go and he was in Payo, Lapanya, Umano.
13:43In his next meeting with the Senate yesterday,
13:46he asked the former PNP Chiefs
13:48who were affected by what he said.
13:50I can face anybody squarely, eye to eye, without flinching an eye.
13:54I can say that we are clean there.
13:57That's why I left.
13:58We have nothing to do there.
13:59When he ran away, I did not accept money from him.
14:04With the escape of Alice,
14:05his brother Sheila, who is in custody of the National Bureau of Investigation,
14:11according to the Bureau of Immigration,
14:13was transferred there due to security concerns.
14:17In the custody of the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Commission,
14:20Tony Yang, former economic advisor to Michael Yang,
14:25is being studied by the NBI and prosecutors
14:28who filed a complaint of falsification and use of alias against him.
14:32So that he will not be deported,
14:34so that he will have a reason to be left in the Philippines
14:36and face criminal charges.
14:37Yang admitted yesterday that he is a Chinese national,
14:40but his grandfather helped him to get a birth certificate
14:45that was issued in the Philippines.
14:47Various agencies are investigating Yang's possible affiliation with the POGO.
14:52We will look into Tony Yang's various businesses,
14:55the warehouse, the possible POGO,
14:59to see what can be more serious crimes against him.
15:03Yang has a deportation case in the Bureau of Immigration
15:07due to misrepresentation and undesirability.
15:11For GMA Integrated News,
15:13I am June Veneracion, your witness.
15:17An ex-Undersecretary of the Department of Education
15:21was arrested and detained for more than a month.
15:24He was detained by the Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte.
15:28The former Undersecretary was charged with using his name.
15:34Oscar Oida is a witness.
15:36This is Oscar Oida.
15:40Within a month, from February to September 2023,
15:44while serving as the Head of the Procurement Entity
15:47of the Department of Education or DepEd,
15:49the former DepEd Undersecretary Gloria Jumamil Mercado
15:52received an envelope for the first time in months.
15:55The contents were P50,000 pesos per envelope.
15:59The envelope was usually received by Assistant Secretary Sunshine M. Paharda.
16:04It was said that it came from Vice President Sara Duterte.
16:07In the middle of the interrogation, she took out the envelopes.
16:11It was painful. I was just an ordinary worker.
16:14Then the Vice President appointed me, right?
16:19According to Mercado, she never opened the envelopes
16:24when she was still serving in DepEd.
16:26When she retired...
16:28I sought some advice and they just advised me to donate it
16:34to a non-government organization, which I did.
16:39And that's the only time that I opened these envelopes
16:42in front of the people that I was donating it.
16:45And it was P50,000 per envelope.
16:48The reason why you are considering all these concerns
16:51is because you believe that the envelope is a bribe.
16:55Do you agree?
16:57Yes or no, ma'am?
17:01It's kind of a harsh word to use, bribe.
17:07Because if...
17:09Or should I say, it is a means to influence your decision being the hope?
17:18It could be.
17:20In her affidavit, Mercado said that in October 2023,
17:24Attorney Reynold Monsayac,
17:26former Assistant Secretary of DepEd for Procurement,
17:29told her about a bidding.
17:31He suggested in the presence of other officials who was with me
17:36that the bidder should just discuss among themselves.
17:40Let's just discuss so that the money of 2023 won't be wasted.
17:45I firmly asserted that the procurement must be implemented
17:49and conducted in strict adherence with the rules.
17:52As a result, she was called by the Chief of Staff of the Vice President,
17:57Zulaika Lopez, and she was dismissed from her post.
18:02I was informed that I should tender my resignation effective that day.
18:06I refused to resign and I insisted on departing from service through voluntary retirement.
18:12The timing of my meeting with Ms. Zulaika struck me as more than coincidental.
18:17It gave me the impression that my candid responses
18:21was the real reason behind the push to leave me of my office.
18:26Would you agree if I would say that your refusal of Attorney Reynold Monsayac
18:33to discuss the 2022 continuing fund
18:38is the reason why you are resigning, Attorney Zulaika?
18:44That's very speculative ma'am.
18:47From your point of view ma'am, it can be right, it can be wrong.
18:52But from your point of view.
18:54It could be.
18:55Attorney Monsayac was surprised by the statement of Marcado.
18:59I have no reason or interest or inclination to give an illegal order
19:06to a public place where there are people whom I don't know.
19:11I said, what is your plan there?
19:13Because if you will continue the post-qualification and it will expire,
19:17it will not reach December 2023.
19:22So decide if you will revoke it.
19:25Because if you will revoke it, the fund will not be wasted.
19:29It will still be utilized before the end of 2023.
19:32At a press conference earlier,
19:34VP Sara Duterte said that Marcado was fired because of the issue of trust and confidence.
19:40She solicited 16 million pesos from a company on paper using my name without any authorization.
19:51The OVP issued a letter signed by Marcado
19:55where the name of Vice President Sara Duterte is mentioned.
19:59It includes the breakdown of the usable and total cost of 16 million pesos.
20:05Marcado responded appropriately to the hearing.
20:08So we made a presentation to almost all the corporations.
20:12And then some of the corporations appreciated that it's a very important program.
20:17So some of them committed.
20:19I explained properly.
20:21I did not solicit.
20:22There's no money involved there.
20:24These are equipments.
20:26There's no cash there.
20:28It's equipments that will be turned over to DepEd.
20:32So I feel very sad that up until now,
20:36the VP has not been appraised as I explained it to her people.
20:42In her opening statement,
20:44Congressman Joel Chua said that he heard accusations and insinuations
20:48from their committee that it was a political exercise or attack on an individual.
20:53Chua said that the committee just wanted to know
20:56how the OVP's Confidential Fund was spent.
21:01I must stress at this point that the sheer vastness of these potentially misused funds
21:08sets this matter apart from other instances of irregularity and disallowance.
21:15These amounts easily surpass the threshold for the crime of plunder under our laws.
21:22We are waiting for the reaction of Vice President Duterte.
21:26For GMA Integrated News,
21:28I am your host, Oscar Oida.
21:34Jesus!
21:35It's like a bomb that exploded in the middle of a fire in a house in Legazpi, City, Albay.
21:41The owner of the house's pet dog was killed.
21:43No one else was injured.
21:45In the initial investigation,
21:47an LPG tank exploded in the fire that was still being investigated.
21:51To avoid fire and accidents,
21:53always remember to check if the LPG tank has a leak.
21:58Put it in a place with proper ventilation.
22:01It should not be heated or directly exposed to sunlight.
22:09The oil tanker Jason Bradley,
22:13based on the footage that was released,
22:15was found dead in the sea.
22:19For now, we are asking for industrial oil samples
22:23from the NBI Customs and Marina or Maritime Industry Authority.
22:28The ship sank on July 27 in Maribeles, Bataan
22:31and spilled oil.
22:34The ship is subject to Warrant of Seizure and Detention of Customs
22:37and is being investigated for oil smuggling.
22:44Happy Christmas!
22:49If you want the happiest place on earth to visit,
22:53you don't have to go abroad.
22:55The Christmas Park is located in San Fernando, Pampanga.
22:59It is full of cartoon and animated characters
23:02who regularly perform there.
23:04You can experience White Christmas in their artificial snow.
23:10There are also many attractions that are perfect for picture-taking.
23:14Not only kids, but also kids at heart can enjoy that
23:17with their pets.
23:26Filo carrots are ready to love this January once more.
23:31Because God of Music 17 will return to the Philippines
23:34for their two-night concert in Bulacan.
23:37It will be part of their 17 Right Here World Tour.
23:41The announcement is bittersweet
23:43because Jung will not be able to join the tour.
23:46Jung Han will also enlist in the military tomorrow.
23:49In a Weverse post, he sent well wishes to the carrots
23:53and said that he will return.
23:56He said that he will continue to support the members
23:58in their activities such as the promotion for their album
24:01Spill the Fields.
24:05Harleen Budol celebrated her first Christmas
24:08with a big celebration.
24:20It was Harleen's first time to receive Php 1,000.
24:25It happened to the next guest of Yosemarie Chan
24:28in a variety show called Tick Tock Clock
24:30where one of the hosts is Harleen.
24:33Because of the game, the singer was called Chanta Claus.
24:45I am PR Kanghel for a bigger mission
24:48and a wider service to the country.
24:51From GMI Integrated News,
24:53the news authority of the Philippines,
24:55until tomorrow, we will be together.
24:59Saksi!
25:04Kapuso, let's be saksi together!
25:08Subscribe to GMI Integrated News on YouTube
25:11and for Kapuso Abroad,
25:13join us on GMA Pinoy TV and www.gminews.tv