Transcript of media interview after the Senate hearing of the Committee on Education on Martial Law Education 

Q: What’s your take sa nangyari kahapon?

Sen. Bam: Well, I voted no because I thought it was unnecessary. Palagay ng ibang mga kasama namin na dapat mas maayos iyong pag-presinta ni Sen. De Lima. Puwede naman siyang kausapin. I don’t think it was necessary na palitan siya nang basta-basta. It was also unprecedented. Hindi pa nangyari iyan sa ating kasaysayan sa Senado. So, I’m hoping that Sen. Gordon who is now the new Justice Committee Chairman can lead the committee well, but I’m one of those who voted na hindi kinakailangan [palitan ang chairperson]. I felt that puwede pa naman mag-usap-usap iyong mga Senador bilang mga co-equals, bilang isang collegial body. 

Q: What will happen to the alliance between LP and PDP considering what happened na obviously, majority flexes its muscles. Will you stay in the majority given na ginawa nila ito?

Sen. Bam: We’re talking about that, to be very frank. We’ll be discussing it today and in the succeeding days. 

 Medyo nabigla kami kahapon na nangyari iyon so pag-uusapan namin iyan and I’m sure that will be the subject of our discussion for the next couple of days.

 We also want to check if the reforms that we want to push in the different committees can still be pushed in the current setup. 

Q: Sir, puwede i-consider na mag-join na kayo sa minority? 

 Sen. Bam: Well, again, iyan ang mga pag-uusapan pa. I’ll be very frank with you, nagulat kami kahapon sa mga pangyayari. We are part of the majority and usually, iyong mayorya, nag-uusap-usap muna iyan bago may gawin na ganiyan. 

Q: So hindi kayo nakonsulta?

Sen. Bam: Hindi kami na-consult, hindi ni-raise sa amin. Honestly, if it were raised earlier, probably that might not have been the outcome yesterday. Baka puwede pa pag-usapan ang mga bagay-bagay. But with regard to kung anong gagawin – anong mga next steps, I’ll have to admit to you, pag-uusapan pa iyon. 

Q: A little bit disappointed ba kayo? 

Sen. Bam: I was very disappointed with what happened yesterday, which is why I voted “No”.  

Usually, sa mga bagay-bagay na ganyan pinag-uusapan muna. If there were concerns about the way that she was sharing, that could have been raised in a caucus.

In fact, si Sen. Drilon was trying to call for a caucus yesterday noong nalaman namin na that would have been the subject matter of the privilege speech ni Sen. Alan.

There was an attempt. Baka puwede muna itong pag-usapan bilang isang majority.  We are part of the majority after all. But, mukhang a number of our colleagues, desidido na sila na tanggalin siya. So tinanggal na siya.

Q: Kailan iyong meeting?

Sen. Bam: It will happen over the next couple of days. We’ll have a series of meetings. Ayaw rin naman namin na rushed iyong aming mga desisyon tungkol sa mga bagay-bagay na iyan. Pag-uusapan. We’ll also consult with our other stakeholders, our other colleagues. We’ll talk about it. 

But definitely, I was very disappointed with the vote yesterday. I think it could have been a different outcome.