Tito Sotto on Senate comeback bid: Voters want experienced leaders

Former Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III  

MANILA, Philippines – Former Senate president Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, in staging his Senate comeback bid, said voters want experienced leaders. 

“‘Pag tinignan mo yung baseline surveys ng mga survey groups, tinanong nila ang tao: ano ang gusto mo iboto? Ano gusto mong maging leader ng bansa o maging leader mo? Ang sagot: una, experience; pangalawa, track record; pangatlo, ano programa. Kalimutan mo na yung iba. Yun ang top three nila,” Sotto said in an interview with Inquirer’s INQside Look on Tuesday.

(If we look at the baseline surveys of these survey groups, they asked people: what do you want to vote for? What do you want in your country’s leader or your leader? The answer: first was experience, second was track record, and third was their programs. Forget the rest. That’s their top three.)

Sotto was first elected Senator in 1992, serving until 2004 and then again from 2010 to 2022. He then went on to be the chamber’s president from 2018 to 2022.

In 2022, the long-time senator made a bid for the vice presidency, running alongside presidential candidate and fellow senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson.

“I was opting for retirement,” Sotto said.

“Things took a turn when I got some ideas that I had before but did not come to light. Watching what was transpiring in government, in the Senate, even in the House of Representatives, I decided to go back and ask the people to bring me back to the Senate and see if I could do more,” he added.

Rightsizing

Sotto said government rightsizing was among his top priorities if elected for a fifth term.

“I’ve seen that the budget has bloated. P6.3 trillion. More than 60 percent of that P6.3 trillion goes to personal services. It does not go directly to our people. Then about 15 or 18 percent goes to debt servicing. Ano yung inaasahan natin sa atin? Yung natira, nakikita natin, hindi maganda. Kung saan-saan napupunta. So we really need budget reform,” Sotto said.

(I’ve seen that the budget has bloated. P6.3 trillion. More than 60 percent of that P6.3 trillion goes to personal services. It does not go directly to our people. Then about 15 or 18 percent goes to debt servicing. What do we expect for ourselves? The rest, as we’ve seen, isn’t good. It goes here and there. So we really need budget reform.)

Sotto added that he previously pushed to rightsize the government before he last left the Senate in 2022.

He cited the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers in 2022, saying it consolidated functions of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration, the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration and parts of the Department for Foreign Affairs.

Sotto proposed an early retirement program to reduce the size of government offices and free up some budget from personal services.

“The General Appropriations Act is the single most important piece of legislation that we need to pass. And we pass it every year. So you can do it within that year, reforming the budget right then and there,” Sotto said.

“In the budget itself, you can make use of the unused [funds] already. Give it directly to the people,” he added.

Political dynasties

When asked about political dynasties, Sotto said, “I have a very long history about that issue. I’m torn between the devil and the deep blue sea.”

The senator recalled that his grandfather, Vicente Sotto, previously served in the Senate.

“I think we should be very careful. We should tread on thin ice over this kasi maraming parameters. I’ll be very blunt: I cannot say I’m against it, but I cannot say I’m for it,” he added.

Sotto said many of the local government officials within his party, the Nationalist People’s Coalition, pointed to term limits as the reason for the persistence of political dynasties.

“Majority, not all, ang sinasabi nila ang culprit sa political dynasty issue is the term limits. Oras na hindi matapos programa niya, after nine years as mayor, gusto niya may magtuloy, e hindi na siya pwede, patatakbuhin yung asawa o yung anak.”

(For the majority, not all, what they’re saying is the culprit in the political dynasty issue is the term limits. Once a mayor’s three terms are over and his programs are still unfinished, he will have his wife or his child run instead.)

Sotto added that the issue was also discussed when he first entered the chamber during the 9th Congress, when he questioned what constitutes a political dynasty.

“I have no silver bullet for that right now,” Sotto said.