Sotto to skip parliamentarian assembly in Switzerland, wants meeting postponed due to COVID-19 threat

Senate President Vicente Sotto III on Saturday said he and some of his colleagues are not likely to attend the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in Switzerland in April due to the threat of the coronavirus (COVID-19) in Europe.

"Di ko alam sa iba, pero sa akin at saka mga kasama ko na supposedly a-attend sa IPU sa Switzerland ako ay nagpasabi na 'wag muna, meron na rin sa Europe eh ang dami nga, ang bilis kumalat sa Europe," Sotto said in a radio interview.

Aside from Sotto, other senators in the IPU assembly are Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto, Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Minority Leader Franklin Drilon, Senators Panfilo Lacson, Sonny Angara, Joel Villanueva, Sherwin Gatchalian, Ronald dela Rosa, Imee Marcos, and Nancy Binay.

Sotto, however, said he is not discouraging his other colleagues should they still prefer to attend.

"Oo nagpasabi na ako, nagpasabi ako na kung tatanungin niyo ako mas gusto ko na i-postpone natin ito kasi nagtatanong na sila kasi sila mismo parang gusto na nila i-cancel," Sotto said.

Sotto is supposed to chair the Asia-Pacific Group of the 142nd Assembly in Switzerland from April 16 to 20, 2020, and the 143rd Assembly, in Kigali, Rwanda from October 11 to 15, 2020. — Jamil Santos/MDM, GMA News