Tito on Robin’s preference: Speaking in Filipino can’t be forced on other senators

Senators may speak in Filipino on the Senate floor but their colleagues may not be forced to use the national language when they interact during the proceedings, Senate President Vicente Sotto III said on Wednesday.

The outgoing senator made the remark a day after Senator-elect Robin Padilla expressed his preference to debate in Tagalog saying all his colleagues were Filipinos.

"That is indeed an option if you have difficulty in the English language but you cannot force the others to interpellate in Filipino," Sotto said in a text message.

"The journal, rules, index and bills are all written in English not to mention the Constitution," he added.

Outgoing Sorsogon governor and Senator-elect Francis Escudero said speaking in Filipino while taking the platform inside the plenary hall was allowed under the rules.

"I myself speak in Filipino on the floor since I was a congressman in 1998. There is nothing wrong with it and it is allowed by the rules," Escudero said in a text message.

Senator-elect Jinggoy Estrada agreed, saying that he spoke in Filipino when he stood during the impeachment trial of late former Chief Justice Renato Corona.

"Well, there seems to be no problem with it. Remember during the impeachment trial of CJ Corona, I was speaking in our native language in order for the masa to understand it well," Estrada said.

"In fact, there is no rule in the senate that bars you from speaking in our own language," he added. —NB, GMA News