Senator Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go on Tuesday called for unity among Filipinos for the coming 30th Southeast Asian Games when he defended the 2020 budget of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) during a Senate hearing.

“This should be the time for us, leaders of this country, to unite with our fellow Filipinos and rally behind our athletes. While we are here debating, we have athletes, trainers, game organizers, and thousands of volunteers sacrificing their time to bring glory to the Philippines. They are doing this for the country. There is right time for everything,” said Go.

The discussion on the budget of PSC has been prolonged due to the issues raised by Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon on the preparations for the SEA games hosting which is also being handled in coordination with agencies and entities outside PSC, such as the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) and even the Philippine Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee (PHISGOC).

Go, as Vice Chair of Senate Committee on Finance and sponsor of PSC’s budget, asked his colleagues to limit the discussion on the 2020 budget of the PSC although he suggested that if fellow senators insist on asking questions related to the organizers of the SEA Games, the Senate has an option to refer the matter to another committee, conduct an inquiry, or suspend the rules in the plenary to allow PHISGOC officials who voluntarily appeared in the Senate in order to resolve issues to respond directly.

“If my colleagues in this chamber insist on asking questions beyond the scope of the PSC budget, then, I think it would be more prudent to hear answers straight from the horses’ mouth. I, too, want to get to the bottom of things based on the rules and in order not to prolong the discussions here at the expense of the budgets of the PSC and other agencies scheduled today,” Go said.

“We can either refer this to another venue or committee and conduct a Senate inquiry so that all issues about the propriety and legality of the PHISGOC’s organizing of the SEA Games can be answered. If anything goes wrong, let us put it in record and investigate it, or we can simply suspend our rules and let them answer here and now.”

Along with other key officials, organizers, and athletes, PHISGOC chairperson and Speaker of the House Alan Peter Cayetano voluntarily appeared at the Senate plenary today to clear issues that were raised during the plenary debates last week.

Also present during the deliberations were Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and PSC Chair William “Butch” Ramirez whose agency’s budget is being tackled.

“I believe that they are ready and willing to shed light on this pressing matter. They have voluntarily appeared here to put an end to this issue,” Go said.

The Senate have decided to grant the motion to suspend the rules during the plenary debates on the PSC budget in order to allow the games organizers to respond to queries of Drilon beyond the scope of the PSC 2020 proposed budget being sponsored by Go.

After the interpellation, Senate Majority Leader Miguel Zubiri moved to have the PSC’s budget deemed submitted and approved.