Newly-elected Sen. Robin Padilla admitted having a hard time keeping up with his colleagues in the Senate who are conversing in English during plenary debates.
In an interview with reporters, Sen. Padilla said he will take advantage of the Senate journal in order to fully understand what his fellow lawmakers are discussing.
“Yun lang, nahihirapan lang ako pag nag-Englishan na, medyo ‘pwede dahan-dahan lang?’ Kaya mahalaga ‘yong journal eh. Kaya binabasa ko ‘yong journal kasi nandun lahat eh, mahalaga ‘yon,” Sen. Padilla explained.
Asked by a reporter what he does in order to catch up with discussions, he said: “Nakatunganga lang ako. ‘Ah okay.’ Bukas mababasa ko sa journal ito.”
He added that it is a challenge to him whenever his colleagues start using deep English words, especially during debates.
“Hindi naman lahat hindi ko naiintindihan. Kapag gumamit lang sila ng mga English na pang-dictionary, marami talaga eh. Lalo na ‘pag nagtatalo na… Dun naglalabasan ng mga webster doon. Medyo dumudugo tenga ko. Hindi naman ako pinagsalita eh,” he also said.
“Ang journal ko, may mga linya. ‘Pag may linya ‘yun ibig sabihin kailangan ko ng dictionary.”
It can be remembered that the neophyte senator also said that he believes that Filipino should be used more often, because English is more widely used especially in government issuances.
“Sa karanasan ko po, hindi nagagamit ‘yung Filipino, laging English lang. Katulad sa batas natin ‘pag lumalabas ang batas natin, English. ‘Pag sa korte, ‘pag nasentensyahan ang tao, English ang binabasa,” he said.
“Parang sa akin unfair ‘yun. Parang hindi patas para dun sa mga kababayan natin na ‘di ko naman sinasabing hindi nakakaintindi ng English ano kundi masyado kasing ‘yung may kinalaman sa batas, ‘yung mga English niyan masyadong hindi mo talaga din maintindihan,” he added.
Sen. Padilla was the frontrunner during the May 2022 senatorial race after receiving 26.6 million votes.