Revilla claps back at 鈥榖udots鈥� flak: I danced to 343 passed bills
Sen. Ramon Bong Revilla Jr. (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — Reelectionist Senator Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. on Tuesday addressed criticisms against him over social media that he is only getting votes due a Visayan pop dance craze, saying that he did that while filing over 2,000 bills.
During the Alyansa Para sa Bagong Pilipinas rally in Pasay City on Tuesday, Revilla initially danced when he was introduced, but eventually stopped and said he may be bashed for dancing to “budots”, an electric dance genre originating from Visayan-speaking provinces in Visayas and Mindanao.
“Baka ma-bash na naman ako n’yan (I might get bashed again),” Revilla said.
Later on, Revilla addressed talks over social media that he has done nothing in the Senate.
Article continues after this advertisement“Kaya sa inyo po, sinasabi nila nag-budots lang daw ako, nagbudots lang, totoo, nagbudots ako sa Senado. Nag-budots ako ng dalawang libong panukalang batas at nakapag-pasa ng 343 na batas na ngayon na pinapakinabangan ngayon ng ating mga teachers, ‘yong Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act na tatanggap ang ating mga guro, dati P5,000, ngayong taon na ito, P10,000 na,” he said.
Article continues after this advertisement(They say I will just dance to budots in the Senate. I danced to 2,000 bills and the passage of 343 laws that benefit a lot of people like our teachers, Through the Kabalikat sa Pagtuturo Act , our teachers will receive a bigger allowance, from P5,000 to P10,000 this year.)
“At saka ‘yong mga estudyante, ‘yong Anti-No Permit, No Exam Policy, bawal na ngayon ‘yan, dahil sa ating batas, kahit hindi fully-paid ang ating mga kabataan, pwede silang mag-exam. Kaya marami pang batas, ‘yon atin pong lola at lolo, ‘yong Expanded Centenarian Law na pinaglaban namin ni Manang Imee (Marcos), ‘yong ating mga lola at lolo, 80, 85, 90, 95, tatanggap ng P10,000 simula sa taong ito,” he added.
(And for the students, we have the Anti-No Permit, No Exam Policy. Even if our students have not fully-paid their tuition, they can still take examinations. There is the Expanded Centenarian Law that I and Sen. Imee (Marcos) fought for, our grandparents aged 80, 85, 90, 95 will receive a P10,000 aid starting this year.)
Revilla, a former actor, made a successful return to the Senate after he was acquitted of plunder by the Sandiganbayan.
The plunder case stemmed from allegations that Revilla received kickbacks from Janet Lim Napoles, the businesswoman who is said to have masterminded the so-called pork barrel scam, where lawmakers’ Priority Development Assistance Funds were channelled to fake non-government organizations that she created.
In the 2019 elections, Revilla ranked 11th, getting over 14 million votes.
