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Former Battle of the Brains finalist Orion Dumdum (left), APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc (Screenshots from Facebook live)
APEC Party-list Rep. Sergio Dagooc, an expert on the power sector, “battled” in plenary on Wednesday, Feb. 28 a Philippine quiz show legend and somewhat came out on top.
Dagooc took on “Battle of the Brains” alumnus Orion Dumdum, who represented his alma mater Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU) during the quiz show’s heyday in the early 90s.
On Wednesday, Dumdum appeared at the House of Representatives as one of the resource persons in the Committee of the Whole’s deliberations on Resolution of Both Houses (RBH) No.7.
A former overseas Filipino worker (OFW) in Singapore, Dumdum advocated for the lifting of the economic restrictions in the 1987 Constitution, which RBH No.7.
He looked sharply dressed in a suit and sounded sharp as ever with his inputs in the discussion. A casual viewer of the proceedings would have mistaken him for a congressman.
But Dagooc, an assistant minority leader, took issue with a supposed statement from Dumdum that opening up the Philippine economy would easily lead to a drop in electricity rates.
“Thirty-nine years na po ako sa trabaho na ito kaya hindi ko matanggap yung narinig ko kanina na by just opening up, bababa yung presyo ng kuryente,” Dagooc said, referring to Dumdum.
(I’ve been at this job for 39 years and I just can’t accept what I heard earlier that by just opening up, electricity rates would go down.)
To this, the latter responded: ” I really just want to vehemently express my disappointment that I am being misrepresented, misrepresented–because I never said that by opening up to foreign direct investors, automatically the cost of electricity will go down.”
He then added in a raised voice: “That is erecting a strawman argument, and that is a fallacy, a logical fallacy that should never be uttered inside these hallowed halls. Thank you.”
This outburst caught the ire of Committee of the Whole Majority Leader Mandaluyong City lone district Rep. Neptali Gonzales II, who subsequently told Dumdum: “May we remind the resource speaker that this is our hall, and we are not supposed to be scolded by anybody who is not a member of the House.”
Dagooc didn’t take Dumdum’s retort sitting down and said that he would ask the secretariat to review the running transcript of discussions.
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Half-baked apology
Refusing to move on, the APEC solon came back two hours later and read on the floor a lengthy excerpt from Dumdum’s presentation earlier in the day. The latter confirmed it to be accurate via thumbs up sign.
“If we had been more open in the transmission side to foreign investors, we might have more high quality and more advanced technology that would allow us to have more efficient energy distribution distribution leading to lower energy cost. Ganun lang ka-simple (It’s that simple),” Dagooc quoted Dumdum as saying.
The minority bloc solon then demanded an apology from former Battle of the Brains finalist. “Because he denies, he is lying. Pinalampas ko na kanina yung parang he is scolding me (I let it slide that he seemed to be scolding me).”
“I deny saying having said that it would instantaneously cause changes…if we listen to the transcript, that was not mentioned. I did not say that automatically, overnight, next day, ayos na lahat (everything would be done). I did not say that,” said Dumdum.
“In any case,” he quickly added, ” I apologize…Congressman Dagooc, I’d liked apologize to you that there was a misinterpretation in what I said.
“But that was not what I meant, and that was clearly not what I said. But I apologize that there was some kind of misunderstanding,” Dumdum said.
Dagooc responded, “For the record, I partially accept his apology because…it is a half-baked apology. Thank you Mr. Chair.”
The high cost of electricity in the Philippines is often cited as a deterrent to the entry of foreign investments. — Ellson Quismorio
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Credit belongs to: www.mb.com.ph
