BHW Party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co (left), Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

Two congresswomen have filed an ethics complaint against senatorial aspirant AGRI Party-list Rep. Wilbert T. Lee for his alleged "acts of aggression" during last month's House plenary debate on the Department of Health's (DOH) proposed budget. 

Filing the complaint on Monday, Oct. 14 on the ground of "improper conduct" was Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo and BHW Party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co. 

Quimbo is the senior vice chairperson of the appropriations panel, while Co is a vice chairperson. 

"This morning, kami po ni Cong Nikka (Cong Nikka and I), we jointly filed a complaint before the Committee on Ethics against Rep. Wilbert Lee for improper conduct during the budget hearing last Sept. 25. So ito po yung (This was during the) DOH budget hearing," Quimbo said in a press briefing after the filing. 

"Kami po ay naging (We became the) subjects of his acts of aggression," said the Marikina solon, who was accompanied by Co. 

"Sobrang takot po talaga namin nung time na yun. First time po nangyari samin," she said. 

(That time was very frightening for us. It was the first time that it happened to us.) 

"My filing in the Committee on Ethics is my reaction to what his behavior was. I don't think that's a good action for anybody, a parliamentarian," Co said of the AGRI Party-list solon. 

"And I don't want that to be a precedent sa mga susunod po na kung sino po ang uupo as budget sponsor ay pwede pong ganunin kung sino pong member ng House of Representatives," she said. 

(And I don't want that to be a precedent for those who will sit as the next budget sponsor, for them to be treated like that by any member of the House of Representatives.) 

Visibly shaken 

Quimbo was still visibly shaken as she recounted her harrowing experience last Sept. 25. 

"Palagay ko ako po yung primary target ni Rep. Lee (I think I was the primary target of Rep. Lee). 

The House plenary had just finished terminating the DOH budget when she saw a supposedly fuming Lee approach her. 

"I turned around and I already saw him on my right, and nakita ko po siya, nagkatinginan po kami (I saw him, we looked each other in the eye), and I knew that based on his hands movements that he was intending to come toward me. 

"Nakikita ko po mukha niya na mayroong form of aggression. At alam ko naman kung ano yung gusto niya dahil even before that, nagpupumilit siyang magsalita," recalled Quimbo. 

Marikina City 2nd district Rep. Stella Quimbo (Ellson Quismorio/ MANILA BULLETIN)

(I saw on his face that there was a form of aggression. And I knew what he wanted because even before that, he was insisting on speaking.) 

Lee took on a hardcore pro-health stance ahead of his filing of a certificate of candidacy (COC). This turned him into somewhat of a fault-finder with the DOH, including the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth).


'No genuine apology' 

Quimbo narrated: "He (Lee) was moving toward me and nung malapit na po siya, he uttered the words, 'Kung hindi niyo ako pasasalitain, manggugulo ako (when he was near, he uttered the words, 'If you don't let me talk, I'll create trouble here).' And he started pointing at me." 

"And as he was moving forward, sa sobrang takot ko po (because of my fear), i ducked behind the podium...so yun po ang nangyari. Makikita naman po sa CCTV footage lahat (so that's what happened. You can see everything in the closed camera television footage)," she added. 

Asked if he believed Lee was going to hit him, Quimbo nodded and said: "Yung ang sa tingin ko (That's what I think)." 

But has Lee apologized to her since then? "I've never received any form of genuine apology." 

What Lee did according to Quimbo was write the Committee on Appropriations to explain his actions in plenary that day. 

Co had earlier said that Lee personally apologized to her when they saw each other during the week of COC filing.