Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino is optimistic that Senators Nancy Binay and Alan Peter Cayetano will soon reconcile following an organizational meeting on Wednesday, July 17, 2024 of the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
"Positive naman ako, mararangal na tao yung mga makakausap ko at naiintindihan nila yung kahalagan ng pagkakaisa muli (I'm positive because I'll be talking to honorable people and they understand the importance of reuniting)," he said in an interview.
Tolentino conducted an organizational meeting to approve the 21-page committee rules. Part of this is a conciliation process as part of the rules to be participated in by the seven members of the committee, including Binay, the complainant Cayetano.
"So bago mag-hearing imi-meet ko muna yung mga complainant, kung sino man yung cinomplaint para i-settle amicably (Before conducting a hearing, I will be meeting with the complainant and the subject of the complaint to reach an amicable settlement)," he said.
Should the conciliation process fail to settle the case, a hearing proper will follow. The majority leader said this is the first time that conciliation will be included in the rules of ethics and privileges committee.
“There are matters which we will leave to the complainant and the other person that should be settled on a personal basis but there is also a transparency,” Tolentino said when asked about the importance of not publicly hearing the case filed by Binay against Cayetano.
Asked about the importance of conducting a conciliation meeting first, he replied: "There are outbursts, there are things that probably can be said due to passion and the emotional combustion in a setting which can probably be clarified in a more friendly atmosphere."
Last July 8, Binay formally filed an ethics complaint against Cayetano saying the latter resorted to name-calling and making baseless accusations against her and some personalities.
Binay’s complaint stemmed from Cayetano’s insulting remarks against her during the hearing of the Senate Committee on Accounts last week where Cayetano held an initial review of the cost of the new Senate building situated in the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.