Senator Maria Lourdes Nancy Binay on Thursday, July 4 stated she is considering filing an ethics complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano after calling her a “Marites,” which is a derisive term for rumor-monger.
Binay had earlier traded barbs with Cayetano, who took over from her the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Accounts and launched a review of the ongoing New Senate Building project.
She walked out of the hearing after Cayetano accused her of feeding questions to the media, calling her “Marites” and “Buang ka, Day!” during the course of the hearing.
“Magkokonsulta muna ako sa staff ko kung ano ang (I will consult my staff first on what) appropriate action to take,” Binay said over TeleRadyo Serbisyo.
“Di ko pa nababasa ang buong transcript at pag-aaralan pa ng legal team namin (I haven’t read the whole transcript and our legal team is still studying it). I'll let you know kung mag-decide kaming i-elevate sa (if we decide on elevating it to the) ethics committee.
According to Binay she didn't expect Cayetano to behave as such considering he is among the most senior senators in the Upper Chamber.
“Kung ganyan siya manghamon ng away sa isang babae (If that’s how he challenges women), then I guess, we just have to manage our expectations from this senator,” Binay said.
“Actually, sa akin ok na ako kahit 'di feel ni Sen Alan na mag-apologize sa ginawa nyang pambastos kahapon sa hearing (It’s okay if Sen. Alan doesn’t see the need to apologize for his rude behavior during the hearing). We dont expect him to behave as such considering that he is among the most senior senators—so, yung asal niya (so his action) is very unbecoming of a senator,” she added.
She further said she has accepted the fact that Cayetano’s actions and demeanor is as such especially to anyone whose surname is “Binay.”
“Ang sa akin lang, 'di ka-tanggap-tanggap ang binato niyang accusation sa media—particularly sa Senate Media, at lalo na sa mga radio anchor na nag-interview sa akin (On my part, I find its unacceptable that he threw accusations against the media—particularly the Senate Media, especially the radio anchor who interviewed me),” she said, pointing to Cayetano’s insinuations and claims that the media had been bought.
“So, he owes the media an apology for that,” Binay said.
Moreover, Binay disclosed that Cayetano had declined an invitation from her and former senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who was the Senate accounts panel chief when the proposed New Senate Building was approved.
Both Binay and Lacson are former heads of the Senate accounts committee.
"In fact, Sen. Lacson sent Sen. Alan a message na mag-usap kaming tatlo bilang (for the three of us to talk) as former chairpersons of the committee on accounts, at siya naman ang bago (since he is the new chair) para mapag-usapan yung building (so we can discuss the issues about the building)," she pointed out.
"Kasi may bahagi doon sa building na hindi during my term, and I think the best person to explain sa kanya ay si Sen. Lacson (because there were portions in the building project that was not under during my term, and I think the best person to explain it to him is Sen. Lacson)," Binay explained.
"Nag-send out siya ng message kay (He sent out a message to) Sen. Alan and he declined the invitation," the lawmaker exposed.
Sen. Robinhood Padilla, who was present during the heated verbal exchange, said Binay has the right to pursue an ethics complaint against a fellow senator before the Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges.
“Karapatan niya yun, ni Sen. Nancy, pwede niya talagang gawin yun. Kahit sino namang senador pwede niyang dalhin dun eh, kung pakiramdam mo nagkaroon ng pambabastos (Sen. Nancy has the right. She really can do that recourse. Any senator can bring that issue there, if they believe they were really treated unfairly),” Padilla said.
“Pero kung ako tatanungin, stick tayo sa issue. Kasi nandoon ako kahapon, napunta sa Taguig Makati, iwasan natin sana yan. Doon lang tayo sa issue (But if you ask me, let’s just stick to the issue. Because I was there yesterday, and the talks deviated to the Taguig-Makati issue. I hope we can avoid that. Let’s just stick to the issue),” the senator said.
Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Francis Tolentino, who chairs the Senate ethics panel, said he could have moved to suspend the hearing of the Committee on Accounts to put a stop to their verbal heated exchange.
“Yes, I would do that and would have moved to delete the unparliamentary remarks made,” Tolentino said.
But Tolentino said he is ready to deal with the matter should the ethics complaint reaches his committee.
“I will deal with it (complaint) if it is referred to the ethics committee. My regret is I left the hearing early…Di sana nangyari yun (That shouldn’t have happened),” Tolentino said.
According to Tolentino, he had to receive visitors from the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) who came all the way from Baguio that is why he had to leave the hearing early.