For Senate President Francis "Chiz" Escudero, his senator-colleagues are humans and not emotionless robots.

He said this in defense of both Senators Nancy Binay and Alan Peter Cayetano following their heated exchange during the first hearing of the Senate Committee on Accounts regarding the controversial New Senate Building (NSB).

"Una sa lahat tao lamang naman si Senator Binay at si Senator Alan, may emosyon nakakaramdam din naman ng sakit (First of all both Senators Binay and Alan have emotions and can feel pain)," he said in a radio interview over DWIZ on Saturday, July 6.

"Di naman to ang unang pagkakataon na nagkabangayan at nagka-walkoutan pa...Bahagi yan siguro ng pagiging tao ng miyembro ng Senado. Hindi mga robot ang inyong mga senador (This is not the first time that there was a heated exchange that led to a walkout...I think that's a part of senators being human. Your senators are not robots)," Escudero added.

Binay walked out of the hearing, which marked her first meeting with Cayetano since Escudero disclosed during a flag-raising ceremony last June 10 that there was a need to review the NSB. This was due to the construction cost of the NSB that ballooned to P23 billion.

Before this was a tit-for-tat between Binay and Cayetano that centered on the total cost to construct the NSB, which led to some unsavory remarks.

Escudero said in the interview that the reason why Cayetano called for a hearing was because of the Department of Public Works and Highway's (DPWH) uncooperativeness with the documents being asked of them. 

"Kinakailangan magpatawag ng hearing para magamit at tila kinakailangan dahil pinapaikot-ikot siya, ang compulsory process ng Senado o subpoena dahil nga di sumasagot nang tama ang DPWH o mga opisyal na nakikipag-ugnayan sa kanya (Cayetano) nitong mga nagdaang linggo (There was a need to call for a hearing to make use of, since there was need for it since he's being passed on, the Senate's compulsory process or subpoena since DPWH or its officials are not answering accurately to [Cayetano] in the past few weeks)," he added.

Explaining details about the NSB's construction, Escudero said that according to the Senate Finance Committee, the estimated amount needed to finish the NSB is P23 billion. 

Escudero said that what he suspended was Phase 3 of the construction, which required P10 billion.

"Hindi pa yun napapatupad. Yun ang rason ng review ni Senator Cayetano. Para i-review talaga bang kailangan itong P10 billon pa? Baka pwede natin mabawasan? Sa ngayon ang ginagastos mahigit-kumulang P13 billion kabilang na ang pagbayad sa BCDA ng lupa na mahigit-kumulang P1.6 billion (That's not being implemented yet. That's the reason why Senator Cayetano is reviewing it. To review if we really need this additional P10 billion? Perhaps we can reduce it? So far more or less P13 billion has been spent including payment to the BCDA for the lot worth P1.6 billion)," he said.

"Hindi naman siguro pagmamalabis na humingi ng konting oras para baka naman mapababa natin yan sa P15, P16 or P17 billion na nakatipid pa rin ang sambayanan, nakatipid pa rin ang Senado, nakatipid pa rin ang kaban ng bayan. Yan ang layunin namin kung bakit kami nag-hehearing dahil iba-iba ang kwento na sinasabi ng Project Management Office (PMO), ng Senate mismo at yung records ng Senate, at ng DPWH na nakausap namin (I don't think it's too much to ask for time to review if we can lower the cost to P15, P16 or P17 billion wherein the public, the Senate, and the national treasury are able to save. That's what we are aiming for since there are different accounts based from the PMO, the Senate's records, and the DPWH which we talked with)," he added.

Escudero said that in the end, his goal is to avoid criticism over a lavish building to house the senators, since according to him, they are not the most important people of the nation. He said that even former senator Panfilo "Ping" Lacson, who initiated the project was surprised with the amount.

He added that while he understands Binay's point on value for money and quality, he stated that anyone asked regarding the amount would say that P20 billion was too costly and how it was "napakasama sa panlasa (in very bad taste)" considering how hard life is right now. 

Escudero also reiterated that they do not aim to look for any irregularity in reviewing the NSB construction. 

He also stressed that they are not delaying anything in the NSB construction, which according to the first hearing, has already been delayed by 852 days.

"Sa totoo lang po, wala po kaming dine-delay. Delayed na pong dati yung proyekto bago pa man po ako naupo, bago pa man po ginawa yung review (In reality, we are not delaying anything. This project was already delayed before I even assumed my post, before this review was called for)," he said.