House Committee on Ethics and Privileges Chairman 4Ps Party-list Rep. JC Abalos admitted that he agreed with the point raised by solons who opposed the 60-day suspension recommendation against "congressmeow" Cavite 4th district Rep. Francisco "Kiko" Barzaga.

The point raised in plenary after the nominal voting on Barzaga's fate was that cases of corruption against congressmen should have been prioritized, and not the ethics case about the Dasmariñas City solon's eccentric behavior.

"Kapag may magfa-file ng complaint sa maski sinong kongresista na may kinalaman sa mga maanomalyang transaksyon pagdating sa imprastraktura o kung ano man, handa po kaming sagutin yan sa Committee on Ethics at gagawin namin yan within 60 session days pursuant to our rules," Abalos said in press conference Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 2, a day removed from his sponsorship of Committee Report (CR) No.28.

(If someone files a complaint against any congressman regarding anomalous transactions in infrastructure or anything else, we are ready to address that in the Committee on Ethics, and we will do so within 60 session days pursuant to our rules.)

"Sa ganitong mga anomalya, mas maganda silang unahin kasi mas mabigat yun eh. Tama. So dahil mas mabigat yan, of course kailangan ko pong i-acknowledge kung ano ang limitations ng Committee on Ethics," he said.

(In cases of such anomalies, it is better to prioritize them because they are more serious. Correct. And since they are more serious, of course I need to acknowledge the limitations of the Committee on Ethics.)

CR No.28 contained the ethics panel's recommendation to suspend Barzaga for 60 days without pay after he was found guilty of disorderly behavior and conduct unbecoming of a House member. The recommendation was adopted by plenary via nominal vote result of 249-5-11 (yes-no-abstain).

The five who entered "no" votes were SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, Kamanggagawa Party-list Rep. Eli San Fernando, Bagong Henerasyon Party-list Rep. Robert Nazal, Quezon CIty 4th district Rep. Bong Suntay, and Batangas 1st district Rep. Leandro Legarda Leviste.

Of the five, it was Leviste who hammered home the point that it was "embarrassing" for the House to sanction Barzaga while their colleagues who have corruption allegations weren't being taken to task.

But the ethics panel can only take action on complaints that it can take jurisdiction of, Abalos said. "On the part of the ethics committee, handa po kaming mag-cater ng ethics complaint laban sa mga ganung kongresista (we are ready to cater to an ethics complaint against these congressmen).

"Nag-aabang lang naman po kami kung ano ang complaint na isasampa sa aming committee, sasagutin po namin ‘yan (We are simply waiting for whatever complaint will be filed with our committee, and we will respond to it)," he said.

Abalos said the ethics panel already took up one such case in the current 20th Congress with Zaldy Co. However, the panel dropped the proceedings following Co's resignation as Ako Bicol Party-list congressman last Sept. 29.

"As a matter of fact, nagkaroon na nga kami ng isa dati eh, pero anong nangyari po? Nagkaroon kami ng initial deliberation, naging moot and academic, kasi hindi na member ng House eh," he recalled.

(As a matter of fact, we already had one before, but what happened? We conducted an initial deliberation, and it became moot and academic because the person was no longer a member of the House.)

Abalos continued: "And on my end po, malaking pagkakamali man yan o maliit, hindi po natin pwedeng balewalain ang isa. Kaya nga po naniniwala po ako na napakahalaga na i-hold natin accountable ang mga involved sa flood control corruption scandal."

(And on my end, whether it is a big mistake or a small one, we cannot disregard any of them. That is why I believe it is very important to hold accountable those involved in the flood control corruption scandal.)

"Pero gusto ko po ipaalam sa lahat na hindi po mutually exclusive ang pag-demand ng accountability sa graft and corruption, and sa pagdemand ng proper conduct from our elected public officials," he further said.

(But I want to inform everyone that demanding accountability for graft and corruption is not mutually exclusive with demanding proper conduct from our elected public officials.)