Senate President Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III has admonished Senator Antonio Trillanes IV for taking the law into his hands— much like what he did when he was a rebel soldier—by intimidating Senator Alan Peter Cayetano into ending his interrogation of a witness during the Senate hearing on drug-related killings Thursday (Sept. 15).
In an interview over GMA News TV’s “News to Go” Friday (Sept. 16), Pimentel said all senators should follow the rules and observe proper decorum in the chamber.
Nakakalungkot kasi in the Senate, you do not take the law into your own hands and when i say law, the rules. Kunyari may ginagawa ang isang senador na hindi mo gusto, kayo po ay ia-address ninyo yung concern niyo sa presiding officer, he said.
You do not take the law or the rules into your own hands na ikaw mismo ang papatay ng mic nung tao, yung microphone. Hindi po dapat ginagawa ‘to tsaka syempre you don’t taunt, you don’t heckle your fellow senator,” Pimentel added.
Trillanes and Cayetano clashed during the hearing of the Senate committee on justice and human rights after the former soldier asked that panel chair Senator Leila de Lima to declare Cayetano out of order for exceeding the time limit allotted for questioning witness Edgar Matobato.
Tension rose even when De Lima suspended the hearing to let the two senators cool down.
Trillanes was heard telling Cayetano: ”Hindi kita papopormahin,” to which Cayetano replied, “Senador ako, binoto ako ng tao dito, di ba?”
The quarrel between the two even came to a point when Trillanes shut Cayetano’s mic off when he didn’t want to stop speaking while De Lima was saying something.
To end their bickering, De Lima asked Trillanes if he could transfer to another seat so he and Cayetano would not be seated together.
It was Cayetano, however, who eventually moved to another seat.
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