TURNING off the microphone of a fellow senator during a hearing is unacceptable, Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III said Friday.
He was referring to Senator Antonio Trillanes IV who turned off the microphone of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, who had been questioning confessed hit man Edgar Matobato during Thursday’s hearing on summary killings by the justice committee led by Senator Leila de Lima.
Matobato had claimed that President Rodrigo Duterte ordered the killing of criminals and suspects when he was mayor of Davao City. He also claimed that Duterte personally gave them the order to kill, abduct and assassinate people.
But Trillanes turned off the microphone in front of Cayetano to stop him from his lengthy questioning of Matobato.
Pimentel expressed hope that the incidence would not be repeated, and that he planned to talk to Trillanes about the matter.
“I hope there will be no more physical interference in the physical space of a senator [to the point of turning off his mike],” Pimentel said.
He made his statement even as Senator Panfilo Lacson said he doubted Matobato’s credibility but rejected the claim that the Senate hearing on summary killings was part of the Liberal Party’s plan to reclaim Malacañang. Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III, belongs to the LP, which was then the dominant party.
“I won’t buy that,” Lacson told dzMM radio.
“With all due respect to APC [Alan Peter Cayetano], it would appear that his projection was too far. I don’t see any basis [for it].”
Pimentel also said heckling a fellow senator was foul.
“I hope turning off one’s mike or whispering to a fellow senator when he is speaking, which seems liked heckling, won’t happen again,” Pimentel said.
He urged his colleagues to maintain their respect for each other to make sure the work of the Senate would not be affected by personal differences.
Cayetano had insisted he wanted to test the credibility of Matobato. He wanted to prove he was part of the demolition job of the Liberal Party to grab the presidency from Duterte and replace him with Vice President Leni Robredo.
But Trillanes turned off his mike when it appeared he was taking too much time questioning Matobato.