SENATOR Antonio Trillanes IV on Monday apologized to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano for turning-off his microphone and engaging him in a heated argument during last week’s Senate hearing in connection with the series of summary executions in the country.
“This is to express my apologies for my demeanor during last Thursday’s hearing of the Committee on Justice and Human Rights. It was brought about because of the intense passion and emotion of the moment. Nonetheless, it was uncalled for,” Trillanes said in his letter to Cayetano.
“Be assured that such incident will not happen again,” the senator said.
Copies of Trillanes’ Sept. 19 letter of apology were also sent to Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III and Senator Leila de Lima, the chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Trillanes came up with the apology few days after Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III scolded him for his actions during the Senate hearing on the testimony of controversial witness Edgar Matobato.
“Turning off a fellow senator’s mic is an unacceptable manner because the Senate is a legislative body. Weapons are words because it is a deliberative body,” said Pimentel.
At the hearing, Trillanes and other senators belonging to Liberal Party ganged up on Cayetano who questioned the credibility of Matobato, who claimed President Rodrigo Duterte knew of a series of killings when he was still mayor in Davao City.
The witness, who claimed he was a member of the so-called Davao Death Squad, told the Senate panel that Duterte also ordered the killing of Jun Pala, a local journalist in Davao.
But Cayetano questioned the committee’s intention in presenting Matobato without any corroborating evidence or testimony, adding that the witness was there for the former administration’s “Plan B” to unseat Duterte.
The senator, also the running mate of Duterte in the May 9 presidential elections, questioned Matobato when Trillanes asked fellow senator and partymate Leila de Lima, who chairs the justice committee hearing the case, if Cayetano was allowed to question the witness.
Cayetano argued that he and other senators be given enough time to question the witness because of the gravity of his accusations.
Instead,mm De Lima agreed that Cayetano was taking up too much of the time of committee members, who were also supposed to ask questions on Matobato.
Cayetano insisted he was just after the truth. “We have all the time in the world. What is more important, that the truth come out or is this just a demolition job?” he said.
Trillanes also made a motion to summon Duterte’s son Davao City vice mayor Paolo Duterte to shed light on his alleged involvement in the killings and smuggling in the city. Cayetano opposed Trillanes’ motion, saying only an invitation should be sent.
But the camp of former Vice President Jejomar Binay described the hearing as a mere drama to destroy Duterte, saying the scenario was perpetrated by senators belonging to Liberal Party.
“Thursday’s hearing is a page from the Liberal Party playbook, with a minor casting change: It’s now De Lima and Trillanes as BFFs, with Senator Cayetano as the spurned ex-friend. Having said that, we cannot help but be amused by the antics of Senators Trillanes and Cayetano,” said Binay’s spokesman Joey Salgado.
“Cayetano’s conversion into a born-again advocate of due process and the rule of law is hilarious, considering that he lawyered for the accusers of VP Binay during the Blue Ribbon Sub-committee hearings. At least, Trillanes was true to form as the Session Hall bully, this time intimidating his ertswhile BFF. These two deserve each other,” said Salgado.
In 2014, it was Trillanes who filed a resolution to investigate Binay, his son former Makati City mayor Junjun Binay and other city government officials over the alleged overpriced city hall building.
The Binays maintained that the allegations hurled against them are baseless and politically motivated.