Senator Binay and Senator Cayetano argued at the Senate Inquiry on the construction of the Senate Building. | screenshot from Inquirer video on Senate hearing
MANILA, Philippines — The first day of the Senate inquiry into the construction of the New Senate Building (NSB) in Taguig City was marred by a heated debate and a walkout.
Senator Peter Cayetano asked Senator Nancy Binay if she had gone crazy as she walked out from the hearing of the Senate committee on accounts on Wednesday.
“Nabuang ka na, ‘day (You’ve gone crazy, lady),” Senator Cayetano said.
“Tapusin natin ng maayos ito; Senado ito ng Pilipinas, hindi ito palengke,” Cayetano added.
(Let’s finish this properly; this is the Philippine Senate, not a public market.)
But his remarks were no longer heard by Binay, who walked out of the hearing room.
Before the walkout, though, the two even exchanged pleasantries when Binay joined the hearing headed by Cayetano as the new chairman of the committee.
Cayetano replaced Binay after the latter resigned following a Senate leadership change in May.
“We recognize Senator Nancy and she’s welcome to ask questions,” he said.
“Thank you, Mr. Chairman, even If I’m not a member, but I heard na nagsabi naman po kayo (you said) at the beginning of the hearing that I’m more than welcome to attend,” Binay said.
However, the atmosphere in the hearing changed when Binay started asking questions about the budgetary cost estimates of the new building.
“So tama po na on your documentation (Your documentation is correct), there’s no such thing as P23 billion for DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways). So I think, Usec. Sadain, hindi niyo ho kailangang mag-apologize (you don’t need to apologize)…” Binay said, addressing DPWH Senior Undersecretary Emil Sadain.
But Cayetano contradicted Binay, citing records from the DPWH which supposedly showed the P23 billion cost estimate of the new building.
READ: Escudero wants P23-billion new Senate building reviewed: Parang OA
Cayetano added that the figures also came from her previous staff on the committee.
“And you’ve been going around saying mali ang numbers namin. So kung mali, correct it, pero ang nagbigay ng numbers samin staff mo and you’ve been going around telling people saan ba nanggaling, e nanggaling nga sa staff mo. So anong problema?” he asked.
(You’ve been going around saying my numbers are incorrect. So if they’re wrong, correct it, but the people who gave us these numbers were your staff. You’ve been going around asking people where the numbers came from, but they came from your staff. So what’s the problem?)
Cayetano also accused Binay of disrupting the hearing.
“Listen to me first, listen to me first, Senator Nancy. I’m still the chair,” he said at one point.
“Ang problema sayo you keep going around saying gusto kong makausap si Alan, gusto kong makausap si Chiz. Nagkita pa tayo sa party, may cellphone tapos hindi mo naman kami kinakausap tapos mangungulo ka ngayon sa hearing,” Cayetano continued.
(The problem with you is you keep going around saying you want to speak to me, you want to speak to Senator Escudero. We even saw each other at the party, we have phones, but you didn’t talk to us. Then now, you’re disrupting the hearing.)
Cayetano later asked a pointed question to Binay, “Do you want to help or gusto lang guluhin ito (you just want to disrupt this)?”
Binay then clarified her only goal was to finish the construction of the new building.
But this did not stop Cayetano, who also accused Binay of fabricating issues when she tried to link the NSB project to local politics in Makati and Taguig.
“Ang dami mo ng inembento sa media,” he said. “Nag-imbento ka e. Naka 10 interview ka: Baka ito naman ‘yung Makati-Taguig…”
(You’re making up so many things in the media. You made it up. You’ve had 10 interviews: maybe this is about Makati-Taguig…)
Cayetano insinuated Binay might have even provided the questions to the media, noting that the same questions were asked in various radio interviews.
Binay denied this allegation.
“Bakit naman ako magbibigay ng tanong sa mga media, Mr. Chairman? Baka gawain mo ‘yung magbibigay ng tanong sa mga media. Excuse me,” she said.
(Why would I give questions to the media, Mr. Chairman? Maybe that’s something you would do, giving questions to the media. Excuse me.)
“Sampung interview? Ekstong lahat ng question? Coincidence? Ang galing mo naman,” Cayetano said.
(Ten interviews? All the same exact questions? Coincidence? You’re amazing.)
Senator Robin Padilla later moved to suspend the proceeding, but Cayetano said he wanted to give Binay a chance to explain the NSB funding instead of giving interviews to the media.
In the end, Binay insisted there was no P23 billion cost estimate for the NSB as earlier reported.
She then walked out of the hearing room, leaving Cayetano and Padilla to continue the proceeding.