Sen. Nancy Binay and Sen. Alan Cayetano. (SENATE PRIB PHOTOS)
MANILA, Philippines — Sen. Nancy Binay formally filed on Monday an ethics complaint against Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano for allegedly resorting to name-calling and behaving disorderly during the chamber’s proceedings.
“This is not just about me. Nanay ako. May mga anak ako at alam ko ang mga pinagdaanan ng mga bata noong tinitira niya yung pamilya ko noong 2015 and parang during this time, I cannot let it pass anymore,” Binay told reporters in an ambush interview after she filed the complaint before the Senate panel on ethics.
(This is not just about me. I am a mother. I have children, and I know what they endured when he was attacking my family in 2015. During this time, I cannot let it pass anymore.)
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In a 15-page complaint, Binay specifically noted that Cayetano committed the crime of slander against her.
Binay likewise claimed that Cayetaho had committed the following transgressions after he repeatedly acted in an “unparliamentary manner and used offensive, derogatory, and improper language” during the public hearing:
- Abuse of rights (as provided under Article 19 of Republic Act No. 386 or Civil Code of the Philippines)
- Violations of A.M. No. 22-09-01 SC or Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability
- Violations of Republic Act No. 9710 or The Magna Carta of Women
- Conduct unbecoming of a public officer and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service
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Unparliamentary conduct
Binay, in the same complaint, said she is praying that Cayetano be made accountable and liable for all “his unparliamentary conduct which are in violation of the rules of the Senate, the Revised Penal Code, the Civil Code of the Philippines, the Code of Professional Responsibility and Accountability, the Magna Carta of Women, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, and Civil Service regulations.”
She said she’s also hoping that appropriate sanctions and penalties be imposed upon Cayetano to “commensurate to the gravity of his offenses.”
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The charge was submitted days after the two senators exchanged barbs during the Senate panel on accounts’ hearing on the supposedly ballooning cost of the New Senate Building (NSB) in Taguig.
During the July 3 hearing, panel head Cayetano insisted that the building’s cost would total a whopping P23 billion.
Binay, on the other hand, cited the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) data, pointing out that the establishment only costs around P21 billion.
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This pronouncement prompted Cayetano to claim that Binay was disrupting the hearing.
“Do you want to help or gusto [mo] lang guluhin ito?” asked Cayetano then.
(Do you want to help or do you only want to disrupt this?)
Heated exchange
The heated exchange resulted in name-calling, personal attacks, and accusations, leading to claims that Binay was providing questions to some media practitioners to discredit her fellow senators.
Cayetano even reminded Binay that her first name is Lourdes and not Marites — a term widely used in the Philippines to describe gossipmongers.
Binay, for her part, walked out of the hearing after she got the DPWH to categorically state that the cost of NSB is only P21 billion and not P23 billion.
Cayetano initially told Senate President Chiz Escudero that there was a supposed “dramatic increase” in NSB’s budget from an initial P8 billion to a projected P23.3 billion.
Escudero subsequently ordered a review of NSB’s budget.
Earlier, Binay wondered whether or not the issues hounding the NSB were a deliberate attempt to destroy the Senate.
Makati-Taguig feud
She also admitted to thinking that Cayetano is only using the NSB as an issue to fuel the Makati-Taguig feud, just like what the senator did in 2015.
“It reminds me of 2015. This is a replay of the 24 senate hearings in 2015,” said Binay then.
“Tao lang din naman tayo and parang yung sugat na akala ko naghilom na, parang binuksan ulit dahil naaalala ko yung ginawa sa pamilya ko, kung paano nila sinira yung pangalan namin,” she added.
(We’re only humans, and the wounds I thought were healed have reopened because I remembered what they did to my family and how they destroyed our name.)
Binay did not categorically state what incident in 2015 was similar to that of NSB, but Cayetano was among the central figures in the chamber’s probe of the Makati City Hall Parking Building in 2015.
The parking building was a project of Binay’s father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, when he was still Makati Mayor.
Cayetano, meanwhile, claimed that the building was overpriced.