“I will file personally an ethics complaint against the gentleman from Bicol.”
Senator Richard Gordon emphasized on Thursday after having heated argument with Senator Antonio Trillanes during a hearing regarding the P6.4-B smuggled shabu from China.
The confrontation started when Trillanes asserted Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Duterte and Mayor Sara Duterte’s husband, Attorney Mans Carpio should be made to face the Senate to make clear their alleged involvement in the Davao Group after Taguba showed the panel his exchanges of text messages with a certain “Tita Nani” and “Jack.”
When the senators questioned private broker Mark Taguba, and Taguba said he couldn’t even recall place where the meeting happened, prompting Gordon to warn him not to lie, Trillanes then said the witness was being badgered. This caught the ire of Gordon, who said Trillanes was accusing him or Senator Vicente Sotto of mocking the witness.
“Are you accusing the chair or Senator Sotto of badgering the witnesses?” Gordon said.
Trillanes answered, “If you feel alluded to, then that’s your problem.”
“You’re so fond of making names here, making general statements. If you want to make general statements, you better prove it. This is the Senate of the Philippines; this is not a cockpit of chismis. We are here investigating real things. Wag nang magdadaldal dito ng hindi mo nalalalaman,” Gordon pointed out against Trillanes’ opinion.
As Senator Tito Sotto tried to calm the two Senators down, he turned off Trillanes’ microphone due to his nonstop malicious allegations against the committee.
“These people are mentioned so I’m just asking that these people be invited,” Trillanes said.
According to Sotto, the committee should study Trillanes’ suggestions since the alleged link of Pulong and Carpio to the Customs Davao Group were only hearsays from the witness and far from the subject matter of the drugs shipment from China. | (Tina Joyce Laceda – PTV)
