Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
MANILA, Philippines — A heated exchange transpired between Senators Alan Peter Cayetano and Juan Miguel Zubiri at the Senate’s session hall on Tuesday evening, but senators on Wednesday maintained that lawmakers are “only humans” who sometimes get overwhelmed with emotions.
Cayetano and Zubiri bickered over the adoption of a resolution seeking to include 10 Embo barangays in the two legislative districts of Taguig and Pateros and confirming the increase in the number of councilors in each area for fair and equitable representation.
READ: Cayetano, Zubiri trade barbs over reso on Embo barangays
In an ambush interview on Wednesday, Senate President Francis Escudero said it was not the first time such an incident occurred in the upper chamber.
“Tao lamang kami. Members of the Senate are passionate with respect to their advocacies and sometimes emotions run high. Nakisama ako sa paghingi ng tawad dahil … late na, pagod na marahil dahil sa trabahong ginagawa namin,” he said.
(We are only humans. Members of the Senate are passionate about their advocacies, and sometimes emotions run high. I am one with those who apologized … because it was already late, and we were probably all tired because of the tasks we did for the day.)
READ: Escudero on Cayetano-Zubiri squabble: No reason to discipline them
The Senate President said the incident happened while the session was suspended, so it was not placed on the chamber’s records.
“Agad naman silang nagkabati at naghingian ng tawad,” Escudero said.
(They immediately reconciled and apologized to each other.)
“Uulitin ko: tao lamang. Minsan mataas ang emosyon kaugnay sa mga pinaniniwalaan, pinaglalaban, at adbokasiya na sana ay maunawaan din ninyo. Tulad lamang din ninyo, [kami ay] naliligo, nagbabanyo, at minsan mataas ang emosyon,” he added.
(I’ll repeat: We are only humans. Sometimes, our emotions are high, especially if it’s about things we believe, are fighting for, and we advocate that’s why I hope you also understand. Like you, we also bathe, use the restroom, and sometimes get overwhelmed by our emotions.)
Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri (Senate Public Relations and Information Bureau)
In the viral video, Cayetano and Zubiri were seen raising their voices at each other.
At the height of the argument, Sen. Pia Cayetano proceeded to hug her younger brother. Senate Deputy Majority Leader JV Ejercito likewise rushed to stop the Zubiri and Alan Peter.
In a separate press conference also on Wednesday, Ejercito was pressed to disclose what he thinks of the squabble.
“That’s how democracy is. We don’t have the same opinion or points of view at times. Minsan may passionate, may emotional. Siyempre kung ganon kaimportante sa’yo, so ganun talaga. At least, we’re only human at napakita natin dito na talagang hindi tayo, ano lang … kumbaga gumagana yung demokrasya, magkakaiba yung opinion, magkakaiba yung pananaw. But in the end, all’s well that ends well. At least nagkaayos naman noong huli,” he said.
(Sometimes there are those who are passionate and emotional. Of course, you’ll feel that way if it’s important to you. At least we’re only humans, and it just shows that democracy works and that there are varying opinions. But in the end, all’s well that ends well, at least they reconciled in the end.)
Meanwhile, Senator Ronald Dela Rosa said it’s “not a good incident” to occur in the chamber’s plenary, but he emphasized that it just shows how serious Zubiri and Cayetano are in their jobs.
“Talagang intense yung kanilang desire na magampanan yung trabaho nila bilang senador kaya umabot sa punto na talagang nagsisigawan. Mabuti na lang, hindi nagkasakitan. Nakasigawan talaga. It’s good. I’m informed na nagbalikan naman sila ng loob. Parang nag-reconcile sila,” he added.
(It just showed how intense they desire to fulfill their jobs as senators that’s why it came to a point that they raised their voices. The good thing is that they did not hurt each other, they just raised their voices. It’s good. I’m informed that they immediately reconciled.)