Screengrab from video
MANILA, Philippines — Things can get testy even on the Senate floor, Senate President Francis Escudero said following the altercation between Senators Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri and Alan Peter Cayetano on Tuesday night.
The incident was caught on video that has since gone viral, showing the two lawmakers almost coming to blows.
The row was over a resolution that seeks to prevent the disenfranchisement of voters in the 10 barangays that the Supreme Court ordered transferred from Makati City’s jurisdiction to that of Taguig City, the political bailiwick of the Cayetanos.
READ: Comelec: Embo barangay residents can vote in 2025 polls
“The members of the Senate are passionate with respect to their advocacies and sometimes emotions run high when it comes to their beliefs and convictions,” Escudero said. “We are only human.’’
The incident happened past 9 p.m. “so the senators were already tired,” especially after working overtime in the past few days leading to the adjournment of session on Sept. 25, he added.
It all started when Zubiri asked why Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 23, which Cayetano authored, had to be tackled that night in plenary when it was not on the day’s agenda.
Getting Binay’s side
The resolution asks the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to include the 10 “Embo” (or Enlisted Men’s Barrio) barangays in the two existing districts of Taguig so they can vote and be represented in Congress as part of a legislative district.
The 2021 Supreme Court decision handing over the barangays to Taguig did not specify the district they should belong to. In all, they added 336,873 people to the Taguig population.
Zubiri said he understood Cayetano’s concern about the Embo residents’ possible disenfranchisement as voters, but that he wanted the resolution tackled on Wednesday so he could further study it.
He also explained that he was still trying to get in touch with Sen. Nancy Binay, whose family dominates local politics in Makati. Nancy’s sister Abby, the current mayor, has repeatedly clashed with the Cayetanos over the Embo villages.
Nancy Binay and Cayetano had also argued bitterly in hearings over the ballooning cost of the new Senate building under construction in Taguig.
“I do not know, does this have enough implication to Senator Binay’s representation?” Zubiri asked.
Off-mic confrontation
In response, Cayetano said the resolution should no longer be a concern for Makati.
The exchange grew more hostile from there until it forced Zubiri to call for a suspension of the session, parts of which were recorded on the amateur video.
But both men, now off their lecterns, continued talking to each other, with Cayetano raising certain points about plenary rules.
“No, no, don’t give me that,’’ Zubiri was heard saying.
“Don’t give me that s–t, too, pare!,’’ Cayetano shot back. “Pag lugar mo ilang beses kang nakiusap sa akin. (I got a lot requests from you when it concerned your place.)”
The taunting escalated quickly, prompting other senators to stand up and come in between the two. Cayetano let out cuss words in Filipino and had to be restrained and pushed away further from Zubiri by his sister, Sen. Pia Cayetano.
When the session resumed minutes later, Cayetano and Zubiri acknowledged on the record that they both lost their temper—and apologized to each other.
The following day, the Senate media office released photos of them hugging and shaking hands.