Cayetano: Cases being used to intimidate Majority senators

MANILA, Philippines — Investigations and cases related to the infrastructure corruption scandal are supposedly being used to threaten and intimidate members of the Senate Majority bloc, Senate President Alan Peter Cayetano claimed on Friday.

Cayetano went live on his Facebook page, claiming that the plan all along was to threaten or intimidate the Majority, and give them a choice — either to jump to the Minority or face arrest.

“As they say, fishes are caught through their mouths.  So you saw, this was the plan all this time — arrest, threaten, intimidate those in the Majority. Either you jump ship or get arrested,” Cayetano said.

READ: Sandiganbayan orders arrest, travel ban of Estrada, Bonoan over graft case

“So as I said, at the proper time evidence will come out. I won’t go into the merits [and] demerits. We do not have a problem with cases. We do not have a problem about letting the courts decide whether they are guilty or not. Our problem is when this is being used to threaten, that if they leave the Majority, they will have no case; but if you stay, we will pursue cases,” he added.

Cayetano questioned why this is going on, asking what more could happen once the Senate formally undertakes the impeachment trial of Vice President Sara Duterte.

“The impeachment has not started but we are already in this stage, so what more when it starts? So again, I’ve communicated this behind closed doors, I’ve communicated this in rooms like this with the Majority, Minority, I’ve communicated it through social media. I’ve communicated this with the traditional media,” he said.

“We are not here for confrontations.  We are not here to quarrel every day.  We set the impeachment proceedings in order, we made sure that alongside the impeachment, there is still a legislative calendar, there is somebody to fix that,” he added.

The Senate leader’s claims came after the Sandiganbayan ordered the arrest of Sen. Jinggoy Estrada — a member of the Majority — over graft cases linked to the infrastructure corruption scandal.

The warrant came after the Office of the Ombudsman formally charged Estrada with graft, as well as plunder, as he was accused of facilitating P355 million worth of budget insertions in Bulacan’s first engineering district in exchange for a 30-percent commission.

Estrada on Friday was seen going inside the Sandiganbayan to post bail.

READ: WATCH: Jinggoy Estrada posts P90,000 bail for graft case

Last Wednesday, Ombudsman Jesus Crispin Remulla said that the plunder complaint against acting Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva — also in connection with the infrastructure corruption scandal — is “already ripe” for filing within the next two weeks.

Then, the Sandiganbayan Seventh Division also granted the Ombudsman’s petition for a preventive hold departure order (PHDO) against Sen. Rodante Marcoleta, former Quezon City Rep. Mike Defensor, Aristotle Baluyut Viray, and Joseph Varias Espiritu over complaints of plunder and indirect bribery linked to alleged campaign donations worth P75 million.

Meanwhile, last April, Sen. Francis Escudero and his alleged bagman, businessman Maynard Ngu, were barred from leaving the country after the Sandiganbayan’s Sixth Division on Monday issued a PHDO against them.

A PHDO prevents individuals facing criminal complaints from traveling abroad to ensure they will be available for investigation.

Villanueva, Marcoleta, and Escudero are all members of the Majority.

Last Tuesday, Minority member Sen. Erwin Tulfo asked if the looming cases against members of the Majority is the reason for the rush to amend the Senate rules, to allow the remote participation of senators during plenary sessions.

Cayetano and Villanueva asked that a motion from Marcoleta, which seeks to allow members to vote remotely for matters deliberated in the plenary, be taken up.

Eventually, discussions led to a walkout from the Senate Minority, as Sen. Francis Pangilinan asked why rule amendments are being made on the floor instead of it being formalized through a resolution.

Sen. Risa Hontiveros, meanwhile, said that Marcoleta’s motion is new since the May 11 motion was already referred to the committee on rules, and the said panel cannot bring back this motion as the committee composition has not been finalized.

READ: Clash on Senate online voting ends in walkout 

In the same livestream, Cayetano asked whether it is wrong to talk about changing the rules, amid a public uproar over Marcoleta’s proposal. /das