Chinese trader gets mouthful from Miriam
A Chinese national who earlier raised an objection to the appointment of Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario showed up Wednesday at a hearing of the congressional Commission on Appointments and got a mouthful from the feisty Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago.
Santiago initially berated Chung Hing Wong, a.k.a. Joseph Wong, then cited him for contempt and then set the Senate sergeant at arms on him, but then relented and pardoned him after Wong’s cancer-stricken wife appealed for understanding.
“I think he is a medical basket case. But he continues to harass me, I shall be forced to seek his deportation. I am restraining myself only because of pity for his wife,” the senator said.
Wong earlier threatened to file a case against Santiago before the Senate ethics committee after the senator threw him out of a commission hearing, which eventually confirmed Del Rosario on May 31.
It was not clear why Wong—whose objection to Del Rosario centered on a syndicated estafa case that he had filed against a bank of which the foreign secretary was a director—appeared at a new hearing of the CA panel Wednesday.
Santiago, who was presiding, was venting against Wong over the latter’s threat to file an ethics case against her in a television interview.
She was saying that Wong actually faced “a string of bouncing checks (and) estafa cases. It seems to me he is an undesirable alien,” and how difficult it had been to locate Wong when she was told that the businessman was in the session hall.
“You are a Chinese national. For that reason you have no right to appear as a party in any nomination hearing before this court. You are a citizen of Hong Kong, you have a string of criminal cases against you,” Santiago berated Wong.
The senator also threatened to declare Wong in contempt for threatening on television to file an ethics case against her.
“You have no right to appear on television and intimidate a senator of the republic! I cite you for contempt. Where is the sergeant-at-arms? Take this man! That is the order of the chair,” she cried.
At this point, a woman stood up and introduced herself as Wong’s wife.
