Pangasinan solon drops ‘dumbshells’

She mispronounced names, demoted or promoted officials at will, addressed the Interior Secretary only as “Mar,” and cheekily asked the Philippine National Police (PNP) officer in charge, “Why aren’t you resigning?” And then turned to “Mar” to ask the same question.

Indeed, Pangasinan Rep. Kimi Cojuangco dropped the much-needed icebreakers—or “dumbshells,” depending on your point of view—at Tuesday’s joint inquiry in the House of Representatives on the Mamasapano debacle.

There were others who expressed embarrassment at the composition of the so-called Honorable House of Representatives.

The two-term congresswoman provided hilarity during the grueling, eight-hour hearing by the House committees on public order and safety, and on peace, reconciliation and unity, on the Jan. 25 bloodbath in Maguindanao province.

The hearing was actually business-like this time as the House members appeared bent on erasing any bad impression that lingered from their Feb. 11 hearing, when netizens poked fun at their loud and disruptive antics. This paper tagged them a House of buffoons.

READ: Levity, frivolity mark 7-hour circus

Under the watchful eye of Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr., the lawmakers were on their best behavior, avoiding repetitive questions or talking at the same time, frequently interrupting each other, etc. which characterized the first hearing.

No grandstanding

“Let us not be too emotional,” Basilan Rep. Jim Hataman-Salliman, chair of the House committee on peace, reconciliation and unity, reminded the lawmakers at one point.

Hataman-Salliman himself called the chair of the government peace panel, Miriam Coronel-Ferrer, as Miriam Defensor.

The other chair, Negros Occidental Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer, who heads the public order and safety committee, also warned panel members ahead of time against any “grandstanding, chaotic conduct and nonobservance of decorum.”

Still, there were some boo-boos made by lawmakers. Hataman-Salliman addressed Secretary Roxas as “Senator Roxas” at least twice, and referred to 1BAP Rep. Silvestre Bello III as “Governor Bello.”

But Cojuangco was a different kettle to reckon with.

Why not resign?

While questioning PNP Deputy Director General Leonardo Espina, Cojuangco was apparently clueless about what most people already knew: That Espina had been kept out of the loop about “Oplan Exodus.”

Pangasinan Representative Kimi Cojuangco. Photo from https://twitter.com/kimicojuangco

“Why didn’t you step in when you found out there was a problem?” she asked.

“Kasi (Because) ma’am, truthfully, I had no idea what was going. I didn’t know what was going on,” said the helpless Espina.

“But as OIC, you had no idea?” Cojuangco said.

“Wala (None), ma’am, zero. I was kept out of the loop,” he said.

“Don’t you feel like resigning?” Cojuangco replied.

“Maybe together with the secretary, ma’am,” Espina shot back. The whole gallery laughed. He referred to Secretary Roxas who was also left in the dark in the Mamasapano operation.

At times, Cojuangco also had a difficult time identifying the guests at the hearing, often turning to her colleagues for help on how to properly address them.

So sorry

At one point, while addressing a question to the police officers present, and when Roxas looked like he was about to reply, she said, “I’m not asking you, Mar.”

Belatedly realizing her blunder, Cojuangco said: “Oh. I’m sorry, secretary.”

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