Binay OK’d De Lima ouster if Cayetano wouldn’t get post

Senator Nancy Binay. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / NIÑO JESUS ORBETA

Senator Nancy Binay disclosed on Tuesday that she had one condition before she agreed to vote in favor of removing Senator Leila de Lima as chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights.

Binay said her number one concern while they were discussing De Lima’s fate on Monday was who would replace her.

“Ang sabi ko, ang kondisyon ko kahapon, kung Senator Alan ang papalit, I will not vote in favor of that kasi di ba parang ano ‘yun? Parang walang pinagbago,” she told reporters, referring to Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.

(I told them yesterday that my condition was if Senator Alan would replace her, then I would not vote in favor of her ouster because they are practically the same.)

“Ang mahalaga para sa akin ‘yung impartial, talagang may fairness pagdating dun sa (What’s important for me is to find someone who is impartial and fair when it comes to the investigation of the) extrajudicial killings,” the lady senator said.

READ: De Lima ousted as Senate justice committee chair

Cayetano had actively participated in the Senate probe against Binay’s father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, over the alleged overpricing of the Makati City Hall 2 parking building.

Senator Binay could not help but wish her father had more allies in the chamber while he was being investigated by the blue ribbon subcommittee being headed then by Senator Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, who is now the Senate President.

“Siguro kung may kakampi din kami tulad ng inee-enjoy ni President Duterte siguro hindi mangyayari (yung nangyari noon)…” she said.

(If only we had more allies then like what President Duterte is enjoying now, we probably would have not had to endure what we endured then.)

“Parang subjective ‘yung rules di ba? ‘Yung dati hindi na pwede ngayon. E kung tutuusin naman dapat hindi pinayagan ‘yung nangyari noon e kaso kumbaga parang hina-harvest na nila ‘yung mga (tinanim) noon na maling gawain.”

(The rules seem subjective, right? What they allowed before, they no longer approve now. When you think about it, they should not have allowed what happened before, and now they are just harvesting the products of their wrongdoings.)

READ: Senators explain why they ousted De Lima

This was also one of the reasons why, she said, she voted to remove De Lima.

“Siguro it’s high time na huwag na nating gamitin itong Senado (Maybe it’s high time for people not to use the Senate) for personal ambitions, for personal issues,” Senator Binay said.

She said she felt vindicated that the Senate probe against her father was just done for “political reasons” and not to search for the truth. IDL/rga