SENATOR Nancy Binay has expressed sympathy for Senator Leila de Lima, saying some of the personal attacks against her were “below the belt.”
“Syempre sympathetic and sana yung pinagdaanan namin hindi na pagdaanan ng ibang tao, including her,” Binay told reporters.
Her father, former Vice President Jejomar Binay, had been accused of alleged misused of public funds when he was still the mayor of Makati City, including the purported overpricing of the Makati City Hall 2 parking building.
Asked about the personal attacks hurled at De Lima, Binay said: “Yung iba naman below the belt. Kung tutuusin ano naman ang pakialam natin sa lovelife nya?”
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier accused De Lima of having an affair with her former driver. He had also claimed that the lady senator was having a love affair with a certain Warren, said to be an employee of Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.
Senator Binay was one of the 16 senators who voted to oust De Lima as chair of the Senate committee on justice and human rights that is investigating the alleged spate of killings in the country. De Lima remains a member of the panel.
READ: Binay OKd De Lima ouster on condition Cayetano wouldn’t get post
After de Lima’s privilege speech a day after her ouster, Senator Binay said she approached her colleague and told her that she would soon overcome what she has been going through.
“Sinabihan ko sya na lilipas din yan kasi based on our experience,” Senator Binay said./rga